It all unfolds fairly seamlessly, with each ability building on the last somewhat significantly. Throwing stars are eventually upgraded with shock and incendiary properties, while the turtles’ powerful special attacks and the ability to dash, double-jump, and climb rough surfaces allowed for varied options in traversing the map. Throwing stars come first, followed shortly by dashing, double jumping, and a handful of other upgrades necessary for not only fully exploring the map, but also making combat much more approachable. Controls are the same across each of the four playable turtles, although they do have distinct moves and combos fitting their weapons. The pace at which new abilities unlock works really well, with a natural buildup of each taking place throughout. Danger of the Ooze is a game of the “Metroidvania”-style level design school, meaning that new areas of the map become accessible as you unlock new abilities that allow you to overcome obstacles. The direction developer Way Forward took with the action and character progression, however, is one I really appreciated. A complete lack of personality makes the attachment of the Turtles’ characters and the expectations they carry with them a detriment rather than a bonus.

The story itself isn’t much more than a half-baked goose chase of trying to keep a mutagenic weapon out of the wrong hands, and these random and poorly lip-synched character appearances only add to the insult when they play out like obligatory nods at best. In Danger of the Ooze, characters like April O’Neil and Leatherhead only ever appear for brief scenes, typically just long enough to warn of danger and reward the Turtles with new abilities.

So much of the appeal of the Ninja Turtles universe is seeing how its characters all interact and work together to solve problems, so of course none of that is represented here.

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