QCF: Trophy

o matter how many times I’ve seen it, I still think it’s BUCK wild to see a brand new game for the NES get commercially released over 30 years past the system’s prime. The Homebrew scene for these legacy platforms are further bolstered by the flexibility of the Digital Marketplace hosted by every notable name you can think of, like Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Valve, or hell, even Atari.

One of the latest releases for the most popular 8-Bit machine is an homage to Mega Man by developer Gradual Games named Trophy, and it’s not only been made available on Cartridge for its original hardware, it’s also available on Switch eShop and Xbox Marketplace via a proprietary NEW Emulator to boot. The technical chops on display are nothing of impressive, as the game seemingly uses every MMC Mapper to push the most out of the system to run it, but the core design of the game hardly does anything to impress beyond the sheer novelty of it being a new Action Shooter you can grab for the NES.

Tophy is certainly no Mega Man, but it isn’t even a Darkwing Duck, or a Krion Conquest, or hell even a Whomp ‘Em—it’s just a another retro game with some bizarrely outdated design by comparison.

Now in terms of design, what do I mean by that exactly? Well, before I get into it, I don’t want to spend this entire review pointing out all of the apparent influences this title has taken from Capcom’s wonder child. It’s simply unavoidable not to draw out these contrasts with Trophy being an unabashed love letter to the 8-Bit Mega Man games, so I’ll try do so as sparingly as I can.

With that being said, one of the biggest fundamentals to this style of game is the fluidity of movement, and the quality of level design that can harmonize with the core dynamics of running, jumping, and shooting your way through it—Trophy really drops the ball here.

The only course of action where you can survive here is to take damage on the landing, which doesn't make these sections challenging or fun.

In the six NES entries for the Super Fighting Robot, Rock gradually evolved with new core abilities beyond his copy gimmick, like Sliding under tight corridors, or Charging your shot, and to add to that, many of those aforementioned contemporaries had some unique movement gimmicks of their own like Darkwing’s Hook clamp for climbing, or cape for blocking projectiles. Trophy on the other hand, has little to nothing to set himself apart from basic running, jumping, and shooting. To be fair, beyond the “Robocop” motif of his character design that would suggest otherwise, Trophy has the platforming athleticism of Scottie Pippin wearing spring shoes, with his jump height reaching altitudes not seen on any other NES contemporary without a Game Genie code entered. There are hidden power-up strewn about the initial eight stages that will permanently the chrome hero’s firepower and health bar ala Mega Man X, but beyond that and Trophy’s tall leaping skill, the character action here is just a bit too milquetoast to really enjoy.

Lack of gimmicks and hooks aside though, what really keeps Trophy from being an above average affair is the poor level design and enemy placement; there’s a difference between offering a challenge that’s “Nintendo Hard” to difficulty curves that are only there to seemingly combat a nonexistent rental market kind of hard. Trophy falls under the latter of that, in a really bad way.

Using the same conventions of knockback upon damage and the danger that this can pose over perilous pits, Gradual Games makes it a point to throw in every hazard concept you can think of outside of Yoku Blocks. The problem is with the problematic enemy placement where baddies are positioned in such a way that an encounter with them is guaranteed to inflict damage on the player if they can avoid the platforming hazard, which makes for an experience that feels more broken than challenging. There are no extra weapons, or skills at your disposal to think outside of the box with these situations—players are just tasked with hitting the ground with precision moves that are often beyond their control, making for a somewhat frustrating experience where the surpassing the obstacle was bittersweet instead of satisfying.

The bosses are also a chore, with many of them operating with one-note patterns that demand a rinse-and-repeat tactic to bring them down, with the only notable thing to take away from the skirmish is the spectacle of their screen-filling size.

There's just too much cheap enemy placement in Trophy to fully enjoy the action.As far as the presentation goes, however, Trophy undeniably shines bright with incredible visuals that flush the screen with incredible animations and sprite-work that any late Generation NES release would be jealous of in their own right. The graphical prowess is especially impressive when the game has little to no slow-down in the gameplay, and very few instances of flicker on screen with amount of character sprites displayed at once.  The layers of parallax scrolling are also on par with an early SEGA Genesis title—this game is sertainly fun to look in motion if anything else. The soundtrack is also catchy to listen to, and there are some standouts to note, like the Tundra Stage or Jungle Stage that managed to leave few earworms behind to spread an infectious hum, but nothing that you’ll find an YouTube or Spotify list for best NES Music.

Honestly, that’s just the whole vibe of Trophy—it’s an average experience at best, and a disappointing slog at worst. Again, I want to emphasize here that the gameplay isn’t broken or bad per se—it’s just lacking, especially for a game released in 2020, with generations of platformers that have already refined the same rough edges that hold Trophy back from being a better time.

For $10 as a digital download, there’s still some fun to be had—so long as you know what you’re in for because this an NES port that’s upscaled for HD displays and nothing more. There are no saves systems, save states, or any other Quality of Life enhancements to speak of, so keep that in mind when checking this release from Gradual Games out.