TEST Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, the best compilation ever!

In the 90s, players discovered a whole bunch of video games based on the license Ninja Turtle. Thus, the consoles of nintendo and SEGA were able to accommodate explosive pearls that marked an entire generation. These old fans still remember arcades with titles TMNT who knew how to empty their wallets. Konami therefore comes back in force by offering a compilation of all these pearls of yesteryear that makes your mouth water greatly: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection (see list of productions). We had the chance to test this collection before it appeared on the shelves, what to be tempted or not?

A great idea.

So we have old pixelated titles in front of us that can sting the retina if you don’t play them on a cathode ray screen. The developers at Digital Eclipse know it, you have to soften all this by offering visual filters, and that’s what they did. Thus, we have the choice of various renderings, namely “TV Filter”, intended mainly for home console games, “Monitor” for the arcade and “LCD Filter” for portable productions. So, yes, the graphics are more polished, the retina feels less assaulted, but we find these filters a little too pronounced for our taste. Well at least they are present and thought “for”, that’s already it.

Also, we can change the screen size and choose between “Original” displaying the base game, “Fullscreen” simply increasing the resolution to the ends of the TV, and “Wide” which stretches, widens and distorts the screen. image to exhibit a catastrophic rendering; sincerely, avoid this type of option which completely distorts the graphics of the games. Finally, you can add very nice borders on the sides in the colors of a title instead of leaving black edges without soul; don’t hesitate to put them on, they are super classy.

Let’s talk little, let’s talk well, are there additional parameters to enjoy as it should be these experiences of yesteryear? Well yes and there are a lot of them. First of all, in-game, we can “rewind” a moment by a few seconds. Simply put, if you lose, you can go back to resume your adventure and avoid a mistake. Also, we can save and load a game whenever we want. Do you want more ? A Strategy Guide is there to give us some tips; yes, yes, like in the old magazines of the 90s. A great idea.

Let’s continue our momentum, before starting a game, we can choose its region: US or Japan. Totally crazy thing that has been added, cheat options are there to make our lives easier. For example, in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time, we can select the starting level or even add additional lives. In Tournament Fighterswe have the possibility to play bosses, increase speed, etc. In NES productions, hang on tight, we can remove slowdowns and especially flickering from spritesand damn it, it feels so good!

Hairs stand up.

As you probably know, games are made to be played in multiplayer. Of course, by connecting a second (third and fourth) controller locally, you can have fun with a group of friends at home. But where the team makes us happy is by adding an “Online” mode, to have fun with friends anywhere in the world; mode often forgotten in this kind of compilation. In other words, pure bliss!

On the bonus side, it’s a huge gift that we offer Konami. Indeed, the firm does not laugh with the aficionados and shares documents on the design of the games! Sketches of characters, levels, enemies, it’s just amazing. We are also entitled to press kits, magazine advertisements, comic book covers, an overview of animated series and American and Japanese boxes… A real gold mine ! Not forgetting the audio player to listen to sound electricity from beyond the grave. Hairs stand up.

Let’s not beat around the bush, this is exactly what players, and more particularly fans of a license, want when a publisher decides to release a compilation. Absolutely everyone should learn from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection! In addition to games and countless options, Konami did not hesitate to bring out old files and documents (especially those centered on design) to turn the brains of lovers of TMNT. The only regret in all this, there are no “PAL” archives, only the country of the Rising Sun and North America are concerned. But beyond that, we have here a video game collection that is clearly worth the detour. Special mention to the Nintendo Switch which, thanks to the smallness of its screen, displays a fine and pleasant image with the filters offered. In short, you like Ninja Turtle ? Did you love the games of yesteryear? Look no further and crack! We have one last thing to say to all the people who released this compilation: congratulations and above all thank you.

You can reserve Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection on Amazon from €39.99.