Referred to as “Hero Turtles” here in the UK due to the prohibition of the word “Ninja”, which censors deemed an inappropriate terminology, owing to the inflammatory hostility associated with the connotation, they were my idles. It wasn’t until years later that a careers adviser assured me that these were not in fact legitimate means of employment. Growing up there were only ever 3 careers I wanted to pursue: being Spider-Man, becoming a Ghostbuster or altering my own DNA to become an anthropomorphic turtle with my own renaissance artist inspired name and join the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. What do you guys think? Will you be playing “Shredders Revenge”? And most importantly, who was your favourite Ninja (Hero for us in the UK) Turtle? For me it was always Donatello.

Though still in early development, with details concerning release date or indeed platforms sparse, I can exclusively reveal that Shredders Revenge is going to be radical! Seriously, this is the Turtles sequel I’ve been waiting over 2 decades for! Hopefully this can be the catalyst that can impart the same nostalgic sentiments to my daughter, that I felt when teaming up with my father to play these games. A 4 player online/offline? Arcade beat-em-up, inspired by the classic 90’s era games I exclusively devoted my life too. But now, thanks to developer “Tribute Games”, I can regain some of that fading youth with “TMNT: Shredders Revenge”. My Dad and I teaming up in a now sadly rationed moment of patriarchal solidarity. When I wasn’t protecting the imagined denizens of my back garden from the swathes of evil-doers, I was living the life of a Ninja Turtle vicariously through the arcade games. An implied cross-species relationship my feeble mind was too young to comprehend. Before indulging the compulsory swoons of an emphatically grateful April O Neil. Wielding my mother’s washing line prop pole as a substitute bo staff, attaching a plastic shell from my old turtle potty, strapped to my back using the luxury bath robe belt, I bravely defended the innocent citizens of my garden from the encroaching malevolence of Krang. Their weekly conflicts with “Shredder” and his criminal disciples the “Footclan” were stimulating imagery, eagerly imitated by me in my back garden.

These four subterranean reptiles and their insatiable appetite for Italian cuisine, were the paternal influences of my formative years.

Nothing invokes childhood nostalgia quite like the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”.

Tmnt 4 boss shredder