Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a remarkable love letter to classic 90s arcade beat 'em ups such as Street of Rage, The Simpsons Arcade, and, of course, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade. This new release from Streets of Rage 4 team, Dotemu, has been brought to the masses with incredible polish, fluidity, and most importantly, barrels of fun.
Every aspect of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge feels awesome, radical, and gnarly, from the excellent presentation to the lovingly crafted beat 'em up gameplay, to the fact that the game can be played in drop-in/drop-out co-op. Fans of TMNT will surely love Shredder's Revenge but those who aren't familiar with the source material and are just looking for a fun arcade-style game to play solo or with friends will get a lot out of this impeccable indie experience. While playing and enjoying this game, don't forget to check out these awesome things that may have been overlooked.
7 Seamless 6-Player Co-Op Enjoyment
Many players might completely miss out on this game's local and online co-op. While it has been a major part of the game's marketing, players hopping into the game's story mode might not realize that other people, locally or online, can join in on the radical fun. At any point during gameplay, new players can join the fray via drop-in/drop-out local play or via matchmaking.
TMNT: Shredder's Revenge can be played and enjoyed as a solo player without any issues, however, the real fun begins when each player takes one of the titular turtles or April O'Neil and Master Splinter. The mere fact that six players can enjoy this game together deserves to be mentioned.
6 Taunt Animations Galore
One of the most superfluous things to do in Shredder's Revenge is taunting enemies with one of the playable characters' unique animations. This very small gameplay touch is awesome but is also incredibly easy to miss. With the quick press of a button, players are able to have their chosen character do a quirky and fun little taunt animation.
Does this change the game at all? No. Does this enhance the experience in any meaningful way? Again, no. However, a little animation touch like this shows that the developers at Tribute Games really care about bringing every aspect of this game to life.
5 Secret Characters And Collectibles
Simply put, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge features a sheer cornucopia of hidden characters to discover and lore-building collectibles all throughout the game. While many of these characters don't become playable such as one of the early ones, Irma, it's still really special to be able to break down a door or smash a trash can to then find a unique character hiding there.
This game thrives off of fan service and building a TMNT world that fans of the source material, along with new players, will really enjoy and be able to get into. The collectibles here come in the form of newspapers and diary entries and help flesh out the game's story, character, and worlds, however, they are very easy to miss while playing.
4 The Turtles' Dojo
Shredder's Revenge features an entire dojo menu area that is so awesome to browse through but is undeniably missable. This dojo area is the place to learn about the game's characters, discover the turtles' new moves, and to just unwind after taking on a particularly challenging battle against Bebop and Rocksteady.
There actually isn't much in terms of actual gameplay with the turtles' dojo, however, it's a somewhat hidden menu area that helps bring this game to life even more. For those players that truly want to get every ounce of detail and nuance out of this game, then be sure to head to the dojo immediately and throughout the gnarly adventure.
3 Classic Arcade Mode
Okay, this might be the most obvious entry on this list, however, it absolutely needs to be mentioned for just how awesome it is. TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, apart from featuring a fully fleshed-out story mode, also features a complete arcade mode for the players that want to test their beat 'em up mettle.
This game mode, despite being accessible right away from the main menu, might be missed since many players just want to jump into the standard story mode that has three different difficulties. The arcade mode is a pure and authentic TMNT arcade experience that lacks many of the game's otherwise very helpful accessibility options.
2 Crates And Breakable Items Hide Goodies
Each stage in Shredder's Revenge is littered with environmental details such as storefronts, birds flying around, rats on the ground, and most importantly, a bunch of items to smash and break at the player's discretion. Any good beat 'em up game should have tons of breakable objects and TMNT: Shredder's Revenge is no different, fortunately.
While going through each of the game's diverse stages, be sure to smash any crates, boxes, barrels, and the like to find hidden goodies. These hidden goodies might be the aforementioned collectibles or secret characters, but, even more importantly, they could be special buffs to a character to give temporary invulnerability and increased damage, for example.
1 Pizza!
Pizza is back in action. While that may sound like a silly statement to make when talking about a beat 'em up video game, it's a perfect statement for why fans love the TMNT series and the arcade game, specifically. Yep, the 90s TMNT arcade game had players eat pizza to restore valuable health.
Fans can rejoice since Shredder's Revenge also brings pizza to the table, served hot and fresh. Simply find one in the environment, pick it up, and enjoy the health boost. If only pizza in real-life boosted health and longevity like it does in the TMNT universe.