Truxton

For the 2020 re-release by Retro-bit, see Truxton Collector's Edition.

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NSTC-U/PAL NTSC-J
Truxton
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Toaplan
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1989-12-09 ¥6,0006,000 G-4020 US 1989-12 $42.9942.99 EU 1990-11 UK 1990-11 £34.9934.99 SE (Rental) 199x AU 199x BR 199x KR 199x GM4001JG
Non-Sega versions Arcade PC Engine

Truxton, known in Japan as Tatsujin (達人, lit. "Mastery"), is a Sega Mega Drive vertical shoot-'em-up developed by Toaplan and published by Sega. A port of the developer's titular 1988 arcade game Truxton, it was first released in Japan in December 1989.

Story

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, a pilot named Tatsuo enters into one remaining ship called Super Fighter and challenges the Gidans in a desperate attempt to quell the alien invasion and divert their asteroid fortresses in the process.

Gameplay

Bomb

The game is a science fiction-themed vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up. The player assumes the role of Tatsuo, taking control of the Super Fighter ship through increasingly difficult stages.

The Super Fighter moves in any direction using the D-Pad. Its movement speed can be upgraded by collecting Speed Booster power-ups. The playable area is slightly wider than the visible area, so the screen pans when the ship is moved to the left or right edge. The Super Fighter is equipped with a main gun, which is fired with or . Either button can be held for continuous fire, but fires much more rapidly. There are three types of weapons that can be equipped by acquiring items. Weapons have unlimited ammunition and travel the full length of the screen. The ship's weapon power is upgraded by collecting Power Booster power-ups: the first upgrade is reached by collecting 5 boosters, and the second upgrade is reached by collecting 10 boosters. Any Power Boosters collected once at maximum level are stored.

The Super Fighter also holds a cache of bombs, which are launched with . Bombs obliterate all small enemies on screen and evaporate enemy bullets. They also significantly damage bosses. Bombs are limited but can be found as items.

Getting hit by enemy fire destroys the Super Fighter and costs a life, with the player restarting at the last reached checkpoint. When the Super Fighter is destroyed, it reverts to baseline movement speed and restarts with three bombs. It loses 5 Power Boosters when at the second weapon power level and 10 Power Boosters when at the third weapon power level, so losing a life also costs weapon power unless the player has an excess of Power Boosters in reserve. The player gains an extra life at 70,000 and 270,000 points and then every 200,000 points after that. The game ends if the player runs out of lives, but it can be continued as long as there are credits remaining.

As is common with Toaplan's shoot-'em-ups, the game loops back to the first stage after completing the last stage, with the difficulty increasing. There are five different endings for each time the game is successively completed.

Truxton contains a notable damage-related bug: pausing the game with  START  during the Destroyer Bomb's explosion causes the damage done by the attack to increase with every pause. By rapidly pausing and unpausing, players are able to defeat enemies and bosses quite easily.

Weapons

	Power Shot
	The default weapon of the Super Fighter. Fires a spray of bullets forwards. It is a 3-way spreadshot even at base level. The first upgrade increases the number of bullet streams to 5, and the second upgrade adds a circular shield that surrounds the Super Fighter when firing (not present in the arcade version).
	Truxton Beam (タツジンビーム)
	Shoots a stream of energy blasts forwards. It is the strongest weapon in the game but covers the least area. The first upgrade increases the number of streams to 3, and the second upgrade increases the number of streams to 5.
	Thunder Laser
	Fires a continuous beam of lightning that locks on to enemy targets. The first upgrade increases the number of beams to 3, and the second upgrade increases the number of beams to 5.

