Gamers of a certain era will remember the quarter vacuum that was the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle beat ’em up arcade game, maybe the most famous button-masher of the genre. While other arcade games mimicked the style and were plenty of fun — Simpsons and X-Men both come to mind — the Turtles were still the definitive side-scroller arcade game. And now, 30 years after the original, we’re getting a bonafide sequel. The heroes in a half shell are back in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are one of the weirdest properties out there. They were created for a comic book in 1984 by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, who intended the characters to be a parody of hyper-serious superhero comics like Daredevil and New Mutants, both of which were selling huge numbers at the time. But their creations’ popularity would soon dwarf the characters they were satirizing, becoming a merchandizing bonanza with toys, an animated series, a hit movie franchise and, of course, a beloved arcade game. They’ve become so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget just how bizarre the concept is: turtles who have evolved into bodacious teens are named after Italian renaissance painters by a paternal rat who trains them to take down an army of evil ninjas. The 1980s were a weird time, man.
But the game looks great! Like the original arcade game and its 1991 sequel Turtles in Time, it’s still adorably retro in style but now you can really see each turtle’s different personality come through in how they move, fight and even run. Here’s the official synopsis:
See Also
With Bebop and Rocksteady amassing gizmos to assist Krang and Shredder’s newest scheme, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge finds the turtles battling via a breathless tour of iconic TMNT areas to thwart their nemeses’ most diabolical plan but. Armed with shell-shocking new skills constructed on a basis of basic brawling mechanics, the gang are in for an exhilarating, Foot Clan-stomping romp main them via the sewers and bustling boroughs of New York Metropolis all the best way to Dimension X.