Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Splintered Fate Review (XBX) – A Shell of a Time

Ever since its inception, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has always seemed to come out of the woodwork in its many forms, from its humble comic beginnings, to campy to serious cartoons, and even cameos within Injustice 2. Even now, TMNT doesn’t seem to miss these days. The beat’em up Shredder’s Revenge was a hit, for starters. From the look of things, the Turtles will take on a bigger challenge, one dungeon room at a time, in Splintered Fate.

Name: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate
Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox Series X|S (Reviewed)
Developer: Super Mega Evil Corp
Publisher: Nickelodeon
Game Type: Rogue-like
Mode(s): Single-Player, Multiplayer
Release Date: June 24, 2025

After the fearless leader Leonardo is ambushed by the arch enemy, Shredder, Leonardo is teleported away from the beatdown by a strange power. With Master Splinter being taken hostage, it’s up to the Turtles and their allies to save him. Unlike other sorties of the Mirage Comics title, this game doesn’t allow all four turtles to grace the screen at once. 2 players are able to take on the threat that looms.

Splintered Fate’s faithfulness to the lore is definitely apparent. Karai, Leatherhead, Baxter Stockman, and more are here to give the game its needed authenticity to TMNT’s New York. Cutscenes are played out with full voiceovers to back up the story. The snapiness of the UI is definitely there since it was a mobile game first. Levels and crowds can be seen without fail. The three-quarter view is back and doesn’t overpopulate the effectiveness of the action. Splintered Fate was a mobile game first. It was still consistent in keeping the frames when the action piles up.

Die, Die, and Die Again

Splintered Fate is definitely not for the faint of heart. Dying a lot is something that is normal within the realm of a roguelike. Splintered Fate does this en masse, but thanks to upgrades that each Turtle can have, the pick-yourself-up-and-try-again attitude helps with the dread. Each death restarts the run.

Playing with each Turtle is encouraged to unlock more playthroughs and upgrades to strengthen them. Power-ups that can help clear a room, such as attack or speed boosts, or even bleeding effects, are welcome. Starting a run over can be a pain, but at the same time, it’s a definite need to recharge and restart. Luckily, there is a difficulty toggle available that can be changed at any time. The Chairman’s assist does help per bunch of rounds, and each Turtle plays differently enough to vary the gameplay.

Splintered Fate has multiplayer and couch co-op options to play with friends and a drop-in ability. I played solo for this review — I haven’t tried co-op yet, but it’s something I’d love to explore later.

Half Beats In A Half Shell

There were some half-shell feats with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate. For instance, attempting this title as a novice crawler might be tough as nails even in the first part. At times, thanks to the challenge, the game only gives out a boost per room. There seems to be some currencies, more than just one type, to keep track of when it comes to buying power-ups and boosts. Dragon Coins, Dreamer Coins, and other ones, especially.  Enemy variances usually just have larger foes to fight before the bosses appear.

For what the franchise is, I’d figure there would be more of an imagination here than not. Adding shields to the Foot Ninja is cool, but maybe something that isn’t about shuriken-sponging could suffice. Especially since the game does take repetition to heart. Splintered Fate plays it pretty safe with the genre that it is a part of. Not much here will change or be anything that supercedes that of even Bastion or Transistor for me.

Conclusion

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is a cool roguelike that may stand on its own within the legacy of the brand. While it does its homework for what the Turtles are, Splintered Fate delivers a challenging step for a roguelike, whether it’s solo or even with others. If Hades is your stitch, the turtle boys’ new foray might be something to definitely check out.