Having the Scott Pilgrim guys and the co-developers of Streets of Rage 4 on the dock here meant this was never gonna be a failure, regardless of its status as a pretty ridiculous exercise in nostalgia for folks who are still wrapping their arms around a childhood long past expiry. Sometimes a shameless cash-in can also be a fantastic beat 'em up, and that's okay - the miracle of video games is that sometimes really good ones are created to promote some shitty movie.

Although based on the secret ooze that created Turtles in Time, you can feel the SOR4 in this from the moment you first grapple an enemy. We're back. Tribute Games and Dotemu have done a technically-marvelous job of taking that original arcade/SNES framework Konami developed and polishing its rough, unforgiving edges off with fairer, more thoughtful mechanics from other brawlers that folks know and love. This game isn't quite as mechnically dense or strict in the challenges it lays down in comparison to other 2D beat 'em ups, but that makes total sense because this also has to be a 90s reverie for people who just want to see Mikey eat pizza or hear a 67-year old man try to sound like a teenager again or listen to the boss themes Wu-Tang composed. And that's cool by me - I want more people to experience the joys of the genre.

Mechanically, I'd say this thing plays like the Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 to Streets of Rage 4's Street Fighter IV - you're allowed far more leeway with OTGs, wall bounces and cancels compared to the precision of Wood Oak City, which leads to tons of incredibly satisfying juggle pathways that can even integrate obstacles from the surrounding environment. For example, with Raphael you can jab-loop a dude, cancel the last hit into a dash, cancel the dash into a shoryuken, roll-cancel over to the other end of the room and wall-bound the sandbagging body back to you by lunge-kicking it with a roomba. It's mondo bodacious, and goes to show how fulfilling fighting/brawling video games can be when you let the player "power fantasy" themselves as a lean green fighting machine with lengthy, stylish, free-flowing combos. A great way to show people how fun beat 'em ups are.

Six-player more or less throws all of the above out of the window in favour of a pizza party game, which is totally cool and lot of fun too, even if you're like me and don't know who anyone on the screen aside from the Ninja Turtles is (I am the right age for this flavour of TMNT, but they were called the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles over here and my mum didn't like me watching violent things and/or buying little post-Reaganite/Thatcherite plastic frog guys). A great beat 'em up should exist both as a big bashing exercise and a Sifu-like pathway to combat mastery, and no doubt some wise old masters will come along and show us multi-character juggle combos in the months to come that are like, mega bonkers radical, dude. Despite being PvE experiences, great beat 'em ups always end up developing fighting game-like communities around them who all end up complaining about patch notes and balance changes - it just goes to show the passion a great entry in this genre can inspire.

Only finished it twice so far - once solo and once in a random party - but feel like this could comfortably be a game like Streets of Rage 4 where I end up beating it like 10 times on different difficulties with different characters because it's clear they put the work in, making every character their own game to learn and every stage on every difficulty its own challenge to understand. What I'm trying to say here is that you should play Streets of Rage 4. Cowabunga! This thing has the fuckin Nickelodeon logo at the start and it could be Game of the Year lmao

"Heroes in a half shell, Turtle Power!"

When the opening animated scene starts playing the theme tune to the 1987 animated show I felt like I had been transported to my childhood again. Whilst Shredder's Revenge leans into that nostalgia bait with aplomb using cameos, some of the original voice cast and influence from Konami's original beat 'em up Turtles in Time, the thing is Shredder's Revenge is just a good game that respects the source material, but doesn't rely solely on it.

This game features 16 stages selected across a Super Mario World styled map you move the Turtle Van onto to select. There are 7 playable characters to play and though their basic move sets are identical in controls the attacks and animations are specific to each character based on their personality. Leonardo is very professional, Michelangelo does a dance yelling "party dude!" for his taunt, April smash's Foot clan in the face with camera equipment etc. There is a lot of love and care put into it. The actual combat is pretty simple with basic attacks, run attacks, a super various jump attacks and a dedicated dodge button. As you beat enemies of find collectables you gain experience and your character levels up gaining new moves or extra health. Though the game itself is fairly easy especially playing multiplayer (I've only tried two player with a friend so far but it goes up to six somehow) there are challenges for each level including some for not taking damage which offer a bit more of a skill based gameplay to aim for.

The thing I love most about this game though is how hard they nailed the aesthetic. The sprite work is wonderful, the art design is spot on and The Original Soundtrack Manages to sound both retro and modern at the same time done by Tee Lopes responsible for the sublime Sonic Mania OST.

This game is basically exactly what I wanted. Roll on the Cowabunga Collection.

+ Great references to the original animated show.
+ Fun game with a lot of heart.
+ Fantastic visual design.
+ Amazing modern/retro soundtrack.

Jogos desse gênero nunca foram a minha praia, mas eu me diverti bastante nesse, do início ao fim.

