10 Video Games That Ignored The Industry (And Became TIMELESS)

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge was clearly inspired by classic arcade beat 'em ups, and to that end it seemed like it'd be a firmly niche offering which wouldn't make much of a dent outside of its nostalgic core.

After all, there's a clear commercial ceiling on retro-styled games like this, and in order to appeal to a wider set of players, a new Turtles game should probably be an open-world co-op live service romp, right?

But Shredder's Revenge was not only raved-about by critics, who praised its gorgeous art style, killer music, and addictive gameplay - it was also a stonking commercial success, selling a million copies in just a week.

For context, last year's Star Wars Outlaws shifted less than a million units in its first week, and given that Outlaws was clearly appealing to a much wider gamut of players than Shredder's Revenge - on paper, at least - it shows just how aggressively the latter broke out of its apparent niche.

In the 2020s a game like this is expected to be a mere passing fancy that makes a modest return and quietly goes away, but Shredder's Revenge was a bonafide smash hit.