Trojan

One of CAPCOM’s harder to find PC conversions of arcade classics, Trojan was one of the early arcade titles, including Commando, that established CAPCOM as the premier arcade game maker.

The banal plot: in a post-apocalyse era, the world is ruled by a vicious warlord named Achiless and his henchmen. You are Ryu, the master of martial arts and sword-fighting, who has decided that a confrontation with Achilles is in order to bring peace and order back to the world.

Despite a cliché setting that was evidently a rip-off of either the movie Mad Max or the classic Japanese manga Fist of the North Star (probably the latter), Trojan did introduce a new concept of ''defense'' to side-scrolling games. Your character is equipped with both a sword (for offense) and a shield (for defense). Unlike in most other arcade games that depend solely on the accuracy of your attacks and the agility of avoiding enemies’ attacks, Trojan lets you defend yourself with the shield, the mastery of which is crucial to beating the game.

Ryu can move in two directions, jump in three directions, and he can also duck. Although the controls are somewhat awkward in that you have to hold down a joystick button to put up the shield, you will soon get the hang of it. Trojan is one of the harder games from CAPCOM, who is already known for difficult games. You will go through six stages, each with two boss characters (in the middle and at the end). Some enemies are so powerful that you will die the instant you fail to block. You also have to race against time as well, which makes the game that much more difficult. On the upside, gameplay is as solid as CAPCOM was famous for, with smooth animations, great graphics (for the time), and interesting levels. In a traditional CAPCOM fashion, you will have to go through the game twice in order to watch the ending.

All in all, Trojan is one solid, but very tough game that requires a lot of time and effort to beat. If you are a die-hard CAPCOM fan or love the challenge, Trojan is a great addition to your collection. Anyone looking for a forgiving platformer should look elsewhere, though. Recommended.

Review By HOTUD