É um ótimo jogo pra se jogar com a mente desligada. Dê voadoras e pontapés em todos que aparecem na tela, siga em frente, enfrente um boss, repita o ciclo.

A trilha sonora incrível e a arte muito bonita do jogo complementam a experiência, que é indiscutivelmente muito mais divertida se compartilhada com um amigo.

What a hoot! For me, a child of the 80s, the Turtles were a symbol of budding maturity, poking through the eggshell of more childish fare and squinting into the bright light of “young adult” programming. Before Turtles I was into Belle and Sebastian and David the Gnome. After, it was all Captain Power and You Can't Do That on Television. The Turtles felt subversive at the time; they used weird slang, they had an attitude and they were gross teenagers who lived in the sewer.

It was a big tonal contrast with the Filmation and Hanna-Barbara tripe that was all over Saturday mornings at the time… and of course the rest is history. The Turtles were everywhere, and even as a kid who was generally clueless about pop culture, it penetrated my bubble and was a big part of my childhood. I wasn’t nearly cool enough to have been ahead of the curve with the comics, but I watched the show, played with the action figures the show was a commercial for, and eventually even saw the movie in the theater (I was really taken aback by the cuss words). It probably had a bigger cultural impact than anything else that I’ve been super into when it was current.

But until picking this game up, I never thought about the Turtles as an adult. So it’s like my nostalgia has been perfectly preserved, NIB, just waiting for something to crack it open. And this game sure did that! Like a laser guided nostalgia bomb right to the heart… Hmm a violence metaphor doesn’t feel right. It’s more like a custom-tailored multi-headed nostalgia dildo that perfectly tickles all the right memories.

Every new villain that popped up had me going “oh yeah THAT guy!” The colors were great, the characters are all nice and distinct, and best of all it was just a robust, great-feeling beat-em-up moveset. Pun intended: It just feels punchy. Dodge roll, yes please; sprint, must have; double jump!? Is it my birthday? My ninth birthday?!

Obviously I’m completely incapable of rendering a verdict on this game on account of how it has won my heart with its gift of precious forgotten memories. I will say I didn’t care for some of the voices, but what they lacked in gravitas they made up for in enthusiasm, and honestly that’s really about all the criticism I can muster. This was clearly made by masters of their craft with a strong love for the source material.

They say the act of remembering is actually a creative process; that each time you recall a memory you change it a bit. That the most intact memories are the ones that have been least frequently accessed. This is a game I’ll definitely be coming back to. But, maybe, not too often.

Six-player co-op with voice chat was honestly one of the best co-op experiences I've had in the past 15 years. For a lifelong TMNT fan, this game is truly special. For beat-em-up fans, this is well beyond the average monotony of something like Castle Crashers. The movement, attacks, pacing, co-op interactions, art, music, etc., are all sublime. I haven't run through the game solo yet, but it feels clear that the game was meant to be played in a group.

I'm definitely gonna need to get some IRL pizza next time though

The point I'm at now, I think Streets of Rage 4 is pretty much the only good scrolling beat 'em up ever made. Well, Shredder's Revenge is pretty decent too.

SoR4 was a constant knife's edge balance of combos and extra lives. You were always watching your score, and furiously running into the next opportunity to hit another baddie and boost your reserves. It made paying attention and playing well actually matter. In a beat 'em up! What a thought! I didn't think anyone would ever want to make another one that didn't rob from it wholesale. It'd be like doing a platformer with static screens after Super Mario Bros. What an embarrassment.

Well, Turtles doesn't quite do that. What surprised me is that's okay. This isn't supposed to be as brutal or gripping. It's a hangout game. A fun, lighthearted brawler. There's space for different kinds of beat 'em ups.

It's colour, energy and fun. You've got a ton of different moves and combos flow and open up in exciting ways. The presentation strikes me as a surprising mix of Saturn and GBA. Times when the staff were really excited not to be held back by the limitations of 16-bit, but had grown incredible skill working in 2D. The soundtrack sounds like it's from folk who are thrilled to have access to CD-quality audio. There's few games that look and sound as instantly fun as this. Just what you want from a six-player brawler.

Then there's the drawbacks. Combos are fun. Really great to dive in with a lunge and juggle a limp Foot Soldier for a while. The incentive behind this is to unlock character-specific moves and upgrades. I think that's a pretty weak system. Your favourites quickly get boosted through natural gameplay, while Donatello sits there without being able to do aerial specials. I think unlockable moves are a pretty shite concept outside of a tight one-and-done campaign. Here, you're handicapped if you want to switch characters throughout the game, and incentivised just to stick to your lane.

Not that you're really going to be too fussed about switching characters, because they more or less play about the same. There's no hulking bodybuilder, rollerskate kid or baby in a mech suit. The party dude, plucky reporter and old man rat all come the with the same core abilities and feel, just with some minor stat tweaks.

