Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Game(s)

I dedicate this thread to talking about the TMNT games, from the Konami classics up to modern day.

Naturally, this is inspired by the new beat 'em up (heavily based on the old beat 'em ups);

and the collection coming out sometime this year:

Plus, I've been reading the newest comic series and have just been on a turtles kick recently.

Let's start with a question; what are the odds that the new game will have Jennika as an unlockable character or DLC?

Edited by Dracoblade on Apr 19th 2022 at 4:17:42 AM

I'm not sure how likely DLC would be in general. I wouldn't opposed to her inclusion, or any of the on and off again turtle allies.

Casey Jones better be in the game. They're already pushing it if he's a DLC. Although, I suppose it could be argued that they can't think of an 8th character that frequently fights with the Turtles. More specifically, one based on the '90s & Casey didn't become a frequent character until much later on. I would say Carter, but I don't remember anything from the Red Sky arc. I guess they could have Irma or Vernon as playable characters for shits & giggles. the 8th character totally should Mona Lisa or Usagi Miyamoto. Yup, can't think of anyone else.

I'm also going to go the extra effort to try to keep this thread a bit more active.

Thank you. Casey and Usagi are high up on my list, too.

Hell, my dream brawler would be a Turtles Forever situation that combines the continuities of the cartoon shows plus the comics. You could have branching paths where you'd move from one universe to another, facing off against enemies of all kinds.

Not really a Turtles character, but Usagi wouldn't be out of place.

Edited by Zeromaeus on Apr 19th 2022 at 2:45:05 PM

Especially since the rabbit and turtles have ended up crossing over in every series save Rise.

The 2012 three-parter was probably my favorite version of Usagi. Definitely the most faithful version, too, unlike the Netflix series which I swear feels like a kid friendly spin-off of an animated series that they forgot to actually make.

Wait, that was supposed to be Usagi Miyamoto? That's supposed to be a tv adaptation of Usagi Yojimbo?

Well, it should be the most faithful. It's written by the man himself, Stan Sakai.

Although, I did finish it recently & I still have a few gripes. I thought the tension between Usagi & Leo was pretty lackluster but the tension has its reason. I'm just way too used to the camaraderie/brotherhood between Leo & Usagi. The middle part was a bit much for me personally because of that. And the problem I had is that Usagi is oddly not that expressive in the show. In the comics, the Usagi cast has some pretty fantastic facial expression but Usagi himself is pretty stone-faced while the Turtles were still expressive as ever. I guess it just didn't translate all that well in 3D/CG?

I'm still upset that Rise got canceled. I wanted to see their take on Usagi, especially with Rise's artstyle.

Tch, as if they would ever have something that actually unites TMNT fans as a whole.

That was one of my dream for the TMNT franchise in general but that just isn't going to happen.

Jennika would certainly be an extremely nice surprise, but her chance is still very slim. Especially if the main focus really is just the 87 TMNT.

Still, it would be a nice surprise.

It would, at that.

That said, the gameplay for "Revenge" is looking pretty sweet;

Apparently, Splinter and April are in the game specifically because they had only appeared as either side characters or damsels/rodents in distress in the previous games they're calling back to.

Edit: And to answer your question, no, the main character in the Netflix series is not Usagi; rather, it's his teenage descendent. That's why I'm saying it sounds like a spin-off, like releasing MLP Gen 5 exactly as it is without airing Friendship is Magic first.

Edited by Dracoblade on Apr 20th 2022 at 9:26:39 AM

That game looks amazing! I'd love to play as Splinter, since the version portrayed by Peter Renaday in the 87 cartoon is my favourite.

There was a Splinter showcase back in February;

They also explained how the super moves work; there's three levels you can charge up to, or you can wait and fill the super meter all the way to unleash "Radical Mode."

Edited by Dracoblade on Apr 20th 2022 at 2:50:03 AM

I want to check the video myself, but it is as I feared. This reinforces what I said about Casey & the rest of the casts. How many DLC characters were there for SOR 4?

Hmm, not the most appealing thing to hear, but nonetheless I shall give it a shot. I don't know what MLP Gen 5 actually means, but I'm assuming that came after MLP: FIM. Either way, I plan to support my man Usagi the best I can.

Not many, but keep in mind that that game launched with 15 playable characters. Granted, a lot of those were clones from previous games, but nonetheless most characters fans wanted were already there.

Gen 5 is the Netflix movie that takes place centuries after FiM ended, so called because it's including the products for that series as well (Friendship is Magic and its following toy line was Gen 4, the previous cartoon and toys were gen 3, ect).

Edited by Dracoblade on Apr 20th 2022 at 4:28:46 AM

I see.

I was hoping that Dr. Zan & Roo would become playable at some point. I guess they were never going to do anything Skates. I suppose Ash just isn't gonna be in the game at all.

Where did you get this info from?

I can't find it.

Damn, Splinter looks cool in that video.

So there are a couple of things I want to point out.

The 1st is Splinter playable appearances. Shockingly enough over the decades, he has only a few playable appearances. The only ones I can think of are TMNT 2: Battle Nexus, TMNT Smash UP, & this upcoming game. If anyone knows more please feel free to correct me on this.

