Konami certainly has been on a role with re-releasing their classic series these past few years. Not gonna lie, I was surprised that they made The Cowabunga Collection, but I'm so thankful they did. TMNT was the first interest I had as a kid and this collection has my childhood favorites as well as the games I didn't get around to playing. Let's tackle this 13 game collection:

TMNT NES: Always a fun game to revisit. Yeah, the underwater level with disarming bombs is frustrating, but living in the age of the internet we have now, there are plenty of resources for tackling this bad boy (as well as save states and rewind features). What stands out most to me is the devs based most of the game off the og comics since the 1987 series was so new when they were making this game. Even 30+ years later I let the intro rock on this one because it gets me hyped up.

TMNT2: Probably a hot take, but this game is superior to the The Arcade Game its based on. The stages are longer and have a better balance to them since the game isn't designed to keep eating your quarters. Solid game all around.

TMNT3: The Manhattan Project This is the GOAT right here for me. It was the first game I beat as a kid with my older brother. I still remember so vividly. A Saturday morning living way out in the boonies, my parents were out doing yard work and left us kids alone. With Black Cherry Kool-aid and leftover pizza to fuel us my brother and I tackled this bad boy one faithful morning. What stands out most to me out this game is it isn't based on a pre-existing arcade game. Easily my favorite TMNT game (next to Shredder's Revenge). I love the extra challenge added to the game where your special moves takeaway health, really makes you think about how to approach and engage the enemies in each game. Also, this one has some of my favorite affects when the Turtles are hit with various objects. As fun as it is to go for No Damage strats, getting flattened by a wrecking ball is pretty silly.

TMNT4: Turtles in Time (SNES): Similar to TMNT2 on the NES, Turtles in Time on the SNES is vastly superior to it's Arcade counterpart since it isn't designed to eat your quarters. Also, Slash the boss of Prehistoric Turtlesaurus replacing Cement Man and offers the player a real challenge. The game expands the Turtles move sets from TMNT3 and allows for more creativity in the game. This is definitely the strongest game in the collection.

Tournament Fighters: Really strange how incredibly different each version of this game are. The SNES game is clearly riding Street Fighter II's coattails, but unlike most fighters from the 90's trying to ride that wave, TF on the SNES does is a remarkable imitation with depth to it. I don't know what was going on with the Genesis version. My guess is they were trying to cash in on the Power Ranger or Primal Rage crowd. Not a fan of this version at all. I didn't know there was an NES Tournament Fighter for most of life, but I absolutely love it. The devs were clearly inspired by the og movie from 1990 and that's always a good thing in my book. Really wish there was a GameBoy TF game so we could've had a version with Mikey on the cover. Oh well

Fall of the Foot Clan: Speaking of the GameBoy, FotFC is a charming little game. With some basic knowledge and routing, you could definitely get a No Damage run on this game in a short amount of time.

Back to the Sewers: Technically a more impressive game than FotFC, but there wasn't anything special about this game for me. Definitely a one and done experience

Radical Rescue Not gonna lie, I gave up trying to play this game in my younger days. It's incredibly rare, and buying a copy on eBay is ridiculously expensive. I'm glad it's in the collection and after some time with it, I really want to see what a modern TMNT Metroidvania.

TMNT: The Arcade Game I had always heard of how amazing this game was. I grew up in a small town with no arcade, so I never got the chance to play this one. It wasn't until my 20's when I experimented with MAME that I finally played it. Wasn't impressed with it. I decided to give it another shot with TCC since it has online support. Even with 4 players, this game doesn't have anything going for it. It's definitely a game where you had to experience it in when it first released as a kid with tons of quarters to have a good time.

Turtles in Time (Arcade) Definitely a step up from TAG, but inferior to it's SNES version.

TMNT: Hyperstone Heist Let's end the review on a high note. I really wish I had played this game as a kid when I got a Sega Genesis for Xmas instead of the Super Nintendo. Maybe then I'd have some fond memories of the console. I'm thankful that we got online support for this game because it's definitely the unsung hero. And there's a reason for that since it feels like an incomplete game. Just as you get into the meat of the game, you're already doing the final boss rush to Shredder. I'm fine with it now since it makes for a short and sweet experience. Also, it's the only time Tatsu from 1990 movie and Secret of the Ooze appears in a video game. That's pretty sweet.

I know Konami made video games for the 2003 TMNT series on PS2, Xbox, and GameCube. If they do release a collection of those, I hope they give the games some QoL updates because all I remember from those games are loading screens. They're solid games and need another chance to shine.