Vertical shoot-em-ups used to be a common gaming genre in the '80s and early '90s. One of my favourite vertical shooter series of all time was the Raiden franchise. Raiden was at my local takeaway shop, Ollie's, but sadly the arcade machine is long gone; the shop still stands.
While the vertical shooter genre may not be as prevalent as it once was, a new game has been released that will make old-school fans happy. This is because a brand-new Truxton game is available this year on multiple platforms called Truxton Extreme. It's a new game as opposed to just a remake or remaster.
Since Truxton Extreme is an old-school style of arcade game, there's not much to say in terms of its story or narrative. Hostile aliens want to take over planets, and humans are tasked to fight back in order to save their species.
To make themselves more powerful, humans become cyborgs so that they can link into their spacecraft. You are pretty much just piloting a spaceship in space, while shooting at lots of alien spacecraft.
The story itself may seem simplistic, but the cool part about the game is that it includes three playable characters and comic book-style cutscenes. Repeating the same stages can be a bit repetitive, but you unlock new cutscenes to see that pilot's perspective on the narrative.
As for the gameplay, the controls are easy to learn, and the goal is very simple. All you need to do is travel up the screen and shoot as many alien spaceships as possible. However, you need to have good reflexes with the left analogue stick because you will need to dodge lots of projectiles and space debris!
At the beginning of the game, your ship is slow and lacks firepower. This is arguably the hardest part of the stage because it makes dodging more difficult, and you cannot destroy as many alien spacecraft.
Truxton Extreme gets way more fun in the middle of a stage when you collect more power-ups for your spaceship. If you see an S icon floating around, this will increase the speed of your spaceship. The more S icons you collect, the easier it will be to dodge enemy firepower.
If you see a P icon floating out in space, this increases the firepower of your current weapon. The more P icons you find, the more laser shots come out of your spaceship. You want to stay alive in a level to make sure you don't lose access to your speed or firepower.
Speaking of firepower, Truxton Extreme has multiple different weapon types that you can collect that are represented by a different colour setting. The weapons you can attain in the game include the Power Shot, Truxton Beam, Thunder Laser, Star-Mine shot, and the Homing Shot.
The white coloured Homing Shot was my favourite weapon type in the entire game. This is because it has a wide firing range and it can hone in on enemies even if I'm not aiming at them. It also proved to be very helpful during the end-of-stage boss fights.
The game also allows you to charge up an EX Meter that supercharges weapons. The EX Meter saved my life multiple times during boss fights, or when the screen becomes littered with lots of enemies.
Another great way to fend off multiple enemies is using the game's skull bombs. By pressing the B button on Xbox, a bomb can be detonated that destroys every enemy that is currently on the screen. Bombs saved my skin lots of times because the game gets really hard the more you progress!
Truxton Extreme also comes with different game modes to sink your teeth into. Most people will probably play through the Arcade and Story modes first. If you need any type of practice, you may want to start playing the Heart Starter mode.
The Heart Starter mode is an easy mode that has infinite lives and allows you to get used to the game's controls and pacing. It only lasts for one level, but it's a good starting point for any newcomers to the vertical shooting genre.
If you want to play the game with a friend, it also provides a co-op mode. Two players can play the game at the same time, but the catch is that you share the same number of lives and bombs.
Lastly, the game offers an Arena mode, which is basically a two-minute score attack. I do like the variety of different game modes because you can have a lot of fun even if you already completed the main story multiple times.
There's nothing too negative I can say about Truxton Extreme, other than the fact that the game can get hard for beginners because you have limited lives. Aside from that, Truxton Extreme is an excellent new addition to the vertical shooting genre. Old school arcade fans are sure to love this game the most.