TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is a totally radical beat-em-up – PAX East 2022 preview

gamepur.com:

TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is a tour-de-force of beat-em-up action with stellar animation, and totally radical moves at your disposal. Despite the game potentially becoming repetitive in long sessions, this will likely be an exciting nostalgia trip on full release.

Shredder’s Revenge can be played in two different ways: a classic arcade-style run-through with no RPG mechanics and a story mode. As you progress through the latter, you’ll gain boosts in attack and your health in an RPG-esque format. The meat and potatoes come from the sheer beauty of the combat.

As you go through each level, you’ll be facing off against waves of characteristic enemies that look ripped straight from the show. The animations are on point as their personality shines on screen. There are six characters you can play at the time of writing, including the four turtles in a half shell, April O’Neil, and Master Splinter. During my time with the game, I played as the leader of the group Leonardo. Each character offers a unique play style with different speed and damage outputs. If you want to play as a speedy character, you may want to take out incoming foes with April, while Leonardo is a great all-around pick with neutral attributes.

The beat-em-up genre is often criticized for its basic combat, but TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge does just enough to make it a blast to play. There is the standard suite of attacks, like a simple slash of the sword, but you can also jump up in the air and do a stunning sword sweep as Leonardo strikes the ground. There is also a special attack that lets you team up to create a powerful move. Going up close to a foe will also let you grab them and throw them around, causing area of effect damage. You’ll