Whatever our generation, we all have a memory related to the TMNT license (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). KONAMI’s first action game, released in 1989 on the Famicom, is still remembered for its high standards. The first beat’em up was released the same year in American arcades. On the strength of the successes encountered, several more or less successful video game sequels have emerged, including Turtles in time, released in 1992 on Super Nintendo, which remains etched in our memory as gamers.
For our greatest pleasure, DOTEMU publishes a new opus of the license. Like what was done for the Streets of Rage saga, it is by bringing together the best ingredients of TMNT that the developers have concocted an old-school beat ’em up. The choice of an artistic direction in pixel art is of course not insignificant since it takes us directly back to the glorious era of the 16-bit console license. Will Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge be as successful as Streets of Rage 4?
The story repeats itself
The tone is set with an introduction very inspired by the credits of the animated series. We are going to evolve within an episode as if we were there. Despite his many defeats, Shredder seems not to have understood that he will never be able to beat our heroes. However, he sketches out a new plan and attacks the Statue of Liberty. We will very quickly understand that this is a diversion and that its real purpose is to recover the parts of the robotic body of the very famous Krang. Our heroes then set off in pursuit of the Foot clan to put an end to their misdeeds. They are of course accompanied by their master Splinter and the famous reporter April O’Neil.
Before embarking on the adventure, we have the choice between a Story mode and an Arcade mode. The latter offers a world ranking table that will delight scorers. It is also a real challenge because our lives are limited. Ah! The heyday of the leaderboard and the fierce struggle not to see his name sink to the bottom of the rankings.
Two rooms, two atmospheres
The Arcade mode remains faithful to what we knew with the old terminals. The levels, which are common to the Story mode, are linked and there is no saving progress. You cannot change characters during a run. A real pleasure for scoring and spicing up the challenge. Besides, we found a real difference in the difficulty modes compared to the Story mode. In Arcade, the level is a notch above.
The Story mode offers fifteen levels that are unlocked as we progress. The selection of courses is done via a map where we move our combat truck through the streets of New York. We can therefore go back or do the same level several times in order to collect the secret objects there or complete the challenges that we would have missed. These side quests reward us with experience points in order to raise the level of our fighter. They are not essential because our character also progresses in the combat phase. However, it is interesting to complete the ancillary tasks in order to climb the experience levels more quickly. Especially since at each level, our fighter can acquire either a new special attack or additional life points.
The gameplay remains identical in both game modes, but certain special attacks are available from the start in Arcade. A tutorial is present at each game launch in order to learn about twenty possible moves. Fortunately for our little memory, this tutorial can be consulted at any time via the pause menu in the game phases. Classically there is an attack button, a special moves button, a jump button and a dodge button. The variation of shots and the construction of combos result from the sequence made with these four buttons and the directional stick. The most demanding can map the keys according to their taste via the options menu.
To be able to trigger a special attack, you must first fill the gauge provided for this purpose. Either by accumulating the blows dealt to the opponents, or by launching a provocation. Be careful though because during this teasing, it is no longer possible to fight or dodge.
Finally, before launching, a time of reflection can be useful. Indeed, the choice of our character is not purely aesthetic because each of them has their own abilities and is distinguished by the range of their blows, their speed or their power. We therefore find our happiness according to our style of play.
Ninja 3.0
The title allows up to 6 players to play locally, but you can’t go through a millennium without having an online coop mode. Whether in Arcade or Story mode, it is possible to invite or join up to 5 players via public or private rooms. Crossplay is also there but can be disabled via the options menu. The height of luxury, it is possible to mix local and online coop. This also offers new gameplay mechanics, since it is possible to make common attacks but also to revive a teammate or give him some of our vitality by encouraging him.
However, there is a downside to this beautiful proposal. During our test, we encountered several connection problems and loss of server. We also lost our teammates and got stuck in a level. It is then necessary to restart the game to restart a game. This is even more frustrating in Arcade mode because there is no progress save. Even though the connection is more stable with the day one patch, we still encountered difficulties at the time of the publication of our test.
- The online remains perfectible
We also noticed some slowdowns during our online games, especially when 6 players launch special attacks simultaneously. It is also almost impossible not to get lost in 6-player games. Between the enemies, the visual effects, the projectiles and our 4 almost identical turtles, it’s quickly a mess. Fortunately, the developers have everything planned and pressing the LT key tells us where we are in the fray.
80s fan
The artistic direction takes up all the codes of the animated series and remains really successful. It’s colorful, dynamic and full of references that we discover as the games progress. The 2D pixel art graphics are clean and some animations clearly refer to what we know from Super Nintendo episodes. A success is even dedicated to it. The levels crossed take up all the emblematic places of the series. Whether it’s the premises of Chanel 6, the Central Park Zoo or the sewers, at each stage we are immersed in an episode of the anime. The level design is also full of details and easter eggs. The cast also offers to find all the villains of the license and each end of the internship will be an opportunity to do battle with a famous villain. The bestiary expands at each level and ends up being full.
The soundtrack is also perfect. The developers called on Tee Lopes (Sonic Mania and Team Sonic Racing) who composed an absolutely brilliant funky rock OST. We are really in the mood and the music stays in mind once the console is turned off.
Two big hours are needed to go through all the levels, which is quite consistent for the genre. In Arcade mode, the quick resume can be a powerful ally if the local gaming session no longer fits into the schedule.
Despite the few flaws that still need to be corrected by a patch, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a very good beat’em up to discover, already available in Gamepass.
Tested on Xbox Series X.
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