🎮 Play Tatakai no Banka (Japan) Online (NES)

Tatakai no Banka (闘いの挽歌, “Requiem for Battle”) is the Japanese Famicom version of Capcom’s 1986 arcade hack-and-slash Trojan, directed by Takashi Nishiyama, the designer behind Irem’s Kung-Fu Master. Set in a post-apocalyptic near future ravaged by nuclear war, the story has the vengeful spirits of ancient warlords possessing the era’s strongest survivors. You play Hero Trojan, a warrior immune to their influence, who turns against the dictator Achilles after learning of his slaughter of innocents and sets out to fight through Achilles’ army of pirates and gladiators to free the possessed.

How to play

Fight your way across six side-scrolling stages of rank-and-file enemies, mid-level sub-bosses, and a boss at the end of each stage, finishing with a showdown against Achilles himself. Move with the Arrow keys, and hold Up to jump – there is no dedicated jump button. X swings your sword, while Z raises your shield, which can block incoming projectiles from several angles whether you’re standing or crouched. Enemy magic balls can knock your weapon away, forcing you to fight bare-handed with punches and kicks until you recover it. Enter is Start and Shift is Select.

Tips

• Keep your shield up while advancing through open ground – it blocks projectiles from multiple directions and buys time to close the distance on ranged enemies.
• Grab the floating hearts for health and use the marked jump-enhancement spots to reach ledges and items a normal jump can’t.
• If a magic ball strips your sword, don’t panic – punches and kicks still work and you can often reclaim your weapon nearby.
• The NES release adds hidden rooms and an extra King Shriek boss fight on the final stage, plus a two-player versus mode – Capcom’s first attempt at a fighting game – if you want to test your sword skills against a friend.