The Turtles and their vigilante friends are back again in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge and are looking to protect the streets of New York City from familiar forces of evil. Shredder's Revenge mimics the classic, thrilling beat-'em-up arcade titles of the past, allowing series veterans to feel right at home when jumping into the sewers as your favorite character.
TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, while a relatively short experience, offers many avenues to keep you revisiting each mission. While you're trying to make it through the Story Mode for the first time, tackle challenges in each episode, or take on Special Requests, choosing the best character for the job to help alleviate some of the difficulty and frustration that can entail.
7 Master Splinter
In capable hands, Master Splinter is arguably one of the better characters in the game, but he has a steep learning curve compared to others. Splinter has excellent attack power and decent range but is one of the slowest moving characters in Shredder's Revenge, making it incredibly challenging to evade incoming attacks or move around the arena.
Master Splinter being not so beginner-friendly is a serious bummer as he has one of the best attack strings in the game and can be an absolute blast to play if you take the time to adapt to his slow and precise gameplay. Nonetheless, his stats and playstyle place him at the bottom.
6 Donatello
Donatello has the best range in the game, matched only by Casey Jones, but falls short in the other departments. While he can dish out decent amounts of damage from a safe distance, he shares the same fate as Master Splinter and has the lowest speed stat in the game, making him fall behind everyone else.
If you can stand your ground and always attack from a safe distance, Donatello is easily one of the best in the game, but anytime ambushes or boss encounters get thrown into the mix, his weaknesses start showing. Not being able to relocate or swiftly roll out of a fatal attack makes Donatello sit firmly at the number six spot.
5 Leonardo
Leonardo is the jack of all trades, sporting two-star ranks for each stat category, making him the most balanced character in Shredder's Revenge. For the majority of the game, Leonardo will be an excellent selection and won't cause you any issues in terms of falling behind in terms of speed, damage, or range. Still, he might struggle later in the game when enemies appear in larger numbers or have greater health pools you have to whittle down.
Overall, while there are characters that are much better options for the late-game content of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, Leonardo is up for the task if you don't mind having to try a bit harder when things get turned up a notch. Leonardo is an excellent choice whether you're a newcomer to the genre or a veteran.
4 Casey Jones
Despite being the only unlockable character in Shredder's Revenge, and the only character in the game with seven stars distributed across his stats, Casey Jones still falls short in some areas that keep him out of the top three. Though he's still one of the strongest picks in the game, and you cannot go wrong with choosing him, you will just have to get used to a few things.
Like Donatello, Casey Jones has the highest range stat in the game, but he overcomes Don's weaknesses by having decent speed and power, making for a deadly combination. However, Casey's attack strings are a bit lackluster, and he still feels a bit clunky compared to the remaining characters, placing him slightly below the top-tier.
3 April O'Neil
April O'Neil has been hit or miss in every TMNT game in the past, which is why it was kind of surprising to see how incredible she is to play in Shredder's Revenge. She has the highest speed stat available and has excellent range but deals very little damage, which holds her back in a way we hate seeing.
Even with her woefully low damage output, April is still a blast to play, and her ability to be elusive and land hits from a decent range places her high above most of the other characters quite convincingly. Though she can be tricky to get the hang of, she's fast to learn, making her a decent choice for beginners.
2 Raphael
What Raphael lacks in terms of range, he makes up for significantly in raw damage output and speed. While not the fastest character in the game, Raph can still move at a pace that allows you to evade hazardous situations while focusing on getting in close to land several strikes with his Sai before having to bounce.
Raphael's playstyle is hyper-aggressive, which can be hard to adapt to if you played basically any other character in the game. But, once you get a taste of what Raph is capable of, all bets are off, and you will be slicing through every enemy in sight.
1 Michelangelo
Michelangelo is very similar to April in that he has the highest speed stat possible but lacks range rather than power, making him have to get up close and personal with his opponent. However, this works in his favor and creates one of the most exhilarating gameplay styles and is easily one of the most rewarding.
Being able to move around the screen at a smooth and swift pace allows Michelangelo to evade incoming damage with little to no effort and follow up with devastating strikes from his Nunchaku that will make his opponent wish they never approached him. Everything from Michelangelo's stats, playstyle, weapon of choice, and fluidity makes him the best in the game.