Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection

Developer: Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: Switch, Xbox One, Playstation 4 (Reviewed), PC, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $39.99 – Available Here

Overview

It has been a bit since Konami dived into their vault to release a hidden treasure – and they’re certainly making up for lost time. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection puts thirteen games in one collection, celebrating almost every title released during the 8 and 16-bit eras. With a lot of fan service and all the pizza you can eat, is this collection worth a shell? Let’s find out. 

Story 

There are thirteen games within this collection, so that means thirteen different narratives in total. Instead of listing the details of each, it’s much better to state that most consist of you either rescuing your pals or April from evil, with the usual pack of baddies playing their roles as antagonists. The games within the pack make up their own story, providing a history lesson of a franchise fighting to remain relevant as it traversed a decade where arcade titles were making the transition to consoles. The games also offer more dialogue and story as they progress over time, which was due to the upgrades in hardware and technology that evolved so quickly during the period. 

All games included are as follows: 

• 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 (Sega Genesis) 
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Sega Genesis) 
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of The Foot Clan (Game Boy) 
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Il: Back From The Sewers (Game Boy) 
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue (Game Boy) 

Gameplay 

This is what matters, as even with 13 games, a bunch of duds could spoil the whole collection. I think it’s better to speak about what works versus what doesn’t for this review – as a few of these titles show their age in more ways than one. The original TMNT for the arcade is fantastic, and while the NES version doesn’t quite come with the same speed or quality, it does offer a couple of extra stages, as well as slight variance with bosses within. That is something that occurred a lot during this time, as arcade titles would transition to a platform in a weakened state – but deliver a few extra goods to make up for the shortcomings. At the time, that was ok, and it still is now, even if the arcade selection may have the greater replay value with friends overall. 

In fairness, most of these titles are clones of other games that were original IPs. Nearly all of the titles here take notes from Double Dragon and other popular beat-em-up games from the era. Tournament Fighters, despite differences from the superior SNES version is a little bit leaning into the success of Street Fighter II, while the Game Boy titles were merely limited versions of all the lot. Sure, the Game Boy titles are fine and Radical Rescue is a nice change of pace due to its exploration bits (as it plays closer to something like Castlevania), but I personally found the handheld games to be a neat novelty or bonus, but nothing that really kept me glued in for too long due to their simplistic nature. Sure, I am elated for the inclusion, but I think most will be spending a good amount of time with Turtles in Time, Tournament Fighters, and Hyperstone Heist – which added a lot of speed and great quality of life improvements to the overall formula.  

This was a time where licensed IPs got away with copying, and that is perfectly ok here as it makes these titles better games because of it. There is still so much originality even with the similar stages and styling that most will not mind what feels like a theme dropped onto what was an already classic and fluid experience. The extras are simply phenomenal here. Each game has its own instruction manual with full color images and details for movesets and so on that most will appreciate. There is also a vault dubbed the “Turtle’s Lair”, which has comics, boxart, and so much else included that it can take a good time to sort through it all for hardcore fans of the franchise. As far as online play goes- well, that really is the only miss. With only four titles featuring compatibility, none felt very smooth during my attempts with input latency and frequent disconnects during my several sessions. That said, this is without a doubt the best non-Sega/Capcom compilation to date, a treasure trove for Turtles’ fans. 

Visuals 

I could write about variances between the console and arcade titles in this pack as there is a lot to speak about from a graphics standpoint that is yet another history lesson. That said, this is a review of the collection and not a Wikipedia article, so most of the focus really needs to be on how well they are optimized for current platforms. Not one title looks bad or grainy (by default), with each retaining their original speeds with silky smooth emulation. The filters are a nice touch as well, even if some feel more like an add-on that is trying to mimic the effects of past televisions and cabinets, rather than truly emulate it. I think Capcom have gotten better with this over time, and Konami and Digital Eclipse still did a great job capturing the original look, but still could take a lesson or two in mastering how to implement these filters into a crisper presentation. 

Audio 

Licensed or not, most of these soundtracks are legendary for a reason. Each title retains the quality of the original audio, sounding great as you dive back into every adventure. The sound effects are also great, and the game of course has a jukebox of sorts for players to mess around with, as well as a bevy of other audio options. That main theme is awesome as it is, and the remixed offerings from menus are equally endearing to both longtime fans and newcomers alike.  

Overall  

From top to bottom, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection may be the most lovingly created compilation to date. Despite a few odd quirks here are there and the actual quality of every title involved in this set, there is no doubt that this was made by fans, for fans. Sure, the turtles may not be as relevant on a mainstream level as they once were, but this game captures that era, allowing players to relive the good times and escape back to it. If you are looking for Turtle Power for a great price, look no further as outside of actual pizza, everything else can be found within this terrific collection. 

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