Originally a homebrew 8-bit NES game, you can now download Trophy on Switch, current Xbox consoles, and PC (reviewed on Switch here).  In the game, two scientists travel to another planet and befriend sentient robots there.  One of the scientists returns to Earth to report the findings, while the other one stays on the other planet and turns evil and takes it over.  Now it’s up to the other scientist to return to the planet, fuse with his robot friend to become Trophy, and save the day!  Trophy is a 2-D sidescrolling run and gun platformer clearly inspired by classic Mega Man titles.

As Trophy, you can run, jump, and shoot.  And that’s pretty much it.  Blast anything that moves and avoid enemies.  If you get hit too many times, your energy meter will drain and you’ll have to start back at the last checkpoint.  Run out of lives and you must start the level over again.  Also similar to Mega Man, you can choose from eight stages to start from. These range from factories, trains, carnivals, forests, tundra, and more.  Defeated enemies will sometimes drop power-ups to refill your energy or give you an extra life.  At the end of each stage is a giant screen filling boss to defeat.

This game will really make you appreciate the great and well thought out level design of a Mega Man title.  Trophy stages look decent, but a bit uninspired.  Enemy placement makes it hard to avoid getting hit.  And the bosses are damage sponges and take way too many shots to defeat, and spray hard to avoid bullets all over the place.  I don’t know if you get any skills from defeating one, because I sure couldn’t, but I don’t think you do.  I also wish you could change the controls.  A to jump and B to shoot is a bit awkward.  It still looks like something I might’ve rented as a kid back in the NES days, but I think now I’d rather just play Mega Man.

Kid Factor:

Trophy is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  You shoot robots that explode when defeated, and the 8-bit graphics negate the violence in the visuals.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, but not necessary just to play.  Younger gamers may find it too difficult, though.

Tags: Game Reviews