Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge Review
It smartly doesn't chain itself to them arcade beat-em-ups were originally designed to suck as many quarters as they could from the pockets of players and thus have inherited a tendency to limit your ability to get out of the way of attacks or ramp up the difficulty without ramping up your own power shredder's revenge changes all of that as the turtles and friends can now freely dodge left and right they can hold the attack button down to charge up attacks which also has the added bonus of letting them take damage without flinching they each have a shore you can like rising attack that makes hitting aerial enemies a breeze and most importantly they each have a meter that allows them to use a screen clearing super attack.
When it's full the meter fills by landing hits and resets when you take damage but the kicker is that if you're able to fill it up completely the supercharge is stored until you use it this adds a nice extra incentive to play smart and be vigilant about avoiding damage because those super moves are clutch especially in the later stages when enemies start to get tankier and more aggressive aside from those additions this is still very much the same type of game that fans of the old arcade cabinets cabinet's known love it's simple beat em up action at its finest with a big focus on crowd clearing aoe attacks power-ups and environmental interactables that can turn the tide of a fight.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Reveng level 'S
There are a total of 16 levels in trevor's revenge and many of them are arranged like a remix greatest hits of previous games you've got the streets and highways of tmnt the arcade game the sewers and subways of the manhattan project and the prehistoric settings of turtles and time but there are also a handful of levels that are wholly original including one that takes place at a zoo and had me contending with regular stampedes foot ninjas and these aggravating little monkeys in cages that threw bananas at both me and my enemies the levels are all charming in their own right with plenty of easter eggs and gags throughout though.
I do wish there was a little more variety in the mix there are only two types of levels traditional stages where you just move from left to right beating up all the baddies in your way and high speed hoverboard stages where you move from left to right beating up all the baddies in your way only faster and on a hoverboard tribute games plays it safe with its level design and the result is a very even experience but also one that started to feel quite samey by the end each of the levels are brought to life.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Reveng soundtrack
Soundtrack its high energy completely fits the 90's nostalgia vibe and features remixes of familiar songs from the original games alongside entirely new songs that are equally catchy that includes tracks from big names like ghostface killa and megaran a rap about the turtles rolling on broadway and the level mutants over broadway.
Even a super cheesy rock song that feels like it would be right at home in a sonic adventure game.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Reveng character
Of course a lot of the appeal of shredder's revenge is playing as the teenage mutant ninja turtles themselves and tribute games has done a wonderful job of making each character feel distinct and true to their personality while still having essentially the same set of moves obviously they each have their own attack animations with their own unique weapons but it's the little things that really go a long way that could be the way mikey runs like a goofball rafts permanent scowl and intimidating grimace or donny's amusing taunt.
Where he pulls out a gameboy there are some notable gameplay differences between them all as well leo's the only character with a flipping somersault attack i have his double jump michelangelo can bounce off of enemies with his dive kick rath can german suplex's opponents and doni can hit from a football field away thanks to the reach of his staff the turtles aren't the only playable characters either splinter and april o'neil also join in on the action with splinter using his claws martial arts and walking stick and april fighting with tv cameras microphones and an array of punches and kicks all together there are six characters playable right from the start and shredder's revenge even allows for up to 6 people to play simultaneously.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Reveng Mode
There are only two modes of play in shredder's revenge a campaign mode that lets you select levels from an overworld and an arcade mode that gives you that classic experience of taking on the whole game from the start with a limited number of lives and continues with no checkpoints and no saving your progress the whole game can be completed in about 2 hours.
So arcade mode isn't as daunting of a task as it might initially seem and it ultimately ended up being my preferred way to play after beating the campaign once those who are completionists might find themselves preferring campaign mode however as it features hidden collectibles a variety of challenges to complete per level and persistent progression per character with new stats and abilities unlocked every time you level up arcade mode simply gives you all those abilities from the outset teenage mutant ninja turtles shredders revenge is exactly what it looks like a lovingly crafted reimagining of the tmnt arcade beat-em-ups from one of the best beat-em-up developers in the business.
AT Last but not least:
Today it's the perfect game to have in your library for when a group of friends come over and you just want to play something that's simple fun and can be comfortably finished in one single sitting it does admittedly play it pretty safe with the level design and as a result there is some tedium that creeps in towards the tail end of the campaign or a single sitting arcade mode run but these shortcomings are for the most part smoothed over thanks to fun combat a charming and nostalgic pixel aesthetic and one of the best soundtracks of the year so far.