I get it though. Have you ever tried to set up a local multiplayer game of something with more than four people? One fussy prick spoils the broth for everyone. Arguments over controllers, characters, player number... it's not an environment you want to put a Gilius Thunderhead into. Equality of opportunity is the foundational tenet of such a chaotic social scenario. Just make everyone more or less the same, and nobody's too fussed about who they're playing as. But if you're playing on someone's single-player save, the characters aren't equal... I don't know. Why is it like this?

Look - ideal situation - 6 players, new save, all playing it for the first time, all excited, all in it for the long haul - I'm sure this works. I just don't think it's likely to be anyone's experience of this. More power to you if it's yours'.

Obviously, you're going to have a better time with this if you're a big Turtles fan. I have vague memories of being one as a little kid, but the emergence of Sonic the Hedgehog wiped my developing brain clean of pretty much anything that happened in the cartoon. I couldn't recognise any of the characters outside of the main cast and the action figures I had. I actually learned that one of my toys was a "Punk Frog" while playing this, though I couldn't tell you which one he was. The only real nostalgia I got out of the package was for Konami's cartoon licences, with the energetic soundtrack and colourful visuals conjuring childhood memories of Buster's Hidden Treasure and Mega Drive Animaniacs. I'm only kind of aware of some of the references to old TMNT media in here. I still like the game though. I don't think you have to be a fan for it.

It's a lighthearted cartoon brawler, and it's easy to appreciate the care and passion that's gone into it. It's not Streets of Rage 4, but I guess if I want that, I'll just have to play Streets of Rage 4.

Charge your controller, order a pizza, get your mates online and travel back in time: Shredder‘s Revenge makes you feel like the kid again, that’s just getting to know video games with decades of games ahead of ya. It’s not an homage, it just feels like it’s straight out of a time capsule and yet manages to feel at least a little fresh because of its responsiveness. It’s addictive and massively satisfying and with its short runtime a perfect game for one sitting with friends. I will definitely revisit this game from time to time - to beat enemies up while listening to the coolest soundtrack out there.

not quite my tempo. firstly, you'll have to forgive the uncharitable level of cynicism i walked into this with - the combination of 'scott pilgrim developers' and 'love letter to konami beat 'em ups' had me a little on edge despite the obvious appreciation of the source material shredder's revenge is anchored upon. still, what i quickly found instead was rather unexpected: turtles in time by way of denjin makai. tribute's real sleight of hand here is they've really only sought to give a slight facelift to the konami beat 'em up formula. the enemy count is still ludicrously high, bosses still come fully stocked with super armor, attacks are still stubby...and while these were failings or caveats of the arcade lineage shredder's revenge descends from, here they've been recontextualized as part and parcel of the experience, trials made to be overcome through strength rather than coin. a clear effort's been made to integrate every prerequisite tool for success, which unfortunately included a dodge, but hey, what are you gonna do. fans of constant offence as a means of defence will have plenty to chew on here - the simplistic kits of these characters lend themselves nicely to extended combo strings and artfully dodging barrages of attacks/obstacles - but if you're looking for something a bit more intimate than a button pressing bonanza, i felt it was a bit lacking. it's hard for me to state it's anything more than a competently directed take on castle crashers.

The most obvious contribution Shredder’s Revenge makes to Turtles in Time’s basic formula are multi-hit AOE Super attacks governed by a meter. Supers can be thrown out once the meter is full, and landing regular attacks is what gradually fills it, but there’s another way to get there, too: pressing the Taunt button locks you into an animation for a few seconds, at the end of which you instantly receive a full bar. The only condition that has to be met is that you can’t let an enemy attack interrupt your taunt, meaning it’s possible to use the downtime between combat rooms to safely stack up up to three Super bars (in Story Mode) and have them ready to rip the millisecond an enemy enters your general vicinity.

The obvious balance issues arising from this pose a question that’s unfortunately far more interesting than the game itself. Even within battles, the enemy AI can get so lethargic that it’s trivial to find breathing room for a taunt and delete entire rooms of mobs or take massive bites out of a boss’s health bar. Essentially, I kept having to stop and think: maybe I’d be enjoying this more if I stopped myself from exclusively jumping to the Instant Win-button at every opportunity?

To answer that question in a literal sense, I’m leaning toward “nah” — enemy behavior ranges from “literally won’t even attempt to track you across the screen” and “will grab you out of nowhere with no telegraphing” with little in-between, and they’ll even regularly enter the screen with active hitboxes when you might very well be in the middle of an uninterruptible action, leading to a good amount of cheap shots. It’s possible to launch enemies into the air with an uppercut or laterally and into walls with a satisfying dodge attack, but these hit reactions are yet another area with no pleasing middle ground: foot soldiers go from zero to death with basic launch-dive loops while most of the tougher enemy types take little to no hitstun. The final set of bosses actually attempt to counterplay Super spam by literally only being vulnerable in rigid intervals, but this results in fights where you stand in one corner, jump over any incoming projectiles and then walk up to get your three hits in. If that’s the kind of gameplay I can expect from a no-Super challenge run then I can’t say I’m interested.

