Genre: Brawler
Developer: Tribute Games
Publisher: Dotemu

Shredder's Revenge uses Hi-Bit work from start to finish, and it's without doubt one of the prettiest sprite-based games of the past ten years or more. The player characters and baddies are meticulously animated, running about and fighting on top of stunning hand-drawn backgrounds, each of which is loaded with small details and animations of their own. Superb inter-mission sequences briskly bridge the stages together. April O'Neil was turned from an 80's hottie into a "resting bitch face" Gen Z'er, but other than that the game is free from contemporary political influences. Even the title's menus work a treat. Excellent!

Very nearly all modern video games eschew actual music with actual melodies, in favor of Hollywood orchestra drivel. Not Shredder's Revenge: each stage has its own song, and while they aren't as memorable as music from the 90's, they are still highly listenable during play. The title doesn't have as much voice acting as the arcade game it's meant to emulate-- "Turtles in Time"-- but what's there is deliberately sampled down to sound period authentic. Combat sound effects don't have quite as much punch as in competing contemporary brawlers, but they're much improved over the original TMNT arcade titles.

The big addition in this TMNT brawling iteration is the introduction of a dodge move, which both repositions the player and provides invincibility frames. This move can then be combined into a dash, then a combo. Jumping is very versatile, and allows for rapid vertical traversal. The levels have a great rhythm to them, although their gimmicks come off sometimes as a little generic, or lacking in the iconic department. The game can be played with up to six human players at once, making for sheer chaos.

The old TMNT brawlers were never quite on the level of the genre's finest, lacking the water tight feel and smooth difficulty curve of something like a "Streets of Rage 2". But this new entry is the closest the series has ever come: the controls feel much more nuanced, but without being over-complicated. As well, the adjustable difficulty makes the game more instantly playable than any of the other titles in the series. The game could have lived without the world map and collectibles aspects, but a straight-up arcade mode is also offered. This title is surprisingly good, clearly learning from the lessons of the creators' previous brawler, 2010's boring "Scott Pilgrim" release.