PLATFORM: PC, PS4/5, SWITCH, XBOX ONE/SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
An expanded version of the 2017 arcade game based on Nickelodeon’s 2012 TMNT revival, Wrath of the Mutants is a side-scrolling beat ’em up along the same lines as Streets of Rage, Double Dragon and, lest we forget, the classic 1989 Turtles arcade game and its 1991 follow-up, Turtles in Time. Playable solo or with up to three friends in four-player co-op (local only – there’s no online functionality at all, sadly, not even online leaderboards), this edition of WotM contains all of the original’s star power (there’s voice work from Seth Green, Gilbert Gottfried, Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s JB Smoove, amongst others) as well as a couple of extra levels and boss fights, all of which are definite plus points, but unfortunately nothing has been done to make the game more exciting than the original.
Each of the four Turtles control identically, able to attack with a single button, grab and throw items, and pick up tokens to summon assistance from Leatherhead and/or Metalhead who quickly wipe out all of the enemies before disappearing again. Shell tokens send you spinning around the screen for a few seconds, a handful of projectile weapons can be used on occasion, and – in the only difference between any of the Turtles – you’re able to unleash a character-specific screen-clearing special attack when your power meter fills up. There are no combos to speak of, nor any upgrades to work towards or secrets or collectibles to find, and the combat feels quite stiff and clunky, making each trip through any given level feel very limited and simplistic.
Any given stage will take around ten minutes to finish, meaning the whole game can be wrapped up within about an hour. There are three difficulty settings to challenge yourself with, but higher difficulties don’t seem to alter anything other than the amount of lives you’re given to get to the end of each stage. Wrath of the Mutants is inoffensive enough to possibly recommend to younger kids who love TMNT but aren’t yet savvy enough to get to grips with anything more than mashing buttons and hoping for the best, which may well be the game’s intended audience. Anyone hoping for something to rival Shredder’s Revenge, though, will be sorely disappointed.
