Today marks the release of the retro-tastic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge from Montreal-based developer Tribute Games and Dotemu, and while the game isn’t quite as challenging as some of those Turtles arcade games of old, it’s also more complex, offering a wide array of new moves and abilities. So, before your jump in, here’s a few tips on how to properly kick foot soldier butt, because the last thing you’d want to do is cut Shredder and his cronies any slack…

　　

Be aggressive with grunts and cautious with bosses

Most of the time, there’s really no benefit to sitting back and considering your options while playing TMNT: Shredder’s revenge. That just gives your opponents time to attack you. Usually, completing a 4-strike sequence on an enemy launches them into the air, and if you stay on them, you can continue to juggle them racking up some nice combos. Most rank-and-file enemies in Shredder’s Revenge can’t absorb that many hits, so don’t back off. Stay on them until they’re done.

　　That said, the strategy complete reverses for bosses. Most of them have very specific old-school patterns and moments when they’re vulnerable. Trying to attack bosses when they’re not vulnerable will just open you up to taking damage. Be observant, be cautious, and most bosses should go down fairly easily.

　　

The slide attack is the game’s MVP

TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge has a number of new moves, but in my opinion, the Sliding Attack is your best and most powerful new tool. Players can run by double tapping in any direction, and from there, can either do a running tackle or slide. The slide has great range, does good damage, and trips up enemies, including bosses. If you come upon an enemy with some sort of shield or blocking ability, a quick Sliding Attack will almost always allow you to get past it.

　　

Alternate between low, high, and flying attacks

Of course, as good as Sliding Attacks are, you don’t want to just spam them constantly. The key to keeping enemies off their game is to mix things up with a nice assortment of low, high, and flying attacks. Come in with a dropkick, transition to a combo, then Sliding Attack the enemy’s legs out from under them if they dare fight back. Stay on your toes and keep things varied and you’ll take out most baddies before they can even touch you.

　　

Save Supers for when you’re surrounded

Each character in Shredder’s Revenge has their own Super attacks they can unleash once they’ve collected enough Ninja Power. Thing is, these attacks aren’t actually that powerful, doing less damage to enemies than a regular combo. What they are good for is getting a mob of enemies off your back if you’ve managed to get yourself surrounded. So, save them for exactly that situation.

　　

Play pro wrestler

One of the more unique new mechanics in Shredder’s Revenge is the ability to taunt enemies to boost your Ninja Power ala most wrestling games. It’s an easy thing to overlook, but you shouldn't – consistently taunting will mean you’ll pretty much always have a Super in storage to get you out of a tight spot.

　　

Traps affect enemies too

Just like the classic TMNT games, Shredder’s Revenge includes a variety of traps and hazards that can hurt you, which can be annoying, but also be used to your advantage. Traps hurt enemies too, so lure a mob onto that bed of spikes or into the path of that rolling boulder and let the trap do the work for you.

　　

Break everything

Shredder’s Revenge is full of breakable items, and it behooves you to destroy them all if possible. Of course, breakable objects will often contain precious life-restoring pizza and other power-ups, but you may also find various collectibles you can use to further power up your Turtle in Story Mode. Once you’ve cleared a screen of bad guys there isn’t any pressure to move onto the next one right away, so go ahead, take your time and find all the goodies.

　　

There’s no shame in spamming dropkicks on Mousers

Yes, Mousers are back, and they’re as annoying as ever. I won’t judge if you just spam dropkicks to deal with them. It’s what everyone did in the original TMNT games back in the day and it still works.

　　Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is available now on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch, and playable via backward compatibility on Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Is anybody out there playing the game? Feel free to share your own pointers below.