Shredders Revenge is a very well done take on the classic TMNT beat ‘em ups of yesteryear. There are added moves and features that make this game more accessible than the older titles plus it’s the longest of the games coming with 16 levels, roughly 2 hours of playtime. But the art style is not my personal favorite, it still manages to capture the spirit and character design from the 80s cartoon show but to me the arcade art style is superior.
On the gameplay front they took the if it is not broken don’t fix it approach. It plays close to all the old games, meaning it has snappy fast paced action and great enemy variety. This game adds in a special meter that builds up as you do combos which resets if hit. Once full you can do a special attack that deals damage to all around you. This is similar to the special you could do in past games but now it doesn’t remove health, it’s limited by skill and a taunt button. The taunt button fills up the meter if you get through the whole taunt animation, this means that many players will run to a corner and keep taunting over and over to keep using their special… don’t know if I like that. There is also a new dodge button that has the player flip backward which can then be a starting point for an attack. These new moves and a few others make the combat better than past TMNT games but it’s not a modern day overhaul with depth like Streets of Rage 4.
The levels are standard TMNT levels that take you through what you would expect. Lots of NY street levels, a sewers, some vehicle segments, alien planet and of course technodrome. All the major villains have boss battles and there are some very deep cuts from the cartoon show. It’s great to have the old cast come back and do some lines for the game and their basic cutscenes (done in the old arcade style).
There is a world map in the campaign mode that lets you pick levels and do basic side missions (collect easy to find items in the levels). These give points that slowly upgrade your character to have better specials and more lives in the campaign mode which doesn’t have a traditional continue system. For those who want the experience of an arcade there is arcade mode, limited lives and continues and once you die it’s over. Strangely that mode has no save feature, now I don’t want to save scum the arcade mode but please let me save my spot to return later. Asking players to sit for two hours every time they want to attempt an arcade run is ridiculous.
Of course this game has coop, 6 players in fact which leads to some chaotic action. Online play is super easy to start and random people can jump in and out of your game seemlessly. I found 6 people to be too much and too easy, I think 4 is the sweet spot and sadly there is no option to limit how many can join the game.
TMNT Shredder’a Revenge is a must play for all classic TMNT fans. On a whole it’s one of the best of the beat ‘em ups, on a gameplay level the best BUT for me the art style and a few hiccups keeps it from overtaking Turtles in Time of TMNT3 for the best game in the series.
Score: 7.7
On the gameplay front they took the if it is not broken don’t fix it approach. It plays close to all the old games, meaning it has snappy fast paced action and great enemy variety. This game adds in a special meter that builds up as you do combos which resets if hit. Once full you can do a special attack that deals damage to all around you. This is similar to the special you could do in past games but now it doesn’t remove health, it’s limited by skill and a taunt button. The taunt button fills up the meter if you get through the whole taunt animation, this means that many players will run to a corner and keep taunting over and over to keep using their special… don’t know if I like that. There is also a new dodge button that has the player flip backward which can then be a starting point for an attack. These new moves and a few others make the combat better than past TMNT games but it’s not a modern day overhaul with depth like Streets of Rage 4.
The levels are standard TMNT levels that take you through what you would expect. Lots of NY street levels, a sewers, some vehicle segments, alien planet and of course technodrome. All the major villains have boss battles and there are some very deep cuts from the cartoon show. It’s great to have the old cast come back and do some lines for the game and their basic cutscenes (done in the old arcade style).
There is a world map in the campaign mode that lets you pick levels and do basic side missions (collect easy to find items in the levels). These give points that slowly upgrade your character to have better specials and more lives in the campaign mode which doesn’t have a traditional continue system. For those who want the experience of an arcade there is arcade mode, limited lives and continues and once you die it’s over. Strangely that mode has no save feature, now I don’t want to save scum the arcade mode but please let me save my spot to return later. Asking players to sit for two hours every time they want to attempt an arcade run is ridiculous.
Of course this game has coop, 6 players in fact which leads to some chaotic action. Online play is super easy to start and random people can jump in and out of your game seemlessly. I found 6 people to be too much and too easy, I think 4 is the sweet spot and sadly there is no option to limit how many can join the game.
TMNT Shredder’a Revenge is a must play for all classic TMNT fans. On a whole it’s one of the best of the beat ‘em ups, on a gameplay level the best BUT for me the art style and a few hiccups keeps it from overtaking Turtles in Time of TMNT3 for the best game in the series.
Score: 7.7