It’s been about a month since we revealed that Raw Thrills has created a brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, but we haven’t seen much about it since then. Thankfully, Arcade Heroes has come to the rescue with a new video revealing an entire stage from the game. We weren’t sure if we’d even see any gameplay until the unit shipped to arcades, so it’s nice to see that this footage has leaked so soon after the announcement.
There are a few things to note about the gameplay on display here. First of all, we can pretty much confirm that this is a traditional brawler/beat ’em up in the style of Konami’s past TMNT arcade games. In addition to that detail, we now know what some of the power-ups will look like. Although we only get to see Leonardo, the power-up system is pretty clear; as you play the game, you’ll gather enough credit for a “Turtle Power” move.
In this case, Leo performs some kind of tornado attack that affects every enemy on screen. This isn’t unlike the kind of massive attacks we saw in titles like Streets of Rage, so it’s definitely a welcome addition to the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game. Our first look at the game also reveals that important characters like Metalhead play a role as special power-ups. Much like Leo’s “Turtle Power” move, Metalhead can be used to attack several enemies on screen at once.
Bebop also appears as something of a miniboss, attempting to stop you from reaching the final boss of the stage – Rocksteady. Much like the old Konami TMNT arcade games, foot soldiers appear to be the main enemy, but we also see the Kraang coming into play at least once during this level. As if that weren’t enough, you may notice yet another nod to titles like Turtles in Time when Leo throws foot soldiers at the screen, but it’s worth noting that this is also a standard of most high quality brawlers/beat ’em ups.
Ultimately, I’m very impressed with what we’re seeing here. It would appear that Raw Thrills has chosen to pay homage to the classic TMNT arcade games while giving us a fully functional title of their own. Whether or not you like Nickelodeon’s version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you have to admit that the animation on display here is also quite excellent. I don’t know about you, but I’m very excited about the opportunity to play this game at some point in the near future!