Video games have had an incredible evolution over the past twenty years. Not just graphics and three-dimensional worlds, but aspects like the AI of the enemies, the procedural generation of worlds and levels, and the creation of open world games of almost boundless dimensions, have really raised the bar of what is possible to artificially recreate. Yet, we constantly feel the need to return to the simple, linear and unrealistic games of the 80s and 90s.
It was the era of arcade cabinets, coin-eating machines that often offered technical possibilities that were impossible for consoles and home computers. It was also undoubtedly the era of scrolling fighting games or, in jargon, beat’em up: Double Dragon, Golden Ax, Ninja Gaiden, Sunset Raiders and Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, are just some of the most famous and widespread names, but among these there are it was also a beautiful one. We refer to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (along with its sequel Turtles in Time).
It was based on the 1987 American-made planetary hit cartoon, itself based on a series of themed comics and toys that were very popular in the mid-1980s. Ninja Turtles were cool, fun, and loved pizza! Virtually any child of the time would have wanted to be one of them. And in fact at the Carnival parties of those years, practically half of the children were dressed as Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo or Donatello (who knows that the idea of calling them after the famous Italian artists did not contribute to the success).
The children who grew up in that era were influenced by the myth of the ninja turtles, and the developers of Tribute Games, belonging to that generation, had been wanting to bring about a revival of those fighting games for a long time. Thanks to the publisher DotEmu (in partnership with the Nickelodeon broadcaster), which over the years has given us several blows to the heart with the remakes, revivals or sequels of timeless games such as Wonderboy, Streets of Rage and Windjammers, the developers specialized in fighting games they had the opportunity to realize that idea with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.
The concept is to provide a classic fighting experience but with all the innovations we have experienced and enjoyed over the past 30 years. The gameplay is fast-paced and adrenaline-pumping, therefore focused on quick knockdowns rather than 1vs1 technical combat. In fact, the foot soldiers will arrive in very large groups and must be spread out quickly to avoid being surrounded and overwhelmed. Everything is proposed with a beautiful pixel art in full 16-bit style with the same colors, settings and characteristic elements of the world of the Turtles.
The nostalgic feeling is strong and well structured but as soon as you take the gamepad in hand you are amazed by how many new features have been introduced on the gameplay side to rejuvenate that formula and offer a fresh, brand new experience. First, there is a profound combo system: a hit counter activates and continues until you are hit, filling a bar with multilevel energy that can be used to activate powerful special attacks.
The latter allow us to defeat groups of enemies if we feel overwhelmed and to do a lot of harm to the bosses at the end of the level. The special move is also different according to the character: for example Leonardo will perform a combo in front of him with his katanas, while Michelangelo will sweep with his nunchaku in all directions.
Other than that, there are a lot of basic moves. Alternatives to the simple attack are running attacks, slides, evasions and linked combo attacks, two types of air strikes and a charged strike. Common soldiers can be grabbed hand-to-hand and at this point we have three options: throw them at the enemies, throw them at the screen (like in the original arcade) or slam them on the floor several times. This is for the single player, because when you play in co-op (up to 6 simultaneous players are supported) you can also take advantage of both simple and special cooperative attacks, and you can help your companions in difficulty by giving them some hit points or by pulling them. on after a knockout.
On the field we also find a lot of objects and destructible elements that can be used to hit enemies or used as traps, and most of the objects and some projectiles thrown by enemies can be countered if countered with the right timing. Obviously there is no shortage of classic pizzas to recover energy and special pizzas that activate invincibility and rotating attacks. The result is a very varied and fun combat system. Each kill can be accomplished pretty much differently and you never get that feeling of boredom and fatigue that was felt in the original games, especially experienced in the respective ports for SNES and Mega Drive.
The game offers two game modes, arcade and story. The first is a classic experience as a cabinet, designed for the most experienced players looking for a tough challenge, to play alone or in company climbing the online rankings. There are no save points, lives are limited, the same character is used from start to finish, and all power-ups are unlocked.
