It appears that twin stick shooters are something of the flavour of the month, year or maybe even decade. It’s with that in which Dolores Entertainment have worked Super Trunko Go. We are an elephant and we have to go and save the day. So far, so usual, right?
The story and narrative sitting behind Super Trunko Go is somewhat slight. Evil Lord Tusk (with a title like that, he isn’t going to be running a Sunday school) is up to his old tricks again. By old tricks, what that means is that he has brainwashed the citizens of the planet you live on, constructed himself an army, and is going for world domination. Professor Ellie, who hasn’t been affected, calls on the services of Super Trunko (that’s us), requesting us to head out and restore peace to the world through the medium of various firearms. I imagine that it is hard for Lord Tusk to brainwash the citizens if they are full of holes, no?
The action is viewed from an awkward top-down perspective, and by awkward I mean skewed off to the side somewhat, but not quite isometric. It’s hard to explain, but look at the screenshots and you’ll see what I mean. Trunko himself and the rest of the enemies on the screen are pretty well designed and look quite cute. I particularly like the way that every time Trunko picks up a weapon, it is strapped over his trunk, ready to be used. I guess nose controlled guns are a thing in his world? Anyway, the levels are fairly large and are designed in chunks, so you have to clear the enemies from one area to open up the next, for instance. There are a variety of different biomes to explore, and all in all, the graphical side of the game is pretty good. Perhaps it is set to appeal to a younger audience, but it all works.
Sound is covered in the usual manner – shooty noises and so on that you would expect, and while there is nothing surprising, again it does enough to get a tick in this box. The music is quite nice too, so nothing to really moan about here. Apart from one little niggle, which is that unlike every other game in this genre, it is possible to lose your character on the screen as the walls that obscure your view of the action don’t go translucent. This means you can run into enemies and die while you are unsighted, which is a bit unfair in my eyes.
With that off my chest, let’s now have a look at how the game plays out, and if you’ve ever played a twin stick shooter before, you’ll be right at home here. As always, the left stick moves Trunko around the arena, while the right stick chooses which direction you’re going to fire in. Helpfully, every weapon that Trunko can equip seems to come with a kind of laser sight attached, so it is a breeze to see where your bullets are going to go. Add in a jump, a dodge roll (that doesn’t have any invincibility, as I found out the first time I tried to roll through a laser beam trap) and the basic controls are all very familiar. But is there anything that is unusual about Super Trunko Go, anything that is a USP?
Well, kind of. In most of these games, you have a basic weapon that, while weak and not awfully damaging, at least has infinite ammo. There is no such weapon in Super Trunko Go, and every weapon that you come across requires ammo in order to be used. Fair enough, right? Well, ammo seems to be at a premium, and while it does occasionally appear when you break the crates dotted about the levels, it usually doesn’t. Do you waste ammo in the hope that you’ll get some more, or are you better off saving it for shooting actual enemies? Running out of ammo is a major problem, as progress through the levels requires you to kill enemies, and if you can’t shoot, you can’t kill, and therefore can’t progress. As a result, a restart of the level is required, and this is a bit galling when you only have one enemy left to take down.
Further, while you are exploring the area to wipe out the foes, you also need to keep your eyes peeled for a Tri Key, which is required to open the final door in the level and allow you to escape. So, accuracy is your friend it would appear…
For a game that is seemingly designed for the younger gamer, this mechanic is a bit strange in my eyes. Younger players may not have the hand-eye coordination required to move and shoot at the same time, and still hit the enemies. That spray and pray approach will see you run out of ammo and have to restart. The enemies are also somewhat tanky, adding pressure on your ammo reserves. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Super Trunko Go is primarily about hoarding ammo more than shooting, and while this is not necessarily a bad thing, it does change the dynamic of the game substantially.
The difficulty is also quite steep; even by just the third level the enemies are absolutely crack shots. It becomes quite hard to stay alive, never mind stay accurate.
All in all, Super Trunko Go is a decent stab at a twin stick shooter, with some “interesting” mechanics. There is a real challenge here, and while it isn’t the biggest game in the world, it isn’t a pushover. If you fancy a twin stick shooter with a slight difference, then give Super Trunko Go a try.
