Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a franchise that seemingly all age groups know about despite releasing back in the early 80s. Obviously, a franchise like TMNT has made several dozen games, and equally, as obviously not all of those games were masterpieces. One of the best TMNT games though has always been considered the arcade beat ‘em up and many developers have tried to mirror the greatness of the arcade classic. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge developed by Tribute Games wants to try to recapture our childhoods but can it accomplish such a lofty goal? We shall find out in our review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge immediately opens with an impressive, and kind of familiar, opening movie that made us just swoon in our chairs. Watching our boys Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello appear with their friends April O’Neil and Master Splinter, just recaptured our fondest memories of the TMNT series/games. This alone would have made Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge worth it but no, this game isn’t done proving it can live up to the greats from the past.

Players will be delighted to know there are two main ways to enjoy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. You can either go through a story mode that follows our turtles as they try to foil yet another plot by the infamous Shredder or you can go into arcade mode for a more traditional TMNT experience. Story mode is perfect for newcomers to the beat ‘em up genre as it allows infinite continues and gives players the chance to swap between characters to see who their favorites are. Arcade mode though is no joke as dying too much will result in a game over and having to restart from the beginning…just like when we ran out of quarters at the arcade. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge caters to fans and newcomers alike and we really think this was the best approach when not everyone was born in the 80s.

Following the traditional beat ‘em up style, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge has players either going alone or with 6 friends on various stages to beat up Shredder’s minions the Foot Clan and famous bosses like Bebop, Rocksteady, and Krang. A side note, what is really cool is the original voice actors from the 87 series have returned to reprise their roles! Hyperventilating joy aside, the gameplay of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge shines, and here’s why.

Just like the classic arcade experience, players choose one of their favorite characters and go about beating down enemies on 2D levels. The beat ‘em up element of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is phenomenal with every light attack and special move feeling just perfect to unleash. We did notice some of the turtles fight a bit better than others—April O’Neil is literally the strongest warrior with her moveset ironically—but that doesn’t mean any one turtle can’t have their place. Leonard is the all-around katana-wielding ninja with the ability to unleash quick but effective strikes. Meanwhile, Donatello uses his bo staff to hit enemies from afar and can unleash a nice AOE special attack when his special gauge is full. All of the various characters are fun to experiment with even if Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is quite simple in design.

While story mode for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is pretty easy to fly through in less than several hours, the true test is completing various challenges and playing through arcade mode. We here at Honey’s Anime are pretty competent gamers but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge challenges us with having missions in story mode that range from avoiding damage in a level to locating every collectible. The arcade mode is even tougher just knowing that the entire game must be beaten in one-shot—story mode allows players to take breaks—and dying brings you ever closer to a possible restart. So yes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a short experience but fans will no doubt find plenty of reasons to keep playing even after beating the game and unlocking the famous Casey Jones.

One of the greater elements of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge hands aside from the solid beatdown gameplay is how much love Dotemu put into this title. The music, voice acting, and visuals all scream late 80s early 90s and we love the attention to detail in everything from the Foot Clan's actions to how the turtles react when they get hit or find their favorite food, pizza! We noticed some minor issues with the audio being sometimes super quiet—especially in the voices—but even that screams the earlier days of arcade games which didn’t have perfect audio. Overall, fans will no doubt cry as they enter the world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and how much homage it pays to the turtles of our memories!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is probably one of our favorite TMNT games ever and that we didn’t think we’d ever say in 2022! While the experience might be a bit short, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge plays incredibly well and just shows that with the right developer and the right amount of fan love, any older franchise can be kept alive with a great modern-day game like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge! Are you currently playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and who by chance is your favorite turtle? Comment below to let us know! Be sure to keep stuck to our green slime hive here at Honey’s Anime for even more game reviews and all things anime!