Activision brings us the much hyped and long awaited return of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles foray into video games, but does it live up to it’s expectations? Read our review below.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a 2013 action-adventure, beat ’em up developed and published by Red Fly Studios and Activision, it is currently available on Xbox Live Arcade, Steam, and will be released on Playstation Network September 13th.

THE GOOD: Out of the Shadows is based on the critically acclaimed 2012 Nickelodeon incarnation of the franchise, despite the character designs taking on a slightly closer look to their Mirage Comics counterparts. The game is knees deep into the classic forms media including the 90s films, original comics, the 87 TV series, and somewhat the 2003 reboot, hell Activision even managed to license the Turtle Power rap song from the first film so it could play in the credits and main menu, speaking of which the title screen is a carbon copy of the cover for the very first issue of the Mirage comic.

Leo is meant to be the universal character of the game, meaning anyone can play as him.

The comedy of the 2012 series is definitely there, from Mikey rambling  on about staring at static on the TV, Donnie theorizing about the Turtles being cops in an alternate dimension, to Leo talking to himself about being leader to the point that he freaks his brothers out. Gameplay was fluid, although there were some annoying hiccups, it’s still engaging enough to keep you going to the end. as you progress you earn exp which then turns into skill points that you can use to upgrade the Turtles’ weapons and the Turtles themselves.

Raphael kicking some ass.

Each Turtle feels different, Leonardo, the leader of the group is probably the best character to use for young players as he’s meant to be universal. He has abilities that help himself out as well as the others, such as reviving another Turtle in order to gain a small bit of health for himself and the others. Raphael is the brawler/power character with an MMA inspired moveset. Donatello, the genius is the slowest of the group, but seemingly had the best defense from what I understand, Mikey is the quick Turtle and is able to land a combo easier than the others.

Mouser attack!

THE BAD: Despite it’s heavy influence on the 2012 series, the cast were not able to provide their voices to the game, meaning no Jason Biggs, Phil LaMarr, Kelly Hu, etc. There’s some glitches that randomly appear and it’s quite annoying when they do, to the point that it breaks gameplay. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get the Kraang’s comedic banter down right, but they really tried.

Takin’ out the Foot Clan.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a successful attempting at bringing the Turtles video game franchise back to the glory of its 90s predecessors. It features the comedy of the 2012 series, but the Kraang couldn’t be nailed quite right. Each character felt different and gameplay was fun, but there were glitches that slowed things down.