Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants Reviews
Wrath of the Mutants is a functional beat 'em up. I'll give it that. If you liked the 2012 show and want more TMNT beat 'em up goodness to play, it's fine if your co-op friends are nearby. Otherwise, there are far better options at similar or cheaper prices, even within this IP.
In a world where the Switch is filthy with TMNT arcade games across the Cowabunga Collection and Shredder's Revenge, Wrath of the Mutants is a distant third place. It's fine in the sense that if you get three buddies to play through it with you, you'll probably have a good time. But beyond that camaraderie, this is a middling port of an okay game.
Inspired by Turtles in Time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants certainly plays like a blast from the past. After Shredder's Revenge, you'll likely find its gameplay too basic, however, and it fails to impress in other ways, too.
TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants wears its age as a nearly-decade-old port, and some of that is to be expected. It’s still hard to understand why any of its elements weren’t modernized to keep in line with beat ‘em ups released over the past five years, let alone the recent Shredder’s Revenge, which remains the conspicuous elephant of comparison in the room.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a decent addition to the collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. It succeeds by playing it safe. The two original arcade games are regarded as great arcade brawlers in addition to being some of the better Turtles games, and the gameplay of Wrath of the Mutants is heavily patterned after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. Fans of the franchise and genre will undoubtedly enjoy playing through the game once or twice, but outside of collecting all the trophies, there isn't much incentive for repeated playthroughs. There are no different game modes, no collectibles and the only difference in difficulty levels is the number of lives. Even with the additional content, it takes only slightly more than an hour to put an end to Shredder's plans and rescue April. It's fun enough to kill some time on a boring afternoon, but even the most hardcore Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan would hesitate to say this game kicks some serious shell.
Even with my love of the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and my enjoyment of the fun, but simple gameplay, Wrath of the Mutant's short run time and high price point make it an incredibly hard game to recommend. If this was a bonus game added to The Cowabunga Collection or a part of a sequel collection for some of the modern games then it’d be a notable treat, but on its own, it's simply not worth it.
There is no need to get Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants unless you really like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or you are one of the very small batch of people who enjoyed this game on the arcade and wanted to play in your own home for some reason.
My only real concern was the length of the game as with six levels of play; the game can be completed in a short time as most levels only take 15-30 minutes at most for players to complete.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants isn't bad. The fighting system is quite good, and the additional stages and bosses do a good job of lengthening a very short game. It's fun, and those who were lucky enough to discover the arcade game will be pleased with this port. Those wanting to take the plunge into the title might want to hold off for a bit, unless you can find the title at a discount. The $30 sticker price for such a short experience can be off-putting, especially with only one mode available.
At a basic level, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a perfectly serviceable brawler and a decent enough port of the 2017 arcade game, with a couple of additional levels to play through. However, one-note gameplay and a lack of unlockable extras make this a throwaway, short-lived affair.
Although it isn’t as good as the more memorable Shredder’s Revenge, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants has just about managed to become a fun experience that pretty much requires that you play with at least a friend to get the ultimate experience. It’s been long overdue, so it’s good that this has finally made it to consoles and PC. And although it’s only local, I’d still recommend this to other players, even if they plan on playing this game on the side to take a little break from playing the much higher profile titles.
Maybe there's some superficial, fleeting fun to be had here, but TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is far too simplistic, straightforward, and shallow to ultimately be anything more than an utterly forgettable disappointment.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants can be fun, but it’s a bit too simple and short to stand out for anyone other than fans of the series. The side-scrolling brawling gameplay is simplistic and doesn’t bring with it any fresh ideas, whilst the unbalanced difficulty feels like its designed to drain your health as opposed to offer a satisfying sense of challenge to the player. There’s some fun to be had if you can get four players together and there’s no doubting that a younger audience might appreciate the simplicity of the gameplay more, but for everyone else, it’s hard to recommend Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants when there are so many better releases available in the genre.
As a fan of the Turtle's arcade roots, I'd happily recommend TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants for a run or two, but despite the new levels the lack of online support and barebones presentation spoils this pizza party.
If you find yourself itching for some more Turtle beat-em up content after exhausting everything from Shredder’s Revenge and the Cowabunga Collection, Wrath of the Mutants provides a brief serving that’s simply more flashy and less fun.
It's a faithful port of the arcade game which adds two extra stages, but it is massively underwhelming for anyone hoping for something fun to play.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants expands on the 2017 arcade game but it’s simple and safe style and lack of replayability leave this brawler best left in the past.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is not a bad game at all if it is aimed at a younger audience who will likely value the direct and uncomplicated fun of the Raw Thrills title more than the lack of depth and content that the game offers us. This is a classic beat 'em up that if we are fans of the 2012 Nickelodeon series we can enjoy it despite its limitations.
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Beating the entire game takes less than two hours, but it still somehow manages to drag. You can return to the game’s six stages to try and get higher scores, but I had zero interest in doing so. The arcade games of yesteryear sometimes lacked depth, but they at least had a hook that stuck with you and kept you itching to return to pump more quarters into the cabinet. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants strives for the greatness of the influential arcade hits of the past but falls well short. Thanks to uninteresting and annoying gameplay, repetitive enemy and boss encounters, and grating audio design, Wrath of the Mutants is little more than a shell of the series’ glory years.