Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown Review

I ne'er expected kicking a subordinate of the Foot Clan to the curb earlier skateboarding implicit to prime up a pizza arsenic an orange-clad Ninja Turtle would enactment conscionable arsenic good successful a tactics crippled arsenic it does successful a classical beat-em-up, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown cleverly translates the approachable pick-up-and-play enactment and slim scope of the team’s arcadey adventures similar Turtles In Time into a compelling, if barebones, turn-based tactics game. While missing immoderate of the indispensable connection that marque the champion strategy games tick, it’s inactive a blast to rise immoderate ammunition arsenic New York’s bodacious set of brothers.

Trim and concise, Tactical Takedown doesn’t discarded clip connected an ooze-spilling root communicative to get its communicative moving. You’ll cognize conscionable astir everything you request to aft the archetypal 5 minutes, though I’m definite you tin guess: The Foot Clan, led by Shredder’s girl Karai, is up to nary bully arsenic always. This time, they’ve teamed up with huffy idiosyncratic and chap stalwart TMNT villain Baxter Stockman arsenic they unleash a caller crippled to instrumentality implicit New York. Dialogue is relegated to lone a infinitesimal oregon 2 of substance boxes earlier and aft each level, but Tactical Takedown inactive manages to marque the astir of that slim territory – it delivers a idiosyncratic communicative astir nonaccomplishment that does a large occupation of coloring extracurricular the lines successful vibrant blue, purple, red, and orangish erstwhile it has to, particularly with Leo and Raph’s relationship.

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michaelangelo each ringing existent to the rhyming taglines astir them that you whitethorn retrieve from your taxable opus iteration of choice, but this communicative besides sees the soon-to-be-20-something turtles facing the challenges of warring without their brothers. That’s due to the fact that each of the levels are solo missions, each carried retired by a pre-determined turtle connected his ain turf. I’m disappointed with however precisely Tactical Takedown chose to reckon with that taxable of isolation successful its 3rd act, but it does springiness each member a accidental to radiance connected their ain portion fighting.

Each unit, including the Turtles, looks similar a static figurine connected a grid-based board, astir similar what you’d get from a tabletop game. They’re much animated than static crippled pieces, shifting poses based connected their attacks, the past enactment they took, oregon what benignant of presumption effect they whitethorn have, but are mostly still. It’s a clever, lo-fi homage to the Turtles’ static origins successful the panels of Eastman and Laird’s comics, but a zoomed-out camera obscures the property you’d expect from the colorful, enactment figure-like combatants. Couple that with a astonishing deficiency of dependable acting, these often larger-than-life caricatures of teenagers tin consciousness much similar lifeless crippled pieces.

Although the teen ninjas each person six wellness points, six enactment points to walk connected worldly similar moving and attacking each turn, and 3 arcade-style continues for erstwhile the going gets tough, they person chiseled movesets that play into their weapons and personalities good arsenic they disrupt the Foot successful their territory. Leo’s straightforward prowess implicit martial arts gives him a satisfyingly rhythmic travel that matches up nicely with the choky lanes of the subway. Dispensing debuffs that acceptable up a much devastating stroke connected the adjacent action, portion stacking a buff that allows him to evade immoderate attack, made him my favourite arsenic I cleared a fewer of his missions without taking a azygous hit.

Meanwhile, Donnie’s analyzable but rewarding traps and representation power made poisonous sewer h2o my ally. It was amusive to usage his kunai onslaught to halt Foot ninja erstwhile they were waist-deep successful the toxic sewage, past sound distant astatine their wellness from adust crushed with his bo unit portion throwing retired electrical traps to support my perimeter safe. Raph’s almighty bursts of spot suited the tiny Manhattan rooftops good arsenic I kicked ninja to their doom, which granted a buff that fto maine woody other harm and cod other enactment points with his sai attack. Then, I’d cannonball into different radical of enemies, sending retired a damaging shockwave and dishing retired a debuff that fto maine woody other harm to each force astir me, reaping adjacent much enactment points. Finally, Mikey’s skateboard made him a dependably acrobatic thoroughfare combatant whose mobility made it casual to pitchy from 1 extremity of a signifier to the different earlier kicking obstacles astatine Foot ninja similar successful a classical martial arts movie.

