More Thoughts From Me: Turtlemania Returns?

In the late eighties and early nineties, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were extremely popular. They were everywhere: from their start in comics, to cartoons, toys, movies, and of course video games. The turtles seemed unstoppable. Over the years though, they’ve become less popular. While the turtles haven’t disappeared, they have never reached their popularity of the 80s/90s. And now…we are about to get two games this year, plus a new animated movie is in the works. Is Turtlemania returning?

When I was kid, I read the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) comics, saw the movies, watched the animated show, played the games, and I even went to see the musical. I was a huge fan. And while I’ve grown up and stopped collecting turtles stuff, I have never stopped being a fan of TMNT.

So when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge was announced, I was excited. This was a game based on the old Turtles cartoon and the old TMNT beat ’em games. It was pure nostalgia. If you love those old Turtles games, then you’re looking forward to this game. And you’d think that would be enough to get Turtles fans excited…

And then last week, a new State of Play showed off another Turtles game. This one is a collection of old TMNT games called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection! It will be 13 classic games: from the original NES classics, to the SNES/Genesis games, and even Gameboy games like the Fall of the Foot Clan. It was said that there will be extras in the collection, like game guides that look like 80s/90s magazines. Wow. I was never ever expecting any of this.

And why not you ask? I mean Castlevania got a collection of games. Why not the Turtles? Well, first of all, you have to think about how big a property the TMNT still is. Toys, cartoons, and even movies still. So it must have been a big licensing deal between Nickelodeon and Konami to pull of the TMNT collection. Such a thing seems really unlikely. And yet, here are we are! The Turtles collection is coming this year. So two Turtles games soon! Neither one of them have a release date but they are both scheduled for this year.

Plus, there is a new animated Turtles movie in the works! And you know the comics and the toys are still around…so…is this the return of Turtlemania?

Possibility. The truth is that its too early to tell. It does like look Nickelodeon is trying to help the brand make a comeback. A new game, plus the return of the old games, and animated movie. I’m sure Nick is hoping this will lead to TMNT being as popular as it was in the old days. Is such a return possible?

It really depends on how many new fans the games and the movie get. No brand can depend on just nostalgia. The collection and the new game are depending a lot on what the old fans liked. Hopefully that’ll appeal to new fans too. As long as you can keep old friends, bring some of the lapsed fans back, and gain new fans…then a return of Turtlemania is possible.

Then again, maybe TMNT will never be as big as it was in the 80s/90s. Time will tell.

All I can say for sure is that I’m extremely excited for the new game and the collection! I’ll have to wait for a preview to see if the animated movie will be any good. The cartoons over the years have been a mixed bag. And of course the more recent movies were…well…best not to speak of those…

Can’t wait to play the games!

Are you looking forward to Shredder’s Revenge and the Cowabunga Collection? Please share your excitement for all things Turtles past and present here and @GamesReviewscom with us!