Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is one of the best beat-em-ups I’ve played. I like it more than Streets of Rage 4.
When I look back at the TMNT games that I played, I think of a few things. Arcade-style beat-em-ups, and the difficulty of the first game on the NES. The arcade game from Konami is one of the few memories I have of playing games in an arcade.
So, when I heard about Shredder’s Revenge, I was very excited. This might be the nostalgia talking, but I think it is a spectacular game! Fun to punch people in the face, or case robots, mutants, and aliens.
Let’s get into the game a bit and discuss what I dislike and don’t.
TLDR: TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is a spectacular beat-em-up that feels like a 90s arcade game.
Gameplay
It’s an arcade-style beat-em-up. You move to a section, beat the crap out of the enemies that appear, and then you can move to the next section.
It’s a format that works very and d it is a lot of fun to play! I played many games like this when I was little, and it’s fantastic that this genre is still going strong.
The game supports up to six players, which was rare for arcade beat-em-ups. It makes a lot of sense now that we can play online. It makes this game even more fun than in the arcade, or at least it can bring that feeling home.
There are seven playable characters that I know about. From the start, you can play as any of the turtles, Splinter and April. I like that you can do that because it is different from the other TMNT games I’ve played.
Casey Jones is also a playable character. While most people know him as the hockey mask-wearing vigilante, I will always know him as the brave train engineer with two museums named after him. I know that isn’t relevant to the game; I want to see if anyone has read this far.
There are plenty of moves that you can perform in the game. This is something that needed to be added! In the arcade games from the 80s and 90s, you could get away with mashing the kick, punch, or attack button. In modern beat-em-ups, having all those moves makes the game better and way more entertaining to watch while your annoying brother hogs the controller.
These moves are easy to do. There are no complex button combinations like in a fighting game. It is just a fun game to play as a direction and attack will do something awesome!
Visuals
The game looks fantastic! I think it looks much better than the arcade games while still having the same gameplay style. It does take you through the same scenes as the original arcade game.
There is a Saturday morning cartoon feel to the graphics. The sprites are detailed and colorful. There isn’t too much variety in the enemy design, but this plays into how you learn the game and is a call back to other TMNT games.
The locations that you fight in look great. However, it can be hard to tell what is destructible and what isn’t. It’s a minor thing, but it creates some situations where you’re attacking nothing.
Some visual cues tell you what you can destroy, but other objects look like you should be able to smash them up, and you can’t.
Some items like fire hydrants, cameras, and exploding barrels make the game more interesting. When you see one of these, it is a safe bet that a group of enemies will stupidly gather around it.
The health power-ups are very obvious. It’s food, specifically pizza. There wasn’t anything else that it could be.
Collectables were added to the game. Collecting enough of these will open up other sections of the game. I like how it doesn’t impact the game too much, especially since I don’t care much about collectibles.
Replayability
Sometimes you want to hit things. Beat-em-ups are a satisfying way to punch things in the face until they magically disappear from the screen. In this case, they blow up because they’re supposed to be robots here.
The game is something that I can come back to several times. Playing through the story mode with different characters, trying to complete all the challenges, or getting all the trophies are good ways to keep people playing.
The multi-player online play and the couch co-op modes are also ways to keep people playing. I like that you have the option for both. It makes the game feel like you’re going back into the arcades or hanging out with your friends.
9/10. This might be the nostalgia talking, but I like this game a lot. I’m glad games like this are still being made because many AAA games don’t appeal to me that often.
Pros
There is so much to like about this game. Here are a few of the things that stood out to me.
- Gameplay – It’s a straightforward game to play.
- Multi-player – You can have up to six players at a time!
- Nostalgia – I had to mention this! The game feels like it could have been a follow-up to the first arcade game. If they were doing remakes in the 90s, I could’ve seen this released on the PS1.
Cons
These are minor issues. I don’t have anything I think is a significant problem that would make this a bad game.
- Some things look like you can break them but can’t.
- I found it a little hard to get the health items during the road stages.
- I wish I could continue the game like an arcade game.
I do want to expand on the last point. I know this is a console game, but I would like it if you could continue instead of going to a continue screen. This is something that seems to be a problem with many beat-em-ups.
Conclusion
I think this is a great game. It has some minor flaws that are typical of other beat-em-ups. However, there isn’t anything that would make me think this was anything other than great.
Playing TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge made me feel like I was playing a game I would have played with my friends when I was little. It also felt like an extension of the old Saturday morning cartoon show.
This is a great game to play if you’re a fan of beat-em-ups, the TMNTs, or want something different.