![]() Now for some discussion about the bonuses in both…which isn’t as deep or thorough as other comps. There’s a few not to love, alas: The Legend of Kage is a spazzy action game that is a little too wild in its controls for my liking Violence Fight is essentially a Japanese Pit-Fighter, which is not praise Crazy Balloon is a very simplistic maze game that is pretty unfulfilling to play in contrast to Pac Man and other evolutions to the format. ![]() Growl, Arabian Magic and Dungeon Master are all solid beam-em-ups, and RayStorm and Metal Black are cutting-edge shoot-em-ups of their time. The two Darius titles on the PS2 rev are also top-notch shoot-em-ups, and I quite like puzzlers Qix, Cameltry, Cleopatra Fortune and Bust-a-Move Returns. Hands down the best game on the comp, with a brilliant reinvention of the original’s gameplay blended in with superb level design and tight controls. So despite my love, it’s for a flawed product.Įlevator Action Returns/II is alone worth admission. Also, Puzzle Bobble II is swapped out for its much more sterile Bust-A-Move Again localization. I know that Metal Black has some slowdown problems, and that Elevator Action Returns is lacking a functioning machine gun. I don’t know who developed this one (that seems to be an enigma even to Wikipedia), but whoever ported it hit some emulation flubs that do damper the collection’s quality in spots. Regardless of those quibbles, there’s so much here (and a lot of it decent to spectacular) that I must implore you to consider it. The PC/Xbox received Bubble Symphony, Cadash, RayForce and Pop’n Pop, while the PS2 got RayStorm, G-Darius, Syvalion and Balloon Bomber. An unfortunate slight is that eight games were split between the PS2 and PC/Xbox versions, so there isn’t a “complete” version of this comp. ![]() It’s loaded with the most games of any comp on the PS2 (a whopping 39 titles!), and there’s a title for just about everyone on here. The second Taito comp is my absolute favorite compilation. Low Lights: The Legend of Kage, Violence Fight, Crazy Balloon Highlights: Elevator Action Returns, G-Darius, Qix On the whole, though, this is a worthwhile collection. And while it certainly pales in contrast to its sequel, Elevator Action is a respectable action game that has a strong motif backing it. Space Invaders may be pretty rudimentary by today’s standards, but it’s a classic for a reason - it’s damn good at what it does, and that is a tense shooter. Bubble Bobble is iconic and memorable for so many reasons, including its charming visuals and music, and its excellent two player option. My faves include a lot of the games that made Taito famous in the first place. Return of the Invaders (and Space Invaders II) are not that different from the original and seem superfluous additions. Gladiator is a very early one-on-one fighter, but the controls are very clunky and the animation too slow to properly handle the challenges. They do have new cursor controls, but it’s clunky with a controller. Operati on Wolf and its sequel Operation Thunderbolt (as well as Space Gun) lack light gun support, making their inclusion curious (especially over other Taito titles like Arkanoid! and Chase H.Q.). Jungle Hunt and Rainbow Islands had to have a bit of content removed due to licensing concerns, and there’s no light gun support for three games (which I’ll cover shortly). Some controls were flipped and there is no option to alter it, so that can make some games more frustrating than need be. Atomic Planet appears to be the developer handling the emulation here, and they did a decent job. For quantity, this game is loaded with it. The Ninja Kids is easily one of the kookier beat-em-ups out there, and is definitely worth a look just to try to fathom its insanity. Taito’s first collection of arcade hits features a lot of their more notable work from the 1980s, including the perennial classics noted in the highlights section alongside The New Zealand Story, Rainbow Islands and Flipull (dubbed “ Plotting” here). Low Lights: Gladiator, Return of the Invaders, Operation Wolf Highlights: Bubble Bobble, Space Invaders, Elevator Action ![]() This is an attempt to sort of bring that back, but this time around I’m just going to focus on the ones I think excel at their job of bringing together a bunch of great games. Long ago, I had a feature here on retro compilations.
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