Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (2022) [Switch]

Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.
-Confucius, The Analects

Nostalgia is an entire market all its own, a currency that trades hands and entices buyers and sellers across the globe. Today, we live in the age of The Remake. The Remaster. The Sequel. Whatever was cherished in the past has been repackaged and represented for old fans and new fans, though sometimes emphasizing one to the dismay of the other. But not all remakes are created equal: some deal in the subversion of expectations, turning familiar traits and tropes on their heads under the guise of wow factor and shock value, almost wagging their fingers at the nostalgia they rely on to sell copies; others hone their faithfulness, embracing the archaic and otiose, nostalgia without guile, all for the express purpose of making a person feel like they did when they were a kid, not surprising them at how the world and, subsequently, expectations have changed to “get with the times”. This latter example is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

Let’s kick some shell!

You won’t need to be concerned about the titular turtles spinning through an alternate meta-timeline aware of the events of the 1987 cartoon on which the game is based in an attempt to prevent the Shredder from remaking history while standing separate from it. You don’t need to worry about personalities being aged up or aged down, mischaracterized, misrepresented, stereotyped, or subverted. You don’t need to wonder if the game you’re buying in today’s market of remembrance isn’t going to be as you remember the turtles. This is no *gag* “modern update” of virtues and messaging fretting over aspects of the turtles that haven’t “aged well”. It does not tell you to let the past die. It reaches out and gives the past a radical high five!

Shredder’s Revenge is too earnest for the sensationalist fakery of the 21st century. It is, in one sense, unambitious but in another sense, sincere among counterfeits.

The fluid animations of its characters parading proudly across its detailed backgrounds are what I would describe as “lavish”. Visuals like these weren’t entirely possible when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series spawned in the ’80s, yet it’s impossible to separate oneself from the idea that they’re perfect for these iterations of these characters and their world. That comes right down the world of the arcades and this stellar Simpsons arcade game references.

Note Donatello with his Game Boy

The authenticity of Tribute and Dotemu’s Shredder’s Revenge goes past the facade of graphics and the candy-colored shell heads, though. In true classic beat ’em up style, characters are ranked with stars for their range, speed, and attack power. The four turtles take to different playstyles, too. Yes, Donatello still has an incredibly long reach whereas Michelangelo is fast and Raphael is strong. Leo is of course the balanced member of the bunch.

But while satisfying the requirements of nostalgia for landmark titles of the past such as Turtles II and Turtles in Time–heck there’s even an overworld evocative of the first TMNT on the NES–Shedder’s Revenge gives the crime fighters newfound agility, the ability to string together most excellent combos with ease, and a new ninja power gauge for special attacks that no longer drain health upon use.

That last guy did not want to select Splinter haha!

There are also the newcomers, April O’Neil, Splinter, and Casey Jones. That’s a total of 7 playable characters with 6 able to duke it out simultaneously with local or online assistance. These new characters also have their own playstyles, strengths, and weaknesses.

And let me tell you, 6 players on screen simultaneously is a rush.

In beat ’em ups and brawlers, I consistently gravitate toward the faster and nimbler characters. April was, as the kids say, positively bae in that regard. I didn’t expect it to be such a delight to play as her instead of Donnie (never trust someone who doesn’t have a favorite Ninja Turtle, by the way), but her speed made for some sumptuous combo streaks. I hit 100 without trying! Juggling enemies, cartwheeling back and forth, then striking with her heavy camera equipment… new favorite character.

To my mind, it’s unfair to say one remake is a cash grab that just wants to steal your money and another isn’t, because nearly all remakes are commercial products from businesses interested in your money. Instead, I would align the conversation thusly: where nostalgia is so often a marketing ploy over-reliant upon IP clout or superficial veneers of “retro-styled” pixel art, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge gets it right. In many ways, it feels like a natural extension of the original game series and the original cartoon, right down to featuring the original voice cast: Cam Clarke, Barry Gordon, Rob Paulsen, and Townsend Coleman return as the turtles.

There are only so many times I could shout “oh hey, it’s that guy!” at the screen. I’ll have to play through it again to keep an eye out for Vanilla Ice.

Note, not all is well in New York City but that goes beyond the interdimensional brain trying to rebuild his mechanical super body. A few things prevent Shredder’s Revenge from ascending to perfection. The high five feature is a good example of the kinds of things that have gone wrong. It’s an entirely pointless animation beyond celebrating victories and boosting IRL morale–so far as I know it has zero effect on the game itself (update: the high five can actually recover a tiny bit of HP for the two characters performing it!)–but getting it to work so characters aren’t high-fiving empty air can be laughable. Laughable until the moment’s pause causes a player to get hit.

In this sense, there are some flashier elements to the game that don’t quite work as intended or phrased better yet: don’t work reliably. The appeal of a 6-player beat ’em up with both local couch co-op and online matchmaking is immense, yet the first time I tried to connect with online players, my game crashed. On the second attempt, the game froze, dropped the players that had joined so far, and started me over alone. Note this is the Nintendo Switch version, which may explain itself.

It can also be difficult to tell players at what stage or episode you are in the game if they’re just joining you. Likewise, you can jump into an online party only to be carried into an episode you haven’t even reached yet. There’s also the usual dropping mid-stage, enemies teleporting, and hitboxes going non-existent on online play. I’d recommend playing locally for your first playthrough, if that bothers you.

Cowabunga chaos!

A few bosses can spam or seem a little uninspired for the one or two attacks they perform over and over, though I couldn’t help but smile at the little nods to yesteryear: flashing bosses low on health, throwing foot soldiers toward the screen to damage a first-person perspective boss, double team fights, and so on.

There are even auto-scroll levels! Remember those?

Surprise RPG elements!

For all its unsavory elements, which really are few, it’s tough to not be critically satisfied with the genuine TMNT experience Shredder’s Revenge boasts. Its dedication to the iconic franchise is palpable, though it doesn’t shy away from providing new ways to play or enhancing the experience.

A Story Mode is present with multiple difficulties as well as an Arcade Mode with a warning about limited lives. Its achievements and collectibles seem very modern alongside its auto-save feature in its Story Mode. And yet… you’re still collecting VHS tapes while Shredder leers at you through the beveled ethereal glow of a cathode-ray tube television on display in a department store window. Even the music, which is rad enough to make me search for an in-game soundtrack menu, strikes a fine balance of contemporary and anachronistic.

The best thing about Shredder’s Revenge, besides of course for how fun it is to play, how fun it was to play for me this morning with my wife and my two children, is its worldbuilding. That’s a cute term so let me clarify. Shredder’s Revenge encapsulates the turtle’s Story, the universe that they operate in, realizing it is not our own, or better, realizing that it has always been their own and we enter into it to play by their rules.

It’s become so trite to bag on Michael Bay’s interpretation of TMNT that it’s practically a rite of passage among moviegoers, so I won’t waste your time rehashing that here. Suffice it to say, Shredder’s Revenge is not unrecognizable. Neither does it make any pretense about merely “celebrating the legacy” of TMNT.

It is too honest for that noise.

If it’s at all for new fans, it is because it is also for old fans, founded in the unshakeable resolve that what made the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cool as a kid is still enough to make them cool in 2022. Just ask my 5- and 6-year-olds who now want to be Ninja Turtles for Halloween.

Pixel Perfect

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Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the “games themselves” in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage, on Twitch, or MAGE CAST. Please support my work on Patreon!