Turtles are my favorite animal, period. I've loved them since I was child and I still love them today.
And this is the first time I've ever interacted with anything related to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
OK I did have a single action figure, but that was the extent of my direct experience. I have since been exposed to it a lot via culture osmosis... I mean YouTube videos, so I know the names of characters and the premise of the show. I was too young for the initial TV series (or more accurately didn't exist), but there were plenty of other shows and films that have come and gone, that I just didn't pay attention to. My best guess as to why I didn't try TMNT in any shape might have to do with "being influenced" by others as a kid, and for the sake of privacy I'll leave it at that.
So why am I finally give this a shot as someone in their 20s? Cause this game looked neat... yeah very anticlimactic. Well, there's also the fact that I've been meaning to give Beat 'em Ups another chance. I have a weird relation with this genre as it really should be my jam, but a couple of aspects that are seemingly traditional to the genre has made me hesitant in trying more of these games. Does Shredder's Revenge help alleviate my personal grievances? Eh, kind of.
Compared to other Beat 'em Ups I've played this one felt the best to control, which is a huge relief since I can't jive with the movement that well in Streets of Rage 4, as an example. Having a dash and double jump for every character, plus faster movement in general was far more comfortable and made playing the game way easier. Still have the thing where you walk into enemies to throw them; which I still feel is far less intuitive then a button command to grab them instead, but I've grown to accept that this is just how the genre operates. The combat is simpler then Streets 4 though, especially with the combo variety. I've seen some impressive combo videos from that game, and TMNT just doesn't have the same breadth of attacks that allow for some extremely technical feats. Here's the thing though... I don't care much about long and complex combo strings. You can still do some fun carry combos against enemies tossed into the air, and the dive kicks do a lot for utility that I was never bored playing this. I don't think it would've hurt having more complex combos, but it doesn't affect my enjoyment towards the game.
What does though are the boss battles. Even as someone who has mixed feelings towards Streets 4, I can tell how much of a step backwards the boss design is in TMNT then Streets. There not... bad, but juggling bosses just doesn't happen in Turtles, which Streets 4 allowed and them some. Throws are useless if the bosses doesn't have any aides that you can toss around and utilize throw invincibility to bypass attacks, as otherwise you can't throw any boss. And sadly when I think of weak bosses, I immediately think of the final boss, and how it loves to keep throwing attack after attack while being invulnerable till it feels like letting you hit it. Not a fun encounter for the kind of action game this is. Thankfully, on normal difficulty, bosses don't take too long to beat. They mostly have a small amount of health that they don't drag the pacing much. Plus there is some enjoyment trying to minimize damage taken so you still have lives for the next level, assuming your playing arcade mode.
As an aside, I do really like the customization of arcade mode and how there's several toggles to make the game easier or harder in various ways. A big one for me is the removal of the taunt button. You have a super meter that fills up by attacking enemies without taking damage, but the taunt will fill up one bar (the first of the three super bars only) for free if you pull it off without being interrupted. I actually like the taunt button, but I'll admit it can be pretty exploitable for how powerful supers are. Turning it off means you have to be more skilled in combat in order to be rewarded with a super, as you'll never get one if you keep taking damage.
I did get the DLC for this game and I tried survival mode. I personally think it doesn't go crazy enough like the survival mode from Streets 4, but honestly the DLC was worth it alone for the two characters. Karai being my favorite character, even if I had no context on who she was (same with Usagi). Actually now that I think about it, I didn't play much of the Turtle characters... maybe I should fixed that at some point.
That all said, I've played this game longer then I was intending. Because of my feelings towards the genre, I was thinking this would be a one and done. But despite the bosses, the stages otherwise were a lot of fun. There's a good variety of punching bag enemies, and enemies that force you to be more careful around them. Clearing out a room of baddies with a screen wide super never got tiring with all the shit they put me through. The music and visuals are fantastic for a licensed product. I mean, I know Turtle games have some amazing soundtracks but now I see firsthand what all the hype was about. The sprite work and animations are endlessly charming. I love all the foot soldiers doing stupid shit in the background of nearly every stage, especially those ones eating ice cream at the zoo. How the Hell does that work with them wearing masks... and being robots, I just realized that as I was typing this out... I love it. This is a thing in a lot of other Beat 'em Ups, but I love repeatedly hitting dead enemies to raise up the combo counter and filling more of the super meter. It's fun by itself, but also adds some nice skill checks to go into the next fight with a larger advantage. And those throws are especially crunchy, especially that triple ground slam. That never gets old.
I don't know if I'll try any other TMNT media, but I was pleasantly surprised by this game. I really want to try the multiplayer too, since it looks so chaotic and hectic. I see myself coming back to this every so often, which is probably one of the best things I can say towards any game.
But dude, I've spent so much writing this review when I could be gaming... if I said I was sorry for that, I'd be liar.
