{"id":1230,"date":"2023-10-06T19:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T23:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1230"},"modified":"2023-10-02T22:29:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T02:29:23","slug":"tmnt-shredders-revenge-issue-46","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2023\/10\/06\/tmnt-shredders-revenge-issue-46\/","title":{"rendered":"TMNT<\/span>: Shredder\u2019s Revenge \u2014 Issue 46"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Shred\u00adder\u2019s Revenge served hot in sequel<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As a con\u00adnois\u00adseur of most things relat\u00aded to the Teenage Mutant Nin\u00adja Tur\u00adtles, I find that the first two movies, the comics and the first ani\u00admat\u00aded show are worth my time. In addi\u00adtion to those men\u00adtioned, cer\u00adtain games are accept\u00adable uses of my hard-earned scril\u00adla. I am a dis\u00adcern\u00ading fan, and my dol\u00adlars and time are pre\u00adcious. So, it is with great joy and ela\u00adtion that I spread the word that TMNT<\/span> games have recov\u00adered slight\u00adly from the Dimen\u00adsion X por\u00adtal that the fran\u00adchise fell into and the lat\u00adest game, Shred\u00adder\u2019s Revenge, is proof of this return to glory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Con\u00adceived as a trib\u00adute game of sorts, Shred\u00adder\u2019s Revenge takes every\u00adthing we found awe\u00adsome about TMNT<\/span> II<\/span>: The Arcade Game and TMNT<\/span> IV<\/span>: Tur\u00adtles in Time and ramps up the awe\u00adsome lev\u00adel. The sto\u00adry con\u00adtin\u00adues Tur\u00adtles in Time, which was a wise choice. The Tur\u00adtles find Rock\u00adsteady and Bebop and their adja\u00adcent vil\u00adlain asso\u00adciates guard\u00ading Krang\u2019s exoskele\u00adton head in var\u00adi\u00adous loca\u00adtions includ\u00ading Man\u00adhat\u00adtan and Dimen\u00adsion X. Appar\u00adent\u00adly, Shred\u00adder is alive and kick\u00ading again after being top\u00adpled on top of the Stat\u00adue of Lib\u00ader\u00adty in 1992. In 2022, he wants revenge for the Tur\u00adtles stop\u00adping this par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar plot of may\u00adhem of using Lady Lib\u00ader\u00adty to take over the world. Because they\u2019re used to Shred\u00adder\u2019s fool\u00adish\u00adness \u2014 bear in mind this is 1986 car\u00adtoon Shred\u00adder, not com\u00adic book Shred\u00adder who was\u00adn\u2019t a major vil\u00adlain \u2014 the Tur\u00adtles and their friends and fam\u00adi\u00adly band togeth\u00ader to stop the revenge plot once and for all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adding April O\u2019Neil, Casey Jones and Splin\u00adter along\u00adside the Tur\u00adtles was a smart move. It\u2019s almost incon\u00adceiv\u00adable now that we were nev\u00ader able to play as those three sup\u00adport\u00ading char\u00adac\u00adters in a Tur\u00adtles beat-\u2019em-up before, and it has to be allowed in future games. Once you get going with a char\u00adac\u00adter cho\u00adsen, the lev\u00adel-up sys\u00adtem is quick and easy to learn. And learn you will because there are so many ways to dis\u00adpatch Foot Clan sol\u00addiers and oth\u00ader ene\u00admies for points that work with\u00adin the sys\u00adtem. It\u2019s almost too much to keep up with, espe\u00adcial\u00adly in the heat of bat\u00adtle where know\u00ading the cor\u00adrect way to dis\u00adpatch a boss is impor\u00adtant. Hav\u00ading some pre\u00advi\u00adous knowl\u00adedge of Tur\u00adtles in Time helps tremen\u00addous\u00adly, and there are in-game instruc\u00adtions and a tuto\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal, but it\u2019s nigh over\u00adwhelm\u00ading. Though, to be fair, I\u2019d rather have too much than too lit\u00adtle. The game is giv\u00ading me a feast and thank\u00adful\u00adly, the con\u00adtrols are easy to grasp and clean as you romp through 16 gor\u00adgeous levels.<\/span><\/p>\n

