Hey dudes! Put down that Fortnite, League of Legends and Rocket League. Grab a pizza and come on down because this DLC is totally rad!

Seriously though, I never imagined that the game could get any better than it already is. It goes beyond just adding two new characters and a Survival mode, but also some quality of life updates as well. Even a complaint I had in my previous review on the base game was addressed. Although with the new content does come some new concerns. It’s not perfect by any means but I would say it is very close. I felt this way ever since launch and I still feel the same today about a year later but as of right now, this is undoubtedly the best beat em up game I’ve ever played in my life. Not one of the best, but the actual best. This is not a joke. I’ve already gone over the graphics, game play, music (by the way the new tracks by Tee Lopes are also pretty awesome) and such in a previous review so this time I’ll focus on what’s new that I personally experienced.

Quality of Life Updates
Before I get into the meat of the content, I just want to shine some light on the smaller updates. Mainly to the overall game play experience. Simply put, the game play is even more fast paced than it was before due to the fact that a few of the player animations where sped up. Almost everyone’s super animations are now faster so you don’t spend as much time in the animation before you can jump back into the game. Also that moment when you press the super button and the whole screen freezes? That has been reduced as well. Before the update that would usually mess up my evasion timing but now I don’t get messed up as much at all which I am infinitely happy about. Or course we can’t forget about all the added color palettes for all the characters based on all the turtles in history. Some came in a free update while others are in the DLC. Now turning on Doppelgangers in Custom Arcade Mode won’t be so bad.

Also in a previous review, I had a complaint about some character’s taunting animations being too short, therefore allowing certain players to restore their super meter almost instantly. Mostly this was a problem with Raphael players, but now his taunt animation time has been increased ever so slightly. Not enough to make him bad, but also not enough to make him so broken. Not only that but also the range of some supers have been increased! I can’t thank Dotemu enough for fixing this issue. A few other characters with shorter taunt animations have also been slightly adjusted and Donatello and Casey Jones no longer pull charging enemies in while performing their super and accidentally redirect enemies to hit other players. That was another huge problem and it is great that it is no longer an issue. Evading is also a lot smother in the game as well and it’s easier to dodge things than it was before which only adds to the overall fast pace this game strives for and delivers in abundance.

Usagi and Karai
Now as for the two stars of this DLC, Usagi and Karai are both very fun to play as. Both of them have completely different gimmicks from the main cast. Usagi is the only character that can double jump for example and is the only one who can perform air combos. Because of this his move-set revolves around knocking enemies into the air. It’s a really refreshing change of pace. Karai on the other hand has a really neat gimmick. She starts off slower than normal, but the more combos you chain, the more you are rewarded with an overall boost to her running and attack speed. If you can really get a good chain going, she’ll be Naruto running faster than Sonic the Hedgehog before you know it. It is a good thing you cannot run off-screen in this game. Even if you are not a fan of Survival Modes, getting the DLC for these two characters alone is more than worth it.

Survival Mode
This is probably the next biggest thing after the two new characters that the DLC has to offer. A brand new Survival Mode with new enemy types, locations and a new boss waiting for you at the end. It’s always throwing new things your way and you never know what you’ll have to face next. Each enemy has three variants which not only look different, but also are of varying difficulties. All kinds of combinations of bosses you won’t see in the base game are possible as well and you’ll be traveling through so many dimensions corresponding to all the different incarnations of the turtles that it would bring a tear to even the most die hard fan’s eye. When you beat the final boss, you can end Survival Mode there or continue until you’re wiped out for a chance to carve your name into the leader boards! Even if that isn’t your thing, it’s still a lot of fun regardless because it keeps you guessing. Oh, did I forget to mention that you can play as Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady? Because you can.

Some Concerns
Now as I said in at the beginning of this review, this DLC isn’t perfect. I do have a few concerns about the Survival Mode in particular. As a long time player and lover of this game, I prefer when other players I am playing with do not resort to cheap tactics in order to win. Ever since launch there have been a few ways to not play fair that some people have taken advantage of. Some of which were controllable in Arcade mode after Custom Mode came out. But since Survival Mode does not have a Custom Mode option, those tactics are starting to see a resurgence again. I am of course talking about spamming the taunt feature in order to restore your super meter instantly. There are two ways to restore your super meter, actually playing the game and beating up the bad guys or just walking into a corner and pressing the taunt button. When Custom Mode for Arcade Mode came out, you could turn taunting off completely. But since there is no Custom Survival Mode that is not possible there. Kicking players is not advised in my opinion either because after you finish the first three waves, the session automatically locks itself so no one else can join. So unless you are lucky enough to have a group to host private sessions with all the time there is not much you can do about that.

To make matters even worst though is that there are also some perks you can win as prizes after waves which is a good thing of course. Except for one particular perk that actually helps promote this kind of toxic game play among the player base. It’s called the Teletaunt Perk. What it does is that it not only makes you invincible while taunting, but you also teleport to a random location on the map. Usually very close to enemies so you are in a good spot to instantly use your renewed super meter. So if you keep pressing the taunt button literally nothing can kill you and you can keep using your super over and over again. I really don’t understand why the developers chose to include this perk because all it does is inspire players to play in a more toxic way that is not fun for anyone who is in the same session as them. In all honesty, being able to restore your super meter to full just by taunting should not have been a feature at all in the first place. I think that was and still is the biggest flaw in this game ever since launch. That whole feature and this perk should just be removed completely to strive for a more better game play experience for everyone.

Conclusion
Despite how I feel about that one flaw in the game though, it does not at all deter me from saying that this game is still currently the best beat em up game out there. I have over one thousand hours logged into this thing now and it’s only going to continue to rise as time goes by since I always try to get at least one session in every day. I can’t recommend not only the game itself but also the DLC enough to people. I feel like you would really be doing yourself a disservice by missing out on this amazing game.