REVIEW: TMNT: Tactical Takedown turns beat-em-ups tactical without sacrificing any of the adrenaline

Of all the '90s mascots still persisting through the years in the gaming world, I'm kind of surprised it's the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Not because their games aren't good — but because their games are pretty single-minded when it comes to gameplay. A vast majority of the Turtles game library are action-oriented: beat-em-ups, action platformers, fighting games.

Sure, if it ain't broke don't fix it — and the legendary beat-em-ups from these Turtles are far from broken — but it's kind of astonishing we've seen so little variation granted to such an iconic and enduring cast of characters. For a team known for their varied personalities and approaches to combat, it's about time we see a game that offers up a new way to kick shell.

And who else but Strange Scaffold to turn these Turtles into tactical terrors with their latest release, and undoubtedly one of the wildest games joining their library in terms of clout, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown.

​Just the Facts

Developer: Strange Scaffold (in partnership with Paramount Game Studios)

Publisher: Strange Scaffold

​Platform(s): PC

​Price: $19.99

Release Date: May 22, 2025

Review key provided by developer via FIFTYcc.

Heroes in a half shell, when I was hoping for a full one

Strange Scaffold announced Tactical Takedown during last December's PC Gaming Show, to my utter shock and excitement — a team so prolific for their creative indie releases was doing a licensed IP game, and on top of that, they were turning the Turtles tactical.

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown, the city is in shambles. Turtles and Foot Clan alike are reeling from the losses of the Turtles' sensei, Master Splinter, and the leader of the evil Foot Clan, Shredder. Both have died before the story begins, and the power vacuum that is left in their wake is the falling domino that sets the story into motion.

Pouncing on the emotional vulnerability of the Turtles, the Foot Clan creates chaos all across New York. Leonardo feels the pressure to carry on Splinter's legacy and has distanced himself from his brothers. Split apart and dealing with the chaos on their own, each of the Turtles confronts what it means to be a team in the wake of those major losses.

And on the other side, the Foot Clan's Karai — Shredder's second-in-command and adopted daughter — jumps at the chance to prove her late father's power by finally eliminating the Turtles and recruiting hologram-in-a-TV Baxter Stockman to enact some evil plan.

Narratively, Strange Scaffold certainly tread some interesting ground with Tactical Takedown. It starts with a major paradigm shift and in turn sets up a fresh take on the franchise: The deaths of the two major figureheads of the franchise take their toll on both sides in expectedly emotional ways, but with the game's brevity and the story's relegation to the sidelines, it didn't have as much impact as I was initially expecting.

I was especially surprised that the game's climax felt so safe and subdued compared to everything else Strange Scaffold was trying throughout. Whether that was a product of corporate oversight with Nickelodeon or a generally simpler than usual narrative from the team, I was a little disappointed. The game doesn’t need to be more than it is — but knowing Strange Scaffold’s track record, I couldn't help but compare this oddly conventional tale with their other games that are anything but.

That's not to say the story doesn't have some genuinely powerful moments — one embrace in particular choked me up near the end — or that they didn't capture the voice and chemistry of the Turtles, because some of the between-missions banter definitely got chuckles out of me. But for a studio that regularly makes a lot out of so little, I was waiting for something special.

That all said, Tactical Takedown managed to make the Turtles' personalities come through in the gameplay (and elsewhere) in ways that even some of the greatest TMNT games fail to.

Kicking shell never felt so... thinky

In TMNT: Tactical Takedown's 20 levels, you'll play as one of the four Turtles, equipped with a loadout of four unique abilities and a special assist move from a brother — able to be executed by dealing enough damage to the Foot Clan.

Each mission drops you into a compact battlefield (a sewer, city street, subway train and the like) and you're tasked with making your way through an evolving level that constantly keeps you pushing forward against escalating waves of Foot Clan soldiers and Stockman robots. Current goals are always clearly displayed in the corner of the screen and typically include advancing toward the next level evolution, surviving waves of enemies, or knocking out key enemies to progress.

