"Ever since we started releasing collections, the response from our fans has been emphatic on what we should do next – “Give us the Turtles!”," explains Charles Murakami, senior producer at Konami via the PlayStation Blog. And as part of March's PlayStation State of Play event it was revealed Konami would be doing just that alongside Nickelodean and Digital Eclipse, collecting 13 games ranging from the 8-bit, 16-bit and arcade eras of the Turtles IP.



This is the first time outside of some hardcore fan's ROM library such a collection has been brought together, and what this has over that is added flash by way of "quality of life features" that include save anywhere, a rewind function and throwback artworks and historical info, alongside updated visuals and presentations.

Our partners at Nickelodeon provided amazing imagery from the original cartoons series and comic books and helped connect the franchise from the different mediums. While bringing our heroes in a half shell back to the surface, we were immediately taken back to a time where we grabbed three other friends to save April from a burning building, struggled to swim through obstacles and prevent the dam from exploding, or discovered that there were secret areas where Casey Jones slammed Raphael into the ground.

Instead of pumping a machine full of quarters, the Cowabunga Collection’s Arcade games (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time) lets you and up to three friends have the arcade experience at home on your couch or online. The 8-bit TMNT II: The Arcade Game, TMNT III: The Manhattan Project, and the 16-bit TMNT IV: Turtles in Time, and The Hyperstone Heist will also have all the local multi-player fun of yesteryear.

There's no specific date beyond "2022" named as part of the reveal, but since we've waited 30-odd years for this collection, we can wait a little bit longer. Here's what you get:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (Arcade)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (NES)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (NES)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (Super NES)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Super NES)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (Sega Genesis)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Sega Genesis)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of The Foot Clan (Game Boy)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back From The Sewers (Game Boy)
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue (Game Boy)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game for the NES, which was the first console showing of the fab four and this writer's favourite TMNT-related memory in games (outside of Turtles in Time), is a standout, mostly because this was the ad doing the rounds for it here in Australia back in the day.