Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown offers turn-based cartoon combat in small slices

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a visually and mechanically striking reinterpretation of the TMNT formula.

Rather than the arcade brawler that we’ve become used to, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is much more of a tactical skirmisher. Developed by indie studio Strange Scaffold and released on Xbox One, it’s the first turn-based TMNT game I can recall and it’s surprisingly stylish, fast-paced, and character-driven. The Turtles have gone a little bit X-Com, and while the result isn’t flawless, some might call it… Radical.

Set after the (spoiler alert) deaths of both Splinter and Shredder, the story picks up with the four brothers fractured and scattered. The Foot Clan is stirring again, and a new leader is rising. Each Turtle must fight solo through a series of brief, compact, enemy-filled arenas, rediscovering their purpose and ultimately reuniting to face the threat. The narrative is light but effective — more of a framing device than a deep dive — but it does enough to give each Turtle a distinct arc across the game’s 20 levels.

Gameplay is built around turn-based combat, but it’s fast and fluid enough to feel almost real-time. Each Turtle has a unique skillset and movement style: Michelangelo is all about momentum and chaining attacks, Donatello leans into gadgets and control, Raphael hits hard and thrives in close quarters, and Leonardo balances precision and leadership. You only control one Turtle per mission, which keeps the focus tight and avoids overcomplication. The combat grid is dynamic — levels change as you play, with terrain shifting, hazards emerging and enemy reinforcements arriving mid-turn.

What makes Tactical Takedown stand out is its emphasis on battlefield manipulation. You’re not just trading blows — you’re positioning, baiting, and timing. Enemies can be stunned, knocked into traps or off roofs or suspended in mid-air and each Turtle’s animations reflect their style. Mikey might hop over a Foot soldier and freeze them in awe of his lighting speed, while Raph might bulldoze through a line of foes with a rage-fueled charge. These aren’t just cosmetic flourishes — they’re baked into the mechanics and quite enjoyable to explore.

Visually, the game is a love letter to the ’80s cartoon that I have a lot of love for. The bright colours, comic book menus, and character models that resemble tabletop miniatures all brim with nostalgia for people of a certain age. Each Turtle strikes a pose based on their last action, giving the battlefield a sense of momentum even when everything is frozen in turn-based logic. The environments are varied enough to keep things fresh, though some players may find the objectives and layouts a bit repetitive by the final chapters. 

There’s a progression system tied to performance — rack up high scores, complete challenges, and you’ll unlock alternate loadouts and cosmetic upgrades. These builds are flexible but thematic, allowing you to tweak each Turtle’s playstyle without breaking away from their core identity. It’s a smart system, though the game’s short runtime (around five hours) means that you’ll see most of what it has to offer fairly quickly.

That’s the biggest knock against Tactical Takedown really. It’s a bit too short, and it doesn’t quite push its mechanics to their full potential. By the time you’ve mastered the rhythm of combat, the credits are rolling and you’re wishing more of the obvious things had been included. There’s no multiplayer, no roguelike mode, and no post-game content beyond replaying missions for score. There aren’t even missions where multiple turtles combine to explore the art of the possible. In a way, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown feels like a brilliant prototype — stylish, smart, and satisfying, but not quite as complete as you’d like it to be.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a slick, inventive tactics game that reimagines the TMNT universe with flair and more than just a bit of fan-service. It’s definitely too short and occasionally shallow — but it’s also one of the most mechanically confident TMNT licensed games in recent memory. If you love the Turtles and enjoy tactical combat with a twist, then Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is well worth the short amount of time it will take you to finish it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is available now on PC, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.