REVIEW: ‘TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants’ Is Fun But Light (PC)

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had somewhat of a renaissance over the last few years. TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is the latest in new Turtle media that brings the 2017 arcade game to current-gen consoles. The game is developed by Cradle Games and published by GameMill Entertainment.

TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants lets players take on the role of one of the famous Turtles Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, or Raphael in a fast-paced beat-em-up. Fighting their way through six unique levels, the Turtles need to battle their way to take on the evil Shredder in order to free April O’Neil. It is a straightforward approach in terms of storytelling and does not try to do much more than that.

Setting the simple premise allows the focus to remain on the actual levels. Players get to choose a Turtle before jumping into a level that all follow the same general route. Battle your way through an onslaught of enemies, take on a mid-level boss, fight through even more enemies, then fight the final boss and clear the level. The familiarity allows each level to feel a little easier the further you get.

Along the way, there are some neat mechanics in TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants. Each level has environmental items that can be used as weapons or that can hurt the player. The Coney Island level, for example, has a section where the player is in between two roller coaster tracks with the occasional car that passes by and causes damage. These types of mechanics do not show up as much as I would have liked and not every level is as intricate, but they are still appreciated.

There are also power-ups scattered all around. Things like shurikens that can be used to throw at enemies, an item that temporarily freezes opponents, and even items that call in other minor characters to help clear the area. There is not a ton of variety here, but these items are easy to understand and often show up exactly when you need them.

Each of the four Turtles also has their own “Turtle Power” special attack. These attacks have a bar that can be filled by either damaging and defeating enemies or picking up a specific item that boosts the bar. The Turtle Power attacks are themed around each character and work wonders when you need to clear a large horde of enemies or do some damage to a pesky boss.

Getting a handle on how combat works in TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is pretty easy. There is just the thumbstick to move, a button to jump, a button to attack, and a button to use the special “Turtle Power” attack. Since it is all easy to pick up, it makes this the perfect game to jump right in and play a few rounds either solo or through couch co-op with a few friends. The arcade game feel does not need to be overcomplicated, that pick-up-and-play approach is what makes it much easier to recommend.

There is a surprising amount of bosses considering how few levels there are. There are a total of 13 enemies including classics like Krang and the final boss Shredder. Some of the bosses are more of a deep cut, which is great for long-time fans of the 2012 series the game is inspired by. The one issue here, though, is that each boss follows the same general attack pattern and can be easy to defeat once you get a hang of that pattern.

Since the game is based on the 2012 version of the cartoon, the character designs are based on the ones from that series. This is pretty hit or miss for every character. Some designs look cool, the Turtles themselves are well done, but others are a little jarring. Shredder, especially, was a bit of a letdown. He just doesn’t look as imposing or dangerous as he is supposed to be.

All of this comes together in a package that is enjoyable to play but feels repetitive and lacking. There just is not enough variety and the experience is over before you know it. Even including things like the original character’s voice actors is only great for a moment, until you realize the lines are just the same few repeated over and over again.

It’s not that TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a bad game. Far from it, actually. What exists is really fun to play in short stints and can be even more fun, challenging against friends to achieve a high score. This type of game just works better in an actual arcade.

TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants has its moments of fun but needs to have more variety to be truly great. It is worth the price of entry if you just want to mindlessly kill some TMNT-themed enemies, but don’t expect anything revolutionary.

TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants releases April 23rd on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.