The genesis of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1984 was one of pop culture’s best-timed phenomena. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’sTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlescomic quickly paved the way for an animated series that happened to coincide with the rising popularity of the NES, leading to the first of many video game adaptations that the IP seemed perfectly suited for. But despite the prolific nature ofTMNTvideo games, it’s taken nearly 40 years for players to get an honest-to-goodness turn-based tactics game based on the Heroes in a Half-Shell, which we now have with the release ofTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown. And whileTMNT: Tactical Takedown’s promise of tactical battling featuring the Turtles is enticing enough as it is, that the title comes from Strange Scaffold makes it even more so.
Truth be told, Strange Scaffold’s most recent games didn’t seem to suggest that it would be the kind of developer to tackle the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IP. After stepping into the spotlight with 2023’s surprise hitEl Paso, Elsewhere, Strange Scaffold followed up thatMax Payne-likewith the delightfully strangeClickoldingand the speedrun-friendlyI Am Your Beast.So to see it working on a licensed turn-based tactics game featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a surprise. As it turns out, Strange Scaffold’s ability to deftly tackle different genres from one title to the next made it perfectly suited to take on this left-field project, andTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedownonly seems to suggest that, at this point, Strange Scaffold is capable of making any game.
ThoughTactical Takedownis short, with the average playthrough lasting around 5-6 hours (or less, if you happen to be well-versed in turn-based tactics games), it delivers a tightly-paced experience that makes great use of theTMNT licenseand strikes just the right balance between its story, gameplay, and tonality. Battles are both fast-paced and tactile, with a strong sense of momentum that practically propels players through each shifting and mutating stage as they kick, punch, and jump their way across a grid-based version of New York City displayed in an eye-catching cel-shaded art style. It’s challenging enough for genre veterans while still being accessible to tactics newcomers, and even though it’s short,Tactical Takedownfeatures plenty of incentive to hop back in the action thanks to how distinct the individual Turtles feel, each of whom has a surprisingly customizable loadout.
Strange Scaffold Has Crafted a Bold and Original Take on the TMNT in Tactical Takedown
Strange Scaffold’s most recent games have each delivered compelling narratives, and it continues that trend with the excellent story that rests at the heart ofTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown. Lying somewhere between the lighthearted adventure of the original 1987 animated series and the gritty realism of the excellent ongoingcomic series from IDW,Tactical Takedownis ultimately a coming-of-age tale that sees the Turtles needing to adjust to their newfound independence. Both Shredder and Master Splinter are dead, leaving the heroes somewhat aimless as Shredder’s daughter Karai begins to revitalize the Foot Clan with the help of Baxter Stockman.
Each of the four brothers showcases their personality through well-written dialogue in text boxes before, during, and after levels, and Strange Scaffold has nailed an appropriate tone that is both what fans of the series might expect and an original take on the characters.Leonardois the fearless leader that both the show and comics regularly script him as, but he’s also shaken by Master Splinter’s death, living in the shadow of his former sensei and crippled by a fear of failing both his brothers and their city. Donatello is still the tech wiz he’s always been, but he also happens to be far less meek than he’s traditionally been portrayed and is all too happy to call out Leonardo when necessary. Similarly, Raphael and Michelangelo seem to have inherited a bit of each other’s personalities, with both of them exhibiting a mix of humor and aggression that sometimes makes it seem like they’ve swapped places.
Thanks to the brevity ofTactical Takedown’s campaign, the whole thing comes across as being similar to watching an episode of the old animated series back in 1989, complete with a satisfying setup, climactic showdown, and cathartic payoff. Of course, the story and characterization of the Turtles are far from the only unique touches that Strange Scaffold has applied to the license inTactical Takedown. Part board game, part TRPG, and part beat ‘em up,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown’sturn-based tactical gameplayis an exciting departure from what you’d more commonly find in a game based on the team, and it also exhibits a core understanding of the appeal of the Turtles themselves and their dynamic as a superhero unit.
TMNT: Tactical Takedown Blends Momentum-Based Combat With Shifting Levels
At first glance,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedownwill feel incredibly familiar to anyone who’s ever played another turn-basedtactics game. The title’s main story is split into 4 chapters, each of which is then subdivided into distinct stages. Each stage features a grid-based map that players will need to spend action points to maneuver around and attack enemies. Positioning and stamina management are key to victory, and the game will regularly throw more challenging foes or present unique combat scenarios as the main story progresses. But rather than play as the entire team,Tactical Takedownchooses to highlight each Turtle in different stages, and the heroes’ traditional strengths and combat focus all come into play in ways that are both appropriate to their character and that make each stage feel distinct.
