3.5/5 ★ – Hayden_O's review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back From The Sewers.

Back From The Sewers is the only portable beat-em-up I grew up playing before The Cowabunga Collection, and I had managed to get to the final level, but never beaten it. This time around, I watched my brother play through its six stages and bosses, with the sanity-restoring assistance of save states. The game has an extremely cool lives system, as each Turtle has their own health bar, that when depleted sees them kidnapped and locked away for the rest of the game. You can switch characters between levels though, where you can also play bonus games to get some health back, so thinking ahead a must. The levels themselves are dynamic and layered, with enemies coming from various planes to attack. The sprite art, backgrounds, and animations are all updated from the previous entry as well, alongside another fantastic chip-tune soundtrack. It’s harder than its predecessor, with moments such as the sixth stage leaning into ridiculous difficulty at times, but it’s a technical improvement on all fronts that I’ll always look back on fondly.