Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has grown into a pop culture icon since the comic books and TV series debuted in the 1980s. Alongside a media empire spanning children's toys, animated cartoons, and live-action movies, the anthropomorphized turtles have also seen a major presence in video games throughout the years. The Turtles continue to see success even today with the recent release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. Now, The Cowabunga Collection is set to bring back a plethora of classic adventures with Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has a rich history of tie-in video games with TMNT games dating back to the franchise's roots in the late 1980s. Early TMNT video games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on NES featured side-scrolling action platforming before shifting to the franchise's more recognizable beat-em-up style. Modern games have seen the Ninja Turtles cross over into a variety of games under the Nickelodeon umbrella like Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl. Now, The Cowabunga Collection serves up a set of old-school TMNT games set to arrive next month.
Digital Eclipse and Konami have officially revealed the release date for The Cowabunga Collection, confirming the compilation is set to release on August 30th on modern platforms. The collection made waves following its announcement for the inclusion of every classic Turtles game, with some included titles like The Hyperstone Heist being notoriously difficult to find. The Cowabunga Collection is set to include 13 games ranging from the separate NES and Game Boy Turtles trilogies to the arcade games and the SNES version of Turtles in Time.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection looks to serve as an homage to the height of the Turtles' popularity. The Limited Edition revealed in April includes bonuses like a physical box and poster with art designed by TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman. The package also includes a sizable art book filled with concept art and storyboards from the Ninja Turtles franchise's past. Multiple games within the compilation will also be updated from their original versions to include support for online co-op.
The Cowabunga Collection's August release comes as part of a major resurgence for the Turtles in recent years. TMNT had not seen a devoted console release since 2016's Mutants in Manhattan with the Turtles mostly appearing on mobile games or guest-starring in other games. The franchise also has multiple movie projects in production between Netflix's Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie coming next month and a Seth Rogen-produced animated film. Between new games and upcoming movies, TMNT has plenty in store for fans in the near future.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection will release on August 30th for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: IGN