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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants

The Turtles are back once again to teach Shredder a lesson, but unfortunately they seem to have forgotten how to make a good game in the process.

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In 2017, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came to arcades in a new experience based around the TV series that started back in 2012. A full seven years later, it's time for the game to come to modern consoles along with additional content. After spending a couple of hours with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants, I can say that the publisher should have spent their resources on something else and let this adventure remain buried in oblivion. Because this really just reeks of sour sewage and burnt pizza cheese, and no matter how big a fan you are of the Ninja Turtles, there are far better and more fun products to spend your money on.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants
World-class graphics!

However, an initial and seemingly positive aspect is that it's clear that Konami's immortal classic from the 90s has been looked at for inspiration and design, but where the Japanese game creator delivered pixelated brilliance, developer Raw Thrills has settled for bland playability and poor presentation. The design is taken from the 2012 Nickelodeon series, and while the design itself may not be the best, the lacklustre graphics fail to elevate it to any higher level. The fact that this game was released in 2017 seems preposterous at first (and second and third) glance, and it's easier to see it as a 2007 title for the Nintendo Wii rather than something that belongs on today's consoles.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants
Someone thought this should be worth $30.

Because TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is horribly ugly, and there is very little life or charm in either the environments or the characters crowded together on the screen. There's also something odd about the sound, as the music is extremely low in the mix, making it feel flat and low-energy. The only thing you really hear are the characters throwing out half-baked one-liners from time-to-time, and when these are accompanied by the total silence, the spectacle unfolding before your eyes feels more like a derailed farce than something pulse-raising and engaging.

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The gameplay itself is certainly acceptable, even if it is extremely bare-bones and lacking in ideas. You use one button to fight, one to jump and a third to rip off your special ability. Beyond that, there's very little to keep track of, and when the enemies' intelligence is barely present at all, it feels like you're hammering the X button to reach the credits and finally turn off the misery. Moreover, all the bosses are almost identical, and even if they have different appearances, they rarely add anything new or interesting that raises the experience to anything other than a very mediocre level.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants
Donatello plays the magician.

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. Sure, you can replay all the levels endlessly to get a better score, but there's nothing to encourage you to revisit each level after you've already ploughed through them the first time. Sure, if you enjoy pain, you might find some sort of pleasure in tormenting yourself in this polygon-lacking action disappointment, but for everyone else, there's nothing of value here.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants
No, don't buy this.
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In conclusion, I can't recommend TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants to anyone, not even the most dedicated fans. Sure, it can be played through without any pesky bugs, but with a price tag of $30 for a mere hour of so-called "entertainment", it doesn't feel acceptable anywhere. The whole product feels like an extremely shoddy way of trying to make money without making the slightest effort, and I hope people don't let themselves be fooled by the Turtles logo and make a purchase in the hope of finding nostalgic joy, because when it comes to the joy of gaming, there certainly isn't any of that here.

03 Gamereactor UK
3 / 10
+
It only takes an hour to complete.
-
Bad graphics. Boring gameplay. Poor content. Weird sound mix.
overall score
is our network score. What's yours? The network score is the average of every country's score

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