Truxton

Truxton is one of those vertical shooters that humbled even the cockiest kid at the arcade. Screens packed with fighters, turrets and giant battleships, difficulty that never cut you a break and a bomb that flashed a huge skull across the screen before wiping everything out. When you saw that skull, you knew somebody was in trouble.

It's a Toaplan classic, from the Japanese studio behind some of the most respected shooters of the late 80s and early 90s.

History

Toaplan released Truxton in 1988; in Japan it was called Tatsujin. The studio had already made games like Slap Fight and Twin Cobra, and with Truxton it sharpened a formula of intense vertical shooting, weapons that grow with every pickup and gigantic bosses.

It got a Sega Genesis version and a sequel, Truxton II. Its style rubbed off on a lot of later shooters, and Toaplan is considered one of the great schools of the genre.

How to play

Fly with the joystick, fire with one button and drop a bomb with the other to clear the screen and bail yourself out of impossible spots. Bombs are scarce, so save them for the right moment.

Certain enemies drop colored power-ups that switch your weapon: a red shot that fans out, a powerful blue beam straight ahead and a green laser that twists around to hunt down enemies. Every time you grab the same color, that weapon levels up. Other items speed up your ship or give you extra bombs.

Fun facts

• In Japan it was called Tatsujin.
• The bomb flashes a giant skull across the screen.
• It was made by Toaplan, the same studio behind Slap Fight.

In the arcade

Truxton isn't on the UsuArcade floor yet, but it's on our wish list. If you want it in the arcade, hit Want to Play on this page. The most-voted games get added first.

Meanwhile, the arcade has other shooters with the same spirit: Slap Fight, also from Toaplan; Aero Fighters with its planes and quirky pilots; and 1943: The Battle of Midway, which you can play co-op with a friend.

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