Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed Reviews
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed looks the part, but its button bashing action quickly becomes boring thanks to its slim selection of enemies and its constantly reused levels.
Despite its combat and platforming only being serviceable and the overall package needing a bit more polish, Mutants Unleashed still managed to be a turtle surprise because of how much love and understanding it has for the source material. It may not reach the same gameplay heights of Shredder’s Revenge or Splintered Fate, but it has one of the best tales to tell of any TMNT game.
We'd always rather see something aim high and fall short than settle for another dime-a-dozen action/platforming experience, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed certainly sits closer to the former. A Heartful of Games has made some noble swings here and some of them pay off - heck, nobody expected the Persona mission structure in this TMNT game. Unfortunately, all this ambition is overshadowed by performance issues that make even its most approachable elements feel like a chore. It's a fine welcome for younger fans keen to kick some shell after watching Mutant Mayhem, but this joint requires some serious scrubbing if it is to live up to its big-screen counterpart.
Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello, aka the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, are back on track. Mutant Unleashed is a game that remains in the comfort zone of third-person action, trying to offer a minimum of depth in the off-stage phases but falling into repetitiveness when it comes to taking the field, play the hard way and above all entertaining.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you're a fan of the series and especially the newer movie, you'll probably like it, but you'll soon realize that it's unnecessarily long, which is why I recommend playing it in short sections. The attempt to develop a deeper game is not detracted, but it needed to include a little more versatility.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Quote not yet available
Review in Italian | Read full review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed is a colorful follow-up to the successful 2023 film. With engaging characters and excellent voicework, things look and sound pretty great. Unfortunately, pacing issues and frustrating combat mar the experience.
TMNT: Mutants Unleashed has the makings of a good game for those able to sift through the grime of the early hours, but ultimately attempts to do too much, while never mastering any of its ideas. It is not the beat 'em up we've come to expect from the turtles, but is a serviceable light RPG with an in-depth, though not complex, story, a robust ability tree to unlock, tons of collectibles, and a unique ally system which rewards players who are willing to invest in helping the Turtles' friends succeed. Despite my initial hesitation and the abysmal camera, I found myself giving in to the game's eternally optimistic story and characters, and that was enough to compel me to complete the nearly 15-hour adventure.
I wasn't expecting such an ambitious, multi-faceted, experience from this latest TMNT tie-in. Unfortunately, mediocre gameplay and sub-par performance really let the four brothers down where it counts. Cowa-bummer, dudes!
It's all the more frustrating because the writing for the relatively engaging plot is great. Part of me wished this game had some time to be refined because the framework of something totally radical is here. It just doesn't make it out of the sewers.
Sometimes less is more, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed is a great example of this. It would have benefited from being shorter and stripped of the redundant and repetitive content that even crosses the line into annoying. The pacing would be better, the content wouldn't feel so schematic, and the game would be more enjoyable.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleased isn't the beat 'em up 3D platformer you are expecting; instead, relationships are important, like in the Persona games.
I had a wonderful time with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed and its enjoyable co-op gameplay with memorable characters that all have top-notch voice actors. The pizza did come out of the oven a bit too early, though. 🍕
It is a fun and engaging title that provides a great blend of action and adventure that fans of all ages can enjoy and is a very fun gaming experience at times.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed delivers a fun experience for younger Ninja Turtles fans with its accessible gameplay and visual style, though older fans may find it lacking in depth, with a simplistic RPG system, technical issues like frustrating camera angles, and a story that caters more to a new generation of players.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed is a broken mess. The story lacks the depth of most other entries in the franchise and the gameplay constantly stutters leading to a nauseating experience. Further, the loading screens are egregiously long and because of the lag, the game became completely unplayable. All this combined with a rough visual style makes Mutants Unleashed is an experience that is impossible to recommend.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed is a surprisingly good movie tie-in game. It has more to offer than most modern beat-'em-ups and the few tie-in games that are still made these days. It takes inspiration from the Persona franchise, which hasn’t been done in games of this kind. Thanks to the movie's returning cast and the game's expanded character development, Mutants Unleashed stands out as one of the rare, excellent movie tie-in games. Unfortunately, its camera and combat get in the way of being really great or even perfect. Still, for turtles fans, especiallyt those who loved Mutant Mayhem, this is a game that’ll make them shout "Cowabunga!"