The 1980s were a jubilant time to be alive – big hair, big music, and big pizza. But nothing made the late 1980s and inevitably the 1990s so tubular than the influx of adult and young adult-oriented franchises turned into kids cartoons. There was “GI Joe”, “Transformers”, “Ghostbusters”, and, eventually, the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”.
The “TMNT” boom made fans of kids across the world looking to be heroes in a half shell. That feeling of imitating ninjutsu masters trained by a man turned into an anthropomorphic rat became a reality for many as they entered arcades and took control of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, or Raphael in a much herald arcade game that produced various ports for console gamers who too praised the limited offerings. Now, after over three decades, the spiritual successor to the original “Turtles” arcade games is finally here and this old school turtle head was ready to party.
Did I Complete “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge”?
Like “Streets of Rage 4” before it, “TMNT” brings both the old school, beat ’em up gameplay and the requirement for the player to work rather strenuously if full completion is the goal. Beyond simply completing the “Story” by oneself or with a group of fellow players that can drop in or out at anytime with the difficulty scaling accordingly, there’s “Arcade” mode where gamers will be put to the test in an environment where the enemies hit harder, the protagonists have limited lives, and there are no save states like in “Story” mode so it has to be completed in one sitting.
For full trophy or achievement completion comes a nice challenge including defeating the final boss without getting hit, discovering all the collectibles & endings, and finishing “Arcade” mode on the hardest difficulty. While I haven’t done all of those things, playing through “Story” and “Arcade” modes have been very fun in the five or so hours playing “TMNT” thus far and will keep me returning for days, months, and maybe years to come.
Did “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge” Live Up to the Hype?
During a time when nostalgia is ruling the gaming world thanks to remasters and modified subscription services promising to give gamers a taste of what used to be the norm, fans of the “TMNT” franchise who just so happen to be gamers will feel right at home especially if they were around for those past games. With the ability to play as all four turtles, their father-figure & sensei Master Splinter, news reporter-turned-constant ally April O’Neil, and the unlockable vigilante Casey Jones, gamers will find that there is some interesting variety switching from one character to the next. Outside of the standard strikes that can be charged to armor through enemy onslaughts is the ability to jump attack, dash both to avoid incoming strikes or roll out of a fall after being hit, throw foes around a stage, and execute each character’s unique special attack.
These special attacks can only be activated when a meter above the health bar fills up either through successful attacks & avoidance of hits, or utilizing the taunt feature. These wide-sweeping special maneuvers do heavy damage and, unlike “Streets of Rage 4”, doesn’t drain the character’s health when used; though does reset if the player’s character is downed and needs to be revived by a teammate (of course playing solo removes the revive feature and the character can only reenter the action after being downed if they have remaining lives). When in a team, players can also trade small amounts of health that definitely helps keep those more aggressive gamers alive who just love to rush into the fray.
Beyond each character possessing an individualized special maneuver, the protagonists also have individual stats focusing on “Range”, attack power, and the speed to which they can throw out strikes. These base stats are complimented by particular skills each protagonist has including Leonardo performing a spinning slash with his sword when doing a jumping attack while Michelangelo springs off enemies for a potential air juggle when jump kicking an enemy. An interesting aspect about progression through either mode is upgrades.
As a player gets further into the sixteen levels needed to complete either mode sees thresholds being broken to increase a protagonist’s health, the amount of specials they can store, how many max lives they have, and unlocking new special attack variations including the ultra-powerful “Radical Mode” where the player can temporarily turn their character into a weapon of mass destruction with increased speed, power, and specials.
Even better is the fact these upgrades don’t go away if the player has to quit “Story Mode”. Attaining collectibles via broken objects also helps increase the points to earn those upgrades. Broken objects also play into the combat including exploding barrels, pizzas for team-wide health restoration, and a temporary infinite usage of special attacks.
Enemy variety definitely takes its inspiration from the “TMNT” games that came before it including how the differently-colored Footclan foot soldiers attack such as the silver foot soldiers being sword-wielding acrobats while yellow foot soldiers throw projectiles. Dinosaurs, Baxter’s “Mousers”, and even the tether-oriented “Roadkill Rodneys” are here to be destroyed or thrown into oblivion.
Each stage has a memorable boss battle such as the Rat King calling forth a horde of vermin that players must jump over or be gnawed on, and Rocksteady & Bebop (who get two separate boss fights as well as a united one) drive their “Turtlesmasher” that must be knocked off the highway in one of the few fast-paced hover-board stages. Beyond the collectibles that, when collected in full, provide points for those aforementioned upgrades are challenges solely associated with each particular stage like one of the latter challenges requiring the player(s) not take damage from the environmental hazards more than three times. Like the collectibles, completing these challengers earns upgrade points.
There are some technical issues in terms of gameplay with one being a staple of side-scrollers that have a 2.5D feel: visual alignment. Sometimes it can be hard to determine whether or not the player’s character is perfectly lined up with an enemy while the adversary easily glides across the screen before landing an attack. This alignment issue is heightened when playing as a turtle in a large group of players as it becomes easy to lose track of the player’s turtle; inevitably swinging at nothing, being stuck in a corner, or getting hit without knowing what just happened. The developers implemented a button (in the case of consoles it’s the left trigger) that displays which turtle is the player’s, but it can still be difficult to identify the player’s turtle in the middle of a hectic fight where fellow gamers are utilizing specials while foot soldiers are flooding the screen.
The drop-in/drop-out nature of gamers joining or leaving an open lobby during a mission can prevent progression if the leaving character is just standing still while the on-screen indicator is telling the players to “GO!” Thankfully, the game does a masterful job of upgrading or downgrading enemy difficulty on the fly depending on how many players are a part of a team at that time. Visually, “Shredder’s Revenge” has a perfect mixture of the old arcade look including several animations from the original arcade game and the 1980s-90s cartoon. This game also perfectly captures the sound of genre while bumping some incredible tunes from the likes of Ghostface Killah and Mega Ran.
The story, however, definitely lacks with small cutscenes focusing on the characters moving from one area to another that correlates with the overview map where the player can replay missions or check out collectible progression. While the miniscule storytelling isn’t surprising, the fact the original voice cast from the cartoon is mostly back in fine form, yet are rarely utilized especially in regards to the cutscenes is disappointing.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge” is a true blast from the past featuring the same type of exhilarating combat, miniscule storytelling, and gameplay modes as its predecessors in the genre with the addition of online co-op play to compliment the local multiplayer.
Should You Play “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge”?
By staying true to the original concept & design, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge” isn’t the heftiest of packages; but still feels incredibly rewarding. Jumping into games with friends or randoms will always be exhilarating due to the simplistic combat, copious enemies, memorable boss battles, and incredible soundtrack. Though the price tag for a minimum five to six-hour long game is a little steep at twenty-five USD, the fact it’s free on “Game Pass” at this time makes it easily accessible for those who have the service. And even if you don’t have “Game Pass”, “Shredder’s Revenge” warrants a purchase either now, or in the very near future. Overall, “TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge” is as refreshing a devouring a hot slice of pizza after turning mechanized soldiers into recycled waste.
