REVIEW : Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (PC)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, created by Tribute Games, is a fun throwback to the Turtles in Time era that would fit right in on today’s platforms or in a 1992 arcade cabinet. Shredder’s Revenge is one of the best TMNT titles in a long time and a fantastic fighter in its own right since it took the best elements of classic TMNT games and added some quality of life enhancements.
The production of dozens of items based on the green superheroes and the supporting cast of villains, including video games, was a logical result of such success. Konami’s attempts were, to put it mildly, (very) subpar because they were made at a time when PC gaming, outside of adventures/RPGs of course, was not at its finest in terms of quality. The situation was unquestionably better in the arcade cabinets, where the same game can still be enjoyed without difficulty today. There was also the excellent TMNT: Turtles in Time for the Nintendo SNES, of which the game we are reviewing is the spiritual successor.
But keep in mind that juggling, combinations, and other special actions and inputs might make the game more challenging. While it is possible to complete the game without employing any of these elements, doing so makes the game much more interesting and makes you look quite cool since the game rewards high sequence counts and compares your performance to that of other heroes once you hit the win panel.
The best part is that TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge promotes repeated plays. Not just in the adventure mode, but also in the way that the Story Mode presents difficulties for you to overcome. The challenges that involve utilising traps to defeat foes can be quite enjoyable to complete. As a result, it’s a fantastic technique to keep people coming back and defeating certain enemies.
There are no useless melodramas or protracted plot scenes in Shredder’s Revenge. Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael, together with April O’Neil and Splinter, eat pizza at the start of the game. A news flash informs them of some funny business that requires Shredder and the Shoe Clan at the Channel 6 offices, which sadly interrupts their good time. The crew is forced to act as a result, and you get to choose a hero.
The 1987 cartoon that started TMNT-mania is referenced in Shredder’s Revenge, which is chock full of fan service and deliciously nostalgic. The Ninja Turtles are adored by the Tribute Games team, and Shredder’s Revenge is a stunning example of how committed they are to the Turtles. Tribute Games clearly lives up to the name of the firm, from the sprite animations that reference the cartoon to the original voice actors playing their parts to Don, Mikey, Raph, and Leo striking their iconic stances at the end of each level.
Additionally, as you advance through the game, the turtles gain new abilities, though not on a remarkable scale; instead, they receive improvements like a modest health boost or, less frequently, a super move boost. Since Tribute Games didn’t want to “overload” the game, there are no skill trees or additional moves to unlock. Instead, they kept the retro feel of the game. As a result, in Arcade mode, we must complete the game in a single session with three lives and a limited amount of credits. Simple and uncomplicated, just like the gameplay of the game.
Although the controller/keyboard has a number of buttons, each one has a distinct function. The lifesaving super move, which varies for each hero and can only be used when the appropriate bar is full, has its own dedicated button, and there are also buttons for jump, dodge, taunt, and block. In a public session, I played with players from all around the world. I had guests over, and we enjoyed kicking foot troops.
This really is the greatest rewind netcode implementation I’ve seen in a while. Every game we played went without a hitch, and we were all able to play to the best of our skills while having fun and occasionally taking a beating. Most importantly, we enjoyed ourselves while learning how to correctly use the resources we had at our disposal. Although this is the greatest rollback netcode solution I’ve seen thus far, it is not without issues.
Shredder’s Revenge puts its best two-toed foot forward and is a complete delight to look at and hear. The majority of the game takes place in New York, but despite this, each environment feels unique. For example, the graffiti-covered streets outside the TV station lead to a Broadway, a sewer crawl, and other locations. The backgrounds rarely repeat, which is remarkable given that Shredder’s Revenge is far longer and more intricate than Turtles in Time.
Each level is full of character in the fun and silly tone of the TMNT. Before being crushed to a pulp by the heroes in a half shell, Foot Clan troops can be seen typing away at keyboards, ring up other warriors at the counters, or even playing Game Boy. In Shredder’s Revenge, every stage tells a story that gradually falls apart as players progress to the boss battle. This shows the game’s meticulous attention to detail.
It’s important to note that the turtles fight on their preferred hoverboards in a few stages. There, the gameplay doesn’t really alter that much, but enough to break up the monotony of your average combat. As there are various environmental impediments that drain energy and foes that “spit” their shots and flee, it might even be slightly more challenging than the others. Even when facing the level bosses, there aren’t any obvious difficulty spikes, as was already observed. The majority of them are recognisable characters from relevant episodes of the TV show, and it’s simple to interpret their actions so that you can deal with them. The amount of times a boss must be defeated determines how many players there are.
The release of TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge coincides with a beat’em up resurgence in the gaming industry. I certainly welcome it because there are many more instalments to cherished series from the past that would have been overlooked in this era of great adventures and expansive landscapes. When it comes to variety, this game is truly a breath of fresh air.
This game does a fantastic job of capturing the atmosphere of arcade games while also enhancing them with numerous contemporary features, such as internet play. Without a doubt, I won’t be playing the game by myself; instead, I’ll be teaming up with at least one other friend to take out foes and aid other players. Tribute Games has found justifications to fit in practically every iconic adversary from the previous games, painstakingly redesigned and neatly rendered, even without the time-travel premise of Turtles In Time. The lack of many new ones is my primary complaint, but there are a few intriguing surprises. They all feel like they belong in an old ’90s cartoon, especially the stupid weapon Foot ninjas who shoot sink-plungers rather than pointed bolts, and they’re generally amusing to crush into little pieces. The entire movie Shredder’s Revenge is suitable for children.
This is why internet netcode is necessary for creating a game with multiplayer capabilities, as stated in the title. The quality of your infrastructure affects how much fun you have while playing. Babylon’s Fall received a lot of criticism from me, but at least the netcode was respectable enough for me to watch as other players displayed their loadouts while slicing at foes.
The quality of TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge really gives me more optimism for the future Metal Slug Tactics game. Shredder’s Revenge never significantly advances the beat ’em up genre in terms of gameplay, but it still has all the makings of a great brawler. The game plays very similarly to the classic TMNT beat ’em up playbook. In order to sequence pop-up strikes, single- and double-jump assaults, wall bounces, and a Super move that removes the Foot Clan from the screen, players can start with the simple four-button combo. Additionally, there are grab attacks that allow players to throw foes directly at the screen, throw them across the screen, or pile drive them from side to side.The majority of Shredder’s Revenge’s problems are found in the game’s little elements; nonetheless, its core, which is the classic pseudo-arcade experience of stomping through many thugs with as many friends as you can cram in a room, is strong.
REVIEW : Capcom Fighting Collection (PC)
