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By 2005, Konami had made three TMNT beat-em-ups based on the 2003 animated series, which is the kind of commitment usually reserved for tax filings or long-term relationships. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare landed that November on GameCube, PS2, Xbox, and Nintendo DS as the trilogy’s closer, and Konami sent it off in style by giving it the series’ first E10+ rating, as if four years of shell-based violence had finally crossed some invisible threshold of Too Much.

The game loosely adapts the show’s third season across four “Episodes,” which means the Triceratons invade Earth, Agent Bishop kidnaps Splinter for reasons that presumably made sense to somebody in a government facility somewhere, and Shredder shows back up to remind everyone that retirement isn’t really a thing that happens to ninja warlords. Along the way you can pour experience points into skill scrolls, transform into a Dino Turtle or an Ultimate Turtle depending on the mood, and, if you clear the first Episode, unlock a modified version of the 1991 arcade classic Turtles in Time, which is Konami’s way of saying “here’s the good one, in case this one doesn’t land.”

Joining me to sort the Triceratons from the Foot Ninjas is Pierce Lydon of Spawnography, the podcast where he and George Marston work through Todd McFarlane’s entire Spawn mythology one hellish arc at a time. Pierce has already survived one trip through the Play Comics gauntlet with me on Spawn in the Demon’s Hand, so they know exactly what they signed up for this time: showing up, being extremely knowledgeable, and getting talked into yet another licensed beat-em-up nobody asked for.

So grab a ninja scroll, pick a turtle, any turtle, and let’s find out whether Mutant Nightmare sent Konami’s turtle trilogy out on a high note, or whether the Triceratons should’ve just stayed home.
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Dust off your cowabunga collection and prepare your fists for some serious turtle-powered mayhem, because this week on Play Comics we’re diving shell-first into TMNT: Mutant Melee, the 2005 arena-based fighting bonanza that took the 2003 animated series and asked the most important question: what if we just got all the turtles, their friends, AND their enemies into one room and let them beat the absolute snot out of each other? Developed by Konami for PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and PC, this isn’t your typical one-on-one fighter—it’s more like if Smash Bros and Power Stone had a shell-covered baby and that baby knew all of Splinter’s teachings.

Joining us for this body-slamming brawl is the incomparable Tommy Proffitt from Distant Echoes and Lee Carvallo’s Podding Challenge, a podcast wizard who understands the intricate art of dissecting character-based chaos and canon coherence like few others can. Plus being able to bring his signature blend of gaming nostalgia and comedic precision to help us determine if this colorful chaos simulator managed to capture the spirit of its source material or if it swung its nunchucks at empty air.

Together, we’ll navigate the treacherous waters of Last Man Standing mode, contemplate why anyone thought having 22 playable characters was a good idea, and investigate whether the game’s holiday-themed cosmetics (seriously—set the date to December 25th and watch the turtles rock Santa hats) are feature or bug.Continue Reading

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Cowabunga dudes! Grab your nunchucks and order a pizza because we’re diving shell-first into the radical world of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game! This gnarly beat ’em up brought the heroes in a half-shell to GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PS2, and Xbox faster than you can say “Turtle Power!”

Join us as we team up with Isaac Fisher from Definitive Film to dissect this game like Donatello dissects a circuit board. Isaac’s currently knee-deep in mutagen, working on a bodacious documentary called TMNT: Evolution, Mutation, & Reboot chronicling 40 years of TMNT history with the rest of the team at Definitive Film. So strap in, because this episode is gonna be more action-packed than a showdown with the Shredder in a pizza parlor!Continue Reading

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REFIRE TIME! We’ve looked at the Ninja Turtles before. We’ve had a few episodes about them even. But let’s be real, the podcast was in its infancy and I didn’t really know what I was doing with the show yet. So how can we remedy that?

Well Anthony Sytko has an idea. How about we get him specifically on the show to take a look at the Cowabunga Collection? I hope you think that’s a good idea because I already recorded it. Listen in as we take a look at the Cowabunga Collection as a whole and try to figure out just what makes this one so perfect.Continue Reading