History VideoGame / TAGAP

** One of the most blatant ones in ''2'' is an entire church dedicated to "Saint Tux", aka UsefulNotes/{{UNIX}}'s mascot.
*** The final level in ''2'' has an enormous circle made of four lights arranged around a central symbol. Each light turns red if you destroy the corresponding generator; you can get an achievement if you replicate [[UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} the XBox's Red Ring Of Death]].

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* NintendoHard: Let's just say that these games pull no punches in their difficulty. Even on easy, you're still bound to lose several lives.

* FinishingMove: ''4'' gives Pablo a meat cleaver that allows him to do this to stunned and/or frozen enemies, in a manner similar to ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'''s Glory Kill mechanic. Doing it will reward you with health pickups, which can come in handy if you're running low.

* BigBad: The first game has Doctor Glowenko, the MadScientist responsible for the whole penguin nonsense. He however ends up dying midway through the game, leading his [[TheDragon dragon]] Pedro to step up the role as central villain.

** ''4'' has Glowenko[[note]]or rather, an AlternateTimeline version of him[[/note]] reprise his role of central villain in the game.

** The second game has General Primo, a megalomaniacal penguin and R.E.P.'s answer to Glowenko's project.

* CuteEmUp

* TookALevelInBadass: Mecha-Penguinators receive a significant upgrade in ''4''. In the previous games, they were left completely defenseless if you destroyed their weapons; now they gain a powerful plasma breath attack if they have no other weapon left, or if their shields are disabled. Speaking of their shields, now the shield generators can only be destroyed if you overload them both at roughly the same time.

[[caption-width-right:350:EverythingsBetterWithPenguins. Moreso if they're packing heat.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: How about penguins ''with guns?''

** [[spoiler:The Warlord himself was this. He was anti-war, but decided to personally lead a recon mission anyway. If Earth was hostile, he would've gotten useful intel for the upcoming war; if it wasn't, he could've personally testified the fact in order to prevent the war. Too bad for him that one artifact the recon squadron brought back contained a megalomaniacal penguin with mind-control powers who was all too happy to use the hapless Warlord as a pawn...]]

* EmergencyTransformation: [[spoiler:Doctor Glowenko himself]] performs this during his boss battle in ''4''.

* BulletTime: The main purpose of TAGAP, outside of healing, is to induce this effect, allowing you to manoeuvre yourself around enemies and pick them off one by one until it wears off.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: The two Mechapenguinators Mark 1 and the single Mark 2 in the first game are the very last obstacles in Glowenko's base. It helps that he was supposed to be the first episode's FinalBoss.

* MercyInvincibility: Notably averted through all 3 games, contributing to the overall difficulty. Even the invincibility after losing a life is shorter than most games' standard invincibility frames.

** [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter Shotgun]]: The one weapon present in all three games. It's packed with grenades (1, 3) or mines (2) as its secondary fire. The [[ImprovisedWeapon Scrapgun]] in the third game has a gimmick where it uses metallic scrap (obtaining by destroying enemies, their weapons, and the environment) as ammo.

** [[DoubleSubverted Played straight]] in ''2'' with the Rockhopper Mutants. [[spoiler: And with Primo himself after falling into an entire pile of mutators.]]

** [[DoubleSubverted Played straight]] in ''2'' with the Rockhopper Mutants. [[spoiler: And with Primo himself after falling into an entire batch of the stuff.]]

** ''2'' has a remote that, when used, will call in Pedro in his helicopter who will then proceed to carpet bomb the area. This weapon isn't available in co-op due to Pedro already being present as player 2.

** The fourth game keeps "Necrophilissimo!" and "Challenge Overdose" while changing "Harder" and "Hardcore!" back to "Normal" and "Hard" respectively. As for easy mode. It's now called "[[TakeThat Game Journalist]]".

** Taken to ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]'' levels in the second game's ending, [[spoiler: where a heavily-mutated Primo, after having all his weak points destroyed, outright ''explodes'', [[LudicrousGibs showering the entire city he was fought in in a shower of gore]]]].

* JumpPhysics: Starting with ''2'', Pablo has access to a short double jump and a "stomp" that inflicts no damage, but is extremely useful for quickly dodging enemy shots while airborne.

** [[DoubleSubverted Played straight]] in ''2''.

** Taken to [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]] levels in the second game's ending.

* HarmlessFreezing: Averted in ''3'' and ''4'' - organic enemies who are frozen by the Cryogun are considered dead, and fall into pieces when they thaw.

** Nemesis in ''4'' also counts, except he moves much faster than you, requiring the use of TAGAP to break even.

* ProphecyTwist: Part of the plot of ''3'' is that a Plutoid prophecy shows Pluto invading Earth, only for both planets to be destroyed by a black-and-white penguin. It's initially thought that the "monochrome menace" in question is an Earth penguin, which leads to Pablo's kidnapping and inprisonment; later, it's re-interpreted as the war itself, threatening to destroy both worlds. [[spoiler:Turns out that the propecy really did refer to an Earthling penguin... but the BigBad, not Pablo]].

* TrickBomb: Grenades normally explode when their fuse runs out, but they also have a sensor that detonates them immediately when they hit an enemy (but not an ally).
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: A few levels allow you to freely swim/fly in all four directions.
** One of the last levels in ''2'' is a platformer on a scooter, with heavy emphasis on timing your sprints to avoid obstacles.
** Another level in ''2'' places you on a boat with a turret. Unlike most turret sections in videogames, you can dodge enemy shots (by either speeding up the boat or slowing it down) while you're still locked at the turret.
* {{Unperson}}: The Funky Warden recently implemented capital punishment for high crimes such as treason, which not only means the accused will be physically disintegrated, but all citizenship history and records of their existence will be removed as well.
* TakeThat: The easiest difficulty setting for ''4'' is called... "Game Journalist".
* TookALevelInBadass: Mecha-Penguinators receive a significant upgrade in ''4''. In the previous games, they were left completely defenseless if you destroyed their weapons; now they gain a powerful plasma breath attack if they have no other weapon left, or if their shields are disabled. Speaking of their shields, now the shield generators can only be destroyed if you overload them both at roughly the same time.
* VideoGameRemake: Completing ''TAGAP 4'''s main story unlocks "TAGAP +" mode, which is a remake of the first half of the original ''TAGAP'', but using the mechanics of the new game.
* WeCanRuleTogether: The very first thing Primo does on-screen is to appear on a jet and declare his intentions to conquer the world. The second: asking Pablo (and Pedro, if present) to ally with him so that they can conquer the world together.

* InitialismTitle