On today’s episode of “Whatever Random Shmup I Can Find”, we have Truxton, an arcade shmup made by Toaplan back in the late 80s, and one that I had never heard of before until very recently. Initially, I didn’t have any real interest in checking this one out, because not only was it made by the same company who made Zero Wing, a very bland shmup that is only saved by a HILARIOUS mistranslation, but it just didn’t really seem like anything that was gonna blow me away as a whole. But hey, the gameplay screenshots that I had seen looked good enough, and I really liked the name, so I figured I would go ahead and give it a shot when I had absolutely nothing better to do. So, after playing through it all the way, I would say that, yeah, it isn’t anything that blew me away, but for what we got here, this is a pretty good shmup that I’m sure any enthusiast in the genre would enjoy.

The story is extremely basic, where the evil Gidan alien race invades the planet of Borogo, and it is up to the pilot Tatsuo to take control of the Super Fighter to take them down, which works well enough for the type of game this is, the graphics are pretty good for the time, having that distinct arcade style that especially works with this kind of genre, and all the designs of the bosses and enemies are pretty good as well, the music is great, having plenty of rocking tracks that will keep you invigorated and motivated the whole time, even though they all somewhat blend into each other, the control is typical for a space shooter, and they work as well as you would expect, with a good movement speed to boot, and the gameplay is pretty typical for the genre, but it manages to leave that feeling of satisfaction and fun that any game like this should.

The game is a vertical top-down shmup, where you take control of the Super Fighter, go through five different interconnected stages, take down the many different extraterrestrial creatures that you will face using either your main weapon or the bombs that you can find throughout the game, gather plenty of different bombs, weapon types, and upgrades that will give you a distinct advantage over the threats that come your way, and take on plenty of threatening bosses that will test your movement, shooting, and dodging skills, just like any shmup should. You have all heard this same song and dance before, especially for those of you who are very familiar with this genre, but despite its repetitive set-up, it manages to still be pretty fun, fast, and satisfying as you blast through the many foes that stand in your way.

Without a doubt, one of the most satisfying aspects of this entire game is the powerups that you can acquire. Like with Zero Wing, there are only three different powerups that you can get, which is somewhat disappointing, but the selection that you have in this game is very useful and fun to experiment with, with my favorite being the blue homing laser that you can get. Not only that, but you can also gather plenty of different P icons throughout the game, and when you collect enough of these icons, you then get an upgrade to your weapon, and let me tell you, these upgrades are INCREDIBLE. The base weapons themselves already felt powerful to use, but when you upgrade one of them to their max level, you feel UNSTOPPABLE, especially with that homing laser that I mentioned earlier. Thankfully though, the game still manages to be difficult through and through, so you won’t feel too overpowered, and the game is constantly moving, so the action is consistent and exciting.

Despite how good the gameplay is, if you are looking for something extra from the shmups that you play, then Truxton may not be the one that you would want to check out. It doesn’t do anything new for the genre, having the same basic setup and execution that you would expect from one of these games, despite the gameplay holding up extremely well. Also, just like with Raiden, it also has that checkpoint system that I am not too much of a fan of as a whole. Thankfully though, this game doesn’t crush you under its heel as much as Raiden does, so this wasn’t that much of a big deal here, and I still managed to enjoy my time with the game for the entire run. It feels good to play one of these games and not want to rip my hair out by the end of it.

Overall, despite a lack of innovation and the checkpoint system still being a thing, this was a pretty great shmup from the arcade days of the late 80s, and definitely the best shmup that I have played from Toaplan so far… even if it is one of two of them. I definitely recommend it for those who are fans of the genre, as well as those who weren’t quite satisfied from other games in the genre like Zero Wing, because while this doesn’t do anything too new, it will still manage to provide a fun time while it lasts. So now, with all that out of the way, before we end this review off, I want to take a brief moment to question something about the Steam port of this game for a second. Now, this is actually a pretty great port that adds a lot more options for the game then it ever needed, but I do have to ask, why did they make 50 ACHIEVEMENTS for this thing? Seriously, this is an arcade game that is about a half-hour long, and somehow, they managed to squeeze 50 achievements into this thing. I don’t know whether or not I should be impressed, concerned, or both.

Game #459

Arcade: 6/10
Genesis: 4/10

Idk, it's a classic, it's Toaplan's signature staples in a game that's much more visually rich than their stretch of military-oriented outings. But this Genesis port is kinda rancid: The difficulty is all over the place, mostly due to the crunched viewport. Even though this is considered the studiously easier version of the game, I felt mauled in comparison to my time with the arcade & mobile versions. Either nothing was happening on-screen, or some asshole with a sniper was shooting a 4-pixel carrot nib up my bum. Just a sucky contrast where you have to be constantly on your toes even during stretches of slow, droning gameplay filler, and then have to fit an enormous hitbox between spread waves the size of a [Funny Thing That Is Narrow].

Will play the better PCE port soon.

"Another Truxton piece? Don't you have something else to do?" No.

This is the PC Engine version this time, anyway. It seems to be more faithful to the arcade version (which I've also yet to play), which means it's a lot more unforgiving early on. Depends on the person whether or not this is a good thing, but I do prefer to be eased into things a little better, so that's one point towards the Genesis version. It looks a little nicer here though, with the big ass Raiden-esque interface done away with.

The biggest upgrade here is the music. It kind of sounds like shit on Genesis due to programming errors, but on this version I actually thought to myself a couple times "hey, these are pretty nice background tracks". The rapid shooting kinda gets in the way of the drums, unfortunately. All important points towards presentation go to the PC Engine version.

Really, though, it only wins over slightly. I'd come back for either one next time I get the urge to replay it, honestly. Even despite the Genesis version's half hearted music I could just put on some album or playlist instead and it'd probably be better than if I was playing even with the PC Engine audio.

I retain a soft spot for Truxton compared to other Toaplan outings. A lot of them still don't really stand out to me but something in this one's simpler presentation does it some good work. It also has better weapon balancing, with all three being pretty useful even with how broken the lightning appears at a glance. Compare that to Fire Shark, for example, where you're constantly trying to hold on to the flamethrower while other powerups constantly bounce around the screen to try and throw you off. I would recommend either version of this I've played honestly. Maybe I should replay some more Toaplan stuff but for now this is the primary standout in my opinion.