TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge Review - A Fun Trip Down Memory Lane With The Turtles

Written by Brandon Hofer on June 16, 2022

Reviews: Shredder and his crew are up to their old tricks and it is up to the Turtles and their friends to save the day once again.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a game beat ‘em up fans have been looking forward to for quite a while. It is a fun and nostalgic trip down memory lane and if you have played the previous games that Shredder’s Revenge was inspired by, you should really have a lot of fun here as well. While I certainly haven’t played every TMNT game, I did play quite a few of the side-scrolling beat ‘em titles back in the day and immediately felt right at home going through the different missions in Shredder’s revenge.

TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge features all of the heroes you would expect as playable characters, although a couple of them aren’t unlocked until after you go through the story one time. The heroes include all four turtles, April O’Neil, Splinter, and Casey Jones. The villains that you will come across as you go through the 15+ levels include Bebop, Baxter Stockman, Krang, Leatherhead, and more. TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge features a hub world where you are driving across a map in the famous TMNT van. Each mission has different challenges and collectibles for you to complete, in addition to some special requests that you will come across from time to time. One special request, for example, is to collect all of the secret diaries for Irma Langinstein. In addition to the main overworld, there is another one that you will travel to that features some iconic enemies and levels but since that is towards the end of the game I don’t really want to spoil it for you here.

In terms of the actual gameplay, it plays like you think a side-scrolling beat ‘em up should play. You have your basic weapon attacks, your aerial attacks, combo attacks, super attacks, and much more. There is actually quite a bit here if you want to mix the combat up for a little bit of variety. If there are too many moves for you to memorize there is also a move list that you can look at that will tell you how to do all of the moves available to you to maximize your chances of success while getting through these missions. In terms of difficulty, this game can be quite difficult at times, especially if you set that difficulty at a higher level. Games like this back in the day were often difficult as well, so I went in fully expecting this. If you are new to the genre though, definitely expect to be challenged in some areas. It is by no means in Dark Souls territory in terms of difficulty but can be difficult nonetheless. This is all well and good but it gets even better if you have friends to go through the game with as well. TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge features both local and online co-op play. Both local and online co-op can have up to six players at once, which is a tad unusual as the number is usually either two or four for this type of game. There doesn’t appear to be any LAN or system link capability, however.

When you are in the hub world in-between missions you can also visit the Turtle Lair to get your statistics and see how you are doing in the game. It will tell you which levels you have completed, how many of the different endings you have seen in Story Mode, whether you have completed the arcade mode in multiplayer and more. For those unaware, Arcade Mode in TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is more akin to what you would find in a traditional arcade setting with a standup cabinet. There are different challenges here as well such as completing the Arcade Mode without using a credit (which would have basically been putting another quarter in the machine at an arcade). If you aren’t familiar with how to play these games there is also a quick tutorial that you can watch that will show you all of the moves in action and how you can do them.

TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is a really fun trip down memory lane. These games were never the deepest titles out there so there isn’t a whole lot to say in that regard but they don’t really need to be. I had a lot of fun reliving some of the memories from my childhood going through this and engaging in combat with the Foot Clan throughout the various levels. If you are a fan of beat ‘em up games, be sure to give TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge a try. Nostalgia is not required to enjoy this game but it will help. If you are a Game Pass member you can try this game out for free as part of your membership.