Introduction

I won’t say I’m great at games like Hades or Dead Cells, these roguelike have always been a true test to my gamer skills and more often than not remind me I’m good at games but can always learn to get better. That’s what makes the genre so appealing from a gamer’s perspective—Roguelike tests players in ways that are challenging but never unfair. You die, gain some form of upgrade, as well as, learn what to do next time and repeat the process till you win.

I never thought in my wildest dreams that roguelike would mix with one of my favorite franchises, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT for short). Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate (Nintendo eShop) is what you’d get when you mix roguelike Hades with an arcade action game and an RPG. Developer Super Evil Megacorp is throwing their hands into the ring trying to best some of the better roguelike titles out there. Is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate the next big game in the franchise or is it another attempt at cashing in on one of the longer-living franchises out there?

We find out in my review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate for the PC!

Watch the Official Trailer

Gameplay

For those who religiously play games like Hades, I won’t need to dive into too much detail for you. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is more or less Hades but with TMNT characters and settings. You play as one of the famous turtles turned into a ninja by strange goo and while they control similar with a light attack, a dodge, a projectile, and a special move that would be oversimplifying Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate.

Assuming you’re not a fan of the legendary TMNT series, each turtle is armed with a different set of weapons/abilities. Leonardo uses two katanas, Donatello uses a bo staff, Raphael uses twin sai and Michelangelo uses nunchucks. These weapon variants don’t alter the look of the turtles but how they fight as well. Half the fun though, in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is trying each turtle, which you can do before and after each run, to see which style works for you.

Don’t be disheartened to hear but you will die…a lot…in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate. It kind of comes with the territory. Each level is split into rooms filled with enemies to defeat and move on to the next. When you beat a specific room, you’ll be given a choice that can dramatically alter your run. You can opt for simple currency which can be used to buy various little items from a shop, get dragon coins which overall boost your turtle’s various abilities permanently, and gain various boosters that can give you more critical damage for maybe several rooms or give you altered abilities that can last a run.

The goal of a run, like in Hades, is to learn what enemies you’ll be facing and how to alter your modifiers to assist you in surviving. Death isn’t meant to attack your gaming prowess but continuously arms you with stronger stats and knowledge. I died almost four times on stage 2 but after several runs, I beat it.

Now unlike Hades, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate has co-op and that is where you’ll notice the difference between both games. Co-op is where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate shines as I had the most fun jumping online and playing with up to 3 others to beat a run and or challenge rooms that sometimes pop up. You can also play couch co-op with friends or play entirely solo. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is best played co-op as it removes the tedium of redoing stages in a different run.

Aside from upgrades, you’ll also gain various artifacts/tools that can enhance runs in numerous ways. Some will heighten your chances of getting bonus rooms and others may boost scrap drops. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate has a learning curve but isn’t nearly as complex as Hades or some roguelike games. Experiment with which turtle works for you and what abilities work for your play style. I often used Leo and tried to gain projectiles that would give me a nice shield.

There is no one way to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate and I think this differs a bit from a title like Hades where using a specific weapon was better than another for bosses and such.

Graphics

Visually, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is good. I liked the design of the turtles and the various environments are detailed and colorful. Where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate loses some points is in the mob designs, an issue with nearly every TMNT game ever made. You’ll see the same enemy variants, usually with minor color changes and design revisions.

The bosses are great though, as most are from the series and there are a few I won’t spoil thrown in for good measure. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is visually fine, don’t expect brilliance but equally for the price and the amount of detail, it’s darn good.

Sound

TMNT has always appealed to me as a kid who grew up in the 90s when it was still semi-relevant. That’s because it has what I love about the era, great music, and a fun vibe overall. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate does an excellent job catering to my love of the period. It has two elements every good game needs: a stellar soundtrack and fun voice acting. While these aren’t the turtles I grew up with in terms of voice acting, their new actors did a great job of capturing each turtle’s attitude and tone.

Leo comes off as the hopeful leader who can be stern but also caring; Donnie the tech nerd who is smart and sometimes too much. Raph is the brawn no thought warrior who loves his brothers but equally gets annoyed by them, and Mikey is like a kid but needs calm in the chaos. Aside from the solid voice work, the soundtrack is incredible. I, honestly, want to buy the soundtrack (which is only $4.99 on Steam) as it’s so diverse but good.

Sound-wise, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is pure bliss, and that is the point of the game.

Story

Leonardo (Leo) has always aspired to be the leader to his brothers: Raph, Mikey, and Donnie, and prove to his father Master Splinter, that he can be a strong ninja. During a training session, the Foot Clan attacks, and caught off guard by sheer numbers, Leo falls. As he’s about to possibly face ultimate defeat, a strange portal opens leading back to the turtles’ lair and he discovers several events are unfolding.

Master Splinter has disappeared physically but remains in contact with his children via a spiritual realm. The Foot Clan also seems to be mixed up with something nefarious and possibly more wicked than anything seen before. Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey join together to save their sensei/father and alongside April aim to defeat the dreaded Shredder and win their ultimate battle!

Overall Impression

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is everything I wanted in a TMNT title. We have the goofy but sometimes serious story/dialogue, solid gameplay, and strong visuals. While I can see many roguelike fans who aren’t TMNT fans judging Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate harshly, I think if you like roguelikes and TMNT, then this is going to be a title you’ll enjoy without issue.

I do have minor gripes and roguelikes still aren’t my favorite genre…but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate made me find one that I enjoy quite a bit. I think Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate could be very close to perfection in various ways and I say that not only as a fan of TMNT but as a gamer as well.

Conclusion

Long after doing this review, I’ll still be playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate and trying to get better with the various turtles and their abilities. With most roguelike titles, I tend to shove them aside after getting a decent amount of time with them but, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate has something that makes it fun and I want to hopefully get my friends into it for some late-night gaming sessions. Many TMNT titles are either legendary or trash, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate falls closer to the former as it has the potential to be one of the better games from the franchise I’ve played in quite a while.

Now, if you need me to recommend this game to you, hopefully, my review is enough. If you’re a fan of TMNT, buy it, and if you love roguelike games, buy it. Buy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate as soon as you can!

—Aaron