SHE GAVE ME THAT LOOK!
I have been led to believe that there never was a black edition of the Trojan Phazer Light Gun for the Amiga. Heck, finding information about the white/grey gun has proven difficult, but I finally found a complete box set in 2022 on a Danish Amiga Facebook page. I just had to buy it, but there was one problem, the seller did not want to ship abroad or a combination of that and the cost.
A good friend of mine in Denmark (Hi Povl) helped me with buying the item, it was shipped to him and he kept it safe for a long time, as we had already planned that I would visit him that year, in good tradition – I forgot all about buying this and when we visited my friend Denmark I got a bit surprised as I remembered some of the games he had bought for me, but not this big Trojan Phazer box and my girlfriend naturally gave me the looks and a face that said ” EVEN MORE GAMES? ”
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
The journey back from Denmark took a bit longer than I had hoped—not because of my girlfriend’s reaction, but simply because I was eager to take a closer look at the games I had picked up. There were plenty of budget titles I barely remembered him selecting for me, along with some incredibly rare Danish-exclusive releases. And of course, the Trojan Phazer big box, still unopened and waiting to be explored.
The next few days were mostly filled with family activities—it was summer vacation, after all. Still, whenever I found a rare moment alone (which wasn’t often), I couldn’t resist sneaking a peek at the box of games. Strangely enough, despite glancing at the Trojan Phazer box countless times before I even got home, I never really stopped to think about what it actually contained. So, when I finally opened it, the surprise was enormous…
IT’S BLACK, A BIG BLACK MAGNUM GUN!
This is odd—the Trojan Phazer guns I already own are white, and I distinctly remember reading in old magazines that black light guns were no longer going to be sold. Up until now, I had always believed there was never an Amiga or 16-bit version of the black Magnum light gun. Yet, here it was, looking identical to the white one—though I’ll get into that more soon.
My initial reaction was that this had to be a mistake—perhaps a previous owner had swapped out the original white gun for a black one. But then I noticed something curious: every image on the box, manual, and even the back of the packaging featured a black gun.
Could it be that the box and manual are from the 8-bit era and that’s why the gun is black in all the pictures? Both yes and no, the backside of the box shows 16-bit exclusive games and the manual is also not screaming multiformat or reuse of old material.
Another thing that was great to finally put in stone was that both Orbital Destroyer and Skeet Shoot were pack-in titles with The Trojan Phazer (as seen on the box and inside).
THE TROJAN PHAZER AKA THE MAGNUM PHASER AKA THE SEGA LIGHT PHASER…
From the limited information I’ve been able to gather, the Magnum was originally released in 1987 as the first light gun for the Spectrum, branded as the Sinclair Magnum Light Phaser. It was later rebranded for the Commodore C64 under the name Amstrad Magnum Light Phaser.
Interestingly, it bears a striking resemblance to the Sega Master System Light Phaser, which debuted a year earlier in 1986.
Another detail worth noting is that the original Magnum light gun uses an RS232 connector. Additionally, the Atari ST/E version features a white gun and connects via a Serial port, unlike the Amiga version, which uses a 9-pin joystick connector.
While I can’t say for certain, it seems likely that someone acquired Sega’s Light Phaser mould and rebadged it—most likely Amstrad, as they appear to have been the manufacturer from around 1987.
Virgin Mastertronic also appears in every advertisement I could find, suggesting they may have been the distributor for all versions. Piece by piece, the puzzle is starting to come together.
TESTING THE MAGNUM PHASER, AND THE TROJAN PHAZER…
At this point, my main question was—if this isn’t the original gun, does it even work with the Amiga and its games?
To find out, I started with Skeet Shoot, one of the bundled games. Within seconds, the gun was calibrated and worked exactly as expected—or more accurately, just like the Trojan Phazer.
I was hoping to find at least some differences between the two models, but after testing both, the only noticeable distinction was the color and stickers. Functionally, they were identical.
