Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown

Teenage Mutant Ninja proves it can fit well within the tactical genre, with the different turtles offering enough depth to keep strategies varied. Unfortunately, quality-of-life issues, lackluster audiovisual design, and limited character selection hold the experience back.

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.

If you're a fan of tactical games and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you'll likely be hooked until you complete every level. But if you don't like this type of gameplay, even the Nickelodeon franchise's skin won't convince you to switch to this slower-paced style.

With some unpleasant difficulty spikes and staid visuals, TMNT: Tactical Takedown won’t be for everyone. But for those willing to overlook its idiosyncrasies, Tactical Takedown offers a compelling, yet brief, strategic challenge.

The writing and action do a great job of pulling players into the world of the TMNT. The fast-paced strategy offers a light touch that feels fitting for the characters and can be deceptively challenging. While it might be light compared to more complex strategy titles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a shell of a good time.

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.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown pays homage to the early cartoon origins of the four brothers and crafts a mediocre game around them. The fast pace of the story and lack of thematic depth are disappointing, and a few long levels can make gameplay feel tedious at times. Fans of the series will find some enjoyment inside this world, but I recommend new fans steer away from this one.