Wouldn't This be Cool?

[Kendamu]

What if Ubisoft got the rights to make a non-sucky 3-D freeroaming version of the original NES TMNT game with more in-depth missions, some side-missions, enemies that actually appear in a TMNTverse (Purple Dragons, etc.), famous locations thoughout various TMNTverses, and (most importantly) balanced gameplay and not-so-"impossible" jumps?

I like the game as-is, but I'd love to see some sort of modern Ubisoft TMNT game that was at least very much inspired by the original (and obviously improved upon).

For example, at the start of the game you get to free-roam around for awhile in various environments (sewers, rooftops, the Lair, and street-level) and fight random thugs and stuff to get the hang of the game itself. The only catch is that you can't be seen by normal people or you'll have to find a place to hide (like Metal Gear Solid) and it's best if you suprise-attack the random thugs Ninja style.

After that, something prompts some sort of "rescue April" mission where you have to platform your way through the streets, rooftops, and sewers to a warehouse where April is captured. When you rescue her, a new area on the map opens up: the dam!

For awhile, after rescuing April, you can have the option of going on a bunch of side-missions whenever you feel like it (or just save them for later), free-roam some more, or go ahead and go on over to the dam to prompt the dam mission. On the dam mission you fight and platform your way up to the top of the dam, take a cool dive off of it ala Goldeneye (N64), and then do some swimming to find and disarm the bombs.

After the Dam mission is overwith, it can be business as usual or you can go back to the Lair. Upon reaching the Lair it prompts the storyline of you discovering that Splinter was captured, Shredder coming on the TV making his announcement, and lah-dee-dah! The major difference here is that the idea of searching for Splinter brings up the concept that he could be anywhere in the city and you need a faster way of getting around without arousing the suspicion of humans. So, enter [insert whatever Turtle vehicle Ubisoft would decide to use here] just for that purpose.

Of course, a huge new section of the city would be unlocked for you to explore on foot like before or in the [random TMNT vehicle of choice]. There's lots of buildings to explore that are fronts for the Foot and allies of the Foot such as the Purple Dragons and you have to platform and fight your way through these buildings to obtain clues as to Splinter's whereabouts. Upon finding all the clues, the story then allows you to access the set of buildings Splinter is on top of. You go through these buildings, eventually reach the top, platform some rooftops, and have to defeat the Mecha Turtle (who is somewhat like the Mecha-Turtle from the first PS2 TMNT 2k3 game).

After rescuing Splinter, the Helicopter gets away and there's some cutscene where you see it go to a specific direction in the distance which, through some way or another, it's revealed that Shredder owns a bunch of warehouses on Lairdman Island. The only problem is that you don't really have a way to get there because it's pretty far away (even for a mutant Turtle). So, then unlocked is the Airport.

So, you can continue free-roaming and doing side-missions and stuff (like any other time in the game) as well as keeping [insert TMNT vehicle] for future use to get around the city faster without having to hide in alleyways and stuff. Whenever you're good and ready you can stealthily platform your way through the buildings, rooftops, and tunnels of the airport (which, for some reason, is crawling with Foot despite modern airport security ) until you beat some boss (like.. oh, say, a Giant Mouser!) and get to a private project Don's been hiding in some no-longer-used area of the airport: [insert TMNT flying vehicle here]!

Upon reaching [insert TMNT flying vehicle here] you can freely fly it around anywhere in the game and get a cool view of all the places you've been. Maybe some feature can be added where April or Splinter pilots it or something and it can drop off the TMNTs at any point on the map where a rope can reach close enough to the ground that you can jump back up to reach it and climb it later. As for stealth... well, that can be figured out later. You're getting towards the end of the game anyway so who cares?

Of course, the real reason you got the [insert TMNT flying vehicle] is to make it to Lairdman Island. For story's sake, it's always night at Lairman Island for cool Ninja-esque reasons. While you're there you can go to various warehouses and underground tunnels to collect weapons, rescue fallen TMNTs, or whatever. Eventually, you have to search around for a certain warehouse on the East end ("the East warehouse on Lairdman Island") which is a front for some sort of huge underground complex. Think... something like Shredder's tower in 2k3 but going down instead of up.

Eventually, after a difficult battle you make it to the Shredder and kick his crome face into the back to his metal skull without him mutating you back into a normal Turtle or just plain killing you. Unlike the NES version this actually will be a difficult battle.

Of course, there's some obligatory ending sequence after all of this but, like a Legend of Zelda game, it autosaves at the point just before going to Lairdman Island so that you can repeat the last boss again if you feel like it!

Some of the things I was also thinking about was that the TMNT can gain experience (not so much RPG-style, though) by doing certain things as well as be good at certain things. For example, whichever TMNT you use more for platforming portions will excel at that faster while whichever TMNT you use more for fighting will excel at that faster. Of course, you can also train (with Splinter if he's not captured) at the Dojo in the Lair if you feel like it to get new skills and practice fighting (sparring) without having any specific concequences for losing (if you lose).

Every Turtle can max out eventually and every Turtle has just as much potential as another one in any specific skill or in physique. It just depends on how you treat the Turtle. If Ubisoft could put enough effort into it, a Turtle can even gradually lose skill or physique for not being used during the course of the game before eventually falling back to a default base level. This base can be determined by how far along in the game you are as to not make any Turtle too weak to complete the game if all of the stronger Turtles get captured.

Anyone else have any thoughts? I have a ton of ideas for a game like like this but I've already made this post too long. Someone else chime in!

Oh, and I didn't get this idea from Spider-Man 2 or Grand Theft Auto. I actually got the idea while watching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syXz3ny1wrk (amongst other TMNT NES videos) for hints and tips on getting better at the game and being able to explore more without being killed.

EDIT: A few more things! The addition of Casey Jones to the game as a playable character and the idea of side-weapons such as Shuriken that you can pick up along the way remaining in the game. Also, rope you pick up during the game has more uses than just crossing rooftops (such as scaling and rapelling) given the awesome platforming ability the TMNT have ala the newest movie games!