Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Genre: Arcade Brawler

Players: 1-6 Co-Op (Local / Online)

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Review:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is an Arcade Brawler that aims to recapture the magic of the classic Ninja Turtles games of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, specifically the original arcade game and its follow-up, Turtles in Time. However, even more than that, Shredder’s Revenge aims to be a love letter to fans of the franchise, and specifically the 1987 animated TV series.

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Green With Envy?

To that end, a great amount of work has been made here to recapture the looks, sounds, and overall feel of the 35 year-old cartoon and its videogame adaptations. This game doesn’t quite capture the art style of – the character designs are a bit off (April and Splinter in particular look different here) and the colors aren’t quite what I recall from those classic games, but these slight changes aren’t terrible either.

Of course, taken out of the context of the way this game tries to look like those old games, the look of this game is nevertheless gorgeous, making use of colorful 2D pixel art graphics with some wonderful detail and excellent animation. All of the characters here are bursting with personality – each turtle looks distinctly different from the others, moves differently, and exudes a different personality, and even the standard Foot Soldier enemies that you fight by the hundreds have some delightful personality, with many of them “hiding” in each location in the most ridiculous ways that wouldn’t fool a child, such as wearing a hat and cooking up food in a food court or acting like they’re enjoying a popsicle in the park… while still wearing their colorful ninja gear.

Beyond this, the game is loaded with tons of references to the Ninja Turtles franchise, including a lot of deep cuts that even series fans might not fully remember. Sure, those who played the original games may recall the rock soldiers, Tohka and Rahzar, Metalhead and Chrome Dome, and there may be some vague memory of the triceratops warriors… but other characters pop up that are even more obscure (and I won’t spoil them here), as well as a few who have never appeared in the games. It’s not just characters either – locations from prior games are clearly referenced here, as well as lines, stage names, and other fun little Easter eggs strewn all around.

Of course, it’s not just the references and the way the game looks that’s providing good fanservice here – the characters here are voiced, and the four turtles themselves even have the original voice actors from the animated TV show reprise their roles. The game’s music is similarly designed to evoke the same sort of sound of the classic games, along with a few tracks by modern musicians such as Ghostface Killah. While I didn’t find many of these tracks to be quite as memorable as those from the original game (and I’m sorry, but the cover of the TV theme just can’t stack up to the original), there were a few standouts that I did like, such as Mutants Over Broadway, A Few Screws Loose, Technodrome Redux, and We Ain’t Came to Lose.

All told, this game doesn’t quite recapture the iconic look and sound of the original games… but what it does deliver is still pretty darn good. Interestingly, I think I could say the same for the gameplay.

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A Radical Departure?

You still have multiple characters who all control more or less the same as one another (expanded to six in this game with the addition of April and Splinter as playable characters, and with a seventh unlockable character hidden away as well), but differences in not only their stats but their move sets make them feel very different – Donatello is still the prime choice if you want reach, Leonardo is a good all-arounder, Raphael and Splinter have power, and Michelangelo and April have speed, but there are other subtle differences in their moves that add nice extra nuances as well.

The original Ninja Turtles games made combat largely about positioning and timing your jump attacks so you could dart in and out of enemy range before they could respond with a strike of their own. Shredder’s Revenge still has a few different kinds of jump attacks, but this time around the more important elements of the gameplay are properly timing and chaining together the new dodge/snap-back move, and finding a peaceful moment to taunt/meditate to refill your super meter to unleash your character’s special attack. These two moves provide players with an opportunity to avoid damage using invincibility frames while dishing out damage of their own, and players who are fast and attentive can dart back and forth in battle in a beautiful sort of ballet.

The result is that the core gameplay this time around feels very different… yet “different” isn’t “bad”. In fact, the gameplay here is quite good and I would say it’s delightfully unique within the genre, providing players with an opportunity to bring strategy into their fighting style, though of course younger players who just want to button-mash will still find plenty of enjoyment in that too.

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Pizza Party

Of course, when playing solo it’s easy to be strategic, but things get chaotic quickly when you play with up to five additional players, either locally or online. Even playing with four players transforms this game’s combat from strategic to wildly hectic, and when you get six players in the fray, it becomes all-out chaos, and can even cause some slowdown at points. Still, the frenetic element that multiplayer brings to this game isn’t bad, it just makes for a different experience.

However, there is one element of the multiplayer I feel like highlighting – the way this game allows players to turn on online multiplayer and invite anyone to join does an amazing job of channeling the spirit of the arcade game, where you could be playing and then suddenly find yourself joined by a new player, or even having your team gradually fill up. The game allows this sort of play regardless of whether you’re in the traditional arcade mode or the new story mode.

Ah, on that note, this game wisely gives players different ways to enjoy it. Those who want to just play the game in a traditional fashion can just run through it in Arcade mode, which operates much in the same way the older games did. This mode only lasts for a few hours though, and players may find more longevity in the Story mode, which has RPG-style character leveling and missions to accomplish in the stages, encouraging players to replay them to power up their team (and possibly perfect their gameplay while they’re at it). It’s a nice addition that doesn’t revolutionize anything, but still adds replay value to the game.

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Cowabunga?

In the end, do I think Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge succeeds in recapturing the greatness of the beloved arcade games that inspired it? Wellllll… not quite, no. However, I think it manages to be pretty great in its own right, and fans of those original games will still have a huge wealth of references to those classic games to bring a smile to their faces. However, regardless of whether you played those older games or are entirely new to Ninja Turtles games, know that if you enjoy Arcade-style Brawlers, this game is an absolute must-have. The great gameplay, delightful presentation, and phenomenal multiplayer all make this one of the best games the genre has ever seen.

tl;dr – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is an Arcade Brawler that seeks to recapture the magic of the classic Ninja Turtles arcade games, and I don’t think it quite succeeds at that… but that’s okay because it’s a truly phenomenal entry in the genre in its own right, and one loaded with charm, great gameplay, and tons of wonderful little references to the Ninja Turtles franchise that are sure to please series fans and Arcade Brawler fans alike. If that describes you, you should definitely get ahold of this game.

Grade: A-

Edit: After a bit more playing, I felt I should add on a note regarding this game. After my initial play-through of the game, subsequent times playing have caused me to realize that there is an issue with this game I cannot ignore – it is super buggy. Characters inexplicably freezing mid-jump, online connection issues, and outright game crashes all seem frequent, and one of the game’s early story “cutscenes” even seems to have a problem with repeatedly skipping one of the frames. For now, I will leave this review up as-is in hopes that these issues are corrected in a patch, but if these problems remain after a few months, I will likely re-review this game to incorporate these complaints.

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2022 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best Arcade / Party Game – Not only are Arcade Brawlers always best played with friends, they’re also so instantly accessible that anyone can easily join in and kick some butt (shell?). However, Shredder’s Revenge is not just any Arcade Brawler, but one of the best that the genre has ever produced, and while it’s absolutely accessible for newcomers to the genre, it also has a lot of depth for more seasoned players. Add to that a delightfully nostalgic presentation, and you have a game that’s sure to be welcome at any party where gamers want to play together.

Runner-Up: Best Action Game, Best Song (We Ain’t Came to Lose, by Raekwon and Ghostface Killah), Best Graphical Style, Best Game for Kids and Casual Players, Best Multiplayer

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