Tactical Takedown brilliantly combines turn-based tactics with the fast-paced beat-em-up style we've come to expect from the Turtles. There's a kinetic energy to your turn-based action — you're always on the move, constantly working to shred through as many enemy Foot Soldiers as possible, because you know the level will be evolving in the next turn or that a new wave of enemies will be arriving to overwhelm you.

If you aren't on top of eliminating enemies nearly every turn you possibly can, you can expect to see your lone turtle swarmed by the enemy's constant flow of reinforcements with each new wave. The crowd control of Tactical Takedown manifests as a faster-paced version of something like Ground Shatter's Tight Spaces series.

Tactical Takedown brilliantly combines turn-based tactics with the fast-paced beat-em-up style we've come to expect from the Turtles.

Tactics games can feel slow and static at times. Tactical Takedown is constant motion and chaos. RJ Lake's soundtrack infuses a pulsing momentum — effectively delivering four unique soundtracks that pair with each turtle, tailored to each one's mood and energy. Whether it's the electronic synthesized beats behind tech-minded Donatello or the hollow-feeling instrumentals that accompany the emotionally distant Leonardo, Lake's tracks help keep energy levels where they need to be from end to end.

I didn't intend on playing Tactical Takedown in one session, but powered by the genre-varied, heart-pumping beats of RJ Lake, I couldn't help it. Not since Lake's Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator has a game soundtrack hyped me up like this.

The game is short, clocking in just under 5 hours in my playthrough, but it certainly is built for replays. Taking from its beat-em-up arcade roots, your performance is scored based on how many enemies you KO, how many of your turtle’s three lives you preserve per level, and the highest combo you pull off in a turn. Each level has a "radical" score to aspire to — and hitting higher scores nets you more money to spend in the in-game shop. There, you can unlock new side moves and entire new loadouts for each turtle, allowing you to customize their builds to your liking. I took a fancy to the push moves that allow you to knock beefier enemies off the stage in one satisfying blow and made sure all four brothers had some kind of push maneuver in their arsenal.

The length is, honestly, perfect for what this game is trying to accomplish, and I genuinely appreciate a turn-based tactics game that doesn't ask too much of its players.

Speaking of which, difficulty is almost perfectly tuned here. With three lives per level, you are almost certainly going to be able to push through most levels without a Game Over — though probably not without losing a couple of lives or falling short of those "radical" score benchmarks. So, the built-in challenge is there for those who are looking to perfect their runs.

But for others new to the genre and just here to kick some shell, Tactical Takedown offers a fun puzzle box of tactical challenges that never feels too punishing. It's an ideal tactics starter game. But genre veterans may feel a little burnt by the simplicity.

COWABUNGA!

And that's the catch, in the end. Tactical Takedown ultimately feels lighter than expected, and some of the levels and action are more repetitive than you'd expect for a five-ish hour game. But the structure Strange Scaffold has put in place here is incredibly solid, not fully capitalizing on its potential, yet still managing to be fun and enjoyable as a micro tactics experience.

From the graphic novel-inspired character portraits that pop up in the brief chapter interludes to the miniature and diorama-like gameplay action, the Turtles continue to thrive when leaning on nostalgia. I noted before that the design choice to make all the units look like tiny action figures transports me to my childhood, when I'd set up and methodically battle army men across my living room carpet. And abstracting the game environments into building block pieces floating in the void almost evokes the weird half-built dioramas that accompany action figures, making the tiny slivers of the world you're given feel like so much more.

It all serves the game beautifully and brings you back to a time when your toys were your world and Saturday morning cartoons were the highlight of your week.

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.

Video Games Are Good and TMNT: Tactical Takedown is . . . GOOD. (7.5/10)

+ kinetic tactics-beat-em-up hybrid gameplay, stellar multi-genre soundtrack, fun paradigm-shifting narrative

- doesn't fully realize its best ideas, can get repetitive over its slight runtime, not for challenge-seeking tactics vets

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