Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge Review – Old-School Thrills, New-School Polish

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles carved its perfect niche in video games by way of the cooperative beat ‘em up. Titles like the 1989 arcade game and Turtles in Time let fans fulfill the fantasy of kicking shell alongside their friends, but it’s been a long time since our green heroes were the stars of a great video game. Shredder’s Revenge ends that drought, serving as a lovingly crafted homage to TMNT’s glory days that gives fans what they remember while sanding down most of the rough edges. 

Shredder and his Foot Clan have run amok in New York City and beyond, and it’s up to the Turtles, alongside Master Splinter, April O’Neil, and an unlockable Casey Jones, to stop them. In this adventure inspired in part by 1987’s cartoon, up to six people can join forces to fight through more than a dozen stages. Although Shredder’s Revenge can appeal to any generation of TMNT fans, those who grew up in the ‘80s and early ‘90s will best appreciate how Tribute Games’ reverence for that series oozes from every pixelated brick. 

I’m among the fans who discovered TMNT during this golden era, so I couldn’t stop smiling as I recognized Easter eggs and encountered a fearsome foe or friendly face I’d long forgotten about. The cuts run deep in Shredder’s Revenge – one villain only appeared once in the cartoon – giving diehard players plenty of well-executed fanservice. The package is a great nostalgic treat. It also features a fantastic retro-inspired soundtrack.

Shredder’s Revenge doesn’t try to reinvent the beat ‘em up. Tribute Games, however, refined the traditional template. While you can still use the attack button for simple combos and run, you can also combine aerial, running, or other special attacks to give it enough variety to not feel too one-note. To avoid defenses and sidestep attacks, I love the dodge/recovery option. It allows me to instantly return to the fight if knocked down. Sending foes careening into the screen border, air-juggling them long after they’re defeated, and tossing them at the screen adds more layers of goofy fun. However, battling flying enemies is less enjoyable because it’s tougher to discern which plane they occupy. It was annoying to miss multiple jump kicks, only for my response to be blasted. 

Even with a full squad of six players and mobs of enemies on screen, Shredder’s Revenge runs like a dream. The chaos of having half-dozen friends armed with Ninja weapons simultaneously throws any sense of strategy out the window. While it is easy to lose your mind in the ocean of digital humanity, and that can occasionally be annoying, the pleasure of laughing with so many friends helps reduce the frustration. 

Every character has their own unique traits such as speed, reach, attack and speed that make them stand out without feeling superior to the others. Leonardo, for example, is an all-rounder. Raphael, Splinter, and April are the hardest hitting, and Michelangelo, April, and April have the fastest speeds. There are variations. You can’t go wrong even if someone claims your favorite. Though I’ll always rep Donatello, I had a great time using everyone.

A Story mode is an alternative to the standard Arcade mode. It offers an objective-based version. You can play through the stages again and again, rather than tackling them one by one. That’s because levels have simple objectives such as avoiding damage throughout the mission or executing a type of attack a number of times. Quests can be used to unlock new abilities, level up characters and give you more stat boosts like health or other benefits. 

I appreciate how Story mode’s objectives incentivized me to observe stages for collectibles, hidden characters, and traps to use against enemies. I wish side missions had more variety than “bring an ally this batch of collectibles” though. Story mode may not be a colossal shake-up, but it’s a neat twist worth playing if you already conquered Arcade. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge gives me what I wanted: a polished, raucously fun throwback that plays better than how I remember the original games. There will be plenty of Turtles lovers old and new, but the best is for those who have a nostalgic connection to this period. Gather your family and friends together, grab a piece of pizza, then relive the memories.