Trio the Punch: Never Forget Me... (Arcade) Playthrough
4Playthrough of Trio the Punch: Never Forget Me..., Data East's 1990 action game for the Arcades.
Trio the Punch: Never Forget Me... is an arcade game developed and released by Data East in 1990. On the surface, it appears to be a standard beat-’em-up, but it quickly sets itself apart with its unpredictable, absurdist design and frequent fourth-wall breaking. The player chooses from three characters—a muscle-bound strongman, a ninja, and a scantily clad kung-fu fighter—each with their own basic attacks and playstyle. Levels are structured around defeating a boss or a group of enemies, but the environments, enemies, and even objectives shift drastically from one stage to the next, often with little explanation.
What truly defines the game is its surreal tone. Backgrounds change without context, bosses can range from a tree with a human face to a giant-sized version of a character sprite, and dialogue or cutscenes frequently veer into nonsense or parody. The game is self-aware in a way that breaks genre conventions. Enemies sometimes glitch intentionally or drop signs with bizarre messages, and the visual style is intentionally inconsistent, jumping between realistic and cartoonish with reckless abandon.
Mechanically, the game is simple. Players attack, jump, and dodge, with little room for combo depth. Collision detection can be erratic, and hitboxes are inconsistent. Still, the game isn't designed for balance so much as chaotic experimentation. Music and sound effects vary wildly between levels, with some tracks feeling appropriate while others sound like they were plucked from entirely different games.
Trio the Punch was never officially released outside Japan, likely due to how unconventional it is. Though it plays like a beat-’em-up, it’s more of an interactive joke box, using the structure of a game to deliver punchlines and weirdness. For players expecting cohesion or polish, it can feel frustrating or even broken. But for those who enjoy unexpected, offbeat arcade experiences, it remains a unique curiosity from an era where even large developers occasionally let their most unfiltered ideas hit the arcade floor.