Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Shredder’s Revenge Preview

Tribute Games, the creator of such games as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – The Game and Panzer Paladin, are back again with Shredder’s Revenge. This is an homage to the TMNT arcade beat ’em ups of the late 80s and early 90s. Me and my friend Anthony got some hands on time with the game and were able to ask the devs some questions regarding game and DLC plans.

Up to four players can duke it out on the Foot Clan filled streets of New York. Other modes haven’t been confirmed but the story mode looks like a pretty solid chunk of game and invites additional playthroughs with it’s pick up and play nature.

We chose both Donatello and newcomer April O’Neil in her first playable role. Also available were the other 3 turtles and Master Splinter which also is surprisingly a first. On our playthrough, we got to play 2 stages which culminated in boss battles with Bebop and Rocksteady respectively. Controls were tight and each characters move set is varied and wide. String combos, jumping attacks and super moves as well as team up attacks if you approach an enemy from each side respectively are all on the table as well as the famous foot clan toss toward the screen from Turtles in Time. References and nods to the other games are plentiful such as falling down manholes and having them shout corny puns. The voice actors from the original cartoon are on board to add nostalgia for the four turtles.

The art style on display is beautiful. Painstakingly crafted pixel art exude from every corner of this game. Animations look smooth and game feel is satisfying. There’s a certain feel that top tier beat ’em ups have that just feels right and Shredder’s Revenge has that in spades. It makes you want to toss around just one more foot soldier. Visual flares when you impact with enemies and environmental objects pop with color and really bring things home. Tribute Games really went the extra mile in the graphics department.

As far as features go, the game has 10 confirmed levels. More may be in the works according to the devs but that is to be determined. We asked about unlockable content and while they couldn’t confirm what did say that there will be content that opens up as you play. DLC was also something that we asked about and that all depends on the success of game. Having extra playable characters like Casey Jones of Venus de Milo would certainly be welcome and the dev we were talking to showed passion when we pried about some more deep cuts in the Turtles franchise but licensing rights and development time are all concerns.

After our time with the game, initial impressions are very positive. It looks and feels on par with the best of them. We look forward to kickin’ shell in Shredder’s Revenge which is slated to release later this summer.