The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are arguably the most enduring property of the 1990s. From comics and television to films and video games, there aren’t many fiction characters that managed to make such a lasting impact on pop culture and entertainment in such a short period of time, the way the four iconic turtles have.
For gaming in particular, Donnie, Leo, Mikey and Raph have been an integral part of the medium’s history for nearly 40 years. The crime-fighting quartet had several arcade staples, made splashes on home consoles, and even a few appearances on the revolutionary Game Boy. Starting this month, PlayStation Plus subscribers can experience all that history via the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection available for free.
The Cowabunga Collection compiles a whopping 13 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games, all of which were released between 1989 and 1994. The collection spans games released in arcades and consoles, including relevant ports that released on Sega Genesis, NES, SNES, and GameBoy. It’s a comprehensive collection in line with what players have come to expect from developer Digital Eclipse.
Revisiting these classics, particularly the arcade games, are a treat even 35 years later. The gorgeous sprite work of the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game and its sequel Turtles In Time hold up beautifully, a credit to the work of original developer Konami. The less flashy but still fun console versions of these games are also represented here. Being able to play these classics online with friends (a feature applicable to all of the multiplayer games in the collection) is a dream come true.
The Collection also includes the brutally difficult 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES game (not related to the arcade game). The millions of kids who never got to see the game’s later stages thanks to its unforgiving difficulty and absurd levels can finally right that wrong. The Cowabunga Collection adds a handful of helpful features to aid you in completing these older games, including a rewind feature, save states, and more.
Rounding out the collection is the Genesis exclusive beat-em-up subtitled The Hyperstone Heist, the three Game Boy titles, and all three versions of the competitive console fighter Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters.
What makes this collection such a must have for fans of the Turtles is its meticulous, museum-style presentation. The Cowabunga Collection cares about the details. The game selection menu features comic panels bordering each title. Console game’s boxes and manuals have been scanned in and are viewable. There’s a music player containing each of the game’s soundtracks, as well as concept art for the TV shows, design documents for the games, character sketches and hundreds of comic book covers. Just like the most recent Konami/Digital Eclipse collab Yu-Gi-Oh Early Days Collection, this compilation absolutely delivers.
There’s little reason not to play a bit of gaming history in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection. These games are fun, casual experiences especially with friends. There’s no shortage of ways to celebrate the Turtle fandom these days. But few beat the all-encompassing reverence of The Cowabunga Collection. It’s a nostalgic delight that PlayStation users are lucky to grab free of charge this month.
