max nicholson of ign gave "rise of the turtles" a rating of 8.5/10, saying "the action sequences are fluid, fast-paced and exciting, and the dialogue-heavy scenes are usually peppered with entertaining slapstick." toon zone reviewer grant white gave the episode a positive review, saying "although i enjoyed this premiere, not everything sat well with me. there are some parts of both the writing and animation that felt poor and sometimes overlapped." noel kirkpatrick at tv.com called the episode "a tad on the bland side". he cites that while there's plenty for surprises for the show's plot, "in laying the groundwork, this pilot didn't really do anything new". matt edwards at den of geek opined that the episode is "so polished and ell executed," and praised it for its balance of comedy and action, stating "a very strong start to the series, then, and one i’ve found myself revisiting frequently."