The story mode instead offers the same campaign but divided into various levels with constant automatic saves. The levels are offered on a world map that simulates the city of Manhattan and other areas in which you travel via the mythical armored van of the ninja turtles (but it cannot be used to fight, unfortunately). In the story mode a progression system is proposed in which each playable character can level up by unlocking new skills, more powerful special attacks and even increase HP points and lives.
In addition, each level is proposed with unique additional challenges that if passed give us more points or unlock additional areas. We will also find a good number of secrets to discover by interacting with the game setting and finding useful objects for our friends like Vernon or Irma.
The game can be played pleasantly: the levels are varied both as settings and as concepts (city and other sections are faced, on foot or on a skateboard on the ground or in flight) and with 6 playable characters from the beginning (the four turtles, the master Splinter and April O’Neil) and unlockable Casey Jones, each with their own strengths and fighting style, there is wide variety in combat and a good deal of replay value. If you want, you can also play online with friends, with the possibility of joining the game at any time, just like you would do by inserting a token in the cabinet.
The story mode ends in about 10 hours on medium difficulty level, but the longevity increases a lot if you raise the difficulty or if you take on additional challenges. From this point of view, an achievement system integrated into the game, therefore also available on Nintendo Switch, is appreciable. As in all scrolling fighting games, those who play solo will find motivation in completism, speeduruns and leaderboard climbing, but it is in company that the game becomes truly fun. With the ability to play up to six players locally and thanks to truly effective co-op attacks, the experience definitely benefits.
The system automatically calibrates the number of enemies based on difficulty and active human players, and we have found it to work well. In general, however, the difficulty is lower than in the 90s games for cabinets and consoles. Being overwhelmed by enemies does not happen often and the damage from environmental traps is very low: just to give an example, falling into a ravine does not lose an entire life but only a few hit points.
This doesn’t compromise the gameplay experience at all though, because Shredder’s Revenge is meant to be a tribute sequel rather than a coin-eating fighting game. With a not too difficult gameplay you can appreciate every detail of the artistic style, which in our opinion is perfectly apt.
The game world is chock full of references to elements from the animated series and previous video games, with well-kept designs and sought-after animations for both main characters and NPCs, simple enemies and bosses. As for the latter, we will face practically every arch enemy of the turtles: from the stupid jokers Rocksteady and Bebop, to Baxter Stockman to Slash, with Krang and of course Shredder who will face each other in the final, once they arrive at the Technodromo.
Technically the game is very simple and on PC it runs well at 60fps even on PC that is not exceptional, but this does not mean that it is a careless game. The art style is inspired by that of the 1987 cartoon and personally we like it more than that of the more modern and aggressive reinterpretations of the films and video games dedicated to the ninja turtles in recent years. Soundtrack and sound effects are also very successful and bring the mind back to those years, acting as an additive element for the nostalgia effect sought by the development team.
Summing up, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge succeeds perfectly in its goal: to propose a spiritual sequel faithful to the classic 16-bit dedicated to ninja turtles, which hinges on the nostalgia effect, without however generating a feeling of already seen and of redundancy in users fond of the classics. This is ensured by modern gameplay, full of options and variety, a compelling combo system and a successful cooperative mode for up to six players.
The title is therefore super recommended for players in their thirties and forties who lived through that era, but also to younger audiences: let’s not forget that the ninja turtles have had constant television, film and videogame reinterpretations over the years and even if not all of them have succeeded. , these are certainly heroes well known to all generations.
The game is also recommended for fans of fighting games in general, thanks to a fast, dynamic and overall fun, if not very technical combat system, and a six-player co-op locally and online. It is undoubtedly one of the best games dedicated to ninja turtles released in the last 10 years.
Does it have any flaws? Certainly. It is guilty of missing a museum section … and don’t expect a high level of challenge, nor exceptional longevity.
/
#Teenage #Mutant #Ninja #Turtles #Shredders #Revenge #Review #rescue
Leave a Reply