After recently having a blast with Shredder’s Revenge, I’ve been in a very Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-y mood, so when Jody spotted a new TMNT roguelike on the way to Steam later this year, my interest was piqued. Seeing it was already out on Switch, I gave Splintered Fate a go during a PC-less bank holiday weekend away—and discovered it’s surprisingly bodacious.

There are some red flags here, admittedly. For one, the Switch release is actually a port of a mobile game originally on Apple Arcade, and mobile is where all the developer’s previous work is from what I can see. It’s also a licensed game, and a pretty obvious clone of an existing game—it’s basically Hades but with mutants and co-op. But I promise, there’s more here than meets the eye.

The game’s structure is familiar. A run takes you through four biomes (sewers, docks, streets, and rooftops), each consisting of a series of fights and eventually a boss battle. Finish a run (either by beating the final boss or dying) and you’re teleported back to your home base, where you can spend resources on permanent upgrades before heading out for another go. Where it really sings, however, is exactly where you want an action roguelike to: in its builds.

Splintered Fate practically falls over itself to shower you with “Turtle Powers”: passives that shape your playstyle and modify the core package of basic attacks, special ability, tool, and dash that each turtle comes with. The TMNT setting adds some narrative charm (it’s clearly inspired by the excellent IDW comics, which have a darker and more serious feel than the wacky ’80s cartoon) but it also helps the game break away from the usual fantasy cliches. So while some of these powers follow standard themes like fire or water, the game’s list of elements also includes things like ninja, ooze, and utrom (that’s Krang tech).

The result is some of the weirdest, most fun combos I’ve run into in a roguelike. One run I’m a whirlwind of sparking, flaming shurikens that bounce between enemies, who can reflect projectiles back at anyone who dares try and defend themselves. Another I’m speeding around the arena throwing out water blasts, blinding enemies, and calling down meteor strikes while I desperately try to maintain a damage-boosting kill-streak bonus. Later I’m slamming into foes with multi-hitting crits and leaving them dying from three different types of damage over time until they explode in a shower of toxic waste. So far the variety has been excellent—every run I find myself diverted down some new, weird path by the particular Turtle Powers thrown my way.

But at the same time, no matter how wild your build gets, you can never neglect the fundamentals. Your special ability (an AoE attack unique to each turtle) and tool (more unusual attacks, like a Scorpion-style hook chain or a damaging force field) are both charged up through normal attacks, and your “final strike” (the third hit of your attack string) does increased damage and can trigger powerful extra effects from your Turtle Powers. That means that you’ve always got to be learning enemy patterns and looking for your windows of opportunity to dash in and lay down some basic strikes if you want to keep the fireworks going. It prevents one of my pet peeves about Hades 2—that one element of your kit will routinely get so strong that all your other moves are pointless—as well as ensuring that no matter how broken your build is, you’re never able to simply spam one button and win. You’re always engaged.

Other fun twists cleverly add to the chaos. For example, enemies belong to different factions, and in various situations can be at odds with each other. These three-way battles in the streets create their own fun tactical challenges—and you can even unlock the ability to bring in your own hacked robot reinforcements. I’ve not gotten to try the co-op yet (you know you have to buy a subscription to play games multiplayer on Switch?? Madness!) but I can only imagine it dials things up even further.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not going to knock Hades off its throne any time soon—I think it’s a real charmer, but it’s rough around the edges too. I’ve run into quite a few little bugs, and though nothing has been game-breaking, it can be frustrating when for example a crate full of resources refuses to break, or a particular menu won’t open.

Some of its systems feel a bit half-baked—such as randomised boss variants with wildly different levels of difficulty, the lack of a comprehensive stats screen during runs, or its confusing slate of currencies that all behave differently. And while the story will have its charms for TMNT fans, particularly those who love the comics, it’s certainly a lot thinner than Hades’, and its supporting cast mostly don’t get enough screen time to earn your affection in the way the denizens of the Underworld do.

But a lot of the issues could definitely be smoothed out with ongoing support, and that seems to be exactly what developer Super Evil Megacorp is committed to, with improvements promised for the PC release and content drops planned into 2025. It’s also confirmed the game will be Steam Deck Verified at launch, and having played a load of it on a handheld already I can confirm that that’ll be a fantastic home for it.

In other words, it’s got a lot more potential than you’d expect from a random licensed game. Don’t sleep on this one—if you’re a Hades fan looking for a change of scene, or if Hades 2 isn’t quite hitting for you, then keep your eyes on the sewers this winter.