Duh, who put the lights out?
This isn't an extraordinary XBLA release by any means, it's a plain port of the 1989 arcade version. This isn't a bad thing, straying from the original would have been a terrible thing to do, but a wide-screen update would have added new life to this classic.
I was more fond of the NES version growing up, and I still am, but the game brings back the proper retro feel of the great Turtles and Beat-'Em-Up era. Good controls and great graphics make this one of the best license games I've ever played. The only real hiccup is some cheap deaths from getting stuck in repeating attack patterns.
-- New challenge
In this new format the game is very easy to beat as your limited funds are replaced by unlimited continues. Grind it and you will beat it. This is welcomed as I remember the game as quite challenging as a child, true "NES difficulty" indeed.
New challenge is instead put into the Xbox Live Achievements who demand quite a lot to unlock, which is very good, chasing Gamerscore should be hard and rewarding and not dull and arbitrary.
-- Pros & Cons
+ Great graphics & license use
+ Good Beat-'Em-Up gameplay
- Some cheap deaths