TMNT Analysis: The Cowabunga Collection. A tribute to retro

The Ninja Turtles are back in a compilation that offers us their first games on 8 and 16 bit consoles. But we are not talking about a normal set of games, TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection It is a tribute to the first steps of the Turtles in the world of video games.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Phenomenon

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a veritable popular culture phenomenon of the last century that has survived to the present day. It all started with a little black and white comic strip by Kevin Eastman there Peter Laird entitled “Eastman and Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” It was published in 1984 and was a very independent limited edition comic book with no big pretensions. The success was overwhelming to the point of having to do more runs and sparking what would be a real fever for our dear Turtles.

The first anime series starring 10 seasons between 1987 and 1996 and the 1990 live-action film, made the Turtles true icons of children of the time. The anime series “softened up” the brutality of the original comic, making the story child-friendly, and managed to spread “turtle mania” around the world.

The fashion for these charismatic ninjas with a shell never went away and was followed by more live action films in the 90s of the last century, more series and animated films, and later new ones live action movies. And it doesn’t stop there, as there will be a new movie saga centered around each of its villains. They will be released in 2023 and will come directly after the Turtles reboot hits theaters with the movie Mutant Chaos. That is to say, the Turtles were never done leaving, although they had more critical moments.

Video games were no strangers to this franchise that sold merchandising non-stop and quickly landed in this area. The first to receive them was Nintendo (NES/Famicom) in 1989. At the same time, a spectacular arcade with the possibility of playing four players was released, which older fans still cherish in our memories. Since then, the Turtles have received many games, some with platforming touches and most of the beat’em up/hack & slash genre. Today we are facing an excellent compilation of all these games and which we are going to comment on.

TMNT Compilation: The Cowabunga Collection

Konami, Nickelodeon and digital eclipse They recovered these first Ninja Turtles games to bring them back this 2022 in TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection. Digital Eclipse already had experience in this area, having saved and compiled sagas such as 16-bit Disney games (Collection of classic Disney games), the Street Fighter saga (Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection) or the classic MegaMan (Legacy Collection).

The company seems to be specialized in this field to the point of having its own technology for making universal ports, the Eclipse Engine. Up to thirteen classic games, and some legendary ones, we can enjoy in this compilation:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (Arcade), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (NES), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (NES), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (Super Nintendo), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Super Nintendo), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (Mega Drive), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Mega Drive), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of The Foot Clan (Game Boy), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back From The Sewers (Game Boy), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue (Game Boy)

Presentation and games

These are selectable from a nice overview menu and action and fighting predominate, although in the Game Boy there is a certain platforming touch. You can choose between the American and Japanese version of the title.

Their length is not excessive, but all of them, without exception, are terribly funny. And above all, these are games that marked an authentic era. Some of them like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time of super Nintendo or those of Nintendo/Famicom, are authentic pillars of the catalog of the respective consoles.

The two arches: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles there Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time they have a hilarious online game for up to four players. The Hyperstone Heist of Mega Drive and Tournament fighters super nintendo They also have online multiplayer, in this case for two players. Two beat’em ups and two 1 vs 1 fights, good options but we would also have liked to have this option of online play in Nintendo/Famicom games.

Back to pixels in TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection

Obviously, we cannot qualify the graphics section as if it were a current game. What we can say is that the games look like never before

. Normally, games that were made for old TVs and their famous lineups tend to look bad on TVs since the arrival of high definition. But the work done here is truly amazing. We recommend not using filters for the best gaming experience, but by enabling LCD or monitor filters, we can appreciate the great work that has been done for our Full HD/4k displays.

In this case, the titles have been adapted impressively and their pixels look like the result of a current indie game, their colors are more vivid than ever and, above all, without image defects. We mention it because in some games there is an option to improve some graphical errors that they suffered at the time. It was not strange to observe disappearances of sprites (characters), slowdowns and other types of failures. Before starting each game there is a menu with certain types of improvements, some at a playable level which we will tell later and others at a graphical level. Some of them fix issues like the ones mentioned above, making the gaming experience much better than when the game was released.

To this is added the 4k and HD textures that give brightness and definition never seen before in games of this era. In addition and for purely decorative reasons, there is the question of screen frames. The 4:3 aspect ratio can be converted to full screen or framed, with the game cover, which looks really good.

sound and playability

The cleanliness of sound and effects is noticeable. Sound and vocals have never sounded so good. The melodies are very catchy, including the mythical opening of the animated series. Added to this isthe ability to listen to our favorite tracks, broken down by game. The different save game options, backtracking, divine mode and others that we analyze in the extras, will increase the gameplay of the title. And that, considering the fact that these titles were played with 2 or 4 buttons at most, gives us some titles suitable for all types of audiences with incredible gameplay

.

The possibility of playing several on the same console is real. Being able to play with other friends who have also lived through the time of games, sharing a game, is a very fun and nostalgic retro experience, only missing a few Nocilla sandwiches or the like. Added to this is the online experience in some titles, as mentioned above.

Some juicy extras

One of the highlights of the compilation is undoubtedly the extras that surround the games. We will have access to the original boxes and covers of the games in Japan and the United States, as well as announcements and press kits from the time. More than 3700 objects that can be seen by adding all the extras, impressive. In addition, there are other options such as the possibility of saving the game or rewinding a fraction of time in all games, choosing a level, God mode, accessing a strategy guide with advice to beat the games and with controls. A wide variety of options and data that will help you enjoy games even more.

At the same time also pWe will be able to access more history of the Ninja Turtles. And it is that we will have access to the covers of the original comics, (which we used above in the introduction). We will also have data on the different seasons of the classic anime series. A real delight for lovers of our twisted heroes.

TMNT Conclusions: The Cowabunga Collection

JDTM: The Cowabunga Collection It becomes a must buy for any Turtles fan or the more veteran gamers who enjoyed the games back in their day.. The care and attention with which this compilation has been treated and the fact that it is not a simple bundle with the games in HD, make it one of the most elaborate compilations and with the best results obtained. The workmanship with all the extras it includes is truly remarkable and the effort put into finding a quality compilation is evident.

Added to this is hilarious online play for some of the games, which is always appreciated and will allow us to share the retro experience with other players.

In Area Xbox we can only recommend this sensational compilation and hope that it will serve as an example to recover other sagas with this quality and these extras. Many thanks to the Konami team for the code for this review.