A series steeped in nostalgia for many, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has had a long history in the video game world, with the titular Turtles first appearing in an NES side-scroller in 1989, and cropping up every so often since then. Most recently, the Turtles have appeared in the platform fighter Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, with Michelangelo and Leonardo representing the pizza-loving quartet. However, it's been a little while since the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been the star of their own game.
Announced in Sony's latest State of Play, the Turtles are getting a collection of some of their best games. Named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: TheCowabunga Collection, this compilation sees a whopping 13 Ninja Turtles games come together, stemming from the NES, SNES, Genesis, and Game Boy eras. These games will all feature high-resolution graphics and will include some quality of life improvements, with some titles allowing couch or online co-op. Though they aren't new titles, this collection should keep Ninja Turtles fans happy while they wait for Shredder's Revenge, which continues to receive delays.
The Cowabunga Collection Should Keep Fans Busy
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge was originally announced in March in 2021, and was slated for a release later that year. Unsurprisingly, as seems to be the case with every game in the current climate, Shredder's Revenge was pushed back to 2022, and a further release date announcement has not yet been made.
Shredder's Revenge seems like it's taking a great deal of inspiration from the classic Ninja Turtles arcade side-scroller beat-em-ups, most of which are included in this new Cowabunga Collection. While fans are eagerly awaiting the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles title, this collection could help to tide them over until its release. Though the games in the collection aren't the most mechanically complex, with most of them releasing in the 1990s, they should offer a pretty sizable hit of nostalgia for fans of the series.
Alternatively, for those that aren't waiting for Shredder's Revenge, the Cowabunga Collection offers a general look at what the game might end up playing like. In giving the original arcade titles a go, players will have a good indication on whether Shredder's Revenge will be for them.
Every Game Included In The Cowabunga Collection
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection brings together 13 classic Ninja Turtles titles, ranging from their most iconic arcade outings to some of their lesser-known handheld entries. The sheer number of titles in this collection will likely make it worth the purchase for long-time Ninja Turtles fans.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and TMNT: Turtles in Time are the two arcade offerings in the collection. The first arcade game has some pretty primitive graphics, but that should be expected of a 1989 game. Both titles are side-scrolling beat-em-ups, giving the player the opportunity to play as any of the four Turtles. Turtles in Time, released in 1991, is still one of the most popular Ninja Turtles games today, with its bright and comic-like visuals still holding up along with its fluid animations.
The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES game is included in this collection, giving players a singleplayer side-scrolling action platformer that gives each of the playable Turtles their unique weapon, which affects gameplay. TMNT II: The Arcade Game makes an appearance, being an NES port of the original arcade title with two extra levels. TMNT III: The Manhattan Project is a title that was made exclusively for the NES, playing very much like the NES arcade port. And TMNT IV: Turtles in Time is an SNES port of the arcade game of the same name. These NES and SNES titles will apparently include online and couch co-op functionality in the Cowabunga Collection.
TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist is bundled in with this collection, giving players another side-scrolling beat-em-up that resembles Turtles in Time significantly. This game first appeared on the SEGA Genesis, and shares much of the same assets, sound effects, and animations as the arcade classic.
TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan, TMNT II: Back from the Sewers, and TMNT III: Radical Rescue make up the Cowabunga Collection's Game Boy offerings. The first two games are pretty reminiscent of the arcade titles, but obviously have their graphical limitations. Choosing a Turtle here affects the gameplay a little, with Donatello having a long-range, slow attack, while Raphael has a short-range, fast attack.
TMNT III: Radical Rescue is actually one of the more unique titles in the collection, instead forcing the player to take control of Michelangelo as he tries to rescue his Turtle siblings from Shredder in a side-scrolling platformer that has some Metroidvania elements. As more Turtles are rescued, the player can use their unique abilities to pass through previously-locked areas of the game, such as Leonardo's ability to drill a hole in the floor.
The final three games in the Cowabunga Collection are the three different versions of TMNT: Tournament Fighters, originally released on the NES, SNES, and Genesis. The NES version of the game was actually Konami's last title for the console in North America and Europe, and is one of the few fighting games available for the console. The SNES version of the game features the most vibrant visuals, along with a more varied control scheme, based on a four-button controller, and more game modes. The Genesis version has less playable characters the SNES version, and has a more complicated control scheme. All three versions of Tournament Fighters feature completely different narratives, with different villains and scenarios.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is set to release in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
