TMNT Shredder’s Revenge (Switch) Review

A Stellar Tribute to TMNT and Arcade Excellence

One of my first fandoms is easily the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Every Saturday I’d plop down and watch cartoons but the one I just couldn’t miss was always TMNT. I’d run around in the woods with sticks pretending I was fighting Shredder and The Foot side by side with the Adolescent Irregular Rogue Reptiles. I’m shocked my copies of the movies on VHS didn’t wear out with how often I rewatched them. On top of it all, TMNT: Turtles in Time was the first video game I ever played. While I’m not nearly the fanatic I was when I was six, I still fire up Turtles in Time once in a while for some classic beat-em-up Ninja Turtle action and throw on one of the movies for some nostalgia. When the announcement trailer for Shredder’s Revenge dropped I was exceptionally excited and it proceeded to become my most anticipated game of 2022 as more information became available.

Looking at the sprite work and animations that recreated the look of the original animated series and captured the personalities of each of the characters in how they ran and attacked was radical dude! A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game that recaptures the magic of Turtles in Time but with modern game design ideas and hardware? Is it even possible? Time to grab a slice and kick some shell, because cowabunga dude I LOVE BEING A TURTLE!

Shredder’s Revenge knocks it out of the park visually. The character and environment design work captures the charm of the original animated series while adding some of its own personality here and there. Upon starting the game a totally fly cinematic plays featuring each of the turtles, April, and Splinter kicking butt all to a rendition of the classic theme of the 80s cartoon.

Getting into the game is as simple as starting the story or arcade mode, selecting a character, and go! I deeply appreciate just how much care has gone into the animations. It is far above and beyond simply attacking with different weapons. It’s how Donatello attacks, how Mikey runs, how Raph taunts, how April dodges, how Splinter jumps, how Leo celebrates, how Casey Jones charges attacks and this is true of every character and every action. The animators at Tribute Games have managed to capture each of their personalities in so many delightful ways! 

Gameplay also received a major facelift from the arcade and 16-bit days. Anyone familiar with or grew up with Turtles in Time will immediately feel right at home. Movement, attacking, jumping, power attacks, and even the grapple are all consistent with that classic Turtles beat-em-up formula, building on it in ways that not only makes sense but are satisfying to pull off. The addition of super attacks, a dodge, and a dash goes a long way in modernizing this formula. The way you combine all of these to take out the variety of enemies and boss fights feels awesome. Breaking your combo to dodge out of attack range and hitting attack again to rush back in with a special dash attack is just so satisfying!

While you can succeed by simply mashing attack (which makes this game very family-friendly) there’s a lot of reward for players to decide to dig into the combat options the game has on offer. These additions also make achievements/trophies related to finishing levels without taking damage feel challenging yet possible. For example, holding the attack button prompts a charge power attack that is effective for knocking away enemies or breaking through shields. The super/special attacks have some variety as well. Standard, dash, and jump specials all have unique animations for every character and require a full special bar in order to use. That bar fills through attack combos or by taunting. Taunting is not only worth doing to fill the bar but just like everything else every character has a unique taunt animation that pulls from their personalities. The only thing I could see building more upon this combat would be better control over team attacks or even more options for combos that utilize the shoulder buttons, elements that could bring this game to a new level.

Yet, as it stands, the gameplay never seems to drag or get old. Especially when playing with friends, which is where Shredder’s Revenge truly shines. The couch co-op and online modes bring the multiplayer madness you hope to experience in these games, recapturing that feeling of playing at the arcade. Supporting up to six players at once picking between the four turtles as well as April, Splinter, and the unlockable Casey Jones gives players plenty of options to experience one of the best beat-em-ups on the market. As someone who already occasionally pulls out Turtles in Time for SNES or on my 1UP Bartop Arcade unit with a buddy, being able to capture that experience with a much larger group has great appeal. Each time I played this with a group of people, plenty of laughter and shouting ensued.

The boss fights are the damage sponge pattern recognition encounters you come to expect from beat-em-ups but the rogue’s gallery that exists in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lore is a lot of fun to see in action. The staples like Bebop and Rocksteady, Rat King, and Shredder are there but also a decent number of deeper pulls like Groundchuck, Dirtbag, and Tempestra join the cast as well. Each boss fight feels big and endcaps each level well.

The soundtrack is one of the few areas where I think Shredder’s Revenge struggles to beat out Turtles in Time. Shredder’s Revenge is still good with a few songs going on my Spotify “liked” list. However, fewer tracks stood out to me than in Turtles in Time. In the moment the songs fill the mood well, however, I’d have a hard time recognizing most of them outside of the game as I do with the Turtles in Time soundtrack, though admittedly this may change as I spend more time with the game over the years. In the end, I’d say a few of the tracks in Shredder’s Revenge are excellent. However, the soundtrack as a whole isn’t as consistently good as Turtles in Time. Pit against any other Turtle game though and there is no comparison, Shredder’s Revenge totally rocks dude.

Shredder’s Revenge is an absolute blast to play and I can easily see myself returning to it as often if not more often than Turtles in Time. Everything about it is done with so much care and skill! It’s obvious this was a passion project for so many on the team and I hope this opens the door to more projects like this for them in the future. This game is certainly worth it for any TMNT fan, beat-em-up enthusiast, or even people just looking for a good party game. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any future announcements for updates, DLC, or even a sequel. It would be fun to have some alt skins, more characters, and levels but even if we don’t what we have is a stellar piece of video gaming that is 100% worth a COWABUNGA!!!!

Additionally, TMNT fans have a lot going for them right now. Over the course of this past year I picked up the limited special event comic series “The Last Ronin” issues as they came out, you can read my review here. Plus the Cowabunga Collection releases at the end of August, so expect more Turtles content on Forever Classic Games.

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 8.5/10

VISUALS - 10/10

SOUND - 9/10

CONTROLS - 8.5/10

REPLAY VALUE - 10/10

OVERALL - 9.2/10

More information about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge can be found on the official website. A digital Switch copy was purchased by the reviewer. A digital PlayStation copy was sent to Forever Classic Games.