But it’s also possible to look at my earlier question from a more philosophical angle: clearly, the existence of easy, exploitable strategies colored my perception of the game in a way that’s hard to shake retroactively. Fundamentally, I believe in the idea of encouraging players to find their own fun — be it from the perspective of a designer or even just when you’re recommending games to friends. Basically: why would I dismiss a game’s enjoyable qualities when its shortcomings are something I could technically opt out of?

Death Stranding, a game I may write a separate review for once the stars align, happens to be a case where I managed to do just that. The PS5 Director’s Cut includes the Half-Life Gravity Glove as an unlockable item, which naturally lets you beam objects directly into your hands from far away. I can’t imagine this would actually do serious harm to the game’s balance in practice, but I personally still stopped using it after a few missions — so much of what draws me to Death Stranding is the tangibility of its world, with every piece of cargo being spatially represented as a physics object. And the seemingly tiny quality of life improvement provided by the Gravity Glove was enough to undercut a lot of that appeal.

I may be stating the obvious now but what I’m trying to get at with this tangent is that Death Stranding clearly had something about it that hooked me, and that I wanted more of as I played — be that something as simple as the satisfaction of squeezing the right trigger to pick up a box of porn magazines and then letting go in the middle of Sam’s punch animation to organically hurl it at a guy’s head.

“Is it the game’s fault? No, it’s the players who are wrong.” — a hotly debated sentiment at least in my bubble, and one with enough nuances that I’ve been meaning to make a separate video about it. You may have come across or even held opinions like “it’s the designer’s job to force or at least encourage you to utilize all of a game’s mechanics;” DOOM Eternal game director Hugo Martin has famously described this idea as “pushing players into the fun zone,” even going as far as calling it a fuck-up on their part to not kill the player for fighting in a “boring/unfun” way (see the pre-release noclip interview.) I know I for one have traditionally erred on the side that you’re kind of a lamer if you can’t “FinD tHE fUn” on your own.

While I’m skeptical I’ll ever be fond of games like DOOM Eternal pushing their intended playstyle so aggressively that the experience turns into a glorified schedule, it’s cases like Shredder’s Revenge that make me realize my earlier perspective still was somewhat of an oversimplification. Because asking players to “find the fun” should naturally raise more questions: when or how do I know for sure that there’s no “fun” to be found? Could whatever cogent mechanical analysis I presented over the course of this 2/5 review still be missing the point? How much time do I owe any given game, how much experience with the medium and critical thinking of my own do I need to bring in to draw the most out of it?

Imposing rules and guidelines à la “X SHOULD be like Y” isn’t healthy for any artistic medium. But if there’s one idea swirling around in my himbo brain that seems worth sharing, it’s to encourage devs to at minimum know what the fun in their game is and put their best foot forward accordingly. I understand you may feel inclined to take the kiddies on a guided tour through the candy store so they don’t get food poisoning, but it’s okay to let go of their hand if you just make sure the stuff on the shelves is actually good. What I know is that Shredder’s Revenge’s bubble gum got a little too stale a little too fast, and it lacked the nuance to make me curious enough for another taste test.

Turtles are my favorite animal, period. I've loved them since I was child and I still love them today.
And this is the first time I've ever interacted with anything related to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

OK I did have a single action figure, but that was the extent of my direct experience. I have since been exposed to it a lot via culture osmosis... I mean YouTube videos, so I know the names of characters and the premise of the show. I was too young for the initial TV series (or more accurately didn't exist), but there were plenty of other shows and films that have come and gone, that I just didn't pay attention to. My best guess as to why I didn't try TMNT in any shape might have to do with "being influenced" by others as a kid, and for the sake of privacy I'll leave it at that.