And this is the first time I've ever interacted with anything related to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
OK I did have a single action figure, but that was the extent of my direct experience. I have since been exposed to it a lot via culture osmosis... I mean YouTube videos, so I know the names of characters and the premise of the show. I was too young for the initial TV series (or more accurately didn't exist), but there were plenty of other shows and films that have come and gone, that I just didn't pay attention to. My best guess as to why I didn't try TMNT in any shape might have to do with "being influenced" by others as a kid, and for the sake of privacy I'll leave it at that.
So why am I finally give this a shot as someone in their 20s? Cause this game looked neat... yeah very anticlimactic. Well, there's also the fact that I've been meaning to give Beat 'em Ups another chance. I have a weird relation with this genre as it really should be my jam, but a couple of aspects that are seemingly traditional to the genre has made me hesitant in trying more of these games. Does Shredder's Revenge help alleviate my personal grievances? Eh, kind of.
Compared to other Beat 'em Ups I've played this one felt the best to control, which is a huge relief since I can't jive with the movement that well in Streets of Rage 4, as an example. Having a dash and double jump for every character, plus faster movement in general was far more comfortable and made playing the game way easier. Still have the thing where you walk into enemies to throw them; which I still feel is far less intuitive then a button command to grab them instead, but I've grown to accept that this is just how the genre operates. The combat is simpler then Streets 4 though, especially with the combo variety. I've seen some impressive combo videos from that game, and TMNT just doesn't have the same breadth of attacks that allow for some extremely technical feats. Here's the thing though... I don't care much about long and complex combo strings. You can still do some fun carry combos against enemies tossed into the air, and the dive kicks do a lot for utility that I was never bored playing this. I don't think it would've hurt having more complex combos, but it doesn't affect my enjoyment towards the game.
What does though are the boss battles. Even as someone who has mixed feelings towards Streets 4, I can tell how much of a step backwards the boss design is in TMNT then Streets. There not... bad, but juggling bosses just doesn't happen in Turtles, which Streets 4 allowed and them some. Throws are useless if the bosses doesn't have any aides that you can toss around and utilize throw invincibility to bypass attacks, as otherwise you can't throw any boss. And sadly when I think of weak bosses, I immediately think of the final boss, and how it loves to keep throwing attack after attack while being invulnerable till it feels like letting you hit it. Not a fun encounter for the kind of action game this is. Thankfully, on normal difficulty, bosses don't take too long to beat. They mostly have a small amount of health that they don't drag the pacing much. Plus there is some enjoyment trying to minimize damage taken so you still have lives for the next level, assuming your playing arcade mode.
As an aside, I do really like the customization of arcade mode and how there's several toggles to make the game easier or harder in various ways. A big one for me is the removal of the taunt button. You have a super meter that fills up by attacking enemies without taking damage, but the taunt will fill up one bar (the first of the three super bars only) for free if you pull it off without being interrupted. I actually like the taunt button, but I'll admit it can be pretty exploitable for how powerful supers are. Turning it off means you have to be more skilled in combat in order to be rewarded with a super, as you'll never get one if you keep taking damage.
I did get the DLC for this game and I tried survival mode. I personally think it doesn't go crazy enough like the survival mode from Streets 4, but honestly the DLC was worth it alone for the two characters. Karai being my favorite character, even if I had no context on who she was (same with Usagi). Actually now that I think about it, I didn't play much of the Turtle characters... maybe I should fixed that at some point.
That all said, I've played this game longer then I was intending. Because of my feelings towards the genre, I was thinking this would be a one and done. But despite the bosses, the stages otherwise were a lot of fun. There's a good variety of punching bag enemies, and enemies that force you to be more careful around them. Clearing out a room of baddies with a screen wide super never got tiring with all the shit they put me through. The music and visuals are fantastic for a licensed product. I mean, I know Turtle games have some amazing soundtracks but now I see firsthand what all the hype was about. The sprite work and animations are endlessly charming. I love all the foot soldiers doing stupid shit in the background of nearly every stage, especially those ones eating ice cream at the zoo. How the Hell does that work with them wearing masks... and being robots, I just realized that as I was typing this out... I love it. This is a thing in a lot of other Beat 'em Ups, but I love repeatedly hitting dead enemies to raise up the combo counter and filling more of the super meter. It's fun by itself, but also adds some nice skill checks to go into the next fight with a larger advantage. And those throws are especially crunchy, especially that triple ground slam. That never gets old.
I don't know if I'll try any other TMNT media, but I was pleasantly surprised by this game. I really want to try the multiplayer too, since it looks so chaotic and hectic. I see myself coming back to this every so often, which is probably one of the best things I can say towards any game.
But dude, I've spent so much writing this review when I could be gaming... if I said I was sorry for that, I'd be liar.
DeemonAndGames
7 months ago
Seing so many positive reviews for this one makes me really want to give then a shot, everything I've read sounds like, at the very least, a damn fun time, I have to check it out. Great review!