While that’s quite a wordy title, this new piece of DLC gets straight to the point.

If last years’ brilliant Shredder’s Revenge was a celebration of classic Turtles culture, with iconic villians, sub-characters and locales, I would say Dimension Shellshock is a further acknowledgement of its video game history.

A little bit of Turtles in Time. Some Tournament Fighters, even the original NES vintage. And something extra on the side make this a really fun added past time for an already great game.

How to Play

Once purchased, the content is automatically added into the game with the brand new Survival Mode. Both new characters – Usagi and Karai – are also added to the active roster. This does not require an additional install. 

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At just under £7, you’re getting access to two brand new characters with their own fighting style and endings, as well as a brand new roguelike survival mode which has more to it than meets the eye.

To my way of thinking, this is a great package, it represents more opportunities to replay the brilliant base game and try out two very different fighters who have similarities to others on the roster but some big differences.

Let’s start with Usagi who, I’m going to be honest, just became my favourite fighter. This rabbit is super overpowered with a bad ass blade and ninjitsu style that is going to cause problems with all sorts of enemies. Remember those black foot soldiers with the sai daggers could be a bit of a pain? Usagi eats through them like a hot knife through butter.

Usagi hits hard, which makes him a beast in boss battles, but he’s equally great in the air, meaning he can down some of the game’s more annoying enemies pretty effortlessly. Plus he can still find time to sit around and drink a cup of hot tea.

Usagi is a really fun fighter, honestly. His specials have good reach, but they’re fast and powerful and he makes for a great ally if you’re going for a team effort.

Karai I’m a little less sold on, but enjoyed all the same. They’re a much faster fighter, really clearing screen distance in quick measure which is great for ranged foes, but their everyday striking isn’t as powerful as Usagi.

However, Karai has the most powerful, most enjoyable to watch special attacks in the game, sending multiple shadows of themself spreading across the screen, attacking everyone and everything on it. Spectacular to watch and even better in action.

All told, both fighters have their strengths, both are enjoyable to play, but I’ve gotta give the nod to Usagi as the preferred choice. No, this has nothing to do with him being one of my favourite characters outside the green brothers when watching the old cartoons.

But the really cherry on top of this delicious turtle tasting cake is the Survival Mode. I can hear you grumbling, it’s not quite what you think. It’s actually really good fun and more than worth the value of this package. Let me tell you why.

So, yes, you are fighting waves of enemies, different sizes and shapes, of gradual, increased difficulty. But you can also compete your score on global leaderboards, you can play it entirely in co-op and there’s one little feature that really keeps you coming back for more – crystal collection.

Each character has a series of unlockables they can obtain over the course of play, eventually ending up in a series of new colour palettes to freshen up your fighters with that retro video game flavour we talked about earlier.

How do they unlock these perks, you ask? By gathering crystals during battles. For most enemies you defeat, they’ll drop a crystal you can grab and add to your tally. And initially, you need 50 crystals to complete a set and move on, but later that tally increases by 10 every time you move between stages.

So your ultimate aim is to defeat all the enemies in front of you, then choose a portal as a reward. And the enemy types vary wildly, one minute you might be fighting a wave of standard foot soldiers, the next you might be up against Metalhead and Tokka. But you can play some part in that decision making and this is where the mode gets interesting.

Once you complete a wave, two portals show up. The risk and reward of these portals will vary significantly. You could go all in, take, say, the 30 crystals offered to you and get that much closer to moving to the next stage. But if you don’t, you’re likely to end up with your toughest challenge yet.

Worst part? You’ve got one life, no pizza or other heal items to generally help. To make it through, you’re going to have to hope you’ve got enough left in the tank. And some skill to see you through.

And the Survival Mode isn’t just about the crystals either, as the stages are all newly added in and are a blast to play through, a real mix of style and set up. Oh, and there’s other cool things you can do along the way.

Fancy playing as Bebop, Rocksteady and even Shredder? You can, temporarily at least, by selecting the mutagen when it pops up. You will then start the next wave as your hated (beloved) villain with only half a health bar but with their own distinct set of moves.

Other little decisions to make could be increasing speed of your attacks, combos dropping sushi trays which give you a slight bit of health respite. And, of course, starting the next wave at full health. All things to think about and consider.

Survival Mode is an absolute blast and has no right to be as much fun as it is. Especially when played together with a friend.

We haven’t even mentioned the new music tracks thrown into the pot from the super talented Tee Lopes, or the visual quality of the new stages and endings.

All combined, makes Dimension Shellshock a must own. It’s a rare DLC that not only fills out the wider package of the original game, it makes it all the more interesting, varied and generally better. It’s also a piece of content you’ll keep coming back to, adding a level of replayability to the game that just didn’t exist before.

Want an example of how to make a great game even better? This is it.

Verdict

Dimension Shellshock adds a wealth of replayability to Shredder’s Revenge that just didn’t exist before. The Survival Mode completely defies expectations, is full of fan service, and just fits the game like a glove. Throw in Karai and the absolutely brilliant Usagi, more amazing music, all at a low price and all of a sudden Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge becomes an infinitely better, more well-rounded and essential product. This is DLC done right.

Pros

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