Cowabunga it is. Hot off the heels of Shredder’s Revenge, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection has leapt from the shadows to give us turtle fans a chance to relive some of our greatest childhood classics, all with some spicy new upgrades that would make pepperoni jealous. Shall we dig in while it’s still piping hot?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection brings together 13 games ranging from the original Nintendo to coin-gulping arcade cabinets, alongside some radical bonus content and modern improvements. If that doesn’t get the mouth watering, then have a look at this trailer before we crack open the box!

Whether you’re a TMNT fan or even just grew up in the era they were at their peak, you will have undoubtedly come across the absolute glut of merch they had at the time, and yes, they had a ton of video games. Whether you had a MegaDrive, a GameBoy, a NES, or a SNES, you had a chance to own one of the titles here, or perhaps rent one from your local Blockbuster (now there’s some history for you). The Collection has the following titles, and I’ll be giving you an overview of them all as we go, just in case you missed them the first time around.

We have on the menu:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Arcade
• TMNT – Turtles in Time for Arcade
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for NES
• TMNT II – The Arcade Game for NES
• TMNT III – The Manhattan Project for NES
• TMNT IV – Turtles in Time for SNES
• TMNT – The HyperStone Heist for MegaDrive
• TMNT – Fall of the Foot Clan for GameBoy
• TMNT II – Back from the Sewers for GameBoy
• TMNT III – Radical Rescue for GameBoy
• TMNT – Tournament Fighters for NES
• TMNT – Tournament Fighters for SNES
• TMNT – Tournament Fighters for MegaDrive

It’s a really robust selection, offering beat-em-ups, fighters, platformers, and even a metroidvania for good measure! At this point all it needs is a sports title, but hey, don’t get Raphael started on cricket right?

The Collection, aka Big Choices, 4PM

The Collection itself is oozing with charm from the minute you start it up, hitting you with the classic 80s theme, and having menus that have some lovely new illustrations. On top of that, as you cycle through what game to pick, you can actually see classic comic panels around each game straight from the days of the OG Mirage comics. Very stylish if I do say so myself.

As for the showcasing of the games themselves, each appeared to run really smoothly from testing, with nary a missed input or delayed button in sight. Every title from Arcade to GameBoy ran like butter, with the exception of the NES titles due to their old limitations. This is of course where the Enhancement menus come in.

The Games, aka Genre Surfin’

As I said earlier, we have a lot of games here, and they actually cover a decent amount of gameplay types. Let’s break it all down a bit so you know what ingredients are in each slice; not all of us are gonna just chow it all down like Mikey.

The Beat ’em Ups

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Arcade
• TMNT – Turtles in Time for Arcade
• TMNT II – The Arcade Game for NES
• TMNT III – The Manhattan Project for NES
• TMNT IV – Turtles in Time for SNES
• TMNT – The HyperStone Heist for MegaDrive

These are probably the best known, and for good reason. Join a friend, up to three if it’s Arcade, and move through different environments beating up foot soldiers and Shredder’s goons, all while respecting proper pizza etiquette and thanking the great ninja in the sky there’s now a button to add lives.

These are a blast to play through, and an easy recommendation if you’re just starting out. And yes, Turtles in Time on the SNES is still the GOAT.

The Platformers

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for NES
• TMNT – Fall of the Foot Clan for GameBoy
• TMNT II – Back from the Sewers for GameBoy
• TMNT III – Radical Rescue for GameBoy

These are all single-player affairs where you’ll need to get from A to B whilst fending off enemies and exploring the environment for power-ups. TMNT for the NES has an earned reputation for being quite difficult, so make use of the rewind and saves if you need to. Radical Rescue is actually a metroidvania too, so make liberal use of your map, and if necessary you can make it clearer via the Enhancement menu.

The Fighters

• TMNT – Tournament Fighters for NES
• TMNT – Tournament Fighters for SNES
• TMNT – Tournament Fighters for MegaDrive

Each has the same name, but they’re all a very different experience, each with their own feel, art style and roster. Take on your opponent Street Fighter style as you try to work out which turtle is the Ryu equivalent (it’s usually Leo). Pro tip for arachnophobes playing the MegaDrive version: don’t pick the jungle planet!

Again, if you’re concerned that these will be dodgy ports, let me allay those concerns; each game ran beautifully. The visuals are crisp, the sound is as on-point as you remember it, and the nostalgia will be flowing like cheese on a margherita before you know it.

With all that being said, are there any negatives? Is a slice burnt on this lovely little dish? Well in all honesty, not really. If anything, it simply leaves me wanting more. We have all of these titles that are well-preserved with nice new modern features, but perhaps it could have been taken a tad further.

All in all, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is a solid compilation of titles that is perfect for TMNT fans, managing to both port it’s titles well and represent itself beautifully while doing it. It showcases a high point for the series and shouldn’t be missed for those who grew up staring in wonder anytime they saw a sewer grate or wished they owned a pair of nun-chucks. And with that dudes, I’d say that’s pretty much a wrap. Cowabunga? COWABUNGA!