Review of Truxton II

You have been called upon by the exacting STG who has an obsession with skulls.

Truxton II
Platform: PC
Developer: Toaplan, Bitwave Games
Publisher: Bitwave Games
Release date: April 8th, 2024
Price: $7.99
Digital availability: Steam

Toaplan produced a variety of games, including platformers (1990’s Snow Bros.) and eroge mahjong (1986’s Mahjong Sisters), but their groundbreaking shoot ’em ups are what made the studio most famous. Bitwave Games, based in Gothenburg, has been gradually releasing these beloved shooters on Steam, complete with almost all the latest updates one could desire. Fans of the genre should be pleased that 1992’s Truxton II, sometimes referred to as Tatsujin Oh in Japan, or literally “Expert King,” now receives the treatment.

The fact that Truxton II has been delayed for a long time in the US is what makes the game’s release remarkable. There has never been a simple way for Westerners to play the vertically scrolling shooter, despite the game receiving a fair port for the FM Towns home computer. Thankfully, a recent patch has corrected the shoddy initial version of the game’s FM synthesis-driven soundtrack that Bitwave’s emulation produced. Now, the sole possible caution may be Truxton II’s unwavering difficulty.

Continue To Dream About That 1CC

Truxton II, which builds upon the success of its 1988 predecessor, has six extraordinarily long stages that take approximately an hour to complete. The game likes to throw a few elevated foes onto the screen in between formations of flying fodder. Granted, they don’t quite have the imposing presence to qualify as mid-bosses. Nonetheless, Truxton II fosters a sense of vulnerability while facing up against a group of enemies that may unleash a barrage of projectiles from any direction.

The HyperFighter One, your spacecraft, has a number of potent offensive options. Similar to its predecessor, your persistent main gun can be enhanced by three distinct types of color-coded power-ups. The crimson napalm shoots in six different directions, and its bullets leave behind residue that might hurt enemies. A broader arc of fire is offered by the green spread shot, which is very helpful while facing popcorn foes. Then there are the blue homing lasers, which have an automated locking mechanism on opponents. Even though the weapon isn’t quite as strong as it was in the first Truxton, it still has the advantage of being able to lock onto adversaries who are below you.

Naturally, gathering more floating icons of the same hue will strengthen the supremacy of each sort of weapon. But all of your power-up progress can be lost in an appropriately depressing way if you collide with an enemy who is flying or one of their projectiles. Thankfully, there won’t be a stage restart required. To make sure that gameplay seems challenging but not punishing, Truxton II does use frequent checkpointing. There are two more power-ups in the game that will increase your ship’s speed and grant you more bombs.

An Entire Squad of Add-ons

Bitwave Games does not cut corners when it comes to bonuses. In addition to playing the several regional versions (EU, JP, and US), you can adjust the difficulty, the number of ships at launch, and the additional life thresholds by using the emulated DIP switches. However, Truxton II is far from a walkover, even at its least difficult setting. There are several visual options available, ranging from changing the aspect ratio to rotating the screen.

Granular options are available to mimic the appearance of various monitors, including saturation, vignetting, ghosting, and virtual scanlines. Because of its complexity, presets would have to be helpful. In a similar vein, you can adjust the FM synthesis audio in the game by include effects like reverb, echo, and low- and high-pass filtering…Truxton II even allows you to personalize the screen with various overlays and borders, which can show everything from simple instructions to music visualizers, if you choose not to play in tate mode. Strangely, this version lacks the scoring information that existed in Batsugun. However, considering the game’s $8 pricing and the absence of slowness, this is still a very good product. An enthusiast of the past could not ask for more, save from a front-end that combines Bitwave’s Toaplan ports.

On a PC, Truxton II was played using a review code that the publisher sent.

Review Overview

Gameplay – 95%

Controls – 80%

Aesthetics – 80%

Content – 85%

Accessibility – 70%

Value – 90%

83%

GREAT!

Summary : Improved backdrops, more challenging levels, and weapon adjustments were some of the ways that 1992’s Truxton II outperformed its predecessor. However, until this skillful port, it was never legally available in the West. Now that the music problem has been resolved, the port by Bitwave Games is a great way to experience Toaplan’s skull-crazed shooter.