Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo are back. After a five-year hiatus from the realm of console gaming, Dotemu and Tribute Games have revealed a new title intended to evoke the games from the 16-bit era called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge."
Below is a trailer for the upcoming game.
The world's most fearsome fighting team
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is a multimedia franchise that has spawned countless comics, shows, movies, toys, and even Video Games. The series was conceived by two underground comics writers Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.
It was intended to parody grim and gritty comics by Frank Miller, such as his run of "Daredevil" and his limited series "Ronin." The juxtaposition of the depicted violence with anthropomorphic animals amused the two and convinced them to finance the concept into a series with the help of a tax refund and a loan from Eastman's uncle.
After drawing four turtles specializing in a specific weapon, Eastman and Laird tried to name them. However, when they couldn't come up with any convincing Japanese names, the two instead named them after famous Renaissance artists: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. The comics spawned a successful multimedia franchise that would spawn countless copycats such as "The Battletoads."
One of the most famous incarnations of the franchise was the animated series that debuted in 1987.
Toning down the source material's violence and moral ambiguity, the show took on a significantly more lighthearted and family-friendly approach. Toy manufacturer Playmates commissioned the show after they were approached with creating merchandise for the franchise.
One of the other forms of media to tie in with the cartoon was a side-scrolling action game developed by Konami of "Castlevania" fame.
Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989, the game was a financial success that paved the way for subsequent titles from the studio, such as the arcade beat 'em up "Turtles in Time." Many of these titles garnered rave reviews and strong sales. When the franchise received a second animated incarnation in 2003, Konami developed games based on that show for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube.
However, these titles were met with mixed to negative reviews.
As the franchise continued in other forms, many different publishers and developers would tackle the license, such as Ubisoft, Activision, and even Platinum Games. However, none could match the same level of success that Konami had with its earlier 16-bit titles.
Heroes in a half shell
Seeking to recapture the same glory of those entries, "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game" developers Jonathan Lavigne and Justin Cyr have announced a retro throwback game called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredder's Revenge." Dotemu published other retro throwback games such as "Streets of Rage 4" and "Windjammers 2". The game evokes both the 1987 cartoon's look and sound Konami's beat 'em up titles.
No platforms or release date has been disclosed at this time.
