Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (version found in the Switch port of The Cowabunga Collection played for review)

The best TMNT game on the NES, “The Manhattan Project” carries over the best qualities of “II”, of placing value in spacing and attacks so every button press matters, while adding in special considerations that give way to greater player expression of skill without rendering the game a pushover. This is the first Turtles brawler that allows for throws as a means of crowd control, and the decision between trying to angle this option and opting for a simple attack makes for, like, strategy and purpose, shocking for such an old beat-em-up. My only complaint: recovery items remain too scarce.

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