Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown

It's pretty impressive how versatile the Ninja Turtles are when it comes to games. In recent years we've had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate, a Hades-esque rogue-like; Mutants Unleashed, a terrible 3D action game; Shredder's Revenge, a...

TMNT: Tactical Takedown is full of great ideas that, while only half-realized at times, make for an undeniably fun tactics experience for gamers of all levels. As the first tactics game for both the Turtles and Strange Scaffold, there is certainly room for growth, but between the incredible soundtrack, the effective and high-momentum blend of tactics and beat-em-up gameplay, and how easy it is to play and enjoy, Tactical Takedown is a Turtles game worth checking out for its clever genre leap.

TMNT: Tactical Takedown is a decent time if you love the turtles and aren’t expecting a revolutionary tactics game. It has heart, humor, and enough ninja action to keep fans entertained, truly my only issue is the writing in some areas but even its not enough to distract from how much fun this tactics game is; just like my first time trying pineapple on pizza, I was surprised with how much I really enjoyed this unique mash-up and wouldn’t mind another tactical Turtles game.

Even as a brief game of only a few hours, I felt ready for things to wrap up by the time I hit the credits, but that’s not an indictment of how it all came together. Instead, this new tactical twist on the Turtles knows not to overstay its welcome. It’s a bite-sized chunk of strategic fun with an evident love of these classic characters that shines through, and that’s worth plenty.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown cleverly pays homage to a decades-long legacy of both personality-filled cartoons and sharp beat-em-ups while making an impressive leap into a completely new genre for the team. Its clever, engaging movesets and solid TMNT story made up for its slim enemy variety and disappointing lack of bells and whistles.

TMNT: Tactical Takedown is more experimentally thrilling than you might expect from a licensed game, its solo strategy fights packing so much momentum it almost feels like a brawler. A lack of variety in objectives and environments, along with some balancing issues, leave me wanting more from this short but cheesy (complimentary) experience – but this is still a radically easy recommendation.

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. I never could have guessed what a turn-based beat-em-up could possibly be, but now I perfectly understand the concept.