Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a fun, if barebones, tactics game reminiscent of the arcade classics that define this series.

The turtle boys don't cut 'em no slack in a short but sweet tactics game that feels like the foundation for something much bigger.

"The streets have traffic, but also friendly hot dog vendors who throw delicious, healing sausage treats."

The combination of turn-based strategy and beat-'em-up gameplay felt like a bit of a square peg, round hole situation, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown melds the two to deliver one of the freshest takes on TMNT that I've seen in a long time. It's a short-but-sweet experience that might not gel with everyone, but after 35 years of beat 'em ups and brawlers, this showcases the Turtles like you've never seen them before. And come on, that's pretty radical, dude.

Short, sweet, and smart, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown took me by surprise. It’s not just about how much I enjoyed it, but how intelligently Strange Scaffold came up with a gimmick that sounds bizarre on paper, but absolutely nailed it in practice.

Fast-paced strategy makes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown’s turn-based action feel as active as an arcade brawler. Each level offers a jolt of arcade excitement that gives each turtle their chance to shine rather than treating them as interchangeable heroes. Its small scope leaves it vulnerable to bugs and repetition, but Tactical Takedown’s best quality is how much it’s willing to break the mold and offer a new spin on a familiar TMNT power fantasy.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a short but very sweet turn-based tactics experience that makes the most of its iconic license.

The first problem with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is that our fast paced heroes doesn’t feel right working within a restrained grid. It feels off and unnatural having fast paced ninjas move at a slow pace. The game can also feel unfair and brutal at times as enemies can surround you really quick and kill you in a single turn. The game also has a steep learning curve. And completing a mission feels more luck based than actual skill. As a long time fan of TMNT, our heroes in a half shell doesn’t work as a TRPG. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown takes the effciency and typical fast paced action of the turtles and brings it down to a crawl. The learning curve is quite steep and completing a mission feels more like you got lucky than actual gaming skills. Unless you must own everything TMNT related, this is an easy pass.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a solid but limited experience. The core of the game is a joy to mess around with even if it fails to fully capitalise on the systems given to you.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown makes its way to Nintendo Switch with the same strengths and weaknesses as the recent PC release. It's a fun experience for TMNT fans, but the lazy porting effort and some missing features hold it back. The core idea is strong and the game is well put together, yet its short length and minor flaws keep it from truly shining.