Every turtle has other unlockable abilities to bargain from a store utilizing shells, which are doled retired based connected your show successful each level, but they don’t consciousness indispensable to scope the extremity connected your archetypal effort – successful fact, I didn’t adjacent announcement the store until aft I rolled credits connected Tactical Takedown’s 6-ish-hour campaign. It wasn’t until I started chasing precocious scores successful a fewer levels that I realized however transformative those caller abilities could be, and I loved however customizable each turtle’s moveset yet felt. My favourite added utile moves to Raph’s kit that came with downside of damaging himself, but past paired with little almighty attacks that had a vampiric healing effect to equilibrium things out.

Building caller loadouts besides highlighted thing that annoyed maine astir Tactical Takedown, though: Communication, oregon deficiency thereof (ironically, a halfway taxable of this turtles story). This instrumentality connected TMNT doesn’t marque important gameplay elements wide successful immoderate moments, which tin beryllium a widowmaker successful immoderate crippled wherever strategy is king. For example, caller moves lone describe their scope oregon country of effect (ie: 1-meter cone) alternatively than showing you what that signifier oregon scope mightiness look similar connected the tactics grid. Another determination I discovered applied a debuff I hadn’t seen yet, but it didn’t accidental what that debuff really did, frustratingly leaving maine to find retired a fewer turns into a battle. Basic tooltips similar this person been successful strategy games for years, making their lack adjacent much confusing and frustrating.

These issues aren’t astir arsenic pronounced erstwhile you’re really successful the vigor of a battle, but they inactive popular up successful frustrating ways. Instead of conscionable showing what buffs oregon debuffs an force has erstwhile hovering implicit them with your cursor, similar astir different modern strategy games, you request to participate a abstracted inspection mode to fig retired what that determination you conscionable utilized did to the Foot ninja you’re astir to instrumentality out. Thankfully, you tin ever deed tab earlier utilizing a determination to cheque precisely what it does. But different stats, similar a Turtle’s likelihood to dodge incoming attacks, which happened astatine random, conscionable weren’t wide capable to me.

Once I wrapped my caput astir what each buff and debuff did, I got into a comfy bushed with Tactical Takedown. These effects are visualized connected the committee by altering the crippled piece-like characters, each causing antithetic poses oregon cartoonish flourishes that adhd immoderate uncommon beingness and personality, which yet made it truthful I didn’t request to tab implicit a determination to punctual myself of a circumstantial effect each different turn.

Things besides go easier to way due to the fact that Tactical Takedown doesn’t truly turn oregon germinate aft the archetypal hr oregon so. Once you’ve played each Turtle’s archetypal level, you’ll person seen a astonishing chunk of the force types, obstacles, and plan ideas the full bundle has to offer. This leaves each consciousness of progression to wholly optional unlocks and the tiny bites of story, and there’s ne'er overmuch of a situation until the precise past level. Such a constrictive scope reflects that of a classical TMNT beat-em-up, and similar those bygone classics (and Shredder’s Revenge), Tactical Takedown mostly gets by connected the merit of its combat and however accurately it nails the consciousness of each character. Fully clearing the committee of Foot soldiers successful a azygous crook utilizing a masterful knowing of each Turtle’s moveset was consistently satisfying and enjoyable, but I inactive kicked the aforesaid nameless ninja disconnected of a batch of antithetic rooftops.

Tactical Takedown further echoes those classics by grading your show successful each level with an arcade-style scoring system. Each takedown adds to a multiplier, further encouraging that hunt for a satisfying surface wipe. And erstwhile you’ve cleared a level, your fig of KOs, remaining continues, and full harm volition lend to some a last people and the magnitude of shells you’ll gain to walk successful the shop. Each ngo comes with a par people to sprout for oregon surpass, which was a amusive motivator to get maine backmost successful enactment and effort immoderate levels with caller movesets.

The places wherever this look breaks from its arcade inspirations don’t bash it immoderate favors, either. Disappointingly, it doesn’t person that galore brag fights – and what fewer are contiguous are saved for the precise extremity and aren’t precise memorable (except for the precise past one), which lone worsens that stale feeling. But the deficiency of a meaningful team-up makes for an adjacent worse interruption from canon than the sparse bosses. While I recognize that Tactical Takedown is each astir the Turtles increasing apart, it’s frustrating that we ne'er get to spot the Turtles astatine their best: Together. Tactical Takedown partially remedies this successful its 4th chapter, but not successful a precise satisfying way.