A series steeped in nostalgia for many,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtleshas 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 haveappeared in the platform fighterNickelodeon All-Star Brawl, with Michelangelo and Leonardo representing the pizza-loving quartet. However, it’s been a little while since theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtleshave 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. NamedTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: TheCowabunga Collection, this compilation sees a whopping 13Ninja Turtlesgames 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 keepNinja Turtlesfans happywhile they wait forShredder’s Revenge, which continues to receive delays.
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The Cowabunga Collection Should Keep Fans Busy
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revengewas 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 Revengewas pushed back to 2022, and a further release date announcement has not yet been made.
Shredder’s Revengeseems like it’s taking a great deal of inspiration from the classicNinja Turtlesarcade side-scroller beat-em-ups, most of which are included in this newCowabunga Collection. While fans are eagerly awaiting the newTeenage MutantNinja Turtlestitle, 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 forShredder’s Revenge, theCowabunga Collectionoffers 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 onwhetherShredder’s Revengewill be for them.
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Every Game Included In The Cowabunga Collection
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collectionbrings together 13 classicNinja Turtlestitles, 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 forlong-timeNinja Turtlesfans.
Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesandTMNT: Turtles in Timeare 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 stillone of the most popularNinja Turtlesgamestoday, with its bright and comic-like visuals still holding up along with its fluid animations.
The firstTeenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesNES 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 Gamemakes an appearance, being an NES port of the original arcade title with two extra levels.TMNT III: The Manhattan Projectis a title that was made exclusively for the NES, playing very much like the NES arcade port. AndTMNT IV: Turtles in Timeisan SNES port of the arcade gameof the same name. These NES and SNES titles will apparently include online and couch co-op functionality in theCowabunga Collection.
TMNT: The Hyperstone Heistis bundled in with this collection, giving players another side-scrolling beat-em-up thatresemblesTurtles in Timesignificantly. 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, andTMNT III: Radical Rescuemake up theCowabunga Collection’sGame 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 Rescueis 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 hassome 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 theCowabunga Collectionare the three different versions ofTMNT: 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 ofTournament Fightersfeature completely different narratives, with different villains and scenarios.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collectionis set to release in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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