Tiny Tanks Showdown Review (Xbox Series X|S & Switch)

Whoever penciled the idea of a vibrant bullet hell with palm-sized tanks and infectiously erratic projectiles deserves a lot of credit. In the past, we have covered a game that wears a similar crest on its chassis—Tanky Tanks, that is—and we loved it. Even though it’s a rather simple concept to manipulate and implement, it clearly has its place in the heart of microscopic warfare. Without the charming visuals and the easy-to-master controls, it wouldn’t be as appealing I’ll admit. Yet, there’s a great deal to love about a game like Tiny Tanks Showdown. It’s cute, creative, and honestly, surprisingly challenging.

In a similar vein as Tanky Tanks, Tiny Tanks Showdown invites you to board a tank, and to wage small battles across a plethora of stages that vary in size, shape, and complexity. As an avid wheelman, you can maneuver your tank through each bite-sized diorama, unleash rockets that bounce and flutter through the air, and tactically outplay your opponents. Like any good twin-stick shooter, you can use one thumb to operate the tank, and another to aim your projectiles and attack your enemies. Again, it’s a simple setup that, frankly, doesn’t require a lot of skill. Patience, however, is a key part of the job, as is adapting to a world that has more curveballs than your average battlefield.

Unlike your typical war-torn battlefield, Tiny Tanks Showdown is designed to test your skill and ability to adapt on the fly. Rather than being confined to a large open plain or a simple parking lot, you will need to juggle various obstacles that, like the enemies, pose a major threat to your tank’s defenses. Swinging blades, for example, are a common nuisance in Tiny Tanks, and there’s little you can do about it. Well, to tell a lie — there is something that you can do about it. Say, if you’re between a rock and a hard place, then you must take full advantage of your tank’s buttery movement to evade oncoming projectiles and retain a covert position. As I said, it’s a relatively easy game to learn, but one that is surprisingly difficult to master. Although, the controls are intentionally designed to feel intuitive and smooth.

Paired with a single-player campaign and a co-op mode that houses a signature pick-up-and-play PvP element, Tiny Tanks Showdown provides a substantial amount of content for you to enjoy. While the campaign is rather short and significantly lacking in terms of story-related content or customization, it does provide a thoroughly engaging multiplayer mode that will likely keep the casual tank enthusiast engaged for several bouts. And of course, it’s a great way to kill time with a few friends, too, as it offers a fast-paced, quick-fire experience that is just as easy to roll into as it is to drop out of.

With some genuinely creative levels and a handful of well-placed curveballs, Tiny Tanks Showdown clearly makes for a neat stocking filler. While it doesn’t push the proverbial boat out or envelope anything particularly mesmerizing, it does what it says on the tin, and that in itself is a positive thing. Evidently, it’s a niche product that doesn’t cater to a broader demographic, what with its one-dimensional gameplay and predictable objectives. Though, it’s an effective concept that, at least under the right circumstances, just works.

Tiny Tanks Showdown isn’t the first of its kind to marry joyful aesthetics with tank-based shootouts with light bullet hell elements, nor will it be the last, for that matter. Even still, for what you’re paying for, I’d say that it serves its purpose as a quick fix for action-obsessed gamers. It might leave a considerable amount to be desired, what with its relatively short campaign and lack of customizable components. That said, it does the trick with the tools it has at its fingertips, and that’s a lot more than what others have previously brought to the table.

Sadly, there is one thing that bogs down an otherwise formidable experience: the short-sightedness of the game itself. See, while there is a lot of fun to be had here (and not to mention an easy learning curve to help you come to grips with the controls), there is a limit. Given that you only have a handful of arenas, an overarching objective that, frankly, doesn’t change as you progress through the campaign, as well as a lack of control over your tank’s finer components, it is awfully difficult to see beyond its simplicity. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a brilliantly nostalgic arcade battler that fits snugly into a niche market, but it’s also a game that, like most top-down shooters with a light gimmick, has its restrictions.

Of course, the amount of mileage that you can squeeze out of a game like Tiny Tanks Showdown depends entirely on your squad’s preferences. As it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to simply boot up and play in quick-fire sessions, there isn’t much here that requires you to critically analyze the fine print. It serves its purpose as a beginner-friendly scratching post, and, if you have a few friends to bring along with you, then that’s enough of an incentive to stick around and duke it out for twenty or thirty minutes at a time.

Suffice it to say that, if you’re looking for an in-depth tank battler that spreads its wings far and wide to cover multiple areas simultaneously, then you ought to consider hanging your coat in an alternate world. Tiny Tanks Showdown isn’t that sort of experience. If, however, you’re on the hunt for a quick and simple top-down shooter that provides a slate for you to wreak havoc on a palm-sized plate (and ruthlessly obliterate your closest friends, naturally), then Tiny Tanks Showdown will surely suffice.

Verdict

Tiny Tanks Showdown makes for an ideal stocking filler in the top-down PvPvE field, with its vibrant aesthetics, comfortable controls and contagious action-oriented battlefield antics contributing toward a well-rounded, albeit lightweight tank battler. While still small in size, it packs quite the weighty punch, with a generous supply of environmental curveballs, creative arenas and flailing projectiles. Frankly, you’ll find that something as simple as that is enough to satisfy the soul.