The game looks just as fan\u00adtas\u00adtic as well as it con\u00adtrols. The art imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly dips into the nos\u00adtal\u00adgia of the orig\u00adi\u00adnal after\u00adschool show and had me hum\u00adming the super \u201980s theme song. This is the area where that trib\u00adute comes into play. If you\u2019re a fan of the show, you will love every\u00adthing about how the game looks, feels, and sounds. Well, almost. <\/span>
\nWhile the sound\u00adtrack is also fan\u00adtas\u00adtic, we can\u2019t not men\u00adtion the atro\u00adcious remake of the theme song. Of all of the music cho\u00adsen to remake, the theme show is the one track that you don\u2019t mess with. It is a rev\u00ader\u00adent piece of pop cul\u00adture his\u00adto\u00adry and is sacred to most Tur\u00adtle fans, includ\u00ading myself. My 42-year-old adult self knows the words by heart and has it in dig\u00adi\u00adtal form; it\u2019s on that lev\u00adel for me. So, hear\u00ading the theme butchered as it were in Shred\u00adder\u2019s Revenge had me tak\u00aden aback. I was griev\u00adous\u00adly wound\u00aded but the soul still burns in this old Tur\u00adtle girl. Because the rest of the sound\u00adtrack is great \u201980s cen\u00adtric pop, tunes snatched direct\u00adly from the ear\u00adly sea\u00adsons of the TV<\/span> show, and beau\u00adti\u00adful voice\u00adwork from the orig\u00adi\u00adnal ani\u00admat\u00aded cast, I can let the remake theme slide, but it bet\u00adter not be in the sequel.<\/span><\/p>\n

My only oth\u00ader gripe here is the dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty lev\u00adel. Even on the eas\u00adi\u00adest dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty, there were a lot of arcade rip-off ten\u00adden\u00adcies going on. Tac\u00adtics like ene\u00admy AI<\/span> gang\u00ading up on char\u00adac\u00adters with already low health, not-so-clean hits from off-screen ene\u00admies that you can\u2019t see and los\u00ading health rather quick\u00adly ran as ram\u00adpant as those Stone Sol\u00addiers that Krang employed. Any lev\u00adels involv\u00ading vehi\u00adcles and fly\u00ading are impos\u00adsi\u00adbly hard and feel designed to be annoy\u00ading\u00adly frus\u00adtrat\u00ading. Boss fights, I\u2019m fine with; they\u2019re sup\u00adposed to be hard. But reg\u00adu\u00adlar lev\u00adels beyond the first stage were like this on easy dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty, which is obnox\u00adious. It was like try\u00ading to play TMNT<\/span> II<\/span>: The Arcade Game all over again and watch\u00ading the cab\u00adi\u00adnet steal my mon\u00adey out of my pock\u00adet. It feels unfair and set up to be against the play\u00ader, which is unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate. Know\u00ading that going into the expe\u00adri\u00adence now makes it a lit\u00adtle eas\u00adi\u00ader to nav\u00adi\u00adgate but is a detraction. <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite a try-hard col\u00adli\u00adsion sys\u00adtem that keeps it from obtain\u00ading leg\u00adendary sta\u00adtus, Shred\u00adder\u2019s Revenge is a nice love let\u00adter to old\u00ader TMNT<\/span> fans who were around for the orig\u00adi\u00adnal craze. The quirks are notice\u00adable, but Shred\u00adder\u2019s Revenge tries real\u00adly hard in every oth\u00ader area, and it suc\u00adceeds well. Let\u2019s call it a Cow\u00adabun\u00adga for now.<\/span><\/p>\n