Dimension Shellshock (DLC) Review

Player(s): 1-6
Extra Features: Local co-op play (2-6 players), Online Co-op play (2-6 players), Crossplay, Leaderboards

Dimension Shellshock is the latest DLC for Dotemu’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. This new DLC adds some overall good content to a game already burgeoning with features and tons of replayability. The new DLC adds in 2 new characters, a survival mode and extra palette swap colors for all characters. There are also some new tunes to listen to that are exclusive to the survival mode.

First of all, this DLC is worth it for the two new characters alone. Usagi Yojimbo and Karai are the two new additions to the roster and they can be played in all modes (story, arcade and survival). Yojimbo is the samurai rabbit from the original comics and series. He combines excellent speed with some pretty good range and power. Yojimbo is so very good at comboing multiple enemies. He fights with his sword and can easily combo in the air with it. Karai is a high-ranking member of the Foot Clan. She combines excellent power along with good speed and range. She fights with her melee fighting style and has some very strong attacks. Both of the new characters have their own animations for their special attacks, grabs and all other attacks.

Along with the new characters, there is a new survival mode. This mode plays out like a mini-campaign. It has its own self-contained story involving the Neutrinos. The turtles and friends are taken to several different dimensions (stages) and have to fight off wave of enemies. Each stage has its own unique background that you won’t find in other modes. There is one stage that is 8-bit! You’ll fight normal enemies and bosses. The overall mode is quite hard since you only get one life.

The mode has a sort of rogue-lite element to it. You’ll have a choice of power-ups in between stages. Some power-ups give you enhancements and some power-ups allow you to play a boss character. Boss characters are so very broken depending on who you play. They hit hard and can break through normal enemy defense much easier than the standard character. Boss character have their own unique moves and special moves. They aren’t as fleshed out as normal character (they don’t have EVERY move that a normal character has), but they sure work well against enemies. Boss characters take the place of your current character until their (separate) health bar is taken all the way down – at that time, you’ll switch back to your main character.

While beating down waves of enemies, you’ll be gaining crystals. The crystals level-up your character and collecting them will unlock extra palette swaps that you can equip to your character. Each character has their own crystals and levels to gain so you’ll have to play all characters eventually. As you level-up the crystals that you gain, the mode ramps up in difficulty. The survival mode is a lot of fun. As you learn which power-up does what, it becomes easier since you just choose some of the best power-ups at the end of each stage. The survival mode can be played singe player or you can play online with up to five other players (total of six players) just like in other modes (it has crossplay also). This is definitely the type of mode where you’ll need help if you want to get far.

Each character also has several palette swaps to equip. Some palette swaps are already available and some are unlocked by collecting crystals in the survival mode. The turtles have unique palette swaps that are exclusive only to them. Some of the turtle palette swaps change their appearance a bit more than just their color (such as headband changes, no pupils in the eyes, etc). Each character has Gameboy palette swaps that changes them to an old Gameboy color (greenish yellow). Overall, this DLC is fantastic. At such a little cost, you get quite a bit. The new characters are worth the asking price alone. I’m not a huge fan of survival modes, but this one can get addicting with all the helpful power-ups. The boss characters are very fun to mess around with as well.

The Good:
+ 2 new characters that can be used in all modes
+ Online survival mode with many cool power-ups to discover
+ New palette swaps for all characters (some unlocked through survival mode)

The Bad:
- The survival mode can get repetitive after a while

Final Rating: 80%