A cartoon classic is making a nostalgic comeback in the form of a beat-‘em-up video game soon to be released on Steam. Developed by Tribute Games, Inc. and published by Dotemu, the 2D game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge takes inspiration from arcades in the ‘80s and old-school gameplay.
Players’ main objective in beat ‘em ups is to “[d]estroy the enemy waves before they destroy you,” an article in PCMag says. And in TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, engaging with enemies in combat is the name of the game. Except this time, Dotemu promises new and enhanced mechanics.
What We Know About the Upcoming 2D Game TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge
In the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) release, avid fans and gamers will have to win against waves of enemies. These enemies comprise the supervillain Shredder and his legion of ninjas collectively known as the Foot Clan. Through each of the Turtle’s unique battle skills, along with their different weapons, players can fight and defeat Shredder’s team in multiple landscapes. The game promises to bring players to Manhattan, Coney Island, Dimension X, and other locations.
According to Steam and Dotemu, the game will showcase features reminiscent of arcade games in the ‘80s but with a more diverse set of gameplay options. They also say fans can anticipate a refreshing story mode set in pixel-art graphics and a backdrop seemingly straight out of the 1987 TV cartoon. Plus, gamers have the choice to fight in battle alone or with up to three friends.
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TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is slated to come out soon, although the developer and publisher have not announced a release date. It will be available on the PC and unspecified consoles. The two have partnered with Nickelodeon for this endeavor as it owns the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brand.
The Arcade Game Before the 2D Game TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge
Before the console-based titles and before its integration into the hi-res 3D world of Injustice 2 (2017), the TMNT franchise had its humble beginnings in the era of arcade gaming. The eponymous arcade game was developed and released by Konami in the late 1980s. Later, it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System so fans can play in their own homes, Game Rant says.
Because it was an arcade game popular in the 1990s, not many gamers today might know what it was like to play TMNT. Thankfully, author Peter Tieryas vividly recounts what it was like to play the arcade version of TMNT in his article in Kotaku. And Tieryas remembers how the game’s pacing was fast and full of action and to him, it was satisfying to attack the Foot soldiers because of the animation. “[I]t felt like you were playing the cartoons,” Tieryas notes.
But one of the most memorable things about the arcade game, he says, is how attentive the art and animation were to detail.
It was all the little details that really stuck out. Like how in some scenes, a Foot Clan member sticks his head out from around the corner, laughs to himself, then throws a stick of dynamite.
— Peter Tieryas, writing for Kotaku
With the 2D game TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge coming out during the advanced age of gaming, we can look forward to a modern interpretation of the ‘80s arcade classic that is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Allure of 2D Pixelated Games
With the technology we have today, video games have advanced and become a far cry from what they could achieve in the past. Many deem the quality of video game graphics in the 1970s, even until the early 2000s, to be poor by today’s standards. The pixels were huge, and there was little developers could do to improve the video game art details.
This is not the case today. But why is it game developers continue to revisit the pixelated art style of older games? We asked our digital artists if they would buy the upcoming TMNT title. And unsurprisingly, they said they would, simply because they grew up watching the cartoon. It’s also unsurprising that one of the main selling points of the 2D game TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is the fact it draws heavily upon the art style of its ‘80s arcade counterpart.
Many tend to underestimate the power pixelated 2D games have on gamers. While hyperrealistic 3D game graphics have the power to make players feel as though they were a part of the game’s reality, sometimes it takes a different approach to truly immerse them in a meaningful way. Sometimes, what gamers crave is a sense of sentimentality. And sometimes, the best way to elicit sentimentality is by playing games that hark back to the past.
In Summary
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is an upcoming game by Dotemu and Tribute Games, in partnership with Nickelodeon. It is set to be released on Steam soon.
Heavily reminiscent of its arcade counterpart, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge will be a pixelated, beat-’em-up game that allows up to four simultaneous players.
While it has no specified release date yet, Dotemu has announced it will be available on the PC and unspecified consoles.
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The banner photo comes from Dotemu’s press kit.