While I haven’t rigorously tested the science behind this theory, I think you can add the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to just about anything and come out ahead. Who could hate those lovable green brothers? Not me, that’s for sure. That’s why I was excited to hear about a game that would blend the Ninja Turtles with turn-based tactics. I love both of those things! Let’s have a look and see how things turned out with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown, shall we?
This game comes to us from the folks at Strange Scaffold, who previously released such titles as Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator and An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs. They clearly like to have a lot of words in their game titles. This isn’t a big, fancy, AAA publisher, and I think it’s important to keep that at least somewhat in mind as you play Tactical Takedown. With that said, the Turtles got their start in an indie comic series, and in some ways, I think that’s the space that suits them best. I suppose what I’m saying is don’t expect the kind of production values we’ve seen in certain other TMNT games in recent years.
That indie spirit comes through in other, more positive ways, though. The plot of this game is quite different from the usual Turtles video game fare, covering some slightly heavier feelings and incorporating that into the gameplay structure. We’re used to seeing the four brothers cooperating like a well-oiled machine, especially in the video game space. They’re family. They’re best friends. They live together, they play together, they fight together. But that’s not the situation in Tactical Takedown. The glue that held them together is no longer present, and like a lot of families in that situation, they’ve drifted apart. When a new threat rears its head, they’ll have to come together once again to resolve it.
It’s a strong set-up, but one that doesn’t get explored as much as one might hope. Not really that type of game. But it’s at least different, and serves its purpose as a way to stitch the stages together. Perhaps most importantly, it provides an explanation for one of the bolder choices of the game. In each stage, you will only be controlling a single turtle. The brothers will not be fighting together in this one, and while I understand how it makes sense both from a narrative and design standpoint, I can’t help but be a little disappointed in that.
Well, it is what it is. Setting that aside, what’s here is solid enough. Stages are laid out in a tabletop fashion, dynamically removing and adding sections to keep you moving along. Each turn, you have a set number of action points you can use to move around or use abilities. Once you’ve spent them all, it’s the enemy’s turn to go. After you’ve both had your run, outside actions might occur. Frequently, this means adding more enemies to the map or altering the playfield, but it might also take the form of certain gimmicks being activated. You generally don’t have to defeat all of the enemies to proceed, but the game will specify certain mandatory targets at times.
Once you get the hang of it, this all plays out like a turn-based beat ’em up. Properly executed moves will chain into each other and thrash multiple enemies while also moving your Turtle about the field. Each Turtle has their own abilities that help to differentiate them from each other, and they all make a lot of sense given their personalities. It helps keep things varied as you make your way through the game, a task that you can wrap up in five or six hours. After you’ve finished that, you can aim for higher scores or try the remixed mode for a bit more challenge.
I found Tactical Takedown to be reasonably fun, though at times it feels more like a puzzle game than anything else. You have some flexibility in most situations, but there are times when it really wants you to do things in a very specific sequence. That’s especially the case if you want to hit the score thresholds for earning Shells, which can be used to unlock new moves for the brothers. This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s something worth knowing before you jump in. Overall, I found the difficulty to be just about right in most cases. Not too hard, but challenging enough to keep me engaged.
With all that said, I do feel like the game never quite reaches its full potential. You can’t help but want to have all the brothers together on those maps, and for all the wacky and wild characters in the TMNT universe, the selection of enemies is kind of bland. Sometimes it feels like it isn’t properly explaining things, especially with regards to status ailments. Ultimately, it doesn’t end up mattering that much, as you can figure things out by experimenting. But in a game like this, you would prefer to have all the important information ahead of time so that you don’t have to waste turns figuring out what does what.
There are a lot of things I like about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown. I think there’s a good foundation here for a follow-up that really brings it all home. As for this particular entry, I think it understands the material and has a lot of good ideas, but it never quite reaches the level it felt like it was building towards. Turtles fans might want to check it out, along with those who enjoy turn-based tactical games and are on the hunt for some lighter fare. It’s a decent on-the-go experience, too. Not the best TMNT game you can get on Nintendo Switch, but maybe the most unique one.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch
Review copy provided by Strange Scaffold
