Video game attire isn't remotely novel at this stage, but I really wasn't expecting a jacket based on the 1998 arcade shooter Truxton. You've got Kumagumi, a Japanese merch brand, to thank for turning a whole bunch of Toaplan shmups into threads, and yes, the game that introduced me to the very concept of memes is included.
Yes, that latter game is "Zero Wing", the arcade shooter that gifted us "all your base are belong to us" via a terrible translation. Spotted by Time Extension, the range sadly doesn't include anything with that specific botched phrase on it, instead opting for the line prior, with antagonist CATS exclaiming "how are you gentlemen !!" (Don't forget the double exclamation mark; that's important.)
There are 27 pieces in the Kumagumi x Toaplan collection, covering some of my all-time favorite Mega Drive shooters, like Hellfire, FixEight, Btsugun, and the aforementioned Zero Wing and Truxton. Again, I know many of you will be here purely for the memes, but it was the $149 jacket based on the latter vertical shooter that really reeled me in as a retro console and arcade nerd.
Sadly, my plans to rock the fashion scene by turning the Truxton jacket into a fit have to go on hold since it's already out of stock. That has potentially ruined my Monday since I was planning an '80s-inspired getup for my next visit to the arcade, but alas, I'll have to join the waitlist. The thing that hooked me in the first place is that this bomber jacket, complete with skull bomb art on the back, looks like it's straight off the back of someone in '80s Osaka.
Perhaps the jacket going AWOL is a blessing, as it does mean if you haven't played any of these legendary shooters, you can invest in doing just that. Those of you without any means to play right now should probably think about grabbing an Evercade console (like the Super Pocket for $69.99), as Blaze's Toaplan cartridge packs Truxton, Zero Wing, and six other classics for $35.36. That's reasonable, seeing as original Sega Mega Drive copies of the games come in at substantially more for a single cart, and Zero Wing didn't actually land in the US market to begin with.
I'll play devil's advocate and say that while you'll have a blast playing Truxton on a handheld like the Super Pocket or the shiny new Evercade Nexus if you're feeling fancy, I do prefer my OG Mega Drive setup. It all comes down to my preferences for blasting the high-contrast vertical shooter visuals into my eyeballs using a CRT, but I do pair Sega's old timer with an 8Bitdo M30 2.4GHz wireless controller ($29.99 at Amazon, FYI) to freshen things up with wireless, authentic buttons.
I could probably rhyme off a dozen ways to play Toaplan's excellent shooters, including using the best retro handhelds if you have your collection backed up. However, I get that some of you will already have that in hand and either just came for the pretty jacket, daft 2000s memes, or both. If that's the case, you'll want to keep an eye on Kumagumi's storefront for stock drops, but I'll always take an opportunity to talk about playing old games using new stuff since that level of love is why we have clothing like this in the first place.
Swing by the best retro controllers for authentic classic console gamepads with modern day abilities.