The 2nd thing is, as far as I know, Battle Nexus is the only video game Usagi ever had appeared in. And irritatingly enough, he wasn't playable. I really don't know why he wasn't?

Sorry I didn't answer earlier; I was at work.

First, Dr. Zan and Roo are playable in SoR4. They're the retro-style version of themselves, but they're there (Roo's tricky, though. You have to enter a secret code to get him).

Secondly, yeah, that's what I was saying earlier about April and Shredder's inclusion. Looking back, I was paraphrasing a bit — they haven't mentioned why April's included — but they've been very vocal on why they included Splinter; he was built up as this ninja master but so rarely showed his stuff in either the show or the games.

Oh, and in further news, the original voice cast is reprising their roles for the game. And we now have a release, erm, window. Instead of sometime this year, we know know it will be released sometime this summer. Which is still a pretty big gap in time, but at least it's narrowed down somewhat.

Maybe something to do with trademarks? Usagi is owned by Stan Saki, after all.

Edited by Dracoblade on Apr 21st 2022 at 5:27:43 AM

I'm just gonna assume you meant Splinter here?

In the IGN link of yours, it has the 87's voices in the gameplay. There are a few times the Turtles feel off. The one that sticks out to me personally is when Leo does what appears to be some sort of knockback attack but it doesn't match the amount of enthusiasm from Leo's battle scream. Otherwise, no, this makes me extremely happy. I will always appreciate any opportunity to hear the original VAs again. Especially in this day & age. I also hope this means that both Leo & Mikey will have Clarke & Colesend reprise their roles in Nick All-Stars. I'm also really hoping that means Peter Renaday & Rene Jacobs gets to reprise their role as Splinter & April respectively

That would be very disheartening to know if that's the case. Usagi being only a boss fight not a playable character comes across as very wasteful. That's the only time I can think that both Leo & Usagi were in the same game, which is very infuriating considering how many times they've crossed over.

TBH, this completely blew my mind. I never realized not only Splinter's incredibly shocking lack of playable appearances but how many times he's been captured in the video games? As a kid, I was always ok not being able to play as him as the Turtles have always been the main focus, but fast forward (heh) to the future, I don't see why Splinter isn't playable in more TMNT games?

Also, I just realized that Splinter was playable in the 1st 2K3 TMNT game (at least in the VS mode) as well in Mutant Melee. I just completely forgot about that game's existence.

In Smite, Splinter is playable, after a fashion. He, Krang, Shredder, and Turtles are all skins for different characters. Splinter was for Hachiman.

Seeing April gives makes me think about those Mega Man where you can play as Roll and beat enemies with a broom. There is just something fun and quirky about seeing her beat bad guys with her reporter gear.

Seeing how much Netflix is canceling their cartoons lately, I don't see much future for that Usagi show.

Edited by Sunchet on Apr 22nd 2022 at 7:48:12 PM

Yea, that's probably likely, isn't it? God, I hope that doesn't happen to Inside Job.

I knew about Kraang, but I didn't know they added Splinter. When did this happen?

Splinter and Shredder were added at the same time as Turtles, they were just put in the chest, not in the Battle Pass.

They're adding also Super Shredder skin next month (though he's largely based on Shredder Skin) and his splashart makes people hope that Bebop and Rocksteady are next.

How strange, I immediately checked out Smite to know how many TMNT elements would be in the game. I don't know how I can miss that? Especially after I found out Kraang got included later on.

EDIT: Wow, it is a lot more difficult to find these pieces of information than I imagined. I also just found out that Bebop & Rocksteady are going to be skins in the future.

Edited by agent-trunks on Apr 23rd 2022 at 4:57:57 AM

X5: Yes, I meant Splinter. My mistake.

I'll be honest, I don't have much nostalgia for the '80s cartoon — I'm old enough to remember the craze, but was still too little to really care for the TV show. No, my nostalgia is for Turtles in Time (and the first movie, that movie was cool). I still remember watching two guys play the game the whole way through one day at Windsor Waterworks.

But I gotta say, after watching a four-player longplay of the game on Youtube, it's really obvious that one guy did the voices for all the turtles. Plus, as fun as the hurt animations are, it's clear they just palette-swapped the same turtle model for a lot of them. That's why I'm glad to hear they'll have unique voices and individual animations; they're improving on what came before.

Oh, and here's an interview of the game. You know, with all the interviews and new gameplay videos we've gotten recently, you'd think we'd have an actual release date by now.

...also, why does Mikey have only one nunchuck? He's supposed to have TWO!

Edited by Dracoblade on Apr 23rd 2022 at 10:37:33 AM

He traded one of his nunchucks for a grapling hook.

Yes, I personally feel like not enough attention is being brought to the Turtle's animation. Back in the day, it was fairly obvious & it must've been a godsend for the animators to frequently recycle the Turtle's models & animation for each other. Which is why in Shredder's Revenge, I'm very much enjoying how even the Turtles have their own animations. Like their running animation.

For those wanting to scratch that TMNT beat-em-up itch before Shredder's Revenge comes out, I'd recommend the fan game TMNT Rescue-Palooza:

Somewhat simplistic combat, but with an absurdly large roster of characters, a decent variety of gameplay, and the whole thing being a big fanservice tribute to the 87 show, Mirage Comics, Archie Comics, & various video games its worth a play.