The Genesis Gets Metal

A Truxton Review

Genre: Shoot-em-up
Number of Players: 1
Developer: Toaplan
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: December 9, 1989 (JP), December 1989 (US), November 1990 (EU)
Platform: Sega Genesis
Also Available On: Arcade, PC Engine, iOS, Android

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Since the dawn of Space Invaders, most of us have experienced the accomplishment of blasting wave after wave of intergalactic forces bent on destroying or enslaving something. As the popularity and fandom of shooters grew in the 80s, it came as no surprise that many of those same games would later be ported to home consoles soon after their arcade debut. While the NES and Super Nintendo were known for having many such games on their consoles, the Sega Genesis was no stranger to the genre by any stretch of the imagination.

In 1989, developer Toaplan, famous for such games as Tiger Heli and Twin Cobra, ported their latest arcade shooter, Truxton (Tatsujin in Japan), to the Sega Genesis. Aside from Thunder Force II, this was one of the earliest shoot-em-ups on the system, and coincidentally, Toaplan’s first sci-fi shooter. With its bombastic soundtrack and the unique firepower of the player’s ship, Truxton was a showcase of the Genesis’ ability to provide experiences you couldn’t get on other platforms (yet). And oh what an experience.

Personally, I didn’t discover Truxton until about 20 years ago when I read about it on a retro gaming website. A short time later, while perusing a game store I frequented, I saw the cartridge behind the glass counter, deciding that I absolutely needed this, I plunked down the few bucks it took to bring Truxton home (as retro game prices had not yet skyrocketed). What immediately struck me was the title screen, its marquee fit for a Megadeth album.

At first glance, Truxton appears to be a basic shooter in that there’s not much fundamentally new about the gameplay mechanics that other shooters didn’t already have. You have 8-way directional control of your fighter craft, must destroy an obscene amount of enemy spacecraft, and stay ever on guard against unwelcome contact with enemy bullets. Along the way, you can pick up “S” icons that increase the speed of your ship. As in other games like Gradius, the more speed upgrades you collect, the less precise your ship’s maneuverability. You’ll be more likely to smack into enemy fire or other objects.

You have a few weapons that can be powered beyond their base configuration, starting with the standard three-way Power Shot (red capsule). The Truxton Beam (green capsule) shoots a narrow, rapid beam of energy. The Thunder Laser (blue capsule) fires a single constant stream of electricity and can also lock on to enemies and structures that aren’t destroyed upon contact. And this is where things get interesting.

The effectiveness of each weapon can be improved by collecting “P” capsules. Collecting five capsules upgrades your shot to the next power level; an additional five more give your ship maximum firepower. Doing so is worth the effort because each weapon is quite useful depending on the situation at hand. Best of all, the upgrades apply across all three weapons, leaving you free to experiment and see which of them you like best without the worry of needing to upgrade each one individually.

When fully powered, the Power Shot produces the Rainbow Circle Shot—two intersecting energy fields around your ship that can slice through anything in your path. This allows you to move freely with less worry about colliding with an enemy, though you can still be hit by bullets.

A maxed-out Truxton Beam allows your ship to fire five beams of energy parallel to each other. It’s a faster-firing weapon than the Power Shot and the most potent of your arsenal. Great for cutting a swath through weak enemies and quickly ending boss fights, provided you can survive the volley of bullets. It doesn’t cover as wide an area as your other two choices, so you’ll have to constantly keep on the move to have the best chance of hitting wildly moving enemy targets.

But the fully upgraded Thunder Laser, ladies and gentlemen, is the real star of the show. It fires five electrical bolts that cover a 90-degree radius, making it very easy to defend against incoming enemy fleets that often try to bombard you from multiple areas of the screen, especially in the later stages. You’ll barely need to move around, except when certain enemies attack directly from the rear of your ship.

Since the laser locks onto the bigger enemies no matter your position on the screen, you can also drag it around and take out smaller foes that can otherwise be a pain to contend with while trying to whittle down a boss ship. The only drawback is when it tries to tackle multiple mini-bosses, making it a little difficult to plot a safe path between each target.

It goes without saying that each weapon has its strengths and weaknesses, but they all play a part in balancing the play mechanics of the game. It’s certainly preferable to having only one weapon of utility, while the rest are just occasionally useful in specific situations. And if things get too hairy, you have a stock of destroyer bombs that manifest a huge skull in the middle of the screen, wiping out everything but the hardiest of enemies (and their bullets). It’s so metal!

Truxton is quite the formidable game, no matter which difficulty setting is selected. By the time you reach the second stage, you’ll be frequently dodging and fending off enemies from all sides. Even with fully upgraded firepower, you’ll still have your hands full with the relentless bombardment of those pesky minions trying to blow you to bits.

Unfortunately, “Gradius syndrome” is in full effect if your ship is destroyed. You’ll revert to the default slow speed and Power Shot, and you’ll have to struggle to get those upgrades all over again. Interestingly, you do get to keep the stock of “P” capsules you had before losing a ship, making it possible to quickly upgrade to the next tier of firepower without having to start completely from scratch. After defeating a boss, it is often imperative that you avoid taking a bullet while making your way to the next stage, as getting killed can set you back to the section just before having to face that boss again.

It is worth noting that the easy mode gives you unlimited continues, while the normal and hard modes give you a limited number. And of course, the higher the difficulty, the more bullets there will be to dodge. With the overall challenge looming over you, it’s nice that Toaplan showed some mercy by giving infinite continues on the easiest mode. At the same time, thrill-seeking shooter fans have enough here to hold their attention.

Truxton features a bass-heavy synth-rock soundtrack. It sounds decent enough, but the music can get really pitchy on certain notes. Some of the standouts for me include the opening stage’s heroic, anthemic melody (Brave Man/Far Away). Stages two (Sally), three (Hope), and five (Unknown) carry a moodier theme with an emphasis on heavy bass riffs and crisp FM synth brass. It makes for an appropriately intense space battle.

The music also has the distinction of having been optimized to run at 50Hz—the PAL standard used in Europe, Asia, and other regions. However, Genesis games in the North American region are programmed to run on the NTSC standard, which runs at 60Hz. As a result, the music plays much faster (compare the links above to the PAL version’s soundtrack).

The difference is like stepping on a treadmill at running speed, skipping the warm-up walk entirely. When combined with the action on screen and zippy sound effects, the quirk with the music throws an added sense of frenzy into the mix. It’s a happy accident that gave the US version of the game a unique layer of personality.

The final thing I want to mention is that this is a deceptively short game. It initially weighs in at a mere five stages. However, the game features five endings, each one revealed after completing a round. That technically means the game is 15 stages long. The final ending is a rather bizarre reunion of two characters not mentioned anywhere in-game until that point. Uh…surprise?

Truxton on the Genesis was a competent effort at porting over a remarkable arcade shoot-em-up to the latest home console gaming hardware at the time. While it isn’t quite as timeless as Gradius or Xevious, it still deserves an audience and is totally worth tracking down if you want to play a straightforward but challenging shooter.

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