TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a basic but serviceable coin-op conversion

Given that arcades have declined in popularity in recent years, you’d be forgiven for completely missing this game the first time around.

Originally released as a coin-op cabinet in 2017 and simply named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this beat ‘em up from Raw Thrills (Cruis’n Blast) is inspired by classic TMNT arcade games, most notably Turtles in Time.

Now with a shiny new Wrath of the Mutants subtitle and extra content, this arcade brawler is getting a second bite of the pizza with a home port.

Due to when it was released, the game is based on the Nickelodeon version of the TMNT, which ran between 2012 and 2017. This means the awful skinny Bebop design, but also means voice acting from Seth Green, Sean Astin and the like (though we’ll never accept “booyakasha” as a catchphrase).

Naturally, because it was originally designed for a format where the ability to learn things instantly is a necessity, Wrath of the Mutants is a simple affair with two main buttons, attack and jump.

As opponents are defeated a Turtle Power meter builds up, and when it reaches capacity a special move can be unleashed that dishes out serious damage to any enemies or bosses on-screen at that particular time.

One area where Wrath of the Mutants differs from previous TMNT beat ‘em ups is the increased selection of power-ups. Players can collect shuriken to throw at enemies from a distance, or trigger assists which summon secondary characters like Leatherhead or Metalhead to briefly jump in and attack.

That’s pretty much it, really – it’s a game that’s simplistic in its design, but sometimes a game doesn’t need to be overly complicated and an arcade beat ‘em up is certainly one such occasion.

Because it was designed to get through players at a speedy rate, the arcade version only had three stages followed by a final battle against Shredder. Thankfully the decision was made to add extra content to this home version, meaning there are now five stages followed by a lengthier Shredder stage.

That’s not to say it’s suddenly an Elden Ring style epic as a result of this, of course – a full playthrough will still only last around an hour, meaning the game will only appeal to those happy to play through the game multiple times simply for the fun of playing it. If you’re looking for something where you make steady progression over a lengthy period, this isn’t it.

“A full playthrough will still only last around an hour, meaning the game will only appeal to those happy to play through the game multiple times simply for the fun of playing it.”

One aspect that hasn’t been changed from the arcade game, however, is how cheap the enemies are. Almost since the inception of the medium, arcade games have been killing players as quickly as possible so they’ll insert more coins, and TMNT was no different.

That carries over here, meaning you’ll regularly get swarmed with enemies and take cheap hits, while energy-refilling pizza power-ups are few and far between.

It’s somewhat irrelevant here, however, because the infinite continues mean you can just brute force your way through the game, meaning the constant deaths just become an annoyance more than an actual challenge.

Ultimately, you get what you pay for here, and at only $29.99 / £24.99 it’s clear that publisher Game Mill knows there isn’t a lot of content here. There are no unlockable characters, no online modes (the game supports 1-4 players locally in co-op) or anything like that, you simply play through the game, rinse and repeat.

In an era where so many are complaining that games are getting too complicated, however, this can also be considered a positive. With no live service content and no microtransactions Wrath of the Mutants is refreshingly free of nonsense, making it a perfect game for post-pub play, or parents looking for something simple and fun to play in co-op with their children.