Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bring heroes in a half-shell to Injustice 2

NetherRealm Studios’ fighting game Injustice 2 is serving up some half-shell power in its newest DLC. Folks who own Injustice 2 Ultimate Edition, Injustice 2 Ultimate Pack, or Fighter Pack #3 can play as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles today on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. All other players will be able to add the the new heroes to their roster on February 20 for $10.

Injustice 2 launched in May and remained in the top 10 best-selling games of the year until being pushed out in December. It’s the followup to 2013’s Injustice: Gods Among Us, featuring various DC Entertainment characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. NetherRealm has teamed up with other companies before to do crossovers, such as its Mortal Kombat DLC with Midway Games.

This isn’t the first time Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s green heroes have encountered DC’s characters. The 2015 comic series Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles saw the four team up with the Dark Knight against Shredder and the rogues gallery in Gotham City. It was a successful run that spawned spin-offs and a sequel series in 2017 featuring Bane as the primary antagonist.

It’s a little surreal to see the turtles slamming skateboards into people’s heads, but Injustice 2 seems to have kept their signature attitude. Their in-game dialogue is peppered with classic catchphrases like “Cowabunga” and the trailer calls back to the old ’80s cartoon show opening with Raphael flinging a half-eaten pizza at the camera.

The last time the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had their own fighting game was in 2009’s four-player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, which featured Super Smash Bros.-esque gameplay. Before that, the 1993 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighter pitted the characters against each other in 1-on-1 fights.