Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

A fun and nostalgic beat em up to play with friends

Overview

Developed by Tribute Games, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, is a love letter to both the TMNT series and the the beat em up genre as a whole. Featuring incredible pixel art, music from the beloved Tee Lopes, and fast paced moment to moment gameplay, Shredder's Revenge is a must play for fans of the TMNT and games like Streets of Rage or the Scott Pilgrim game.

Story

The Story of Shredder's Revenge feels exactly like an episode of the original 80's TMNT, with the turtles needing to put a stop to the foot clan, Krang and Shredder. The plot is essentially just window dressing for the gameplay and allows the game to introduce fan favourite characters throughout the series. It's nothing ground breaking but it doesn't need to be. Instead, Shredder's Revenge relies much more on other elements to hold your attention.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Shredder's Revenge is arguably the game's strongest aspect. Taking inspiration from the fan favourite Turtles in Time arcade game, Shredder's Revenge plays exactly like a classic arcade beat em up. Players can choose between one of 7 playable characters, those being the main 4 turtles, Splinter, April and Kasey after finishing the game. Each character has their own stats, and play slightly differently, but also similarly enough to be able to pick up and play.

From there players will be navigating through linear levels and fighting through hordes of enemies before facing a boss at the end. Characters can also level up, learning new skills and combat abilities along the way. There are also NPC's and collectibles to find that will reward players with exp, however, these aren't very well hidden and most players will end up finding them on their first try.

However, each level also have unique challenges to complete and check off. These are much more rewarding, since they encourage players to think outside the box, rather than constantly button mashing. For example, some levels may require you to defeat enemies using traps, while another may request you to finish the level without using any super abilities or without getting hit. These challenges encourage replayability and help the player to better understand the game's mechanics.

For the most part, the game controls well, making building combos satisfying and rewarding. However, there was some occasions, specifically during the sections that required platforming, that felt less responsive than it should be. For example, players cannot jump out of a dash, instead they can do a slide attack or a dash attack. This feels a little odd, since they both do the same thing, and often times I found myself sliding off edges into pits, rather than jumping over them. There is also a double jump, but it never felt that responsive. I had several occasions where I intended to double jump but instead the character would fall straight to the floor instead.

As for the multiplayer, for the most part we experienced no issues, and we found the game played best with 3 to 4 people. There is an option for up to 6 players, however, while fun, we found ourselves steamrolling through levels, and there was so much chaos it was difficult to see what was happening. There were some occasions too where some challenges counted as a whole group, and some that only counted individually. This was mildly frustrating, since there was never an indication as to which challenge only counts individually, and for the group as a whole.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Shredder's Revenge was composed by Tee Lopes. While he is most renowned for his work on Sonic Mania, Tee Lopes does an incredible job at catching the fast-paced energy of the game through the music. The soundtrack also features a few guest artists, such as rapper Ghostface Killah and Raekwon.

Take a listen to some of the soundtrack below:

Track - Jaw-Breaking News!

Track - Mutants over Broadway!

Track - We Ain't Came to Lose

Visuals

Shredder's Revenge takes inspiration from classic arcade style beat em ups, such as Turtles in Time, Streets of Rage and even The Simpsons Arcade Game. As such, visually, the game looks like a step up from those original arcade releases, featuring gorgeous pixel art that pops off the screen. There is so many little details in the sprite work that players will enjoy, such as Donnatello playing a Gameboy, or enemies minding their own business before approaching them.

At the end of each level, players are rewarded with a short cutscene, providing a bit of context for the next level.

Character animations are detailed and a ton of care was placed into making each character feel unique, even if their move sets are similar. For example, Mikey is portrayed as laidback and easy going, while Raphael is much more serious and cocky.

Everything from beginning to end through Shredder's Revenge is pure eye candy, even before starting up the game, players are treated to a beautifully animated opening that sets the tone for the game. Needless to say, if you have a preference for pixel art graphics, Shredder's Revenge is worth checking out.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Gorgeous pixel art

• Fun challenges

• Replay value

• Strong multiplayer

• Catchy soundtrack

Cons:

• Tad repetitive

• Sometimes unresponsive controls

• Better with friends

Conclusion

Shredder's Revenge is an incredibly fun experience with the right people, with a story mode, and more challenging arcade mode for players to sink their teeth into, the game has a lot of value for those willing to embrace the sometimes more clunky elements such as the controls. Even if you aren't a fan of the source material, Shredder's Revenge is a great time for those who consider themselves fans of the beat em up genre.

Shredder's Revenge is currently available on all platforms, for more news and information on Shredder's Revenge, stay with KeyItem.