The most radical homages in TMNT: Out of the Shadows

Master Splinter may have taught the four brothers to be masters of the art of Ninjutsu, but that doesn't mean they haven't come up with playful fighting moves of their own. The comics and movies have always shown the turtles having fun and cracking jokes as they lay the smack down on their enemies, and Red Fly intends to keep that fun-loving feeling in Out of the Shadow's combat.

One way to do that is by cramming in all of the recognizable moves we've seen in the old material. Raph and Mikey's bowling ball attack from the first movie mows down enemies, the turtles can use the shell-crushing wishbone crunch move they used to defeat Shredder's right-hand man Tatsu, and Donny can pull out the anti-gravity gauntlet we've seen in the comics. Some of the moves even get pulled from previous games. For instance, Raph can use his power drill move from the TMNT: Tournament Fighters game.

The turtles have become the sensation they are not only for their fighting prowess, but also because they’re some radical dudes. Seriously, one look at them can inspire a chart-topping hit sung by a now-forgotten rapper. To reflect their bodacious attitudes towards performing fancy ninja moves and combos, the turtles get to show a bit of their personality in Out of the Shadows.

Right in the middle of a battle Michaelangelo can bust out the same breakdancing floor spins he used in the original cartoon opening or Donny can twirl his bo to egg enemies on. But when the four brothers sync together, TMNT fans get something extra special. The turtles can gather together to do the four-way, COWABUNGA high five that closed the first movie, or show their love for partying by doing the "Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go" dance that was invented by Vanilla Ice himself.

Back before there was a TMNT TV series, a half-dozen movies, and action figures crowding toy store shelves, the turtles were merely the heroes of a comic book series. They didn't even have their iconic blue, purple, and orange headbands. Nope, they only came in red.

To pay homage to the original heroes in a half-shell, players will be able to unlock the red bandanas from the turtle's first colored comic. This might make it a little more difficult to tell the turtles apart (which is probably the reason for the color swap in the first place), but going all red helps the mutants look a little more badass.

If you want to get even more original than swapping the colored bandanas to red, you can also switch on Classic Mode. In Classic, all of the environment and character colors are wiped, leaving nothing but a black and white color scheme.

Now that looks familiar. Black and white turtles, kicking thugs' butts in a dark ally. All you need is Leonardo narrating his every action and you've got the first scene from the very first TMNT comic!

The last nods to the old school turtles comes in the first instance in the Out of the Shadows game. The title screen features the four standing on a rooftop striking the pose on the Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 comic.

Not only do fans get to reminisce about the comic as the title screen hits, those who remember the first movie are sure to get a kick out of the music track. The song "Turtle Power" by Partners in Kryme plays behind the iconic ninja pose, wrapping both bits of nostalgia up into one nugget of awesome. T-U-R-T-L-E, POWER!