Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection Review (PS5)

Following the improbable Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge launched this previous June, Digital Eclipse — developer of compilations like Road Fighter thirtieth Anniversary Assortment — has teamed up with Konami to re-release its TMNT video games primarily based on the 1987 collection. Cowabunga Assortment collates 13 titles from the NES, SNES, Sport Boy, and Mega Drive into one radical bundle.

The touted 13 titles could also be a little bit of an exaggeration. Among the many video games included, three of them are variations of Match Fighters, an extra three of them are iterations of Turtles in Time, and two are editions of the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade recreation. Don’t get us unsuitable, these variations aren’t an identical, nonetheless it is price noting you’re actually solely getting eight wholly unique video games.

The celebrities of the present are the beloved arcade beat-em-ups — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Turtles in Time — each of that are held in excessive regard by followers to today. TMNT 1989, when considered as a product of its time, is nice enjoyable. Nonetheless, as a consequence of its restricted transfer units for every of the turtles it might get repetitive shortly. Additionally included is the NES port of the sport: TMNT 2: The Arcade Sport, which provides two further ranges and new bosses, however as you would possibly count on, it doesn’t maintain a candle to the arcade unique.

Turtles in Time is usually thought-about the gold normal of TMNT releases, and for good cause — it took what TMNT 1989 did and ramped it up in each approach. This time across the Turtles have a wealth of recent methods, like health-depleting particular strikes and a slide kick. The time journey plot of this recreation permits the extent design to be much more creative than the prior recreation, changing the streets of New York with the likes of the prehistoric period and a battle on a wild west practice.

Shockingly, Turtles in Time is among the uncommon instances of that period the place we view the console version as higher than the arcade unique. Alongside higher music, further ranges, and executives, the SNES port does not include limitless lives just like the Arcade version, making you play strategically or danger shedding out. Additionally included is TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist, a Mega Drive recreation closely primarily based on Turtles in Time — it borrows music, person interface, and plot parts, whereas re-contextualising some levels to account for the shortage of time journey (like turning the pirate ship right into a mysterious shipwreck). It’s a stable entry, however feels missing when in comparison with the opposite two.

Match Fighters is Konami’s try to seize the Road Fighter 2 craze with a Turtles flavour. Every of the three variations of the sport really feel radically totally different from one another, with every boasting totally different rosters. SNES is by far one of the best of the three: it’s a four-button fighter that feels extra in keeping with SF2 with Mega Drive and NES each utilizing two buttons. In principle a TMNT fighter sounds nice, however the roster of every model leaves so much to be desired. Characters like Splinter, Bebop, and Rocksteady are completely absent, with others like Krang, April, and Casey solely being part of the inferior Mega Drive and NES variations.

Rounding out the gathering is TMNT for the NES which is — to place it politely — horrible. TMNT 3: The Manhattan Venture, is a beat-em-up sequel to the NES port of the arcade recreation, and positively one of the best of the NES trilogy. Lastly, there’s the Sport Boy trilogy of Fall of the Foot Clan, Again from the Sewers, and Radical Rescue. The prior two are extraordinarily fundamental side-scrollers, consisting virtually solely of left-to-right fight.

To us, the nicest shock in your complete assortment is TMNT 3: Radical Rescue, a recreation which — for the Sport Boy — is extremely spectacular. Moderately than proceed the side-scroller efforts of the earlier recreation, TMNT 3 is a Metroidvania, a style Konami would later revolutionise. You begin the sport as Michelangelo and also you got down to rescue the opposite Turtles. Every Turtle has a selected skill — Mikey can spin his chucks to hover, Donnie can climb partitions, and so forth — permitting you to entry extra of the map. It could not stand as much as the nice Metroidvanias, nevertheless it’s a stable recreation for its time and one we’re excited to get again to enjoying.

So, what’s new within the assortment? Except for the belongings you’ve come to count on like display filters and rewind options, every recreation comes with its personal set of “enhancements”, corresponding to God mode, boss characters in Match Fighters, and even the elimination of slowdown and sprite flicker within the NES video games. Every recreation additionally comes with its personal in-game technique information with video ideas and different musings. You even have the choice to look at a playthrough of every recreation with the power to leap in at any level. On-line Play can be accessible for TMNT 1989, Turtles in Time arcade, Hyperstone Heist, and Match Fighters SNES. Sadly, we haven’t been capable of finding a recreation in the course of the overview interval.

Cowabunga Assortment is host to one of many biggest gallery modes we’ve ever seen in a set like this. The Turtle Lair has the same old suspects like idea artwork and soundtracks. It additionally has screens from the 4 exhibits, sprite sheets, scans of each recreation’s packing containers in each the US and Japan, comedian ebook covers, and even journal advertisements for the video games. It even has its personal search operate, so if you happen to simply wish to see footage of Mikey (one of the best Turtle) it would compile them from each single class.

Conclusion

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Assortment is a superb bundle. Whereas not each recreation is a winner — and a number of them are variants of different video games within the assortment — there’s nonetheless tons right here to like. It brings two of probably the most beloved beat-’em-ups in historical past to fashionable platforms, and is host to some hidden gems like Radical Rescue. That is all polished up with a number of nice enhancements and the improbable Turtle Lair gallery, which — for any TMNT fan — could also be well worth the value of admission alone.