Monday Morning MAME Club - Truxton

[scooterb23]

First off, I do need to apologize for not participating myself the past couple weeks. I know I get on you guys about it, but then I fell behind myself. Sorry about that, I will try to catch up. New job is settling down a bit, so I should have more free time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/scooterb23/mameclub.jpg

This week's game is Truxton. I remember owning this on my Sega Genesis, but I can't say I've ever actually played it. We return to the land of vertically scrolling shooters. We seem to go there a lot, but hey, there are a lot of them, and they are fun.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10207

http://www.arcade-museum.com/images/11/1110108986.jpg

drop.io/dpmameclub to download the rom.

Now. I have a request of sorts. The list of games I have to choose from is starting to shrink a bit. We are down to just 23 titles! So, if you have a game you'd like to see up for nomination...please post it this week, along with your thoughts on Truxton.

Here is the list of games we still have, to refresh your memories.

Omega Race
Life Force
Midnight Resistance
Yie Ar Kung-Fu
GROWL/Runark
Blast Off
Search and Rescue
Ikari Warriors II
P47 Aces
Ninja Kun
Shock Troopers (Neo Geo)
Pleiads
Galaxian
B.Rap Boys
Gyruss
Sexy Parodius
Rush 'n Attack
Mappy
Twinbee Yahoo
Sky Adventure
Dynamite Duke
Elevator Action 2
Bubbles

I also just realized, I have been forgetting to keep the list of games we have played current. I'm going to update that later this week, and post in this thread. I will also go back and rename all the old threads to MMMC so they are all easily searchable through the DP search box.

Sorry for slacking a little bit on these duties...it's been a crazy time for me though :)

[BetaWolf47]

Having not played the arcade version, I'd still highly recommend the Genesis version. The game is aptly described as a really good Star Soldier clone. There are only three different types of guns, but luckily, non of them are useless: one covers a wide area, one concentrates all its power forward, and the other chains itself to its target.

The game is very newbie friendly. On the Genesis version, the difficulty setting simply affects the amount of continues you have. Easy mode is free play.

Easily one of the best early Genesis games. Still incredibly fun by today's standards.

[fahlim003]

No idea who compares this to Star Soldier but I wouldn't liken to two together at all pardon they are strictly space based shooters and are relatively old. Truxton (Tatsujin) is at times a very challenging game, despite it's age and being completely usurped in difficulty by it's successor, Truxton 2/Tatsujin Oh. Genesis as mentioned isn't out-of-the-box configurable in terms of difficulty pardon #of continues and as such it's noticeably easier than arcade. I'll get the source but there is a way to start on the 2nd loop, which makes the Genesis game more accurate, difficulty wise anyway.

Heavy memorizer which often demands good reflexes. Good game but Genesis is not the most accurate. I'll give this a go this evening.

[Ed Oscuro]

Truxton is one of the classic games from what I think of as the "first batch" of Toaplan games (nevermind Tiger Heli). I don't like it as much as Twin Cobra or Flying Shark / Sky Shark, but it's still an excellent title.

Fahlim003 is absolutely correct; I was able to get quite far in Truxton on the Genesis (via emulation; I have the import cartridge now). It plays very similarly to the arcade version but is easier and uglier. The PC-Engine port seems quite close, with enemies looking like they should - pretty accurate proportions (not squashed/stretched) and colors, and while the screen is flipped from the vertical arcade game it doesn't waste a lot of space on a useless bar to the side.

What's wrong with Truxton:

You have to navigate between shots and enemies;
pickups screw over your ability to navigate between shots;
getting all the pickups allows you to score higher more quickly;
see a problem here?

More importantly: You must pound the fire button too much - even compared to other Toaplan titles, the game seems to want to provoke repetitive stress injuries as efficiently and quickly as possible.

Truxton II / Tatsujin Ou would be the perfect sequel if it weren't for the overwhelming difficulty of some parts and more importantly if it weren't so long and drawn-out at parts. The first stage seems to go on forever. Definitely a game on my buy list however, while the original is not.

Recently I read over on Shmups of the possibility somebody has a prototype board with more colorful spreads of lasers from enemies.

[scooterb23]

OK, so...Truxton. Yep, another vertical shooter I'm no good at, but ostensibly enjoy for the level and a half I get into it. I guess from my non-expert point of view, I don't see much of a difference between this, or the Raiden games, or most of the others. Could be just me.

Onto MMMC news: I am right now in the process of renaming all the old threads to have the MMMC header so they are all searchable easily through the DP site search.

Also: below is the list of games that have been played during this incarnation of the club, I think it is everything. If you see something missing, please let me know :)

Jump Coaster, Rampart, Jungler, Ninja Emaki, Port Man, Psycho Soldier, Metamoqester, Gunbarich, Sengoku (series), Snacks'n Jackson, Metro-Cross, Moon Shuttle, The Real Ghostbusters, Moonwalker, Black Widow, Kid Niki, Joust 2, Super Contra, Shoot-Out, Raiden, Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Dead Connection, Gate of Doom, The Outfoxies, Popeye, Baseball Stars 2, Intrepid, 1943, Super Pac-Man, Samurai Shodown II, Berzerk, MERCS, Spin Master, Noboranka, Carnevil, Boogie Wings, Battletoads, Sky Shark, Dr. Micro, Fire Trap, Bump n Jump, Raiden Fighters Jet, Donkey Kong 3, D&D Tower of Doom, Gun.Smoke, Bull Fight, Assault, Double Dribble, Phoenix, Rolling Thunder.