Items

	Zun-スン
	Destroy to release an item.
	Power Shot
	Equips the Power Shot weapon (or awards 5,000 points if already equipped).
	Truxton Beam (タツジンビーム)
	Equips the Truxton Beam weapon (or awards 5,000 points if already equipped).
	Thunder Laser
	Equips the Thunder Laser weapon (or awards 5,000 points if already equipped).
	Power Booster
	Adds a "P" to the sidebar. The Super Fighter's weapon power increases after collecting 5 and 10 Power Boosters. Any Power Boosters collected once at maximum level are kept in reserve. Losing a life also loses 5 Power Boosters at the second weapon power level and 10 Power Boosters at the third weapon power level.
	Speed Booster
	Increases the speed of the Super Fighter, up to 4 times (or awards 5,000 points if already at maximum speed).
	Destroyer Bomb (タツジンボム)
	Adds another bomb to the Super Fighter's arsenal.
	1-Up
	Gives the player an extra life.
	2-Up
	Gives the player two extra lives.

Stages

The game consists of battles over eight asteroids, split between five stages, each with its own boss.

	Blue, Yellow, and Red Asteroids
	Boss: J-Tank
	Orchid and Purple Asteroids
	Boss: Badron
	Poison Asteroid
	Boss: Dosvam
	Galaxy Pool Asteroid
	Boss: Gurus
	Magman Asteroid
	Boss: Dogurava

History

Legacy

A sequel, Truxton II, was released to arcades in 1992, but it was only ported to the FM Towns and not to any home consoles.

In October 2020, the game was re-released worldwide by Retro-Bit as Truxton Collector's Edition as part of Toaplan Shooters Collector's Edition.

In October 2022, the game was included in all versions of the Mega Drive Mini 2. This version adds the option to play the game with the "Standard BGM" or the "Arcade BGM." Standard BGM is the same as the original cartridge. It was designed for 50 Hz and thus plays too quickly (compared to the arcade music) when played at 60 Hz. Arcade BGM corrects the music to play at the same speed as the original arcade game.

In September 2008, retro gaming YouTuber Mark Bussler of Classic Game Room posted a positive video review of Truxton to his channel. The review quickly took off in popularity, and viewers were particularly entertained by Mark's pronunciation of the name Truxton; both Classic Game Room and Mark's style of speaking would later develop a strong association with the game. This association has been humorously embraced by Mark himself, and is frequently celebrated and parodied by the larger gaming community.

Versions

This port is unusual in that it appears to be written for PAL specs: the overall speed of the game, music and sound effects, and so forth, greatly resemble the arcade version when played at 50 Hz.

Despite the small ROM size and plenty of screen-filling enemies, almost all graphics in this game are stored in an uncompressed state.

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English (US)	Truxton	Truxton
Japanese	達人	Tatsujin

Production credits

• Staff: T. Ohta, M. Yuge, K. Iwabuchi, S. Nakaoka, N. Sawada, Y. Tataka
• Cast: Tatsuo, Lilin, Jtank, Badron, Gulus, Dosvam, Dogurava

© Toaplan 1988

© Sega 1989

Source:

In-game credits

Digital manuals

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 US manual

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 EU manual

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 JP manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Truxton/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in GamePro (US) #10: "May 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Print advert in Computer Games (GR) #3: "Ioúnios 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Print advert in ACE (UK) #37: "October 1990" (1990-09-xx)
also published in:

• Computer & Video Games (UK) #107: "October 1990" (1990-09-16)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1989-11: "November 1989" (1989-XX-XX)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 30 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 40 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 58 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 80 Computer Entertainer (US) 67 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 92 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 82 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) 82 Console XS (UK) PAL 84 Computer & Video Games (UK) 94 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 63 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 82 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 68 Hobby Consolas (ES) 94 Joystick (FR) 77 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 78 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 67 Mega Action (UK) 88 MegaTech (UK) 82 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 80 Mean Machines (UK) 82 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 82 Megazone (AU) 87 Power Play (DE) 77 Raze (UK) PAL 85 S: The Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 88 Sega Power (UK) PAL 75 Sega Pro (UK) 88 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J 46 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 84 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 66 Tilt (FR) 70 Top Secret (PL) 100 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 72 VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) NTSC-U 50 Zero (UK) 87

	76
Based on 36 reviews

Truxton

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, SE rental (Kanal10)
Cover

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, AU (alt)
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, BR (Cardboard)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Truxton/Technical information.

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Tatsujin