TMNT Shredder’s Revenge on test: This is the summer hit with the couch co-op overdrive

Pizza boxes lie steaming on the street, evil Foot Clan fighters storm offices and a mutant rhino and a punk warthog pull practical jokes around town. Is that familiar to you? No? Then you probably don’t know the crazy story of the Turtles.

Comics, TV series and films about the ninja turtles Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo, who were trained by the karate rat Splinter and stand up to the villain Shredder, have been around since the 80s – soon also on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, because on June 16, 2022, Dotemu and Tribute Games will release Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

We have already played the 2D brawler for you for many hours, which is very reminiscent of the popular co-op title Streets of Rage 4 in terms of gameplay and appearance.

A special feature is the couch co-op multiplayer, because you can play with six people simultaneously on one screen. You can choose not only the four Turtles, but also Master Splinter and the reporter April, a friend of the Turtles. In the meantime, street ruffian Casey Jones has also been confirmed.

With powerful attack combinations you heat up the opponents. You vary attacks by holding down the attack button or combining them with the jump and dodge buttons. Attacks made from a sprint also look different. You have few keys, but a wide variety of options for the offensive. This also includes a super attack when the corresponding bar is charged.

Animations are very similar

Attack animations vary depending on the character selected. However, we feel that many shots are similar and the developers at Tribute Games could have made the animations even more different.

Shredder’s Revenge is otherwise smooth, action-packed and, above all, a lot of fun with a friend.

Charming graphics and cool sound

Visually, the 2D title is a colorful dream with rich colors and beautiful models and backgrounds. The music is very melodic, rocky and fits the gameplay perfectly. The opposing characters elicit many a laugh from you through their behavior.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

The new Turtles game features colorful 2D visuals, as these screenshots show.

For example, if you enter a room filled with enemies, you’ll catch them doing all sorts of nonsense. Some enemies play Game Boy, pick up a wooden spoon in the kitchen and pretend they work in the office. It’s always fun to keep exploring the levels.

Compared to Streets of Rage 4, it is also noticeable that the Turtles only use their weapons and there are no optional items on the floor. That’s probably because these weapons are so iconic and fans can’t imagine Leonardo without swords, just as they couldn’t imagine Donatello without a stick.

After all, you can explode barrels, destroy fire hydrants and use puddle slide traps to your advantage right from the start of the game. There are also levels in which you fly through the air on a hoverboard and heat up opponents at high speed.

Scope

You can play a story mode in which you drive to the next mission on a map or complete side quests. But you can also choose the classic arcade mode.

Of course, there are also online games in co-op and that should work well. We haven’t found any other players yet, but the invite feature pops up multiple times in story mode, for example.

network world means

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a summer hit with retro charm that not only delivers a fun co-op experience for fans of the brand and Streets of Rage. The gameplay is catchy, the audiovisual presentation is crisp and lovingly implemented. The fact that six players can play on one screen at the same time makes the title at least as attractive as a slice of wonderfully fragrant pizza.

Initially, you will only be able to secure the title digitally for 25 dollars, but publisher Dotemu has also announced physical editions. However, these will only follow after the release.