the other side of the coin for shredder's revenge. there's three specific shared traits here: both are coasting the wavelength of 80's arcade revivalism, both ameliorate the shortcomings and deficiencies of the parent franchises they spawned from, and both have had to adapt to tailor their mechanics for the home console market.
comparisons between the two don't seem to yield much in the way of positives for DDN. DDN is aesthetically crude, borne from an era in which ironic 80s pastiche was in vogue; shredder's revenge doesn't echo the same insincerity, instead brimming with love for the source material. DDN's sense of humor is juvenile and irksome, while shredder's revenge stands tall on its innate charisma. and while DDN introduces misguided moveset customization and a baffling + unnecessary upgrade system, shredder's revenge has a comparatively simple solution to the levelling dilemma that has plagued beat 'em ups since their transition from the arcade environment: relegate it entirely to story mode and allow players to level up simply through accumulating defeated foes. speaking of, shredder's revenge has both a story and an arcade mode, while DDN has...only a story mode. if you wanna 1CC, get ready to uh, take no damage, or something. we're working off an honor system here.
a plethora of problems, sure. but ultimately, the key difference between the two is really simple: DDN is more compelling as a beat 'em up, despite its foibles. whatever stiffness is felt in its opening chapters is wrung out by the finale. where shredder's revenge is loose and centered on player empowerment, DDN asks the player to engage with the mechanics on its terms. and there's a comprehensive strictness to these systems that engenders a genuine sense of reward when you find that one strategy that'll help overcome a grating section, or when you discover tech that'll aid in combos, or when you learn how to navigate its effective encounter design. it's one of those beat 'em ups where every tool in your arsenal feels like it has both general and niche use, where every weapon pickup feels like a godsend - but you still gotta swing that bat carefully.
one helpful point of comparison is the existence of a dodge in both games. in 2D beat 'em up circles, dodges have a crummy reputation because in the best case scenario, they dilute encounter design and defensive mechanics to telegraphed avoidances of attacks, and in the worst case scenario they break the game on its hinges completely. the dodge in shredder's revenge is apt given the number of aggressive enemies on screen, and tribute did well to imbue it with heft through recovery frames, but it's also still distinctly weightless. you float into offence, sway back with a dodge, and tap the attack button again to leap back into the fray and continue your assault.
while you'll have to avoid attacks by jumping and moving horizontally/vertically, there's two kinds of dedicated dodges in DDN, both of which are cumbersome. the first, and most interesting, is a god hand-esque duck. throw jabs in someone's grill, and duck if you register a high attack being thrown your way to maintain offence. given the recovery frames involved, and the danger of immediate punishment if you fail, there's a higher sense of risk involved with the duck than can sometimes be said for shredder's revenge. but there's genuine reward, too - wayforward gave it meaning by greatly increasing your damage for an extremely minute window of time upon a successful attack, which deftly encourages meticulous aggression. and you'll be needing that damage boost, because enemy hp has been tuned just so - they're not damage sponges, but offence doesn't guarantee security because the microseconds you spend wailing on a guy is plenty of time for some other enemy to waltz in on you and ruin the fun. DDN has this sense that you're flirting with danger constantly, that you're never actually safe - it's pretty remarkable how they were able to subtly achieve this.
and so DDN is able to fold its dodge into acute positioning - the secret formula for every good beat 'em up. after initiating a duck, you can dodge roll (which seems to have very selective iframes), or you can opt for a low-damage grounded attack or a high damage flying knee. every option here is grounded in decision-making filtered through positioning. to roll through certain attacks, i have to have the foresight to duck in advance. sure, i want to cancel a duck into a flying knee for my juggle - but if i do that, i'll jump right into a pit, or a stage hazard. the list of minute calculations goes on, and it's why this clicked for me in a way i couldn't with shredder's revenge.