So why am I finally give this a shot as someone in their 20s? Cause this game looked neat... yeah very anticlimactic. Well, there's also the fact that I've been meaning to give Beat 'em Ups another chance. I have a weird relation with this genre as it really should be my jam, but a couple of aspects that are seemingly traditional to the genre has made me hesitant in trying more of these games. Does Shredder's Revenge help alleviate my personal grievances? Eh, kind of.
Compared to other Beat 'em Ups I've played this one felt the best to control, which is a huge relief since I can't jive with the movement that well in Streets of Rage 4, as an example. Having a dash and double jump for every character, plus faster movement in general was far more comfortable and made playing the game way easier. Still have the thing where you walk into enemies to throw them; which I still feel is far less intuitive then a button command to grab them instead, but I've grown to accept that this is just how the genre operates. The combat is simpler then Streets 4 though, especially with the combo variety. I've seen some impressive combo videos from that game, and TMNT just doesn't have the same breadth of attacks that allow for some extremely technical feats. Here's the thing though... I don't care much about long and complex combo strings. You can still do some fun carry combos against enemies tossed into the air, and the dive kicks do a lot for utility that I was never bored playing this. I don't think it would've hurt having more complex combos, but it doesn't affect my enjoyment towards the game.
What does though are the boss battles. Even as someone who has mixed feelings towards Streets 4, I can tell how much of a step backwards the boss design is in TMNT then Streets. There not... bad, but juggling bosses just doesn't happen in Turtles, which Streets 4 allowed and them some. Throws are useless if the bosses doesn't have any aides that you can toss around and utilize throw invincibility to bypass attacks, as otherwise you can't throw any boss. And sadly when I think of weak bosses, I immediately think of the final boss, and how it loves to keep throwing attack after attack while being invulnerable till it feels like letting you hit it. Not a fun encounter for the kind of action game this is. Thankfully, on normal difficulty, bosses don't take too long to beat. They mostly have a small amount of health that they don't drag the pacing much. Plus there is some enjoyment trying to minimize damage taken so you still have lives for the next level, assuming your playing arcade mode.
As an aside, I do really like the customization of arcade mode and how there's several toggles to make the game easier or harder in various ways. A big one for me is the removal of the taunt button. You have a super meter that fills up by attacking enemies without taking damage, but the taunt will fill up one bar (the first of the three super bars only) for free if you pull it off without being interrupted. I actually like the taunt button, but I'll admit it can be pretty exploitable for how powerful supers are. Turning it off means you have to be more skilled in combat in order to be rewarded with a super, as you'll never get one if you keep taking damage.
I did get the DLC for this game and I tried survival mode. I personally think it doesn't go crazy enough like the survival mode from Streets 4, but honestly the DLC was worth it alone for the two characters. Karai being my favorite character, even if I had no context on who she was (same with Usagi). Actually now that I think about it, I didn't play much of the Turtle characters... maybe I should fixed that at some point.
That all said, I've played this game longer then I was intending. Because of my feelings towards the genre, I was thinking this would be a one and done. But despite the bosses, the stages otherwise were a lot of fun. There's a good variety of punching bag enemies, and enemies that force you to be more careful around them. Clearing out a room of baddies with a screen wide super never got tiring with all the shit they put me through. The music and visuals are fantastic for a licensed product. I mean, I know Turtle games have some amazing soundtracks but now I see firsthand what all the hype was about. The sprite work and animations are endlessly charming. I love all the foot soldiers doing stupid shit in the background of nearly every stage, especially those ones eating ice cream at the zoo. How the Hell does that work with them wearing masks... and being robots, I just realized that as I was typing this out... I love it. This is a thing in a lot of other Beat 'em Ups, but I love repeatedly hitting dead enemies to raise up the combo counter and filling more of the super meter. It's fun by itself, but also adds some nice skill checks to go into the next fight with a larger advantage. And those throws are especially crunchy, especially that triple ground slam. That never gets old.

I don't know if I'll try any other TMNT media, but I was pleasantly surprised by this game. I really want to try the multiplayer too, since it looks so chaotic and hectic. I see myself coming back to this every so often, which is probably one of the best things I can say towards any game.

But dude, I've spent so much writing this review when I could be gaming... if I said I was sorry for that, I'd be liar.

As a hard-drive carrying member of Xbox Game Pass™, this game struck me as the equivalent of loitering at the Barnes & Noble after a long day of squandering what little savings I had with my buds at the mall. An oasis in the desert? Far from it, but at least they had a working restroom and comfy chairs!

Shredder’s Revenge exchanges your local bookstore's comfy chairs for controls and movesets that feel snappy and satisfying. Strap in, because for the next 2 hours you’ll have a perfectly adequate time while you go through the motions, quickly realizing that despite the options presented to you by the game, there’s really nothing better than spamming your taunt and specials. On and on the mashing goes, and the hooting and hollering of the others in the room grows all the more uproarious. While waiting for a boss’s invulnerability phase to pass for the umpteenth time I found myself wondering: why am I still playing this?

Because I love my friends, and I want to hold on to these fleeting moments as they become more and more infrequent. The bookstore of days past was simply what we were able to settle on as a place to ride out the rest of the day. I don’t even like books! Just the same I was never really gripped by the turtle craze despite being born during its apex. Where and What simply can’t hold a candle to Who. Perhaps I’m just better at remembering faces?

