Retro Gamer celebrates the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Retro Gamer Issue 241
(Image credit: Future)

This month’s Retro Gamer will leave you shell-shocked as we’re covering the videogame history of those loveable Ninja Turtles.

We’ve quizzed members of Digital Eclipse, who worked on this year’s The Cowabunga Collection, to find out just why the early Turtles games are so popular. “Obviously when someone thinks of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they think of the team dynamic between the Turtles themselves,” Thomas Church tells us.

We revisit all the early Turtles games, including the iconic arcade game from 1989 that heavily riffed on the popular TV series. “If you didn’t know there was a TMNT game, you would know it as soon as you walked into the local arcade or bowling alley,” says Chris Kohler.

In addition to revisiting many of the turtles’ greatest games (and some of the more disappointing efforts) we also chatted with Digital Eclipse about The Cowabunga Collection itself. “I’m really proud of the overall scope and level of quality in The Cowabunga Collection,” admits Stephen Frost. We spent a lot of time on everything from the presentation to the content found in Turtles’ Lair in order to provide an experience that would excite both long-time fans of TMNT, as well as the casual audience.”

If heroes in a half shell aren’t your thing, you’ll find plenty of other great articles in issue 241 to enjoy, including Ultimate Guides about Sabre Wulf and Cannon Dancer, behind-the-scenes looks at 1080º Snowboarding, Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, a tribute to Hewson Consultants and much, much more.

Don’t miss it and consider taking out a subscription. Retro Gamer issue 241 is available in stores and online via Magazines Direct right now.

Retro Gamer Team

Retro Gamer is the world's biggest - and longest-running - magazine dedicated to classic games, from ZX Spectrum, to NES and PlayStation. Relaunched in 2005, Retro Gamer has become respected within the industry as the authoritative word on classic gaming, thanks to its passionate and knowledgeable writers, with in-depth interviews of numerous acclaimed veterans, including Shigeru Miyamoto, Yu Suzuki, Peter Molyneux and Trip Hawkins. 

Read more
Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer celebrates Capcom’s greatest fighting games
Retro Gamer 268
20 years of the Nintendo DS: celebrating the innovative handheld in the latest Retro Gamer
Key art for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown
TMNT rocks Steam Next Fest with the snappiest, slickest tactics RPG I've ever played
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Practice your ninjitsu because the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are coming to protect the Castle Panic board game
Modern Sonic jumps away from a giant chopper badnik in the Green Hill Zone in Sonic Generations
"We were honouring Sonic's holistic history which includes both designs": 13 years on, Takashi Iizuka reveals why Sonic Generations need twice the 'hogs
The key art for Metal Gear Solid from the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection released, showing Solid Snake with his bandana on, as drawn by Yoji Shinkawa
26 years on, developers discuss the massive impact Metal Gear Solid had on the industry: "This was going much further than all previous action games. And that was totally inspiring"
Latest in Games
a titanium watch with grey and orange features on the arms and face
You can look like Solid Snake with this Death Stranding 2 watch, but it'll cost you over $1,500
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Monster Hunter Wilds' Gemma actor requests "tips for beginners" from fans of Capcom's action RPG as it's the "first MH game that I've ever played"
Doom: The Dark Ages screenshot
Doom director claims The Dark Ages can be beaten without using a gun, but "the game's not necessarily built to do that"
Players in GTA Online running businesses and playing missions
GTA publisher is suing a GTA Online website that lets you buy hacked accounts, which "risks upending the GTA 5 player experience"
Death Stranding 2 trailer showing Sam shooting at an enemy
Hideo Kojima aims to beat the ‘walking simulator’ allegations as Death Stranding 2 releases combat-heavy trailer
A screenshot of a castle in Manor Lords.
Manor Lords dev confirms "castles and sieges are now in the works" for the city builder, as well as a new map that could get its own game mode in the future
Latest in News
a titanium watch with grey and orange features on the arms and face
You can look like Solid Snake with this Death Stranding 2 watch, but it'll cost you over $1,500
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Monster Hunter Wilds' Gemma actor requests "tips for beginners" from fans of Capcom's action RPG as it's the "first MH game that I've ever played"
Doom: The Dark Ages screenshot
Doom director claims The Dark Ages can be beaten without using a gun, but "the game's not necessarily built to do that"
Giancarlo Esposito in The Electric State
The Electric State may be the Russo brothers' most challenging VFX project yet, but stars Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito say it's one of the easiest films they’ve ever done
The Last of Us season 2 trailer shows spores
The Last of Us season 2 is bringing in one of the biggest game omissions from season 1 – and the showrunners say it's for a "good reason"
Chris Cocks with a transformer grimmacing behind him
Hasbro CEO, D&D DM, and self-professed "AI bull" Chris Cocks says AI is "supercharging fandom" which is "just net good for the brand"