if you'll forgive its aged aesthetic (leaving aside kaufman's score - your mileage still might vary but theres still at least a couple of standouts imo) what you find is a beat 'em up that understands the genre finds life through restriction. and you can't ask for more than that.
comparisons between the two don't seem to yield much in the way of positives for DDN. DDN is aesthetically crude, borne from an era in which ironic 80s pastiche was in vogue; shredder's revenge doesn't echo the same insincerity, instead brimming with love for the source material. DDN's sense of humor is juvenile and irksome, while shredder's revenge stands tall on its innate charisma. and while DDN introduces misguided moveset customization and a baffling + unnecessary upgrade system, shredder's revenge has a comparatively simple solution to the levelling dilemma that has plagued beat 'em ups since their transition from the arcade environment: relegate it entirely to story mode and allow players to level up simply through accumulating defeated foes. speaking of, shredder's revenge has both a story and an arcade mode, while DDN has...only a story mode. if you wanna 1CC, get ready to uh, take no damage, or something. we're working off an honor system here.
a plethora of problems, sure. but ultimately, the key difference between the two is really simple: DDN is more compelling as a beat 'em up, despite its foibles. whatever stiffness is felt in its opening chapters is wrung out by the finale. where shredder's revenge is loose and centered on player empowerment, DDN asks the player to engage with the mechanics on its terms. and there's a comprehensive strictness to these systems that engenders a genuine sense of reward when you find that one strategy that'll help overcome a grating section, or when you discover tech that'll aid in combos, or when you learn how to navigate its effective encounter design. it's one of those beat 'em ups where every tool in your arsenal feels like it has both general and niche use, where every weapon pickup feels like a godsend - but you still gotta swing that bat carefully.
one helpful point of comparison is the existence of a dodge in both games. in 2D beat 'em up circles, dodges have a crummy reputation because in the best case scenario, they dilute encounter design and defensive mechanics to telegraphed avoidances of attacks, and in the worst case scenario they break the game on its hinges completely. the dodge in shredder's revenge is apt given the number of aggressive enemies on screen, and tribute did well to imbue it with heft through recovery frames, but it's also still distinctly weightless. you float into offence, sway back with a dodge, and tap the attack button again to leap back into the fray and continue your assault.
while you'll have to avoid attacks by jumping and moving horizontally/vertically, there's two kinds of dedicated dodges in DDN, both of which are cumbersome. the first, and most interesting, is a god hand-esque duck. throw jabs in someone's grill, and duck if you register a high attack being thrown your way to maintain offence. given the recovery frames involved, and the danger of immediate punishment if you fail, there's a higher sense of risk involved with the duck than can sometimes be said for shredder's revenge. but there's genuine reward, too - wayforward gave it meaning by greatly increasing your damage for an extremely minute window of time upon a successful attack, which deftly encourages meticulous aggression. and you'll be needing that damage boost, because enemy hp has been tuned just so - they're not damage sponges, but offence doesn't guarantee security because the microseconds you spend wailing on a guy is plenty of time for some other enemy to waltz in on you and ruin the fun. DDN has this sense that you're flirting with danger constantly, that you're never actually safe - it's pretty remarkable how they were able to subtly achieve this.
and so DDN is able to fold its dodge into acute positioning - the secret formula for every good beat 'em up. after initiating a duck, you can dodge roll (which seems to have very selective iframes), or you can opt for a low-damage grounded attack or a high damage flying knee. every option here is grounded in decision-making filtered through positioning. to roll through certain attacks, i have to have the foresight to duck in advance. sure, i want to cancel a duck into a flying knee for my juggle - but if i do that, i'll jump right into a pit, or a stage hazard. the list of minute calculations goes on, and it's why this clicked for me in a way i couldn't with shredder's revenge.
if you'll forgive its aged aesthetic (leaving aside kaufman's score - your mileage still might vary but theres still at least a couple of standouts imo) what you find is a beat 'em up that understands the genre finds life through restriction. and you can't ask for more than that.