Tactical Takedowneven goes so far as to restrict each of the Turtles to their own signature biome, letting players know exactly what kind of stage they’re in for based on the map itself and on how each of the Turtles behaves in combat. Leonardo can use his katanas to quickly take down enemies thanks to their boosted damage over the other Turtles' basic attacks, and landing a KO on an enemy generates a buff called “Radical” that boosts damage on subsequent attacks. As you might imagine, this makes playing as Leonardo incredibly swift, with him capable of landing multiple KOs in a row after generating that initial buff and quickly slicing his way across his particular board: the New York City subway system.
Donatello is great at managing mobs of enemies thanks to his staff being able to close distance between himself and enemies while clearing the Foot Clan out of the sewers, Raphael is geared toward drawing aggression from foes and debuffing them while battling across NYC rooftops, and Michelangelo is the most mobile of the Turtles, using his trademark skateboard to ollie and kickflip over Foot Clan members in the city streets while simultaneously damaging and disorienting them. While there’s a lot to appreciate about this approach to making each of the Turtles and their stages feel distinct, it’s ultimately a bit of a let-down that we don’t ever truly get to control all four of them at once in a squad, which feels like a missed opportunity for a game based on ateam of superheroes.
Perhaps the biggest wrinkle thatTactical Takedownbrings to the turn-based tactics genre, though, is how the game’s stages operate. Games like Firaxis’modernXCOMtitleshelped popularize the idea of using giant maps that slowly reveal themselves as players move through the fog of war, butTactical Takedownditches that approach for something more self-contained and dynamic. The boards themselves are smaller, and sections of the map will gradually turn red to indicate that it’s about to disappear, all while taking any enemies (or the player) with it. To prevent getting lost to the void and losing one of the Turtles' 3 lives, it’s necessary to move to a solid area of the map, with a glowing green section nearby to indicate the next portion that players can progress to on the subsequent turn. That constant movement across each map givesTactical Takedownthe feel of playing a digital board game, and it also contributes to one of the game’s definitive characteristics: its speed.
The Speed of TMNT: Tactical Takedown’s Combat Helps it Occupy a Middle Ground Between TRPGs and Beat ‘em Ups
Despite being a turn-based tactics game,Tactical Takedownpays careful homage to theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ genre of choice for video game adaptations: the beat ‘em up. Battles are both fast and dynamic in a way that’s different from most TRPGs or other tactics games, with turns flying by at a clip and stages continually changing at regular intervals. After playingTactical Takedown, most other tactics games feel incredibly static and slower-paced by comparison, and that sense of momentum is paired with a fairly light challenge that results inTactical Takedowndelivering the same kind of power fantasy that thebeat ‘em up genreis predicated upon.
Tactical Takedown’s Main Story is Short, But With Plenty of Incentive for Replay
The speed and relative ease ofTactical Takedownare both some of the title’s strongest suits and the contributors to what’s arguably its lone weakness: its length. As someone with hundreds of hours invested in turn-based tactics games, I was able to beatTactical Takedownin just 4 hours while earning all of itsSteam achievementsin just two play sessions. That said, Strange Scaffold has provided several incentives for multiple playthroughs that should extend that time. Clearing each level inTactical Takedownresults in a level clear screen displaying your score, which contributes to in-game currency that can be spent in the Shop accessible from the main menu.
It’s in the Shop where players will find new moves for each Turtle, custom alternate preset loadouts that change up how best to approach each stage, and music tracks that can be played at-will from the Music Player menu after they’re purchased. There are 4 new moves to collect for each Turtle (a good mix of offensive, defensive, and movement-based abilities), and experimenting with each of these in the Turtles’ customizable loadouts means no two attempts on a stage will be the same unless the player wants it. Together with the ability to replay any stage on a whim to try and beat a previous score,TMNT: Tactical Takedownhas plenty of reasons to return to the game after clearing the main story.
The history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one that’s inextricably tied to the rebirth of the gaming industry in North America, and the best games to utilize the license have always understood the core appeal of what makes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles such an iconic IP. The Turtles’ combat prowess and place as martial arts experts always made them seem better suited to beat ‘em ups than any other kind of game, butTactical Takedownproves that the team is a perfect fit for the turn-based tactics genre thanks to a creative dash of board game-style movement and combat that blends the “tactics” inTactical Takedownwith the gameplay ofclassics likeTurtles in Timeor the more recentShredder’s Revenge. As a result, it feels like it’s destined to be talked about in the same breath as one of the best games to feature the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
