Truxton is a 1988 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed by Toaplan and published by Taito for Japanese and European arcades; in North America, it was distributed by Midway. It is set in a future where the Gidans alien race, led by Dogurava, have invaded the fictional planet Borogo. Players assume the role of fighter pilot Tatsuo taking control of the Super Fighter ship on a last-ditch effort to overthrow the alien invaders.

Truxton was conceived by Masahiro Yuge, who wanted to create a scrolling shooter where memorization was its main focus. The game inherited previously established ideas from Slap Fight, and was developed in conjunction with Hellfire, although work on the project had already started privately during production of Twin Cobra.

Truxton proved to be a commercial success in Japanese arcades, earning several awards from Gamest magazine. However, it was less successful in western regions and was met with mixed reception from game magazines. The game has since been released on multiple platforms, each one featuring changes and additions compared to the original version. It was followed by the arcade sequel Truxton II in 1992. The rights to the game are currently owned by Tatsujin, a company formed by Yuge.

Gameplay

thumb|left|Arcade version screenshot

Truxton is a science fiction-themed vertically scrolling shooter where players assume the role of Tatsuo, taking control of the Super Fighter ship through five increasingly difficult levels, each with a boss at the end that must be fought, in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the invading Gidans, led by Dogurava. The Super Fighter is controlled over a constantly scrolling background, and the scenery never stops moving. The main ship only has two weapons: the main gun, which travels a max distance of the screen's height, and three bombs capable of obliterating any enemy caught within its blast radius. Taking place somewhere in space, an armada of Gidans, led by the evil Dogurava, is invading the fictional planet Borogo aboard five gargantuan asteroids. After surviving an attack on an orbiting Borogo cargo barge, pilot Tatsuo enters a remaining ship called the Super Fighter and challenges the Gidans in a desperate attempt to quell the alien invasion and divert their asteroid fortresses in the process.

Development

Truxton was the creation of programmer Masahiro Yuge, whose previous work for Toaplan included Tiger-Heli, Slap Fight, and Twin Cobra. Truxton was his first original project under the role of both producer and composer. Yuge wanted to create a scrolling shooter where players would become increasingly better the more they were able to remember specific stage designs and secrets, focusing on creating sections in levels that required a specific weapon to defeat certain enemies. Tatsuya Uemura stated that the project was developed in conjunction with Hellfire.

Many of the design choices, such as the memorization feature and its usage of secrets, were derived from ideas previously established in Slap Fight. Level design was one of the main areas of the project, as Yuge did not want sections that could easily be memorized to the point of making them boring. Ogiwara had already began work on designs for Truxton in secret during production of Twin Cobra due to his interest in creating science fiction artwork, which were finished after the latter was completed and gave inspirations to the team with enemy patterns. Uemura and Tataka have stated that working with the Genesis proved to be difficult due to several restrictions imposed by the console's hardware.

Release

Truxton was released for Japanese arcades in October 1988 by Taito.

In 1989, Truxton was ported to the Sega Genesis by Toaplan; this version was first released in Japan and North America by Sega in December 1989,

Truxton later received a port to the PC Engine by Sting Entertainment, released exclusively in Japan by Taito on 24 July 1992. On 24 September 2019, Truxton was re-released for iOS and Android mobile devices in Japan by MOBIRIX Corporation under the name Tatsujin Classic. In July 2022, the original arcade version was included as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console. Truxton was also included as part of the Toaplan Arcade 1 compilation for Evercade on 15 December of the same year. In February 2023, a Microsoft Windows version, published by Bitwave Games, was released on Steam and GOG.com.

Reception

Truxton was met with mixed response from critics since its original arcade release. According to Masahiro Yuge, the game sold well in Japan, but proved to be less successful in western regions.

The Genesis version was well received when it was released, with Mean Machines summarising it as "a fine example of a pure, no-frills arcade blast". In 1996, GamesMaster ranked Truxton 95th on their list of the "Top 100 Games of All Time".

Legacy

In 1992, the sequel Truxton II was released for arcades, and was later ported to the FM Towns. The rights to Truxton and other IPs from Toaplan are now owned by Tatsujin, a company named after the game's Japanese title, which was founded in 2017 by Masahiro Yuge and has been part of Embracer Group since 2022. The Super Fighter ship appears in Game Tengoku CruisnMix for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4. Artist Perry "Gryzor/Rozyrg" Sessions cited Truxton as one of the main influences for Super XYX.

In 2023, Tatsujin announced Truxton Extreme, a sequel to Truxton II. It is scheduled to be released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on 30 July 2026.

Notes

References

  • Truxton at Killer List of Videogames