1. Kirby's Dream Land (GB)
2. River City Girls (Switch)
3. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)
4. The Simpsons (Arcade)
5. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Switch)Once I heard that Shredder's Revenge was being released last year, I knew I wanted to try it, as the brief trailers I saw for the game looked awesome. However, it was put on the back burner, as for a while a physical copy of the US version for the Switch seemed to have been delayed. Thanks to Flake, as I was able to purchase a Switch copy from him last week, my partner and I sat down to play the game couch co-op this weekend.
Shredder's Revenge is a 2D beat 'em up in the style of previous Turtles games we know and love from Konami. The game includes two main modes, which are Story and Arcade. In the story mode, the player can save their progress and continue at a later time. There are challenges in each level in this mode, so the game just doesn't consist of destroying every enemy. There are also a few different types of collectables hidden in most of the levels, and once completed, the player is rewarded with a bonus. The arcade mode is more straight forward but probably more challenging, as the player must traverse through the sixteen stages on a set amount of lives. One thing you'll notice off the bat is that April O'Neil and Splinter are included here as well, so it's awesome to see them as playable characters. Also, unlike the older games, each character here has a different rating for speed, range, and power. For our playthrough, we played the story mode. I chose Raph which was my go to character when playing Turtles in Time when I was younger. My partner, who isn't very familiar with TMNT and didn't grow up watching it chose Splinter. For whatever reason, I thought it was funny she chose him.
The developers included an extensive move list, which is explained in a How to Play section. One unique move that I particularly appreciated was the taunt, which helps you bump up your power meter, which you can use to do your special, and the second move that I think was even more helpful, was in co-op mode, you can walk near the other player and tap a button to high five them. When the initiating player high fives the other, that player transfers a bit of life to the other, which is really useful if perhaps there's just one pizza on the screen and you want to split it evenly. This feature was also super useful to help another player out of a jam. A similar inclusion is the ability to revive players, within a 10 second period of them being knocked out. You simply have to hold down a button in their vicinity, and as long as you don't get hit, you can bring them back with about a quarter of their health. I had to save my partner a lot! Lol. This feature is similar to the revive mechanic in River City Girls. I also appreciate the game can be played with up to six people in either couch co-op or online.
The 2D sprite work is pretty great in this game, and both the characters are well designed and animated, and the backgrounds are very detailed and colorful. The developers did a great job with the look of the game, representing the Turtles' environment, while drawing from previous games. I also really like how they included some specific nods to New York City in regards to the levels. It's really cool to see both Coney Island (a favorite summer time hang out of mine) and the Natural History Museum as playable levels! The music in the game is also very well done, and I feel like the right artists were rounded up to put together tunes that suit the style of game and the TMNT universe. I was also pretty surprised to hear a Ghostface and Raekwon song in a video game, but it was cool to hear their music during a pivotal moment in the game. My partner even enjoyed the soundtrack, complimenting the tunes multiple times throughout our first playthrough.
Overall, Shredder's Revenge has a lot to offer to fans of the 2D beat 'em up genre and especially to those who grew up with the franchise. I'm looking forward to playing this with three or four people together, and trying out some of the other characters! Definitely check this one out if you haven't had a chance to yet.