The review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants, a scrolling fighting game published by Raw Thrills GameMill Entertainment.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants teaches us, once again, that when you bring back something that "already happened" in a distant (but not very distant) past, the tasks should never be done lightly. Furthermore, when you have an event that coincides with the 40 years of activity of a franchise with a global fanbase. In short, if you make a mistake you get hurt a lot.
Raw Thrills and GameMill Entertainment tried, but the latest outing on the field wasn't the happiest. The gameplay has remained too anchored to the roots of the past - we're talking about 2017, just to put it into context - without offering any "real" ideas for innovation, except the inclusion of some new levels and special character moves. The Nickelodeonian context is strongly perceptible on the artistic front, even if the graphic models are decidedly uninspired.
On the game mode front, nothing new is to be seen, with the absence of a Story mode worthy of the name and a mere series of levels to be overcome at the pace of the beat-em-up. Well, let's not delay any longer. We leave you, therefore, with our review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants.
What was...has remained
Raw Thrills and GameMill Entertainment are bringing back to the market a game published in 2017, which in turn was intended to be a tie-in to the series dedicated to Ninja Turtles produced in 2012 for Nickelodeon. Remaining in the realm of memories, the gameplay was derivative compared to the arcade classics, i.e. a scrolling fighting game with special moves, in-game power-ups, and end-of-level boss fights. All while always maintaining the mood that characterized the series, with hilarious jokes and blind punches (and maybe there was even some pizza from time to time).
At the time it might have worked, for goodness sake, but reappearing today with the same dress is equivalent to potential commercial suicide. First of all, there is a sword of Damocles called the 40th anniversary (which we will return to shortly, also to vent our fan-rage); to follow, the gameplay was in desperate need of a very heavy restyle, with some design decisions that didn't work very well even at the time. Last but not least, the game completely lacks "character".
The success/failure of TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants was based on the stability of these 3 pillars, but these have unfortunately collapsed inexorably on themselves, generating a sad epilogue for the connected gaming experience. Leaving the considerations regarding the non-celebration of this brand to continue in this review, we will now focus on what didn't work on the gameplay side. Starting with the game modes, with a "storyless" story that involves a series of fights without a logical order that links them together. In addition to the classic one (in honor of the arcade sessions), the co-op ones are not appropriately seasoned with any challenge factor.
However, going into the technical details of the game, the side-scrolling beat-em-up formula only works halfway. The graphics and special moves are good, but the movement component in general and the differentiations of the combat system of the various characters are bad. Graphically it is in line with the mood of the Nickelodeon series, with a clean design but without major inspirations. Nothing else to add, which says a lot about the level of disappointment.
An anniversary not celebrated properly
The milestone of 40 years of activity has been reached. The cult phenomenon of the ninja turtles has managed to bridge the generation gap thanks to its presence in every "nerdophile" medium. Comics, films, TV series (anime and otherwise), and video games have seen the success of the 4 Brothers celebrated, keeping its action/comedy style unchanged in every release on the field. We, here, deal with the gaming sphere of the brand, even if on this occasion we are not exactly happy to act as spokesperson for the new arrival.
Let's start by saying that we were (and still are, let it be clear) cheerfully tuned into the frequencies of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge made in DOTEMU, therefore the level of our expectations was very high. Already from the trailers, however, it was clear that something was wrong. Did the publisher not want to reveal too much or was there nothing else to reveal beyond what was seen? In the end, the harsh truth was thrown in our faces, as we sadly had the opportunity to see earlier. But the most disappointing thing is that the opportunities to do much better were all there at hand.
The number of game modes available, which perhaps could have "satisfied" the end user in 2017, today fails to impress, except in a negative sense. Heck, you could have added full multiplayer functionality, complete with PvP arenas to compete in mini-stages. And why not, perhaps by including world leaderboards, complete with themed events on the occasion of the 40th anniversary.
But gameplay, in the strict sense, also enters the dock. The whirlwind of the smashing button is not avoided in any way, to the point that at a certain point, you realize that there is nothing else other than simply pressing the "hit" button. By increasing the difficulty you end up in a thrilling "marriage of slaps", with no possibility of escaping unscathed. The absence of "way out" commands, such as the lateral roll and/or the parry, constitutes yet another demonstration of how uninspired this revival edition was.
TESTED VERSION: Xbox Series X