To it's credit I suppose Barnes & Noble did a pretty serviceable job of creating an inoffensive environment for miscreant youth to take shelter in, but soon it will look like the local bookstores that it killed off. Will I mourn it? Not particularly. So too do I not lie in anguish at night about the coming and going of mediocre beat em ups like Scott Pilgrim and its ilk. But I’ll keep listening to their bangin’ soundtracks and remembering the good times I had with my buds.

Also daawwww I want what Bebop and Rocksteady have. Love those buffoons. <3

I have close to no affinity for the turtles, Konami's arcade beat-em-ups, or Scott Pilgrim's game adaptation, so the fact that I can say "I like it kinda!" is honestly a larger W for Tribute and DotEmu than it may seem.

There was an active cabinet for The Simpsons in my local mall, nestled in the back of a Slackers (local used game/movie/music store). Inevitably I'd pass by and pony up some pocket change to it, play the first stage or two, and leave whenever someone in my group wanted to or whenever I ran out of lives. Years later, when I eventually emulated the game, infinity quarters in hand, I realized after a full run, “Oh. This isn’t great.”

The Simpsons arcade game has undoubtedly MAJOR strengths: for one, it is one of if not the best rendition of the yellow family in a game, ever. 3D never does them any favors, early spritework was inevitably uncanny and budgeted (I mean this figuratively, but also probably literally) compared to the real deal, but arcade’s stronger power and Konami’s visual artists strike a perfect line between vivid and simplistic (especially for a pre-SNES ‘91, goddamn). It’s also just inherently funny that The Simpsons have a beat-em-up? The era of the 2D Simpsons games is notoriously gonzo conceptually, but the main four cast members beating the shit outta people just goes to show how strong genre conventions could make your random IP a fondly-remembered classic.

Anyway, apply everything I just said to TMNT and its games, and we have arrived at My Point™. We are dealing with a genre that exists in a dichotomous state of steely genre-worship and volatile relevancy, playing in a shibboleth minefield of its own making. When one of these is transcendent, it hits hard, yet I square up against send-ups constantly, many sold on the premise that it’s A Revival of The Genre. Many of them fail this, some... well, at least one succeeded. And wouldn’t you know it, DotEmu also published that.

I’ll cut to the chase: though this doesn’t do enough to make me feel convinced that I now love this type of beat-em-up, I admire it regardless. I’ll take the slow, technical pace of Ninja Warriors or AvP (queen vs. queen, but lord knows April ain’t no Lt. Kurosawa, no sir...) anyday, especially if it means I don’t have to deal with Konami beat-em-up bosses. But this is somewhere above the average, with a slightly higher threshold for mindful play, even if it does manifest in quick n’ dirty solutions like a dodge and RPG progression. And while I do prefer my action games to be studious and long-form, getting wall-to-wall bonkers shit right is an art of its own. And being well past the era of piggy bank sacrifices only makes this harder for Tribute, yet here we are.

I mean hey, the game allows for 6-player simultaneous co-op. I feel like that’s giving the secret away from the jump.

I never thought I would enjoy a Turtles game more than Turtles in Time as it held my top spot for 20 years but it has been dethroned. Even though it came out in 2022 Shredders Revenge oozes late 80s early 90s nostalgia in every aspect of the game. In general I’m not a fan of beat ‘em ups or I would rate this game even higher as I really have nothing negative to say about it. The art is beautiful and you can feel the love the team put in it and kept the 90s feel while making it fresh and new at the same time. The sound track is much the same, retro feel but in a modern style. The gameplay was nice, tight and smooth.

It made me feel like a kid again playing through this and I enjoyed every minute. The game doesn’t overstay it’s welcome as there are 16 levels that last anywhere from roughly 5 to 10 minutes. 7 playable characters and several difficulty settings to keep things fresh and the game is highly replayable without a big time commitment.

If you are a fan of beat ‘em ups or were a child that grew up loving the turtles you need to add this game to your library.

i have no experience whatsoever with the tnmt tmnt ? ™ umh teenage mutant ninja turtles ? bo tartarughe ninja in italiano so this is pretty out there as a game to play for my radar but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would've

I played streets of rage 4 some time earlier this year or was it last year ok anyway I marathoned streets of rage series and I also realised that beat em ups can be fun to play so TMNT franchise got my back with this new entry in the 20+ beat em up series they got going on there

as much as I understand some peeps in the sor4 worked on this one and it shows likeeeee I know what you are but still I enjoyed sor4 more than this one probably because there was Alex who is a funk of a man Alex im free this tuesday but I GOTTA SAY now the turtles did nothing for my sexual drive even tho I kinda like the stupid one who is he I don't remember wait michelangelo right he's the stupid one I love that guy MONGO NOTION DUDE

so I basically played the entirety of the game with Leonardo

I did play as michelangelo (I like his playstyle) raffaello (interesting playstyle for close combat not too much of a fan tho) and donatello (not too big a fan of the huge area move sets but that's an interesting change of pace) but I did settle for leo because hes actually maybe possibly the hottest one of the bunch and also I like his moves and shit like that I think I got him to level 10 or something I did everything with him

