Truxton Extreme Hands-On: A Power Shot of Nostalgia on the Big Screen
The long-awaited third entry is almost here.
Truxton Extreme is already shaping up to be a fantastic sequel in a series that began in 1989, and playing it in a cinema only supercharged that. Created by Masahiro Yuge, the top-down shooter has players pilot a ship and collect power-ups that can trigger huge explosions, all while facing the daunting challenges that await across many levels.
Once a sequel arrived in the arcades in 1992, Truxton, also called Tatsujin in Japan, unfortunately faded away, with players leaning more toward titles like Sonic, Street Fighter, and the upcoming 3D era. But Truxton is a game I've always enjoyed playing, ever since I stumbled upon it at a friend's house, playing it on the Sega Mega Drive. Revisiting it via a compilation on Switch recently has been a great time.
So I was surprised to see a third entry announced by Yuge way back in 2019. Despite a demo of Truxton Extreme being made available earlier this year, I was able to try out far more of the game at Vue's EPIC Cinema screen in Nottingham before it comes out on July 30 for PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, and PC.
Truxton, to the extreme
If you've played other games in the top-down shooter genre like 1942 and Radiant Silvergun, you'll feel right at home here. The same rules apply in Truxton Extreme, where you begin with an average ship, and once you collect enough Power and Special icons, you're firing multiple projectiles that go in several directions, almost covering the screen and destroying multiple enemy ships at once.
12 stages feature here, all with varying levels of challenge - some of which I experienced at Vue's EPIC screen, using all of my lives within two minutes. But Truxton Extreme kept me coming back for more. The music sounds fantastic here, as it should - the first level's theme is essentially a remake of the first level from the original Truxton. The bomb, with a huge skull, also returns, but in a brightly colored way that easily destroys much of what was on screen.
Playing the game in widescreen was fantastic, too, with more ways of avoiding attacks as well as seeing more of what the modern graphics were capable of here. Some may be disappointed by the absence of pixel art, but the graphical style that Truxton Extreme offers shines through.
I played with Damien McFerran of Time Extension in co-op mode, as well as against him and his son in Arena Mode, where we tried to earn as many points as possible. I somehow racked up over 4 million points - I still don't know how, but that brought about a feeling in games I hadn't had in years - surprise, bewilderment, and the temptation to play again to get an even higher score. Reader, that didn't happen, but it was a good time trying regardless.
Truxton, but EPIC
Playing Truxton Extreme on the EPIC screen was fantastic. As it features HDR and Dolby Atmos, it amplified the game thanks to these aspects, but it wasn't my first time playing a game on the big screen. Almost a decade earlier, I had played Mario Kart 64 on a cinema screen, and losing to friends on Rainbow Road via this method is still etched into my brain. So as I was playing Truxton Extreme via an XBOX controller, this felt entirely different, thanks to the impressive graphics and sound that took over the room. I didn't experience any slowdown, but I did notice a slower framerate when playing co-op mode - perhaps this is at 30FPS, but it didn't hinder the fun.
I was also given the opportunity to try out Truxton Extreme on the ROG Ally X handheld. Everything worked as expected, helped by the bright display that the Ally X offers. If you own one or a Steam Deck, you're in for a good time here, playing Truxton Extreme on the go.
Overall, I came away impressed by how well Truxton Extreme honors the previous two games in the series, whilst bringing in new modes and weapons for today. I was oddly reminded of playing the demo of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, which comes out in September. After decades of no new entry, I was worried that the gameplay wouldn't remind me of its previous titles. But I was wrong - instead, mechanics like collecting orbs, quick attacks, and more have all been brought to the modern day.
Truxton Extreme does the same thing. Once again, it offers the same fantastic music, addictive gameplay, and colorful graphics that the previous two were known for, but updated for 2026, along with plenty of new modes to try out.
It also reinforced my belief that retro games are becoming even more important today, especially with Sony's news of discontinuing physical discs from January 2028. It looks like Pixel Helix feels the same, recently announcing a retro games digital showcase for later this year.
Hopefully, this new entry will not go under the radar once it arrives on July 30, giving the series the overdue acclaim it's deserved since 1989.
My thanks to Overload PR, Alex Verrey, Poppy Byron, as well as Alasdair Hibberd at Pixel Helix for the invite.
