Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge pretends as if the last twenty years of gaming hasn’t existed. It imagines a world where Konami did not stop churning out sequels to Turtles in Time and licensed titles were still told by way of beat ’em ups.

Tribute Games, a stalwart developer of classic-inspired titles, has lived up to its name with Shredder’s Revenge. Despite two decades separating the game from the Turtles‘ franchise apex, Shredder’s Revenge is a loving tribute to a decreasingly antiquated mindset.

I was born in 1987, the same year that cosmically important cartoon debuted. It would be a few years until I could fully grasp and appreciate the complexity of a group of mutated turtles on a quest to defeat a maniacal ninja with claw hands. But once the time came, nothing could stop that unquenchable thirst for Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michaelangelo. The hundreds of plastic toys, the two amazing live-action movies, the other movie, the cartoon, the Ninja, Ninja, rap. I dressed up as a Turtle for Halloween. I had a Turtles cake for one of my birthdays. Like many, I bought Battletoads because it was in close enough proximity to the beloved amphibians.

When I played Shredder’s Revenge my eyes lit up when a robotic spider controlled by a Foot Clan member descended from the sky. I had that toy. And despite spending twenty minutes Google searching with every possible word I could think of, I couldn’t figure out what that damn robot was. BUT I HAD THAT TOY! Shredder’s Revenge is a referential masterpiece for those who spent mornings watching the shelled heroes fight baddies while torturing their parent’s wallet for the next toy whether it be an astronaut Turtle or cowboy Turtle or a new vehicle or pizza slice shooter.

First and foremost, I think, the game is built for those who fondly remember the Turtle Power antics before the franchise kept changing hands and art styles. Shredder’s Revenge is a spiritual successor to the late 80s and early 90s Turtles that were all but inescapable. It represents a time when any popular movie or television license was fodder for an action platformer or a beat ’em up. I played that mediocre 1989 Turtles game–the first of its kind–and could barely progress, yet I was still dazzled by seeing my beloved heroes fighting on screen. Back then, kids would buy anything and wouldn’t question Donatello slashing at weirdos wielding chainsaws or why a turtle would seemingly drown when falling into a sewer… WHERE THEY WERE BORN.

Batman, Power Rangers, X-Men, Aliens, The Simpsons. They were all at one point in a side-scrolling beat ’em up. It was such a fascinating time because the obvious technical limitations prevented developers from doing much else. Simply put, a beat ’em up was the best way to accurately pixelate those characters and have them take on droves of bad guys like they would in the films and shows. Plus, a beat ’em up rarely required puzzles and drastic scene changes, it was an easy way to get by.

Shredder’s Revenge painstakingly recreates that era but transplants it to the modern era with a number of flourishes. Tribute Games knows that the Turtles worked best when they were beating the crap out of the wild cast of villains that spoke to children all those years ago. Think of it as a time capsule that manages to evolve and grow without being touched by the outside world.

Players choose to play as Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Master Splinter, April O’Neil, and Casey Jones once he’s unlocked after beating the campaign. These six characters have an up to three-star ranking in range, speed, and power, allowing for players to pick a few favorites that tick off specific boxes. My first choice was Splinter because he was rated at three stars for power and had decent range. Regardless of choice, each character has the same move set including dash attacks, aerial hits, recovery moves, and a hard-hitting attack that can be activated once enough “ninja power” has been built up from combos or by taunting.

Players then tear across a hundred or so enemies while moving from the left to right of the screen, the top to bottom, or the bottom to top. You know how this works, right? Enemies pop up from the invisible borders of the screen or behind obstacles and you’ve got to mash the attack button until they’re dead and you can move along.

Shredder’s Revenge‘s biggest flaw is that across its 16 levels, there is little change in its delivery. Players will continuously fight varying combinations of enemies, moving up and down the plane of the screen to avoid attacks or get in the best position to bash a pizza monster or triceratops across the face. Expect that in each new level, you’ll meet at least one or two new enemies to contend with while older baddies rush in so you’re not constantly trying to learn new attack patterns. The game laser focuses on a piece of genre expression from a specific and well-defined era and makes few attempts to push the envelope.

This isn’t to say that Tribute Games’ approach lacked creativity or value. Over a decade ago, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game translated a license into an incredibly thoughtful beat ’em up. That game featured shops, character progression, unlocks, and mini games to bulk up its presence. Shredder’s Revenge mostly strips any fluff in service of the purest experience possible. And while I personally preferred Scott Pilgrim‘s progression system and shops, there isn’t a specific right answer as long as the developer makes their vision work.

Here, players have the option to play two versions of the game, Arcade or Campaign. Arcade mode is just like a coin-operated machine or a cartridge-based game that had no saves. Players go through each level, fighting from boss to boss, and trying not to die before running out of lives. Campaign mode features a level select based on a world map and a simplistic set of upgrades. When a character earns enough points, they will level up and earn one extra hit point, an extra life, a new special move, or an extra bar of ninja power. Capping out at level 10 unlocks a “Radical Mode” where players use up a full three bars of ninja power to do increased damage for a limited time. In Arcade mode, these upgrades are already unlocked. During the campaign, players also meet side characters that ask for a certain number of hidden collectibles strewn through levels. Completing their favors rewards a chunk of XP.

