Legacy is a heavy burden. The ever-present danger of attempting to bring a new chapter in a revered series from the past and offending an entire fanbase in the process should not be something taken lightly by developers. In recent years within the shmup genre, we have seen such attempts fizzle for revered franchises like R-Type, Raiden, and Aerofighters Assault, mostly because the pixel-perfect originals are simply timeless and offer precise controls, something that seems to evade most of these reboots and sequels.
Enter Tatsujin Co., still going strong with plenty of Toaplan DNA left in their ranks. Will this brand-new entry bring Truxton back to the spotlight or end up a blemish on a series known for its iconic skull-shaped smart bombs?
Known as Tatsujin in Japan, the original Truxton was a 1988 sci-fi arcade vertical TATE shmup. Not quite in the bullet hell category, it rewarded players with good memorisation skills while offering amazing graphics and music for the time. Its success at the arcades led to two excellent home conversions on Mega Drive and PC Engine, expanding the cult reverence for the title outside of Japan’s game centres.
The 1992 sequel was just as brilliant, but sadly it only scored an FM Towns home conversion, leaving it sadly undiscovered to most Western audiences (something fortunately mended nowadays with recent Tatsujin’s efforts to republish Toaplan’s entire catalogue into modern systems). The series remained dormant for the past 34 years.
Boldly foregoing both the 2D pixel art and aspect ratio that are trademarks of previous entries, Truxton Extreme uses three-dimensional models for friends and foes, but don’t fret; they are not of the cheap remake/reboot variety.
A quick visit to the ever-expanding list of items available on the model viewer showcases clean designs with details that you won’t ever be able to notice during the fast-paced, classic 2D gameplay. The eight stages are also represented in three-dimensional polygonal landscapes, and while the TATE charm is gone, the playfield actually cleverly extends beyond the 16:9 aspect ratio with further landscape on each corner of the screen revealed as you move your Javelion tactical fighter towards the sides.
The original games feel positively cramped by comparison. With so much battlefield to cover, it is reassuring to know that you have the arsenal to properly cover it. Every weapon of the original makes a glorious return, along with a few new ones, ensuring it remains immensely satisfying to turn aerial and ground-based foes into explosions and metal debris.
Along the same weapon power-up mechanics (one level up per three power-up icon pickups) from the old games, in this entry you can supercharge your shots while spending the new EX bar that fills up as you defeat enemies. These, when destroyed with aforementioned charged shots, drop those essential extra points for high score chasers. It’s an engaging and satisfying gameplay loop.
The Switch 2 has zero issues shuffling the nearly overwhelming amounts of action on screen, both docked and in handheld mode. Perhaps it is my advanced age showing, but I found it more comfortable to play this one on a big TV screen. While you are allowed to play with either analogue stick or the digital pad, I preferred the latter because, like in most shmups, precision inputs save lives (and dimes, back in the arcades). If you have an arcade stick lying around, it is time to dust it off. Along with a smooth, stable FPS count, I noticed no input lag at all. Every life I lost was due to a combination of bad judgement and rusty reflexes.
When the trademark of your game series is skull-shaped, screen-clearing smart bombs (which of course make a glorious return), you better also have the soundtrack to back up those visuals. Best possible news here because Masahiro Yuge, the original game producer, programmer, and composer of several of Toaplan’s epic FM soundtracks (plus current president of Tatsujin Co.) delivers both old and new tracks with an orchestral flavour mixed with frantic synth lead melodies and even some tension-inducing horror themes. The game sounds as good as it looks.
Plot and lore are mostly afterthoughts in the genre. For this game’s story mode, I could just say that all of Mankind’s seven colonised worlds have been attacked and devastated by the alien Geranium fleet and Earth’s AI president designed a fighter craft to deal with the problem. You, the player, are of course the ace fighter pilot that has to tackle this very cliché mission.
In Truxton Extreme, however, this is merely prologue to something surprisingly deep. Presented in an animated, European-style graphic novel, you unlock chapters by completing levels with the three main characters: public safety officer turned ace pilot Ash, pardoned convict beauty Bergamot, and genius child computer hacker Cyrilla. The plot, character evolution and twists kept me coming back eager to unlock the next chapter. So good, in fact, that I dare not spoil anything in this review, but know that things are not what they appear. Peak, hard-sci-fi plot was not on my bingo card, but it is exactly what you get.
Other game modes include the Heart Starter easy mode, a game mechanic tutorial, a plot-less straight Arcade mode, and, for the first time in the series, a local simultaneous two-player mode. The bosses are challenging but not unfair, and if you’re feeling the heat, you can increase your lives and smart bombs while forfeiting your online ranking score entry. The game lets you customise the challenge to your comfort, something I found refreshing for more casual players who may usually steer away from hardcore arcade challenges.
Truxton Extreme is not only an outstanding shmup, but it also sets a new benchmark for how to bring back cult series of the genre into the current age. Very high marks on graphical effects, sound design, and soundtrack along with spot-on gameplay makes it easy to recommend adding this one to your Switch 2 library as soon as possible. Both veteran shmup players and newcomers alike will find much to enjoy in this package.
You also get an outstanding digital graphic novel to go along with your game. Toaplan’s legacy is in the good hands of Masahiro Yuge, and if this is the shape of things to come, I couldn’t be more excited for future Tatsujin projects.
