The turtles deserve better than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

The cartoon/action figure/video game property from the '80s was staged for a console comeback in Out of the Shadows. It's a third-person brawler with an RPG-lite leveling system and plenty of Ninja Turtle nostalgia, and developer Red Fly Studio laid the blueprints for a competent action game. Instead, it has found a faceplant, and Out of the Shadows is rendered a nearly unplayable mess by myriad bugs and other technical issues.

You take on the role of Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo — the eponymous Ninjas — as they serve up justice to evildoers and their armies of minions. The plot is pure fan service as all sorts of TMNT favorites show up — nerdy, evil Baxter, Shredder himself, intrepid reporter April O'Neil, etc. — which made this former 8-year-old TMNT fangirl smile. The story missions serve up a mix of third-person brawling with light stealth, platforming and even a hacking minigame thrown in.

When it works, Out of the Shadows is smooth enough. Enemies will swarm you, requiring you to use counters and whammy the attack button to build combos. Successful combos earn you the ability to do special moves, and bad guys will often telegraph their own attacks, allowing you to counter or dodge. It's a simple, well-worn mix that works well when the controls are responsive (and the camera is cooperating).