Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate

Hack, Slash, Pizza, repeat. 

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a franchise I lovingly grew up with. Transformers, Thundercats, GI JOE, and more would come and go into my life, but TMNT has been one where I am usually all-in when it comes to various adaptations across numerous forms of media. There is very little that I haven’t consumed across the decades and when it comes to videogames, I’ve played them all. 

Developed for Apple Arcade back in 2023, I, like many people, never got the chance to check this out, let alone knew of its existence. However, like nearly everything that was once exclusive to that walled garden, most of these games have found a second home to actually thrive and reach new players. Splintered Fate is a TMNT spin on the Hades formula, even if it doesn’t come close to playing in that sandbox. It’s great, often excellent, but it is often a shallow experience that only succeeds in part to its respect for the source material.  

Splintered Fate is set in a TMNT universe largely inspired by the IDW comics series. It sets the turtles in a storyline where they have been the heroes in the half-shell for quite some time, developing relationships with a decently sized cast and building rivalries with some of their notorious stable of villains. Bebop, Rocksteady, Leatherhead, and Shredder, among others, are all present here, as is Casey Jones, April O’Neil, Slash, Metalhead, and more. There are some deep cuts that some long-time fans may not even remember or even know, given the series has dozens upon dozens of characters across numerous forms of media that rarely get their time in the sun. 

The game’s story is one that is pretty typical, but does allow for a new villain to take center stage, one hinted at throughout the game. While Shredder is a major focus here and largely the villain you’ll actually take on in combat, I do like the idea of a new threat coming in and shaking up the status quo. That said, the studio doesn't go out of their way to define them as clearly as I would have liked, at least based on the multiple runs I have completed as I've rolled credits and then some.

At the start of the game, Splinter is kidnapped and while he can communicate with the turtles through some sort of temporal portal in the lair, he is unsure just exactly where he is and what is going on. The turtles are also seemingly rescued time and time again through a mysterious benefactor that allows them to dive back into another run and attempt the rescue yet again should they fail. This has you nursing your wounds, interacting with the characters back at base, and outfitting your turtle of choice for the next run. 

This is how the game adapts the Hades formula by having the narrative continue upon each journey outside of the sewers whether you are successful or not. That said, it doesn’t always provide a lot of narrative to make those runs worth it, or the variety within each run that Hades is known for. While I do find it unfair to keep comparing the two, Splintered Fate is clearly looking for that comparison, so I do feel it is warranted to at least talk about the differences. 

Where the game greatly differs from Hades and where the genre has largely gone, is that each run in Splintered Fate is the exact same run. This means the same rooms, the same layouts, the same everything. Villains appear in the same places, often with little to no dialogue changes than “Ok, let’s do this again!”, but when there is new dialogue to shake it up, it excels, especially as the game is entirely voiced, and quite well I might add. This repetition then starts to become very noticeable. My biggest issue is that are we supposed to believe that Leatherhead is simply just waiting for us in the sewer each and every time? That Karai never leaves the boat? That Bebop and Rocksteady return to the same street corner over and over again?

Hades would allow you to pick different paths as you go, earning different rewards for your trouble. Games like Deadcells would even allow you to choose between different areas to shake up your run, giving some areas some breathing room as you’ve likely sprinted through them a dozen times already. Hell, even the recent early access Rogue Prince of Persia took that idea and ran with it, literally. This would have allowed for new areas to break up the constant repetition of what is here. Retreading the same path and fighting the same things is largely what kills my desire for that “one more run” scenario where I lose sleep due to the obsession. If its layout, area order, and boss placement was procedurally generated or randomized in the slightest way, then it would fix a lot of the game's core issues.

Despite the repetition, being able to choose between the four brothers, or even engage in co-op, does allow Splintered Fate to stand out. While the game does allow for full four-player local co-op, you can only join other players online with room codes as the game features no lobbies or matchmaking whatsoever. This is a bat-shit crazy choice that limits co-op to exclusively friends or having to rely through third party websites and tools to discover new players. It's a choice that prevented me from even trying out co-op at all, and I likely never will. 

