Despite years of advancements and increasingly modern design in games, retro titles can still be exciting. Tribute Games' upcoming side-scrolling beat 'em up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is borrowing heavily from its 1980s cartoon roots, as well as using stylistic flourishes similar to 80s and 90s arcade games of the same genre for that sweet hit of nostalgia. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has already produced a number of video games alongside its other media outputs, including a few side-scrolling beat 'em ups, but TMNT: Shredder's Revenge will be marrying these retro aesthetics with modernized aspects to help with the game's quality of life, offering players a fresh twist on the familiar.
First announced in March 2021, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge has had a number of trailers already detailing some of the gameplay and revealing a few of the playable characters as well. During the recent Summer Game Fest, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge received a new trailer that showed off more of the frenetic gameplay and revealed that Casey Jones will also be a playable character. While some human characters in the TMNT franchise may be more well-known, like the tenacious news reporter April O'Neil, some players may not be so familiar with fellow crime-fighter Casey.
Bringing Casey To The Crew
Some of the titles that were revealed during Summer Game Fest were a complete surprise to players, whereas others had already been confirmed a little while ago. TMNT: Shredder's Revenge may be a highly-anticipated upcoming game, but players have known that it was in the works for some time now. Even so, it's always exciting to get a better look at a game before it's released, and the newest trailer for TMNT: Shredder's Revenge still had some surprises up its sleeve. As well as revealing that the game will have up to six-person local and online co-op, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge has added a new playable character with the sport equipment-wielding Casey Jones.
Arnold Bernid "Casey" Jones is a character from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and has also appeared in a number of animated series and films. He's typically portrayed as the main love interest for April and has already featured in a few of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games including titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters. Like the Turtles, Casey is a crime-fighting vigilante who prowls the streets looking for baddies to take down. He tends to carry his weapons in a golf bag that he slings over his shoulder, which usually includes ice hockey sticks, golf clubs, and baseball bats. To maintain his anonymity, Casey wears a hockey mask, which can make him seem more like something out of a horror film than a benevolent hero.
A Taste Of The 90s
Casey seems to be sporting his classic look in TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, complete with motorcycle gloves and sweatpants. As the trailer shows, his animation and outfit change slightly depending on what weapon he's using, with hats and other accessories appearing to suit his sporting equipment of choice. In addition to Casey, players will be able to choose between Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, April, and Master Splinter as they fight Shredder and a variety of adversaries throughout New York City and beyond.
With both the arcade and story mode, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge is really tapping into that 80s and 90s nostalgia, and the retro look and feel of the game will help set it apart from other recent releases. The newest trailer shown during Summer Game Fest also revealed the release date, and luckily fans don't have long to wait before they can cowabunga their way through the game and finally show the Foot Clan who's boss.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is scheduled to release June 16, 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
