We’ve had a treasure trove of quality Turtles games in the last few years and Splintered Fate is no different.

Coming from Super Evil Megacorp – best known for Vainglory – this Hades-like is a co-op adventure that lets you play as all four of the green brothers, set across several infamous New York landmarks and well-known locations from the series.

After their beloved Master Splinter is kidnapped, strange portals start appearing throughout New York City, and it all seems connected to Shredder. Cue the brothers fighting back, getting help from the likes of April, Casey and Metalhead, and having to fight some of their most fearsome foes, like Leatherhead and the leader of the Foot Clan himself.

But there’s also some unusual new friends (or foes) that show up along the way, like the enigmatic shopkeeper who offers all sorts of useful wares, though perhaps his motives are questionable. And there’s a few other surprise appearences of key figures in the series who serve different purposes to fit the wider narrative.

Turtles games have famously best served as beat-em-ups in the past. If you look at the Cowabunga Collection you’ll see the best releases followed an arcade style, like Turtles in Time. And even Shredder’s Revenge follows the classic 16 bit side-scrolling style.

So Splintered Fate is a more modern reflection of action combat, very similar to roguelikes such as Hades and Curse of the Dead Gods. In fact, Splintered Fate is almost a like-for-like of Hades, but a more ‘lite’ version.

For instance, you don’t have a choice of levels to go through when finishing a scene and the game definitely isn’t as punishing. But each Turtle fights differently and has unique properties, which can be likened to the various weapons you can select in Hades. The over-arching narrative also changes as you fight through levels and contend with retries.

But yes, if you love Hades and are looking for something else to scratch the itch, this IP is the perfect fit and the gameplay is an excellent blend.

As you’d expect, each Turtle deals damage in different ways. Donny and Mikey are excellent at range whereas Raph and Leonardo are more powerful up-close. Fortunately, depending on which Turtle you go, you can then earn bonuses from your brothers to improve your skills and be a more well-rounded fighter through Turtle Powers.

Fighting through each scene, you’ll be able to gather scrap from defeating the foot and smashing crates, which can then be spent with The Chairman to gather some additional bonuses and rewards that will help on your run.

You’ll also gather Dragon Coins which allow for permanent upgrades when you get back to the Sewers, and this extends to improved health, stamina, power, and the like.

Artifacts can also offer a consistent upgrade per run, adding more emphasis to elemental damage, or even adding an extension to bonuses across more rooms than before.

Splintered Fate started life as a game on Apple Arcade but has ported wonderfully to Switch, with smooth action, really striking, Turtles-esque visuals, and atmosphere through vocals, music and comic book esque sound effects. It all just gels wonderfully together and gives a distinctly Turtles vibe.

The main issue are the loading screens, which can be pretty painful to sit through at points and really pull you out of the experience a little bit. When you think back to how smooth and seamless Hades is as you move from one enemy to the next, it makes Splintered Fate a bit of a tough pill to swallow at times.

Also unlike Hades, Splintered Fate doesn’t really spend the time to explore the environment and doesn’t quite offer the same clever, dry wit of Hades, with some dialogue running on endlessly at points. But what you have here is a solid interpretation of a beloved franchise, built into a genre that’s red hot right now.

Whether you love the Turtles or not, this is a fun alternative to Hades that just works across multiple levels. It’s not as challenging or as well-balanced, with a story that isn’t as compelling as Zagreus escape from the Underworld, but it is one of the best games I’ve played with the Heroes in a Half Shell and a great alternative in its own right!

Verdict

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is a mostly successful Hades-like that’s a blast to play and really gels well together across all of its key components. It’s a little easier-going, the loading screens are a bit of a slog and the overall balance and storytelling isn’t as compelling or as tight, but Turtles is a fantastic IP to mesh with the genre, and this is about as close (and as enjoyable) as Hades as I’ve seen any other game in recent memory. Totally bodacious!

Pros

+ A solid gelling of all mechanics makes this as compelling a Hades-like as we’ve seen
+ Great sense of style across its aesthetics
+ Turtles is the perfect IP for this genre
+ Co-op makes this even more enjoyable and adds to the longevity