While its level design, use of the formula, and exploration don’t quite measure up, the rest of the game’s core components are tremendous. This team’s take on the TMNT is great and the influence from the IDW comic series is a huge welcome. The voice work and portrayal of the brothers is one of the best out there. Each turtle has dialogue that is clearly theirs and fine-tuned to be perfect for the voice. Even the story being pretty bland in some cases didn’t always bother me due to their portrayal. I never once got tired of hearing the brothers communicate with one another, especially as they keep giving Bebop and Rocksteady different names upon nearly every run. It’s really well done. 

Similar to Hades, you’ll continue to unlock permanent upgrades that continue with you on each run. From boosting your health, critical damage, to your elemental damage, every run has you earning the currency used to purchase these upgrades. Sometimes, you’ll want to choose the currency over upgrades just to make future runs that much easier. Eventually, a second currency is unlocked that dives deeper into some of the core systems. These currencies are Dragon Coins and Dreamer Coins, the latter of which is provided by the benefactor that saves the turtles from death and allows them to restart the run. 

Dragon Coins have three tiers to unlock upgrades; Training, Technique, and Specialty. Training affects your health, move speed, revives, and how much health those revives offer. Technique is about the use of your skills during combat with how much damage your main attacks do, your specials, tools, and more. Specialty affects things like dash damage, dodge chance, and particular upgrades to each of the four brothers themselves.

Dreamer Coins also have three tiers; Luck, Economy, and Exotic. Luck is based around the rewards you earn after each room clear, the ability to potentially double select rewards, or allow turtle powers to have a slight percentage to drop during those rewards. Economy is about earning more coins as well as scrap. Scrap can be used at a shop run by a mysterious figure that can offer you health and more upgrades. Exotic brings up the rear with more coins being dropped when you defeat certain enemy types and the like.

The turtles themselves have a few differences. Obviously, their weapon types are going to factor in why you likely choose one, but having a favorite is a good option as well. Each turtle has what are called inspirations as well as a tool. Mikey’s inspirations, for example, have a +15% attack area size and damage, as well as a 10% multi-hit chance. His tool is the ability to taunt nearby enemies for 8 seconds. Taunted enemies take 60 damage and are stunned for 0.5 seconds when hit. Raphael for comparison has +15% special critical hit chance, +6% attack critical hit chance as well as critical hit damage. His tool is throwing a turtle line dealing 30 physical damage as well as pulling you towards bosses and pulling other enemies towards you. 

While your main ability doesn’t change, or at least I never was given the choice, your tool is something that can depending if you choose that reward. As mentioned, when you clear a room or start a run, you’ll have a choice between a few rewards. These can vary from skills that provide particular types of damage based on your dash, special attack, tool, or just your default attacks. Rewards after clearing a room vary from increasing your max health with some pizza, healing from said pizza, or dragon coins, additional tools, and how your skills affect combat. There is a lot of variety here that can make or break a run. While this can provide some sense of making the repetition fade, it’s really hard to shake that when you start to pay attention to your surroundings. 

One thing that does shake up encounters is that each boss has a special form. From Karai lashing out with massive fire attacks, you also have the Punk Frogs joining Leatherhead, building up that rivalry between the turtles. These battles don’t alter much in the grand scheme of things as their location and pacing are still the same, but it is a nice change that does provide new things to look out for. 

Splintered Fate is inspired by one of the best games of all time, so coming up short was always in the cards. I think a sequel that provide truly unique runs with more variety in the environment is a must. I like the idea of what the perks and abilities offer, making you stronger, but when you are fighting the same enemies in the same locations, it’s hard to get that excited for the next run. The TMNT have a wide catalog of some pretty mediocre games and just plain awful titles and thankfully, Splintered Fate is not one of them. I think the foundation is prime for improvement, but the team clearly have a great handle on what makes a TMNT game shine; the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themselves. 

Developer - Viacom International. Publisher - Super Evil Mega Corp. Released - July 17th, 2024. (Apple Arcade 2023) Available On - Nintendo Switch, Apple Arcade. Rated - (E 10+) Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch. Review Access - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate was purchased for review.