Some players may find incentive to max out all six characters to level 10 but outside of achievements, there’s not that much incentive to do so. Still, the campaign and its cutscenes are highly enjoyable. Shredder and Krang are working together to wreak havoc across New York City yet again and that’s about your story. Shredder’s Revenge is packed with a fantastic assortment of levels featuring rooftop battles, a trek through the mall, alien dimensions, and the skies.

Each of Shredder’s Revenge‘s levels can be completed in less than ten minutes, meaning the game moves at a relatively brisk pace. This does wonders for player engagement because it means they are rarely out of the action and always ready for something new to look at. Keep in mind, though, that fatigue may set in for some players who want a bit more from their beat ’em ups. Only a handful of levels have players on hoverboards moving “fast” or “flying” but it’s still just navigating around specific attack planes to deliver attacks, just with more flying enemies. I thought Tribute Games would throw in a shooting gallery or something just for a little spice but alas.

Though it may sound like I’m a bit harsh on Shredder’s Revenge and its lack of variety, I recognize what it is attempting to do with the Turtles license and can truly find little fault. My issues with the game are surface because they don’t represent the astounding quality of the entire package.

For one, Shredder’s Revenge has an expertly realized art style. Instead of going for the most highly detailed pixel art, Tribute’s artists seek to closely replicate the style of older arcades. Characters are brightly colored with huge blocks of colors that aren’t broken up by detailing lines. Though mostly static, backgrounds of levels have a life of their own because they are packed with immense amounts of detail. Animations in the game are outrageously complex for this kind of art. Even with every character having the same input moves, they all animate differently, giving those characters more depth because they move and fight in such vast, expressive ways.

Enemy variety truly stands out not just in their palette swaps but because of how fun they are to fight, watch wince in pain, and then blow up. Because, yeah, a lot of enemies just simply blow up. And Shredder’s Revenge can get pretty difficult when harder droves of enemies start flooding the screen in multitudes. Foot Clan members with swords or shields can tank hits while dinosaurs take up a chunk of real estate and throw bombs at the same time robots are flying around shooting lasers. Though I will gripe about a few moments squaring off against flying enemies–especially the boss fight with Baxter Stockman–where it is extremely difficult to find the positioning on where enemies can be hit. That being said, most of the bosses feature one gimmick that makes them memorable.

The soundtrack, to put it bluntly, slaps. Not only is there an incredible score that mimics some of the best chiptune hits players have come across, there’s original songs… with lyrics. Regardless of how 90s cheese they may sound, the songs and their lyrics encapsulate that rockin’ Saturday morning cartoon vibe where kids–and probably a lot of adults–would air guitar and punch along with the Turtles in front of a CRT television. Hell, even Ghostface Killah and Raekwon from Wu-Tang Clan contributed to the music. It’s one of the best bits of gaming music we’ve had in awhile.

Shredder’s Revenge is also just immensely steeped in the franchise, as should be apparent. There are references everyone will get, characters everyone who has been alive for a few days should recognize, and a bevy of “COWABUNGA” quotes thrown around. But Tribute also went for some deep cuts, characters that weren’t as popular or, apparently, discoverable by Google. Baddies that only saw the light of day a handful of times or were never in previous Turtles games can be found here and I can’t wait to see a compilation put together of their appearances here and across other multimedia.

But let’s talk about one of the true stars of Shredder’s Revenge: the multiplayer. The game features co-op for up to six players and let me tell you, when that many people are on screen fighting at once, it’s chaos in the best way possible. Player’s can fight together as whoever, start individual parties, group up with their friends, or even search for games in progress. Once I hopped in right as the final boss of the game was exploding but the game will tell you a percentage of the level that has been completed by the team you’re about to join. Co-op partners can share health, revive each other, and do team attacks, all while filling the screen with bodies flying everywhere. Smartly, boss health accounts for multiple players so its not a cakewalk. And never once did I suffer from poor connection. It is of the most ideal cooperative gaming scenarios I can imagine.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge has a ridiculous magic to it. The game is one of the best cooperative experiences players can have, not only because six players can wreck through the Foot Clan but because it evokes those nostalgic days of gaming with your friends on a couch during the weekend. Drenched in admiration for the Turtles franchise, Tribute Games has created a beat ’em up that chooses to perfectly encapsulate what the genre was for licensed titles two decades ago. Players seeking bells and whistles and newer mechanics might be disappointed that the game does not push the envelope. Yet Shredder’s Revenge is an immense joy for players who want to be taken back to the past or simply have quick bouts of fun wildly mashing buttons to beat up vibrant villains as some of the best heroes we’ve had in entertainment.