Back in August, I found myself very pleasantly surprised by a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles roguelike on Nintendo Switch—and happy to discover a PC port was also on the way. Now it's got a free demo on Steam, and a quick play confirms it's definitely the better version of a great game.
Basically, imagine Hades, but with four turtles instead of one goth teenager. Wacky powers allow you to create all sorts of fun builds over the course of a run, throwing together elemental types including "ooze", "ninja", and "utrom" into brilliantly chaotic combinations. There's co-op, too, which is a cool addition to the formula—though equally my solo playthrough didn't feel lacking, so it's far from mandatory.
In the demo, the PC version looks sharper than it did on Switch, the crisp colours bringing its comic book-inspired art-style to life a little more. From what I've played so far, it's also sanded down the rough edges I experienced on Switch, with certain minor bugs—such as environmental objects not breaking when they should—seemingly fixed.
- I did not expect the most promising turn-based tactics game of Steam Next Fest to star the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but here we are
- That Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles roguelike I refuse to stop going on about is adding Casey Jones as a playable character and a junkyard full of frogs to goongala your way through
I'm not sure how far you can play in the demo, but it seems like a substantial offering—I've already beaten the first boss (of four) and progressed into the second area, and both online and local co-op are included. Developer Super Evil Megacorp has also confirmed that progress in the demo will carry over to the full game.
Give it a go for yourself—I think it's much cooler than you'd expect from a licensed game, especially one that was originally made for mobile. I'd particularly recommend it if you're looking for something to play on Steam Deck. It was great fun to play on the go on Switch, and it's Steam Deck verified already so it should be ready to go.
If you like what you find in the demo, you can wishlist the game on Steam now—the full release is due November 6.
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