This Fan-Made TMNT Game Is Better Than Shredder’s Revenge

As a child of the ‘80s, I fell in love with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the very beginning. I watched the show, read the comics (Archie and Mirage), and collected the toys. Most of all, though, I played the TMNT video games. From their first arcade adventure to Tournament Fighters and beyond, I followed these ninja bros from one platform to another.

That’s a big part of why I loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. That title synthesized the best parts of the vintage TMNT titles and delivered a modern sidescrolling brawler with a fun, throwback vibe. As much as I loved Shredder’s Revenge, though, I can’t help but feel like it was outdone by a fan-made game: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rescue-Palooza, which might just be the perfect ROM hack of all time. Wondering whether you should give it a spin? Well, let me tell you why this fan-made game is one “shell” of a good time!

The TMNT Fan Game That Doesn’t Feel Like a Fan Game

I’d like to start out by stating a simple, slightly uncomfortable truth: most fan-made games are pretty bad. And even when you find a good one, you’ll quickly notice annoying limitations that may range from subpar writing to lackluster graphics or repetitive gameplay. As it turns out, it’s hard to make a great video game, and it’s even harder when you don’t have a professional development studio and must rely on just a handful of fans.

However, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rescue-Palooza is a great game from beginning to end. It has wonderful graphics, an engaging soundtrack, creative level design, and rewarding gameplay. In short, it’s a fan game that doesn’t feel like a fan game. It’s polished enough that it would have been worth paying full price for. And the fact that the game is completely free means you have nothing to lose by trying it out.

A Love Letter to Classic Turtle Games

If you’ve never played any of the old TMNT games on NES, SNES, Game Boy, and Sega Genesis, you can still enjoy Rescue-Palooza. After all, it’s a slick brawler with retro aesthetics, meaning it will appeal to indie lovers and hack’n’slash fans alike. But take it from me: if you spent a lot of time playing through the various 8- and 16-bit Turtles titles back in the day, you’ll enjoy how much this fan game is a love letter to those earlier games.

Look closely and you’ll notice countless visual homages to earlier TMNT games. This fan title gives classic levels from previous games new twists, and it mixes and matches iconic battles from older games in exciting new ways. In this way, Rescue-Palooza feels like a loving remaster of several older games, even as it establishes itself as a worthy new title in its own right.

Play With All Your TMNT Bros

As an older gamer, one of the features I miss most is couch co-op. There was always something special about just plugging in a controller and diving into a new console game with your friends. That’s what made games like Turtles in Time so special on SNES: the ability for you and a buddy to take on Shredder and the Foot Clan together. This was a fun echo of the original TMNT arcade game and its sequel, both of which allowed for up to four players to play

You can probably see where I’m going with this: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rescue-Palooza allows up to four Turtles fans to battle through its 17 stages together. There’s nothing wrong with playing through the game on your own, which is exactly how I played its awesome story mode. But you have some fellow fans who rocked out to the 1987 TMNT cartoon, it’s a sure thing they’ll love to grab a controller and take a walk down memory lane, all while fighting the Foot. 

A Killer Aesthetic

If you play a lot of retro-style games, you know that it can be hard for programmers to get the aesthetic right. If the game looks too much like an old title, it can turn off players who belatedly realize how ugly old-school games can be. Simultaneously, if programmers change the familiar aesthetics of yesteryear too much, the game may cease feeling like a retro title altogether.

Fortunately, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rescue-Palooza gets its retro aesthetic just right. Programmer Merso X took sprites directly from older TMNT games and spruced them up in Photoshop while making adjustments as needed. The effect (which is exactly what the talented programmer was going for) is something akin to Super Mario All-Stars: a 16-bit update of older games. Arguably, Rescue-Palooza has one thing All-Stars doesn’t: a mixture of new elements that makes it more (much, much more) than a simple visual overhaul of what came before.

Tons of Playable Characters

Remember when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge came out? One of the things that fans were understandably excited about was that you could play as characters other than the Ninja Turtles. This included Splinter, Casey Jones, and April O’Neil. Later DLC added new characters, including Miyamoto Usagi, Karai, Mona Lisa, and Mondo Gecko. That’s a pretty impressive roster, right?

Well, not that it’s a competition, but Rescue-Palooza blows Shredder’s Revenge out of the water when it comes to the number of playable characters. This fan game features a whopping 60 playable characters! Older fans of the Turtles will be happy to learn that this roster includes some wonderfully underrated characters like Irma, April’s nerdy friend. All of these extra characters add an insane level of replayability to this fan game, and unlocking them is a wonderfully enticing challenge.

In my case, I found myself collecting new characters just as aggressively as I collected new toys back in the day! 

Toe-Tapping TMNT Tunes

Personally, I feel like no retro-style game is complete without a killer soundtrack. For example, half the charm of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game is the sick soundtrack from Anamanaguchi. If you’re a TMNT fan, here’s more good news: Rescue-Palooza is full of the same kinds of toe-tapping tunes you would find in the vintage Turtles games.

Your mileage may vary, but I see the slick soundtrack as icing on top of the cake. While playing a level, I would often find myself bobbing my head and vibing out to the music. Even better, I’d often end up humming these tunes long after I put down the controller. If only I could buy this soundtrack separately, it would have a place of honor next to the other vintage TMNT soundtracks from Limited Run Games. 

Entire Baskets of Easter Eggs

Still not convinced to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rescue-Palooza? Well, here’s my last pitch: if you’re a longtime fan of this franchise, you’ll have fun discovering one awesome Easter egg after another. For example, the game features sound clips from the 1987 show, and it’s fun to effectively relive old episodes through those sound clips whenever you play.

Other Easter eggs hail from the classic TMNT video games, and veteran players will enjoy recognizing all the new sprites taken from old games. And as mentioned before, the extensive roster of 60 playable characters hails from all corners of the Turtles universe, so you’ll likely find more than a few faves. Ultimately, these Easter Eggs are the final ingredient in what makes Rescue-Palooza great because they prove this game was made with nothing but pure love for our favorite fighting teens.

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