The reasons behind the Trojan Phazer’s lack of success are multi-faceted, but the biggest issue becomes clear every time I use it: it’s just not enjoyable. The gun feels awkward to hold, and it lacks the quality you’d expect from a well-made product. While Nintendo had Duck Hunt and a well-designed light gun, the Amiga got Skeet Shoot. The concept seems good in theory, but in execution, it falls short. The simplistic gameplay, paired with frustrating graphics that hinder aiming and hit detection, makes it hard to enjoy. There’s no charm or humor to lift the experience—just a repetitive cycle that loses its appeal almost instantly.
Which Games Are Compatible With The Trojan Phazer?
The big question I always get when I talk about Light Gun games on the Amiga is of course – Which Games does it support?
- Aliex (Trojan, 1990)
- Cyber Assault (Trojan, 1991)
- Die Hard 2 (Grandslam, 1992)
- Enforcer, The (Trojan, 1991)
- Firestar (Trojan, 1991)
- Operation Thunderbolt (Ocean, 1989) *
- Operation Wolf (Ocean, 1988) *
- Orbital Destroyer (Trojan, 1990) (This was the second pack-in title with the Trojan Phazer!)
- Skeet Shoot (Trojan, 1991) (This was the first pack-in title with the Trojan Phazer!)
- Space Gun (Ocean, 1992)
I tested all of these over the weekend and can confirm that they work flawlessly with WHDLoad. However, Operation Wolf and Operation Thunderbolt require the latest WHDLoad update and fan-made installs from 2022 to function properly. I also tested most of the games from floppy on the A1200, but unfortunately, most wouldn’t run without RELOCKICK. For the best compatibility, it’s best to use either a real Amiga 500 or WHDLoad.
Which Games Do Not Work With This then?
I don’t own the Actionware Phaser, the Loriciel Westphaser, or the Golem Light Gun, but here’s what I do know:
The Actionware Phaser bears a strong resemblance to the Sega Master System Light Gun—much like the Trojan Phazer and Magnum Phaser. However, there are compatibility issues with certain games. I distinctly remember playing P.O.W. and Capone with the Trojan Light Phazer years ago, but they no longer seem to work. There may be a WHDLoad patch or another fix, and if I come across more details, I’ll update this post.
The Golem Light Gun is another intriguing case—it seemingly appeared out of nowhere in 2019.
Then there’s the West Phaser (also known as the Loriciel Phaser), designed to resemble a revolver. I’ve never encountered one in person, and like the Golem Light Gun, information on it is scarce.
Here are the games available for the non-Trojan Light Gun models:
Actionware Phaser
Golem light gun
Loriciel (West Phaser) light gun
I hope that support will eventually be added for all light gun games. I haven’t looked into the specific changes needed to make them work, but considering that someone managed to get Operation Wolf and Operation Thunderbolt running, there’s certainly hope.
The Trojan Phazer / Magnum Phaser verdict, 12 years later…
You’re probably familiar with my old article—not much has changed since then, aside from a few new games and this newly discovered gun. However, during my research, I did come across some interesting details that were new to me, and I’ve tried to include all of them here. Unfortunately, there are still many gaps in the information, and I feel there’s a lot left to uncover. I haven’t been able to track down anyone who worked at Trojan Products back then, and the same goes for AMSTRAD.
The highlight of my research into Trojan Products has been raising awareness about light gun support for the Amiga. What’s even crazier is that I’ve come across four different solutions, and many of you probably didn’t even know one existed—at least, not until my first article on the subject. While it wasn’t exactly a major milestone for the Amiga in the late 80s, it could have been if the guns had supported more games and received better coverage in magazines and elsewhere.
Was the Magnum Phaser ever officially released for the Amiga? Who knows. It does work, and it differs from the Spectrum and C64 versions in terms of the cable, connector, and side stickers, but beyond that, there’s little concrete information.
The highlight of writing this article, though, was discovering that the WHDLoad team had added support for other games. As expected, these two games are far superior to the entire Trojan Products game library.
PS:
Source Material: Some of the Pictures are loaned from Flickr, Hall Of Light and eBay, with no intention of stealing or taking credit. Pictures of the box are from my own collection. Compatibility lists are from Wikipedia.
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