AN ARCADEBOT SPECIAL · CHAPTER 5 OF 6 · Back to the TMNT gaming history guide
Two separate things happened in 2022. One team made a new beat ’em up with a retro sensibility; another gathered the classics and their archival material. Shredder’s Revenge and The Cowabunga Collection shared a sense of nostalgia, but offered different experiences: carrying a tradition forward and preserving it.
Shredder’s Revenge: Looking Back Without Repeating the Past
Developed by Tribute Games and published by Dotemu, Shredder’s Revenge debuted on June 16, 2022, on PC, Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, with other editions following. Its main visual reference was the 1987 animated series. It was neither a remake of the 1989 arcade game nor of Turtles in Time: it built new levels and a new combat system.
The official listing and press materials identify the team and release. Supported versions allow co-op groups of up to six players, though local limits can vary by platform and edition. Check the specific version before planning a night with six controllers.
The family resemblance is clear in the side-scrolling action and familiar enemies, but combat provides more ways to move, react, and connect attacks. Animation helps make those moves readable. A Foot Soldier absorbed in his job is more than a visual gag: he tells you something about the situation before the fight begins.
The game pulls off something many adaptations aim for: turning familiar characters into playable situations. April and Splinter broaden the team, while Tee Lopes’ music accompanies a deliberately over-the-top New York. The behind-the-scenes design material helps frame it as a contemporary production, even if it wears pixels.
The Expansions Belong to the Same Game
Dimension Shellshock (2023) added characters and a survival mode, with Usagi Yojimbo and Karai joining the fight. Radical Reptiles (2024) introduced Mondo Gecko and Mona Lisa. The press pages for Dimension Shellshock and Radical Reptiles identify them as additional content.
They are not Shredder’s Revenge 2 and 3. Editions that bundle DLC do not reset the original game’s release date, either. Its debut remains in 2022, and each expansion keeps its own place on the calendar.
The Cowabunga Collection: An Archive You Can Play
Published by Konami and developed by Digital Eclipse, The Cowabunga Collection launched on August 30, 2022, for PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. It gathered 13 arcade, NES, SNES, Genesis, and Game Boy classics. Konami’s announcement confirms the lineup and convenience features.
Saving, rewinding, or consulting a guide changes how you approach demanding games. Those options do not rewrite the original design; they let you choose how much of its historical difficulty to experience. The collection also includes Japanese regional versions for games that had them.
The museum, manuals, artwork, and development documents give the on-screen action context. Digital Eclipse presents preservation as a central part of the collection. A handful of sprites may seem modest next to a modern game, but the archives reveal the work behind an animation, a cover, or an enemy.
This is not a collection of every TMNT game ever made. It does not include the 2003–2005 3D trilogy, Re-Shelled, or the mobile apps. Its features should not be frozen at the original announcement, either: an official update added online multiplayer to the SNES version of Turtles in Time.
Splintered Fate: Making Each Attempt Part of the Adventure
Super Evil Megacorp’s Splintered Fate debuted on Apple Arcade in 2023. The Switch edition followed in July 2024 and the PC version in November that year. During 2025, it expanded to PlayStation and Xbox consoles, received additional content, and reached Switch 2. The official announcements for the PC release and Switch edition distinguish the original game from its ports.
Its roguelite structure makes each run a different combination of fights and upgrades. Failure is part of a learning and progression loop, rather than simply a return to the previous checkpoint. Co-op combat connects it to TMNT’s tradition, but building a run follows a different logic.
Casey Jones & the Junkyard Jam arrived in 2025. That same year, the September update and Metalhead DLC expanded the game alongside its physical Deluxe edition. A physical release, a port, and a DLC pack can arrive close together without being three different original games. The 2026 expansions are covered in the next chapter.
Wrath of the Mutants: Another Arcade Game Comes Home
TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants (2024) brought Raw Thrills’ arcade game to PC and modern consoles, with Cradle Games involved in development and GameMill Entertainment publishing. Distributor Meridiem’s listing confirms its April 23, 2024 release.
Its starting point is the Nickelodeon-era Raw Thrills cabinet, rather than Konami’s 1989 arcade game. The home edition added content to the original journey. Someone asking for “the Ninja Turtles arcade game on Switch” might mean a classic in The Cowabunga Collection, this Raw Thrills adaptation, or a modern game inspired by arcade design. The full title clears up the ambiguity.
Mutants Unleashed and Tactical Takedown Open New Paths
Mutants Unleashed (2024), developed by A Heartful of Games and published by Outright Games, continued the visual and story world of Mutant Mayhem. It reached Switch, PC, and PlayStation and Xbox consoles on October 18, 2024. This is a new adventure in that universe, rather than a scene-by-scene recreation of the film. The official announcement highlights its 3D action and two-player local co-op.
Tactical Takedown (2025), from Strange Scaffold, tried turn-based combat with changing stages and Turtles facing individual encounters. It debuted on PC in May; Switch and Xbox editions followed in August, with regional differences in store listings. The studio and Nintendo listing document the approach. A single-player tactical adventure offers a different experience from the four-player co-op commonly associated with TMNT.
The Turtles also appeared in Minecraft and Fortnite during this period. Those collaborations belong in the record as content inside other games, rather than as standalone TMNT adventures equivalent to Shredder’s Revenge.
Choose the Kind of Session You Want
| Looking For… | Start With | Why It Fits |
|---|---|---|
| A new beat ’em up with a classic feel | Shredder’s Revenge | Side-scrolling action, expressive animation, and co-op |
| The originals and their differences | The Cowabunga Collection | Thirteen classics and historical documentation |
| Repeat runs with changing strategies | Splintered Fate | A roguelite loop and variable upgrades |
| The Nickelodeon-era arcade game | Wrath of the Mutants | A home adaptation of Raw Thrills’ game |
| More of the Mutant Mayhem universe | Mutants Unleashed | 3D adventure and two-player couch co-op |
| Time to think through each move | Tactical Takedown | Turn-based tactical battles |
The revival is about more than returning to the 1990s. Each branch has a recognizable purpose. The classics have an accessible entry point, retro combat has a modern continuation, and new genres can explore the license without pretending to be the next Turtles in Time.
Continue the journey: ← Chapter 4: 2012–2021 · Series guide · Chapter 6: 2026 and Beyond →