Ask any arcade aficionado what the best side-scrolling beat-em-up game is, and a common answer will be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. During Konami’s golden arcade age, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games were so groundbreaking they’ve influenced just about every other beat-em-up game since. As time went on, though, the quality of TMNT titles continuously dwindled, and today the announcement of a game based on the series is met with much speculation.
The TMNT license has been passed around to a few different developers over the past few decades. Starting in 1989, Konami made a slew of arcade and home console titles until the license was transferred to Ubisoft in 2007 for a few years, and most recently Activision. Games released under Activision like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhatten were de-listed from digital storefronts in 2016, most likely due to an expired license.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the biggest and most defining franchises of the late ’80s and is arguably just as popular today as it was when the 1987 cartoon gave everyone turtle mania. Unfortunately, that mass success has led to rushed development time on just about every Turtles game that’s been released since the 2003 cartoon. Even the remaster of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time was poorly received and wasn’t updated enough to impress gamers in 2009. In fact, the continuous lack of quality all started with Konami’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game for PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox, based on the 2003 cartoon.
TMNT Games Are ALWAYS Too Rushed
The original arcade and NES/SNES TMNT games were loosely based on the original animated series but weren’t held back by arbitrary deadlines in order to maximize marketing. While the first two NES titles were slightly lacking in depth, TMNT III: The Manhattan Project and TMNT: Turtles In Time perfected the formula and created some of the most engrossing and engaging side-scrollers ever. Both titles had excellent level design, difficult but fun boss battles, and implemented local co-op in the best way possible.
Many TMNT fans will argue that the 2003 series is one of the most faithful adaptations of the Turtles, and is a favorite along with the original live-action movies. When the series first released, Konami began development on three TMNT games that would release annually. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare was panned upon release for uninspired combat, dumb AI, and a lack of innovation, as it played exactly the same as its two predecessors. These rushed annual releases had no time to work on combat systems or improve gameplay, and the lack of developmental time allotted shows in their quality.
With the release of 2007's CGI TMNT movie, Ubisoft took up the license and released a tie-in game. Again, most likely held back due to a rushed development cycle, the game received poor reviews, and Ubisoft’s other TMNT games like TMNT: Smash Up didn’t live up to the arcade titles' legacy. In 2013, Activision took up the license and developed a number of TMNT games based on the new Nickelodeon animated series. Although the game was geared towards a younger audience, once again rushed development meant that even Platinum Games couldn’t use their expertise in brawler-style games to make a fun Turtles experience in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan.
Although it’s been over 20 years since a solid Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, there’s still hope. The recent run of IDW TMNT comics has been a resounding success with fans and would be an excellent source of inspiration for a new title. Injustice 2 also showed fans how amazing the Turtles can look in a high-budget video game. With Activision’s license suspended, Nickelodeon could try once again to find a new video game publisher that could bring back the excellence of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time.