Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – Classic characters that could appear in the game

Allies

Finally, I wanted to look at some other well-known characters, but ones that are either allies or non-threatening detractors from the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series. This initially tied in to another incredible and unique idea, one that Tribute Games thankfully implemented into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge: additional playable characters, confirmed with the aforementioned trailer highlighting April O’Neil’s inclusion.

The idea of additional playable characters beyond the four main Turtles first popped up in my head when I first saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge’s animated intro, which had April O’Neil knocking out a Foot Soldier with a pronounced roundhouse kick, all while gripping her camcorder. April was almost always the “damsel-in-distress” during the 1987 cartoon’s ten season run, so seeing her in a very different form, especially a playable one, is a truly special thing to witness, especially for long-time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans.

Another fan favorite that never received much attention in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games is the crazy sports vigilante known as Casey Jones. Casey Jones is probably far better known from his live-action film appearances and action figures than directly from the 1987 cartoon series directly, but he did appear in a few episodes, never once removing his trademark hockey mask, which itself was clearly a nod to Jason Vorhees, the villain from the Friday the 13th horror film franchise. Casey Jones remains popular amongst fans to this day, and with April now confirmed as a playable character, the chance to play as Casey in a proper Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles beat’em ups has never been higher.

The initial animated intro for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge not only teased the idea of April O’Neil becoming a playable character, but it also showed Master Splinter getting some screen time, as he cracks open a Mouser’s robotic skull with his wooden cane. Master Splinter would be a very unique option, but his status as both a ninja master and sensei to the turtles might prevent Tribute Games from making him a fully-playable character. After all, he prefers to let his students handle all the fighting, occasionally doling out nuggets of wisdom. However, I do ultimately believe Splinter will make the roster as a playable character, though it’ll be interesting to see if Tribute Games is able to properly implement such an iconic character.

There are plenty of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles allies that could easily be considered as other potential playable characters, but in my opinion, there are only three other likely candidates: Miyamoto Usagi (unofficially known as Usagi Yojimbo thanks to the action figure, as Usagi Yojimbo was actually the name of the comic series that starred the titular samurai rabbit), Mondo Gecko, and Mona Lisa. All three are anthropomorphic humanoids that were able to stand out in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, despite appearing very little through the entire 1987 animated series. I don’t truthfully see any of them making the final cut, since they aren’t popular amongst casual fans. However, speaking purely as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, even including just one of these characters into the game could really help Tribute Games and Dotemu hammer down the exclamation point on adding as much “fan service” as possible.

The second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge trailer confirmed that some minor supporting characters from the series will be appearing as NPCs. For example, the trailer shows Bebop carrying off a frightened Vernon Fenwick, April’s slimy co-worker that also happens to possess an antagonistic attitude towards the Turtles. Furthermore, both were inside the Channel 6 studio, the same new organization that April reports for. With Vernon and Channel 6 both confirmed by the trailer, one could then assume that other characters like April’s boss, Burne Thompson, and his nerdy secretary, Irma, could also appear as NPCs. Who knows, maybe even the Neutrinos could make an appearance in their hot-rodding flying car from Dimension X!

Of course, there are so many other items that I could speak about regarding my own personal wish list for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. There still isn’t much known about the game itself, but that’s what makes the speculation fun. After all, I was able to indulge in my childhood nostalgia while researching details for this article, so to say that I’m highly anticipating this game’s 2022 release is a big understatement. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge isn’t just a love letter to the cartoons, the Konami-published beat em’ ups, and action figures, it’s also a testament to the legacy of the franchise itself, which is still going strong over thirty years later.