TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants review

TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants review

The return of an older game with an older turtles team, albeit with a bunch of new updates.

The 2012 TMNT animated show was great. It was one of the iterations of the Turtles that had some of the best storylines and character development. The Raw Thrills-developed arcade game, first released in 2017, aimed at taking the feel of the old TMNT arcade games we loved and putting them into that updated universe. The game was fine. It didn’t do anything exceptionally unique, but it served its purpose and met the basic expectations for what those games are.

The game is back now, and the biggest issue I think I have with it is that it’s so short. Even with all of the new content — it’s basically double the original game — I was able to get through it in just a couple hours. These types of games are meant to be played with multiple deaths and quarters, which is a natural sort of way to keep us paced. An hour at an arcade is a loooong time, especially if we’re dropping quarters and playing over and over. But an hour at home, without the stops and pauses and gates of the arcade experience, is very short.

It’s not bad, it’s got a ton of new content and it looks real good — but it’s short. It’s an arcade game, and to really get fulfillment of it will mean that we have to come back with friends and play over and over like we do with party games now.

I enjoyed this classically-inspired Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade brawler for what it is: a classically-inspired Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade brawler. It’s a good game that tops its 2017 iteration in every aspect. It’s great for fans of TMNT and arcade experiences, and worth jumping in with friends for a short but sweet play.

This review is based on a PSN code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. It originally appeared on The SideQuest Live for April 30, 2024

Images and video courtesy GameMill.