Video game maker Taito has a lot of history behind it.  Just as much as other long-time developers such as Namco and even Nintendo!  Some of the games they’ve made you’ve surely heard of, like Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Bust-A-Move, and many, many more.  And now there’s a collection of classic Taito games on the Switch, so let’s take a look at what’s on there!

But before we get started, these games on this collection are provided by the Arcade Archives series.  Hamster has been releasing single arcade games you can download for years, and some of these releases have been pretty significant.  Like they released the arcade version of Donkey Kong since Nintendo can’t legally release it themselves (they had another company program it for them so there’s been some legal issues with that).  Another game they released on the Arcade Archives collection is Libble Rabble, a Namco game made by Toru Iwatani, who also made another game you might’ve heard of called Pac-Man.  But enough of that, here are the games on Taito Milestones!

Alpine Ski

This is a pretty generic scrolling skiing game.  It reminds me of the skiing game you used to could play on Windows.  Back when I was a kid, I remember seeing this game EVERYWHERE in arcades for some reason.

Wild Western

This vertically scrolling shooter has a Wild West theme.  You must shoot the bad guys on their horses, but you must also watch out for obstacles that can trip up your own horse.  You can shoot in any direction, and there’s a train that runs in the middle of the screen that will reflect your shots.  I don’t remember seeing this in arcades, but I do remember it being featured a lot in the Starcade game show.

Front Line

Like Wild Western, this vertically scrolling shooter allows you to fire in any direction, but it has more of an army theme as you can shoot both bullets and throw hand grenades.  I’m sure this game inspired future titles from other companies like Ikari Warriors.  I’ve read that a lot of people remember playing this game in arcades, but I don’t remember seeing it as a kid at all.

Qix

This is one of the more popular games on this collection, as I remember seeing it in arcades a lot back then.  It’s pretty abstract.  You have to draw squares to fill in a certain percentage of the screen, all the while avoiding a waving line and sparks that travel your path.  I never really got into this game as a kid, because it was pretty hard and that roving line always made me nervous.  But my little brother Jeff loved this game when he was a kid!

Space Seeker

I had never even heard of this one before this collection came out!  You first view a circle map of a planet and cane move little squares around.  And when you hit a spaceship icon, the game changes to a horizontally scrolling shooter that’s super hard and it’s one hit and you die!  Graphics are pretty garish, too.

Elevator Action

In this spy game, you play as secret agent Otto as you travel down a building, collecting secret documents behind red doors and shooting enemies.  You go down the buildings by taking elevators and escalators to reach the bottom.  I was never very good at this game, but it was relatively popular back then.  I wish Elevator Action Returns was on this collection.  That one was really fun!  I also recently got to play a new game in the series called Elevator Action: Death Parade.  This was a light gun game but you had a button to control real life elevator doors that would even block the screen and you could use them as shields!

Chack’n Pop

This single screen maze chase game is a bit hard to describe.  You control a critter who can walk on floors and ceilings and can toss bombs at monsters, but don’t get caught in the explosions yourself.  You must gather all the hearts and make it to the top of the level.  This is considered a kind of prototype to Bubble Bobble, as many of the enemies are the same and the character Chack’n has been in other Taito games, too.  I don’t remember seeing this one in arcades though.

The Fairyland Story

Speaking of Bubble Bobble prototypes, in this one you control a fairy as you dispatch all the monsters in single screen mazes.  You do this by zapping them with magic, which turns them into cakes.  Then you must push the cakes off ledges to finish the job.  It’s harder than Bubble Bobble, though, because if you die you must start the stage over instead of right where you left off.

Halley’s Comet

This is a pretty generic vertically scrolling space shooter except sometimes comets rain down and you can shoot them.  It’s pretty hard, too.

The Ninja Warriors

And last is the most modern game on this collection.  I remember seeing this one a lot back then, and it was in arcades many years after it came out.  It’s a pretty generic side scrolling beat ‘em up with robot ninjas, but you had double screens so you could see far ahead of you to prepare.  Other games did this too, like Taito’s own Darius or Tecmo Bowl.

And those are all the games on this collection.  I’d have to say this compilation is pretty disappointing.  Most of the games on here aren’t that great, and they could’ve used some real Taito milestones like Space Invaders or Bubble Bobble.  Could’ve used more games, too. I remember back in the PS2 and PSP days, Taito collections would have more than double or triple the amount of games on this collection.  And they were cheaper, too.  I miss those days.

Kid Factor:

Taito Milestones is rate T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Blood and Fantasy Violence.  Most of the games just have exploding spaceships for violence, but I think it’s The Ninja Warriors that earns this collection the T rating.  I remember the blood in the graphics being pretty shocking back then (this was before Mortal Kombat).  But I grew up playing these arcade games and I turned out OK.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the menu text, but not necessary just to play.

Tags: Game Reviews