now I did not play as the mouse master or the reporter girl or even the last secret unlockable whatever guy so I cannot say anything about those guys sowryyy :(((

now as a beat em up neophyte I CAn say that this is definitely easier than SOR like they give you lots of lives lots of health items and I actually enjoyed this more just because I didnt have to die every 5 minutes because I suck (maybe sor isn't user friendly anyway and it was my mistake its like getting into shoot em ups touhou first . its me I did that)

so umh what can I say gameplay wise it's pretty straightforward

every character got some moves you use the moves and use the super moves and thats fucking it you get the usual move types of a standard beat em up and just go get some heads crushed

now I can say tho that the gameplay is incredibly smooth the turtles move seamlessly and are a joy to use so yeah there's that they feel floater than the sor4 guys (they're like wood planks) and so there's that

my first impression is that the spritework is beauuuuuuuutiful its beautiful guys every single frame is a joy to look at and every landscape is crafted accordingly and professionally its just ughhhhh delicious

the main characters do look sexy as fuck but I need to tell you that as a fervent furry aficionado there were some bosses that got me thinking some type of way like the wolf guy and maybe the pig guy and maybe the crocodile and maybe the rhino and also shredder is kinda tempting

ok basically I want to fuck the boss rooster of this game there I said it

now umh

wow there's not much else I can say wow maybe … maybe we good ? 😳

there's some more stuff like side quests or objectives for each level for some more repeatability (I don't care about that I only played it once lmaooo I'm so sorry yall I suck at these game and I also suck as a person and I also suck dick period)

the ost also kinda fucks

this is the theme of "turtles lets get our shells in gear" I love this song

and this first level theme is something else yall nothing like some electronic bop to get you pumped to fuck some ninja clones up like the juicy synths? the slutty guitar ? unmatched

in general the entirety of the ost is super good like you can see there's some competent composers behind this all

also this air ride theme fucks

actually now that I'm relistening to it this OST Is fucking memorable

OMG FUCK THIS OST IS BOMB LOOOOOOORD HAVE MERCY THESE SYNTHS ARE GONNA KILL MEEEEEEEE

also this is the most badass tutorial theme ever

bitch this theme OH MY GODOSOSOANSOQNKWKWKQKQ THIS FUCKING THEEEEEEEEME THE GUITAR RIFFS ARE GONNA MAKE ME GO INSANE GOOOOD the part at 1:48 is one of the greatest moments in videogame osts I'm sorry but that's the truth somebody had to say it and im the man chosen by God to do it

actually also the mall ost is fucking insane GRRRRR OH MY GOOD WHAT THE HEEEEEEEEEEL

MY GOD THIS ONES GREAT TOOOOOOOO THE SHIVERS LOOOOORD THIS COMPOSER IS SK FUCKING TALENTED I SWEAR

oh and also the final theme is great fuck

umh… i ended up putting the whole ost here ok maybe its than super good its like super amazing but whatever yknow

anyway idk if im interested jn playing the other games jn the series since I have no idea if I can take the older beat em up jank but I did actually enjoy this one so kudos I will be watching out for some more games from them

leonardo im free on tuesday if you wanna go out on tuesday when I'm free

GOTY 2022 & '21 - Number 8
(There's a video version of this, here)

I'm unlikely to think of Shredder's Revenge much past 2022. It's largely a Sonic Mania for a fanbase that I'm not part of. It is, however, a thoroughly impressive project, and I'm happy for those who will receive it most gratefully, but for me, it's pretty disposable. Music critics used to disparagingly refer to timeless pop classics as "bubblegum" - childish stuff to be chewed on, enjoyed passively, and thrown away. That's largely how I've taken to viewing scrolling beat 'em ups. Except Streets of Rage 4. That was some kind of miracle. You don't set out to make a retro revival beat 'em up and end up with one of the best action games of the last ten years. The formula they landed on must have been some kind of fluke. It's definitely the only flavour I'm ordering from now on.

I haven't cared about the Turtles since I was about 6 and Sonic the Hedgehog immediately took over my pocket money. I came here for the potential of a Streets of Rage 5 in sheep's clothing. Shredder's Revenge isn't Streets of Rage 4, but it doesn't fall apart under the comparison either. This is a lighter game. Precision and consistency aren't so demanded. There's incentives to play well, but it's not as big a concern. This is primarily a big multiplayer basharound. Something to draw in as many local players as possible. You can play it with your kid brother, or Turtles fans who don't really play games, or folk who just happen to be in the room and don't want to feel left out. It's carefree fun. Even with non-fans, there's a reassuring sense of familiarity with licensed games. I don't know many people who would self-identify as a "James Bond fan", but anytime Goldeneye has been pulled out in a crowded room, there's been a pair of willing hands on each controller. That's not something I can say about Perfect Dark. Get Shredder's Revenge on, and people will play it.

