I’ve never been a huge fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t try to get into them as a kid. There were countless hours that I would sit in front of my grandma’s television flipping through the various stations, and I would frequently catch some glimpses of the 1990s cartoon. However, I was always more of a Street Sharks kind of girl, after all, “totally jawsome” is that hip surfer pun that we all need in our lives.
All that to say that I’m a total neophyte when it comes to the turtles, outside of some common knowledge items like Master Splinter or Shredder. Of course, my lack of knowledge extends into the realm of gaming, and I absolutely noticed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown during its initial release earlier this year, as it was vastly different from what I was expecting. The game plays like a beat-em-up arcade game focused on taking down enemies, but it’s got elements of a turn-based RPG that focus on defeating as many Foot Clan members as possible. This mixture of two radically different genres intrigued me, and it wasn’t long before I felt attached to the four brothers and knew that there was something here for me.
A Foot Invasion
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown begins with Michelangelo (Mikey for short) hanging around the sewer hideout that the ninja brothers have used as their base of operations for years. However, the place hangs unused and nearly abandoned, save for Mikey calling it his home and keeping the place intact for his brothers should they ever return. That is, until the Foot Clan invades the sewer looking for something, but before they leave, Mikey receives a dire warning from the new head of the Foot Clan, “Stay out of her way or else.” Mikey must now stop whatever they have planned while also trying to reconnect with his brothers.
The plot begins rather abruptly, and the state of affairs leaves me confused at first; this confusion lingers even as the story shifts to different perspectives. However, after the initial confusion, I quickly found myself able to understand the story, and the cutscenes also try to keep the dialogue from becoming excessively wordy. Out of my six-hour playtime, I would guess that less than an hour is spent reading text, which is great for players who aren’t die-hard fans of TMNT. I was surprised at how fast the plot moves once the opening cutscenes play out.
Each level has an introduction and ending cutscene that establishes the level’s storyline and its resolution. I find that frequently a plot thread will open up only to be immediately resolved by the time I defeat every enemy on a stage, or sometimes it will extend into a second level with a different turtle. This pacing eventually made me stop caring about all the minor plot details in favor of the overall plot, but even then, I found it to be pretty basic overall. An easy-to-follow plot is great considering the turtles have fans of all ages, but I find that many of the ideas that are interesting never get the chance to be fully fleshed out.
For example, the primary plot for all four of the turtles is that they have been separated since the deaths of Master Splinter and their arch-nemesis Shredder. It’s clear that something has left a hole in their hearts, and their relationships with each other have suffered for it. However, this is resolved so fast that you would be forgiven if you thought that they had barely separated, and the four-chapter structure doesn’t give this plot the room it needs to fully realize the potential it has. Instead, you’re left with a simple revenge plot that never elevates itself past what you would expect for a children’s game, and that is regrettable.
Let’s Kick Some Shell
A simple plot isn’t always the death knell for a game, and many of my favorites feature a simple plot but offer engaging gameplay that captivates me for hours on end. I am actually happy to report that, despite being rather simple, the gameplay for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown feels compelling enough to keep me engaged for the full playtime. The core idea involves you taking control of a turtle for an entire level, and you’re tasked with taking down as many Foot Clan members as you can while you survive the waves of enemies coming at you.
The idea of surviving waves of enemies isn’t a new concept, and even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles isn’t new to this style of gameplay. However, what makes it feel novel is that you only have a certain number of actions that you can take in a turn, and must clear out as many enemies as fast as possible. So instead of pure action combat, every encounter feels closer to a puzzle that you have to unravel to survive, and your reward is points, which feels very weird to say when talking about an RPG-style of combat. I wasn’t prepared to worry about trying to achieve a high score while I planned a turn, but it works together like sweet and salty flavors do in a dish.
TMNT: Tactical Takedown expects you to play through a level once for the story, and you can aim to hit a point threshold dubbed Radical. This score doesn’t appear to give you any rewards and is never required to complete the main story. Instead, it’s a challenge to achieve as you make progress through the story. Unfortunately, I never felt that compelled to backtrack and obtain the Radical score very often. Levels feel way too long at times, and one wrong move can ensure that you will not be able to obtain that Radical score, forcing you to reset the level. These problems add up to a replay experience that feels hollow and rewardless, unless you want to earn bragging rights for being able to get Radical scores in Tactical Takedown. Considering that this was tied to achievements on PC, maybe there is more incentive there, but the Nintendo Switch does not offer that for players.
I found the concept of Radical scores interesting, and if it were tied to some sort of reward or extra content, then I would see a reason to go through this challenge. One major new update to this version of the game is the new Remix mode, which unlocks after you beat the main story. New enemies appear in each Remix level, so you can revise your strategy and try new tactics. While this mode is an appreciated and welcomed addition, it failed to be enough to make me want to jump back into a level and clear it once more.
Outside of actually obtaining the points from a grind to Radical rank, you can also choose to spend them on new skills to equip the turtles with to make encounters easier. Unfortunately, I found out that skills couldn’t be used in the main story. The menu stated that I had equipped them, but when I tried to exit the menu and begin a level, I noticed I still had the default loadout equipped. Initially, I was confused and frustrated that the reward I had obtained was unusable and my time had been wasted, but after a few hours, I noticed something the game never explicitly explained to me.
You are forced to use the default loadout for each turtle the first time you clear a level, so those shiny new skills you earned can only be used to replay levels you have already cleared. This shouldn’t bug me as much as it does, but I feel almost cheated out of these skills that I have earned. I would not have even been that frustrated if the game had made it clear that I would need to clear levels initially with the default loadouts, but that wasn’t here. Instead, I felt set up for failure in a way, and my experience felt repetitive after three consecutive hours of playing. It’s really great that there are skills available and custom builds for the turtles in Remix mode, but I strongly feel this should have been an aspect of the main story.
Kick Back with a Slice
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a surprisingly ambitious title that works out quite well in some areas. However, there is so much that holds it back, from the breakneck pace of the plot to the inability to customize the turtles until a second playthrough of the game. This experience feels repetitive, and asking you to devote another full playthrough simply for the chance to use skills that you have earned can feel disrespectful of your time. It indirectly assumes that you will fall in love with the game enough to play it again, and despite the clear passion and love poured into it, I can’t say that I have fallen in love with it.
I will eventually give Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown a second chance to impress me with a full replay, but as someone who didn’t know much about the turtles beforehand, I find it hard to devote more time for an extra challenge. I’m sure that if you are a fan of the turtles, then you will love the atmosphere and the attempt to explore new horizons. However, many with only a passing interest will likely do better by borrowing the title from a friend or checking out another TMNT game.
Disclaimer: Strange Scaffold provided a Nintendo Switch copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown for review purposes.
