While others are playing photo realistic games and epic adventures with emotional stories, I’m more than happy to kick back with a good old fashioned shoot ‘em up. This doesn’t mean I’m good at them though, because they require lightning fast reflexes and years of mastering a craft that I’ve not quite got. I often wish I’d started playing shmups much earlier, instead of falling in love with them as an adult thanks to the Virtual Console and a friend obsessed with Touhou. If I’d been playing for an extra decade I’d probably also be familiar with Truxton, and have been more prepared when Truxton Extreme landed in my life.
Unlike most shmups I can think of, Truxton Extreme features an actual story. In the future, the Earth is under attack from robot aliens. Our usual military forces are hopeless against their advanced technology, and so the AI president decides that we need cyborg pilots. You play as three of these potential saviours of humanity, each with their own tale to tell. Whether you’re playing as the dad hoping for a better life for his family or the rich girl with a tragic past, you’ll get comics between each stage to fill out your backstory.
Really though you’re playing Truxton Extreme for the shmup action, and it is glorious. Anyone familiar with the genre will feel right at home here, with plenty of bullets to dodge and weapons to fire. You’ll get used to moving quickly to survive and destroy, and especially to gain extra power ups.
There is a nice selection of power ups in Truxton Extreme, of both the offensive and defensive persuasion. You can collect speed boosters that allow you to move faster by changing speed at the push of the button, or beef up your lasers with power boosters. There are also bombs which are nothing new for shoot ‘em ups, but that doesn’t stop them from being incredibly useful for clearing out bullets and destroying the alien menace.
There are a variety of different weapons you can collect throughout the stages, which are useful in different situations. Homing bullets are weaker but require minimal aiming effort on your part, but if you’re dealing with a boss with a massive health bar you might prefer more precise power. My favourite weapon though fires rockets that explode all around your ship, creating damaging zones that really decimate aliens if they get too close.
Truxton Extreme is a fairly straightforward shmup, but everything it does is perfectly polished and lends itself to a fun time. It does have some engaging systems too, like the special attack meter you build by killing enemies. At any time you can drain some of this meter to supercharge your attacks in a pinch, and balancing this to kill things quicker means less bullets to dodge. There’s also a score multiplier you build by collecting power ups you no longer need, rewarding you for avoiding death with super high scores.
There are plenty of things that make Truxton a good time, but perhaps the most impressive is the soundtrack. I was not prepared for the level of bangers on show here, and it quite frankly blew me away. For those missing the bleeps and bloops of retro games this will be right up your alley, as it’s frankly one of the best soundtracks I can think of.
I really enjoyed my time with Truxton Extreme, but it does have some issues. The one hit deaths will be too much for many, and although there’s a practice mode that avoids them you can’t just play through the entire game with it. By stage four onwards you’ll just have to bang your head against the wall and grit your teeth, with only a couple of bonus lives available to help you on your way. It’s also a shame that the three characters don’t actually play any differently, and instead just provide an incentive to play through the game three times. Even just a couple of different weapons would feel like a nice shake up.
Truxton Extreme isn’t a wildly innovative shmup, but it’s expertly crafted and hard to put down if you’re a hardcore bullet grazer. It’s worth the price of entry for the soundtrack alone, you just have to make sure you can get through the stages to hear it all.
