I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow ’90s cartoons and sidescrolling arcade brawlers. So it was with some excitement that I fired up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, a modern follow-up to Konami’s arcade & SNES hit Turtles in Time. It’s an exercise in targeted nostalgia, opening with a fully animated intro, a cover of the Saturday morning theme song, and even the return of the original voice cast—albeit with 30 years of added rasp to their voices.
That’s a strong first impression and a tough one to live up to, but I’m happy to say that developer Tribute Games has managed to recapture that classic spark, even if it’s sometimes at risk of being snuffed out by a few attempted modernizations that don’t fully deliver.
Putting its strongest two-toed foot forward, is an absolute joy to look at and listen to. Even with most of the game taking part in New York, each environment feels distinct, with the graffiti-daubed streets outside the TV, and far more detailed.
