Once we first obtained our arms on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge final yr, we had been under no circumstances of the impression that the sport was missing within the content material division — that is, in spite of everything, what we deemed to be “the perfect Turtles scrolling beat ’em up ever”. A bit of over a yr later, the sport’s first DLC, ‘Dimension Shellshock’, is right here to point out that typically larger is in reality higher, and much more Turtle motion is at all times an excellent factor.
This DLC comes as a somewhat stable package deal. Alongside a number of new character color palettes (lots of which come from a free replace that launched alongside the DLC), there’s additionally the addition of a model new recreation mode, two fresh-faced fighters — Usagi Yojimbo (aka ‘Miyamoto Yojimbo’ in his unique comics) and Karai (a mainstay of the 2003 animated TMNT sequence) — and plenty of shredding unique music tracks from composer Tee Lopes.
We’ll kick issues off with the star of the present: Survival mode. If a roguelike-style tackle the beat ’em up wasn’t the primary thought to pop into your thoughts after finishing the Shredder’s Revenge Story mode, then know that you’re not alone, however after attending to grips with waves of robust foes, power-up propositions and the unending want for ‘only one extra run’, we had been happy to see that the newest loop continues to kick shell.
Survival mode begins with a brief cutscene. The Neutrinos (a race of humanoid youngsters from Dimension X that you simply would possibly bear in mind from the unique animated sequence) seem by way of a wormhole and warn the Turtles that Shredder is making an attempt to beat the multiverse — as a result of you may by no means have too lots of them, proper? The previous gang, now joined by a ninja rabbit and a former-Foot Clan member, leap into motion to take down the massive unhealthy as soon as once more.
So begins the central loop. You hop into one of many 5 new Dimension settings — the retro ‘8-Bit Battleground’ and comedian book-inspired ‘Mirage’ environments are standouts — take out a wave of foes, and goal to gather sufficient shards to finish a Dimension Crystal and progress onto the following space. Once you die, your collected Crystals are tallied up and produce upgrades in your subsequent run. Up to now, so roguelike, although the similarities to Dotemu’s earlier ‘Survival Mode’ DLC for Streets of Rage 4 are additionally clear.
The construction is repetitive by its very nature, however a bonus mechanic on the finish of every wave retains issues fascinating. Earlier than diving into the following battle, you might be given a selection between two upgrades together with extra shards, well being, unusual power-ups, or the prospect to mutate into some basic villains for a short while. These vary of their usefulness — taking part in as Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady gives some respite out of your fighter’s lowering well being, although the villains’ restricted movesets really feel a bit sluggish in comparison with the fluidity of the Turtles’ — however the ever-changing rewards add an fascinating threat/reward system to what would in any other case be punch, acquire, repeat. Do you play it protected and acquire a Pizza Field well being enhance at each alternative, or is it price grabbing a bundle of shards to make sure fast development? With boss battles randomly thrown into the lineup of enemy waves, your selection of bonuses can both make or break a run.
And boy, do you want that enhance within the early levels. Every fighter’s first run sees them with just one life and restricted hit factors, making these preliminary waves really feel all of the more difficult whilst you try and rebuild your beat ’em up muscle reminiscence. That being mentioned, as soon as the upgrades begin rolling in and the ultimate objective of finishing 5 Dimension Crystals and defeating the Grasp of the Void appears all of the extra attainable, Survival mode rapidly turns into troublesome to place down.
However what concerning the new fighters? Many people can have tried out just a few totally different Turtles within the recreation’s most important story, however the addition of Survival mode encourages fighter experimentation, making it the proper time to throw two newbies into the combination. Usagi Yojimbo has rapidly fallen into our rotation, with excessive velocity and balanced vary and energy making him a robust selection for navigating a number of the busier waves, although Karai’s improved energy is a blessing when taking up more durable foes. Each can be found to make use of in Survival, Arcade, or Story mode, so you will get to grips with the brand new animations and fight kinds nevertheless you please.
Seeing two new characters included with the robust new recreation mode makes the DLC’s £6.69 / $7.99 / €7.99 pricetag ooze worth. It’s uncommon {that a} DLC gives simply as a lot leisure worth as the principle recreation, however we will see the brand new mode turning into a replayable staple for a lot of a recreation evening to return — no quarters required.
Conclusion
This has all of the appeal of the bottom recreation, however with a difficult new stand-alone mode that provides high quality and worth. The opening problem will not be for everybody and people early runs could be fairly unforgiving, however when you see these unlocks rolling in and with an improve or two below your belt, you will quickly surprise why a Turtles roguelike hasn’t been in your wishlist from the very starting. With these added bells and whistles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge continues to be completely tubular, dude.
