Way back in October of last year, we discovered that American developer Raw Thrills was hard at work on the creation of a new beat ’em up arcade game called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Based upon the newer Nickelodeon series that ran from 2012-17, TMNT and arcade fans were understandably excited by the news, especially given the history that the property has enjoyed with the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (’89) and Turtles In Time (’91).
I had the opportunity to play the game both at IAAPA 2017 and Amusement Expo 2018 and came away with a favorable impression. While I had not watched the newer show, I grew up as a TMNT fan from the 80s cartoon; I’ve owned the ’89 game for several years and I found the new one to be spot on with what you expect out of a brawler. Granted, I have a soft spot for the genre too…just letting you know my biases up front 😛 Here’s the game as I filmed it in Vegas this past February:
Spin the clock forward six months and it is now official – Raw Thrills’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is shipping and is already appearing at various arcades across the United States. Readers are reporting that the game is already available at Round1USA locations for this weekend; I was also contacted by an operator in South Carolina who just received it this week and sent these pictures in. He stated that “people seem to be enjoying it so far” and that they will run it in arcade-only mode for this weekend then redemption mode next to compare earnings:
(Note: This picture shows the marquee with the lighting off – here’s a link to an older pic of it lit up although the art has changed)
THe control panel has changed from the IAAPA/AE builds – instead of oval shaped plates they are circular; the artwork has changed and there is more T-Molding – RGB LED T-molding on more of the control panel as well as green T-molding around the speakers:
The final production cab:
New Shredder artwork on the control panel
If you have had a chance to play this new exclusive arcade game, what did you think about it?
I played the location test version (with only three levels) and loved it. I do enjoy the changes they made to the cabinet, too. Definitely excited to give the final production version a whirl.
We have secretly had one of the three test cabinets out on location since last November. I can say that is a is good consistent earning game. Has not slowed on collections at all during the entire test, hanging right in there. So a good sign there. Our cabinet indeed does not look quite as cool as the new production cabinet.
Off topic, but FYI, we have the only IGS Speed Rider 3 Motorcycle game in America. It is the unit that was at the show this Spring. We are lucky enough to have got that cabinet to begin an American Market test. Will be fun seeing how that one does.
Good variety in game play. Interesting game play will always beat high end graphics. No chance to play it here, I just like the video.
My 5 and 8 year old play the Turtles In Time game on a MAME system weekly. When we saw this game at our local Putt Putt we were blown away!! I’m a huge turtles fan and the new Nick TMNT is our favorite show. I hope this game is ported to a home system soon or a MAME rom appears one day. This game rocks!!