The pizza reptiles have returned with more beat-’em-up action. Publisher DotEmu and developer Tribute Games announced that they are making a new sidescrolling action brawler called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. The companies did not provide a release date, but DotEmu did say that it will launch Shredder’s Revenge for consoles and PC.
This newest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game is actually a throwback to older releases. Specifically, Tribute Games is paying homage to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade machine. That game had four players taking on the role of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael in a battle against the Foot Clan, Krang, and Shredder in sidescrolling beat-’em-up levels. Now, this new game has players taking on the role of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael in a battle against the Foot Clan, Krang, and Shredder in side-scrolling beat-’em-up levels.
But this isn’t a remake or direct copy. Instead, Tribute is taking inspiration from the arcade original and combining it with its modern retro-gaming expertise that it honed with games like Panzer Paladin and Flinthook. And the game’s visual style reflects that. Tribute is using pixel art and what looks like responsive animations to give players that twitchy, arcade feel.
Oh, and then Faith No More lead singer Mike Patton is singing the theme song for the game.
For DotEmu, this is familiar territory. The publisher helped bring back Streets of Rage 4 last year. Now, it has returned to the beat-’em-up genre. That is good news for Turtles fans. Streets of Rage 4 was an excellent revival in what was once a stale genre. If that experience translates to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, we could get yet another fantastic brawler.