Truxton II EXA LABEL is finally shipping to arcades

exA-Arcadia has released Truxton II EXA LABEL, shipping the modern arcade remaster of Toaplan's 1992 shoot 'em up to operators. The game was first announced at ShootersFes 2025. It runs on the exA-Arcadia PC-based hardware system, which is built around 1-frame input lag.

A $2,200 entry fee for Toaplan's hardest game

The original Truxton II (known as Tatsujin Ou in Japan) is famous for being aggressively difficult, with sprawling stages and brutal checkpoint recovery loops that demand absolute memorization. I want to see how the new Training Mode helps with that, because slogging through the first loop just to practice a late-stage boss is miserable. The new mode lets players jump directly to specific sections.

The EXA LABEL release includes the original Japanese and overseas ROMs, plus a rebalanced Original' mode that tightens the game into a single loop. There is also a dedicated EXA LABEL mode built around scoring and escalating speed. The game supports both vertical and horizontal screen orientations, with customizable UI gadgets filling the blank space on horizontal displays.

Original staff return

Masahiro Yuge, the original game's producer and current head of Tatsujin, supervised the project. Former Toaplan artist Junya Inoue (also known as Joker Jun) returned for character design and key visuals. Inoue previously worked on Batsugun before moving to Cave to design characters for Dodonpachi and Deathsmiles. Keishi Yonao handled the arranged soundtrack, and Takehito Koyasu provided the system voices.

exA-Arcadia sells the game in three kits. The standard software kit costs roughly $2,200. A Limited Edition adds Sanwa arcade parts and extra hanging banners. The Complete Limited Edition runs about $5,500 and includes a custom EXA system board signed by Inoue.