The game looks and sounds terrific, with contributions from Paul Robertson, Tee Lopes from Sonic Mania, and members of the Wu Tang Clan. There's new arrangements of old Konami TMNT music and a vibrant visual style that's desperate to evoke every aspect of early 90s pop culture they can cram in. This is some folks' dream game. I don't know how much licensing trouble Dotemu had on their hands with this, but there's references to old toys and characters from all over the 90s Turtles brand. I guess that's the power of having Viacom on your side. Thankfully, they don't seem to have injected the project with suggestions of how to reflect the current face of the product. This is a game tailored for those with first-hand experience of the nineties. If kids are buying this, that's a nice surprise.

The combo system isn't as vital a component to Shredder's Revenge as it is in Streets of Rage 4, but the game still feels great to play. Go back to just about any early 90's beat 'em up today, and you'll be shocked by how stiff and slow they feel. All these fighters trudging their way across the screen, bolt upright, like they're being held up by lolly sticks. Turtles dive, lunge and roll through the crowds of baddies. It never takes long to get to the other side of the screen, and you can easily respond to emerging opponents and obstacles if your reactions are up to it.

Don't worry if they're not, of course. Again, this isn't a demanding game. It's a party. The intention is for six hooting and hollering Turtles fans to jump on this and have a great time. Knockbacks and even deaths aren't that big a concern. In multiplayer, if you're about to die, a partner can run over and revive you before you lose a life. It's easygoing. This isn't the most substantive game in the world, but it successfully appeals to very specific niches and a mass market of casuals at the same time.

I'm not going to stop crowing about Streets of Rage 4 until every developer who attempts to make a beat 'em up studies what made it work so well. I can tell you for sure that WayForward haven't. This game isn't concerned about me though. I'm welcome at the party, but it's not being held in my honour. This is a fun game that I'll eagerly introduce to the right audiences. If that's you, I'll happily tell you it has my blessing.

Finally reviewing this, because I just had to have it on disc. In my defense, the last TMNT beat-em-up I bought was the much maligned Turtles in Time: Rehselled, which was eventually delisted. Shredder's Revenge was also developed by Tribute games, which was founded by former members of Ubisoft who worked on Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game, another licensed beat-em-up that was delisted in 2014 and only made available again in 2021. I'm not taking my chances!

Shredder's Revenge is hands down the best Turtles game since The Hyperstone Heist. It definitely plays more on the side of Streets of Rage 4 than Turtles in Time, with a heavy focus on building and maintaining combos and making use of special moves to control mobs. And like Streets of Rage 4, it controls like butter. It's incredibly easy to keep combos going by chaining ground attacks into slides or arials, and the quick recovery move can be used to initiate a new combo, which stops the flow of combat from being ruined when you get suckerpunched. You also level up as you play the story mode, which further expands your moveset by allowing you to activate super moves for different actions, which expands what you're able to do in a very satisfying way.

Like most beat-em-ups, co-op is where Shredder's Revenge really shines. I had no trouble finding a game in arcade mode and experienced very few issues with latency. Thankfully, if you happen to have, say, a Raphael who has connected with a modem made out of four potatoes wired in parallel and keeps getting stuck walking to the far left of the screen, you can just kick them out of the game. I found that losing players in the middle of an arcade run is no big deal as new ones are always dropping in between levels. It's very easy to get a full group of seven, and the game is absolutely bonkers when you do. Everyone is popping off supers back-to-back, the screen becomes completely unreadable, it's probably not for everyone but I love it. It's the one arcade throwback game I've played with a "complete the game with 1 credit" trophy I was actually able to get because of it.

I love the aesthetics of this game a lot, too. It has a very soft look which suits the cartoon style it's emulating quite well, and the characters are super expressive. It's fun to see how some of the taunts and victory poses are pulled right from the show's opening, and all the little nods to the cartoon are a lot of fun. Foot soldiers are always goofing off in the background, emulating menial jobs like they're god damn Gremlins, or enjoying some ice cream while waiting to get punched directly in the face (I feel a little bad about that, actually.) TeeLopes soundtrack is incredible and probably on par with his work on Sonic Mania, and hearing the original voice actors return is just plain nice.

In fact, Shredder's Revenge lands for me in a very similar way to Sonic Mania. These are both series that have been starved for a good game in really any style for years, finally getting retro throwbacks that not only do service to the classic titles but suitably modernize them. They're both made by talented teams of people who are clearly passionate about what they're working on, and it shows from the second you start the game to the moment the credits finish rolling. I grew up with the classic Turtles beat-em-ups, and I feel Shredder's Revenge does right by them, so this one gets a big thumbs up from me.