Trouble Shooter

Trouble Shooter is a 1992 shooter for the Sega Mega Drive, developed by Tokai Communications and released under the Vic Tokai name. It appeared in Japan under a different title, which was standard practice for western conversions — names changed, and so, often, did difficulty and parts of the text.

The game runs in a side view and departs from most shooters of the period in one obvious way: the player does not fly a ship but a person with a jet pack. A partner flies alongside and works as movable support, able to switch sides so the threatened direction is always covered.

The Mega Drive suited this genre well — fast scrolling, plenty of moving objects on screen and a palette that could carry a busy background without turning to mush. By 1992 the machine was hosting games that used those strengths fully, and competition among shooters was fierce.

The record lists it as a one-player title. Its tone is lighter than the hard Japanese shooters of the same years: cartoon-styled artwork, characters with personality, and less emphasis on memorising every wave than on letting a player reach the end without dozens of attempts.

This is one of the entries you can play here directly in the browser, and the OldGame.cz page adds the release year, the developer and in-game images.