TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is retro done right. It’s not often that a game releases and hits every nail on the head leaving you scratching your head trying to find something you don’t like. It’s amazing to play and something that does everything that I wanted from a potential TMNT game since I played Turtles In Time on the SNES. In fact, TMNT: Turtles In Time is in my top five games of all times for a number of reasons. I grew up playing every TMNT game, going back to being an excited little boy getting to go to Chuck E’ Cheese because they had cabinets for the both arcade titles.

Then in the early 90s I was part of Turtles fever. I had the movies, watched the show, had the weird live-action tapes, and had a Christmas Popcorn tin full of TMNT toys, and even had a TMNT birthday party where we all dressed up as my favorite Turtle, Donatello. Then I can clear as day remember being woken up earlier than usual on my birthday (on a school day of all things) by my mom, who worked three jobs to make ends meet, handing me a present. I was lucky to get a TMNT toy every now and then, most coming from thrift stores or second hand, so this was a big deal. When I opened up the box it was a new copy of TMNT: Turtles In Time for the SNES.

I lost my damn mind as it was my first new game that I had ever gotten. It was the longest day of my life going to school, sitting there thinking about playing through the adventure. And it has stuck with me ever since. Even when I got more games, when we clawed our way into middle-class and had more stuff available to us, I still played TMNT: Turtles In Time long after the SNES was dead. The iconic voice overs still stick with me. The smooth combat is always fun to return to, and the added levels make it so much better than the arcade original. It was my first perfect video game experience. Great on your own, amazing with friends, and a game that didn’t demanded hundreds of hours to simply complete.

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From that point on I waited for more. I wanted a follow-up. I wanted more TMNT games in this arcade style, but that was not to be. Sure, we got a lot of TMNT games since then, but none have really captured the look and feel of those arcade originals. I wanted TMNT: Turtles In Time only beefed up with newer hardware. I wanted pixel-art with more animations and in high definition; I wanted more characters to play with; I wanted a deeper combat system that rewarded better play; I wanted more enemies and worlds to explore. And after years years of waiting I came to the realization that I would never see that outside of the odd fan project.

Then TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge was announced and I was happy and cautiously excited. The retro game sequels we’ve had recently can be really hit or miss, especially after dealing with TMNT: Turtles In Time Re-shelled on the PS3. TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge looked the part, but would it play the part? Well, it sure as hell does! The team behind the project came at this one from a point of love, almost as if the game they were trying to follow up helped form them as gamers like it did with me. The combat is deeper with a combo system that lets you string together huge combo chains. It adds multiple super moves, pulling from fighting games that allows for screen clearing attacks and making boss battles more balanced.

The graphics are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen in ages with tons of animations making for silky-smooth action. There are tons of enemies that play off their original iterations. Maybe a Foot Solider that threw a ninja weapon will no throw a car part or something related to the stage that you are on. Stages are large and incredibly detailed with all manner of Easter Eggs to be found within. The voices from the original cartoon return and lend their talents to the cutscenes and in-game talk. It never overdoes it like they did with Ducktales Remastered, instead feeling natural and like it always belonged to the game.

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Most of the additions to TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge are quality of life improvements from Turtles In Time. But the team even went back farther to the original TMNT game from the NES, a game that isn’t as bad as you remember. Instead of the traditional stage after stage structure of most every beat-em-up, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge has an overworld that is ripped straight from the NES original. You can choose a stage and even go back to stages you’ve already completed. This is important as there are a lot of additions to the core game to keep you playing.

You can follow the story-mode, but if you want to mix things up you can return to stages to complete challenges. This sort of stuff didn’t exist in the original games as they were very linear experiences. You unlock these challenges by rescuing characters from the original cartoon (Irma was my first crush) and they will give you tasks to complete for them. Collect their VHS tapes, dairy pages, and so on. These tasks are related to the person and make going back to stages and doing a bit of exploring. And then there are the standard challenges that pop while you play. Some are as simple as killing certain enemies certain ways, or as hard as beating a stage without taking any damage.

There is also a traditional arcade mode that plays like those old titles with a limited life pool, no saves, and being locked to the character that your first picked. This is a blast from the past, and a real challenge at higher levels. For me, I loved the story-mode as you can also earn upgrades to your power and life by completing certain tasks. It’s a very surface-level RPG mechanic, but it makes getting a better score much more fun.

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And then there’s the amazing soundtrack. I found myself pausing the game and letting some of the tracks play while I did other things. All of the tracks have that retro feel and are perfect soundtrack material, but some tracks are legit bangers that could be making the rounds on radio. In fact, Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah did some work on the album and it shows. After I was done playing I went out to re-order the TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge soundtrack on vinyl. It’s the only soundtrack I’ve every purchased on the vinyl format.

Finally, and like the original titles, the game is amazing but plays even better with friends. This time around you can play with six other people for an incredibly chaotic experience. Having so many things going on on-screen with so many players is madness in the best sort of way. TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is an amazing experience that blew every expectation I had for it and then some. I’m the sort of person that loves to pick out every little issue when looking at a game, but It’s really hard to find anything wrong with this one.

If you are a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles then you are going to love TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. If you love classic beat-em-ups then you are going to love TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. If you love games made with love and care, you are going to love TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. If you love first-person shooters that try too hard to be cool and edgy then maybe stay away from this one. For everyone else TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge needs to be in your collection and will definitely be in the running for some Game Of The Year awards down the line.

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Final Score:

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