Toon Tanks is the first project of Petite Studios, a small studio (as its name implies) which is new to the eShop scene. In it you control a tank, and aim to destroy all of the other tanks without getting hit in each level. For such a simple concept, Toon Tanks manages to simplify things a bit too much, which leads to a few major issues.

Presented in a comic book like way, Toon Tanks plops you right down into the main game with a basic set of controls to control your power-hungry tank. Acceleration is mapped to the ZR and reverse to the ZL buttons, with the left control stick used to pivot directions and A to shoot bullets. The movement feels a bit awkward, which fits the feeling of controlling an actual giant machine, but getting used to controlling the tank isn't a large concern.


You can shoot up to three bullets at once, which shoot in a straight line until they hit another tank or a wall. While you are shooting you need to be careful of not being hit as well, as one hit from an enemy will kill you instantly, forcing you to restart the level. There shouldn't be an issue with this concept, except the fact that your tank is incredibly slow. It takes a surprisingly long time to turn and dodge a bullet heading at you, and in one hit you're back at the start. Some call it old school charm, some call it cheap, but in Toon Tanks it shouldn't be a large issue to most players once they gain better control of their tank.

The enemy tanks shooting at you are a bit of a let down, as they don't seem to actively target your tank, rather they follow set paths and shoot in different directions. The enemy bullets do ricochet off of walls though, which adds challenge to moving around safely.

Across the 80 levels you'll likely notice one thing, Toon Tanks is repetitive. While there are 80 levels across four different themed worlds, the levels all blend together in a way that makes progressing a bit dull. The levels aren't very long either, but overall just don't offer new content to encourage you to keep playing.


If levels had had different ideas mixed in to adapt to, even something simple, it would have livened up Toon Tanks more. As it stands, the game can be beaten in one sitting, and almost feels like a mobile friendly title that would be at home on the 3DS. Thankfully the developers opted for offscreen play, but the game doesn't quite offer a full console experience.

Toon Tanks' largest issue is its lack of content, as the levels all blend together into one large blob of shooting and dying. Combat is simple, enjoyable yet tedious, and a change of pace or fresh ideas (even a multiplayer option) would have gone a long way in making Toon Tanks more enjoyable. As it stands, Toon Tanks finds itself in the awkward position of being formed of a solid idea, but one which was not executed to its full potential, which makes it difficult to recommend.


Review copy provided by: Petite Games