Trojan and Pro Wrestling Are Not Anyone's Favorite NES Games

NES Catalog #037-38

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Trojan

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PUBLISHER/DEVELOPER: Capcom

RELEASE DATE: Dec. 24th, 1986 (JP), Feb. 1987 (US), Mar. 23rd, 1989 (EU)

ALSO AVAILABLE ON: Arcade, MS-DOS, Wii U Virtual Console (JP-only)

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Trojan is a hack-and-slash/beat-em-up hybrid thing that has no personality outside of its aggressive difficulty.

You play as the Trojan warrior, a fellow whose murky motives have apparently made him lots of enemies. Heavily armored baddies pop out from every corner just to take a chunk of Trojan’s flesh. One might think Trojan’s sword is sharp enough to swiftly dispatch all his enemies, while his shield readily protects him from all threats. Hah! Enemies wield maces and clubs, throw axes and dynamite, and drop explosives on him from on high. Trojan’s sword is formidable and his shield effective, but they can only do so much against the onslaught.

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Trojan’s unfazed by awkward Boba Fett drone things.

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Trojan’s most effective weapon is his willingness to endure pain and learn from his mistakes. The trial-and-error of memorizing enemy movements and attacks, then exploiting them is what will propel him forward into the next area. Special items like extra health and the ability to double jump are welcome, but to prevail against the heartier enemies, he’ll need a power-up to give him extra strength. Two of these power-ups exist in the game and can be stacked for triple the attack power. The only problem? They disappear once he’s killed, and killing Trojan isn’t the most difficult of tasks.