Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown review for Nintendo Switch
System: Switch
Release date: August 14, 2025
Developer: Strange Scaffold
Publisher: Strange Scaffold
The heroes in a half-shell have a storied history in gaming, and are back on that scene once more. This time, they are going through a bit of family turmoil and in a new genre for the ninja boys. Tactical Takedown is a strategic turn-based, board game-like beat ’em up where the goal is to get your mutant teen to the end of the stage with three lives and a loadout of different abilities to help you knock out the foot clan as you traverse the rooftops, sewers, and streets of NYC. Everyone has come across the TMNT at some point in their lives, either through their cartoons, movies, video games or comics, so what does this Turtles adventure do to stand up against some of its franchise peers?
Well, Tactical Takedown decides to go a narratively bold direction of moving the timeline forward a little bit. Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph have gotten a little older. While Mikey is still chilling in the sewer lair, Raph has moved in with Casey Jones and together they go on night-patrols around New York, Donnie has gone doing solo hero work, and Leo’s completely off the grid. Why have the brothers gone their separate ways? The turtles are still reeling from the passing of their father figure and great sensei Master Splinter, who together with the TMNT, finally managed to end the evil Shredder once and for all. Now, with the Foot Clan back on the scene under the guidance of Karai and a digital Baxter Stockman, those turtle boys can’t cut ’em no slack as they set out to put an end to the Foot Clan’s schemes once more. The story is divided into four chapters which has a mission-structure layout within, with a different one of the turtles taking on each mission with their own unique methods of dealing with the clan.
The gameplay to me felt like a blend of several titles like South Park: The Fractured but Whole, Fire Emblem, Mega Man: Battle Network, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum. Missions have a set turtle you play as, but you can change up which moves they can use from different sets you can unlock with the in-game currency you earn through progression. Of their base kits, Michelangelo favors movement and using the environment to take down enemies while Donatello does machines so naturally he has lots of traps and tricky weaponry to hurt the clan. Raphael is all about strength, as his movement is the weakest, he relies on forcing enemies to come to him so he can knock them out. Leonardo’s moves grant him stat buffs that allow him to deal heavy damage, but is limited in using the environment to get KOs.
Players move their turtle to different parts of the mission arena, and a unique twist for this game is that there are stages where you can instantly knock-out enemies by kicking them off the ledge, rather than taking several turns hitting one enemy. The amount of actions a player can do is limited to the amount of Action Points (AP) available. You have a set amount, and most moves (including general movement) cost a point, with some moves even costing more. The strategy comes in deciding how best to spend these points so you can continue moving through the map, beat up foot soldiers and keeping your turtle away from harm.
Enemies attack range is visually shown through a red arch that visually demonstrates how close to you they can get. This is useful for someone like Mikey, who excels in a hit-and-run style of combat. All four turtles also have access to a special move they can use through filling up a slime meter at the top of the screen, which offers things like a drone that can stun a group of enemies, or a message from Master Splinter from beyond the grave that inspires and powers the boys up. The best part is; this special move doesn’t cost AP. My favorite turtle to play as was Raph; I absolutely love how powerful it feels it drag an enemy towards you, kick them away, gain an AP then to drag them back to you once more and knock them out. The important thing is that each one of the turtles feels distinct, so the gameplay loop doesn’t get stale and the environment shifting as the stage progresses keeps you on your toes.
The visual design feels like a combination of the classic 1980s designs of the turtles, with their initials on their belts, and the anime-style look of the boys in the 2003 4Kids TMNT show. As those were the two versions of the team that I had grown up watching, I was really digging the visuals of the game. The music, I’m afraid, I was not as into. There’s no doubt the compositions suit the stage designs of the game, but the melodies never really stuck with me and some techno-sounding pieces I found actively grated on me personally. Music is very subjective though so I’m sure there are plenty who play the game and will thoroughly enjoy it. Ultimately, it certainly didn’t do anything to harm my experience to any serious extent.
The story is relatively short – you can beat it in 7-8 hours, but as you play you also unlock a Remix Mode, which lets you replay any mission with increased difficulty, changed stage layouts, and more varied enemies with unique fight patterns exclusive to this mode. I’m nor the best at strategy games anyway, so though I managed to beat the main campaign without much trouble, this Remix Mode is exceptionally more difficult and will really test players. A welcome addition that gives you an excuse to mess around with the new moves that you can purchase from the in-game shop. Music can also be purchased from here, so there’s plenty to keep you coming back if you are a completionist.
One thing that I wish was added in post-game was the ability to mix and match the playable characters with the missions in the game. For example, you play the first level as Mikey, but I’d love to try it out with Raph, who I enjoyed playing as the most. Another gripe I have is that there is no voice acting, and although the dialogue is very well written and exceptionally in-character, reading the lines myself, I wish I was hearing Rob Paulsen as Raph or Wayne Grayson as Mikey, for example. Some also might find the game to be quite short and it may be a sticking point, but each mission features a high-score target so if you enjoy that kind of retro arcade-like challenge like I do, these stages become instantly re-playable as you try to find new ways to knock out lots of enemies in one turn.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a really fun, visually striking and surprisingly simple strategy title that blends all the best elements of its contemporaries to create an addictive gameplay loop that makes you keep coming back for more. Although it features a soundtrack I’m not keen on and lacks the iconic voices we associate with these tubular turtles, the game is so fun that those things don’t do enough to deter me from recommending this one. At $20, the price might be a little bit too steep but for fans of the TMNT, I would go as far as to say it is a must-have. I hope it gets a sequel that can further improve this gameplay style as there is so much potential here.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown copy provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.
