In 2017, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles returned to arcades in a new experience based on the television series that began in 2012. Seven years later, it’s time for the game to appear on modern consoles along with additional content. After spending a few hours with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants, I can say that the publisher should have put its resources elsewhere and let this adventure fade into obscurity. Because it really stinks like acidic sewage and burnt pizza cheese, and no matter how much of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan you are, there are much better and more entertaining products to spend your money on.
However, a first and seemingly positive aspect is that Konami’s immortal 90s classic was obviously used as inspiration and design, but where the Japanese game maker offered pixelated brilliance, developer Raw Thrills settled for boring gameplay and poor presentation. The design comes from the 2012 Nickelodeon series, and while the design itself isn’t the best, the lackluster graphics don’t elevate it to a higher level. The fact that this game came out in 2017 seems absurd at first (and second and third) glance, and it’s easier to see it as a 2007 title for the Nintendo Wii than as something based on current ones Consoles belong.
Because TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is terribly ugly and there is no life or charm in either the environment or the characters crammed onto the screen. There’s also something strange about the sound, as the music in the mix is extremely quiet and therefore appears flat and low in energy. The only thing you really hear are the occasional jokes from the characters, and when these are accompanied by complete silence, the spectacle unfolding before our eyes looks more like a derailed farce than something exciting and attractive.
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The gameplay itself is acceptable, although very simple and lacking in ideas. You use one button to fight, another to jump, and a third to trigger your special ability. Other than that, there’s very little to control, and when enemy information is scarce, it feels like mashing the X button to get to the credits and finally put the misery to rest. Furthermore, all the bosses are almost identical and although they look different, they rarely add anything new or interesting that elevates the experience to anything more than very mediocre levels.
It should also be noted that this adventure is incredibly empty, as we are only offered six levels that can be completed in just over an hour. Of course, you can replay all the levels ad nauseam to get a better score, but there’s nothing to encourage you to return to each level after you beat it the first time. Sure, if you like pain you might get some sort of pleasure from torturing yourself in this low-polygon action disappointment, but for everyone else there’s nothing of value here.
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In summary, I cannot recommend TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants to anyone, not even die-hard fans. Of course it can be played without any annoying bugs, but at $30 for a mere hour of so-called “entertainment” it doesn’t seem acceptable anywhere. I hope people don’t get fooled by the TMNT logo and buy it hoping to feel nostalgic joy, because as far as fun to play, there’s none of that here.
