Arcade Collections for the PS2 are something that I can't seem to stay away from. Today's review is Part 1 of my look at Taito Legends 2 which features 39 Taito arcade classics. The games are listed chronologically on the menu screen so that's how I'll be looking at them. The games featured in this review date from 1979 to 1988 and so are fairly early, though it remains to be seen if this will count against them.
Game: Lunar Rescue
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1979
As the earliest arcade game featured on this collection, I wasn't expecting anything particularly complex out of Lunar Rescue. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't a Space Invaders clone or anything of that kind also. The game is split into two phases; descent and ascent. On the descent players must avoid asteroids and land on a base at the bottom of the screen, and on the ascent players must shoot alien ships that are in their way whilst avoiding their fire and attempt to deliver their rescued crew member to safety in the ship at the top of the screen,
The controls are simple, using the d-pad and a single button only. The button controls the thrusters on the descent, and shooting/thrusters on the ascent, depending on whether it's pressed singularly or held. My only real complaint of the controls is that there's no way to hold the ship still; it's either ascending or descending, players only control the speed.
Graphically the game is simple and uses the same idea as Space Invaders for colourisation; bands of colour across the screen rather than actual coloured sprites. Nonetheless the effect produced is somewhat trippy and gives the game a classic arcade feel. The sound effects for the game easily become grating and are probably its worst feature. Overall this is a simple but fun early arcade game.
Rating: 39/100
Grade: E
Game: Balloon Bomber
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1980
Balloon Bomber is another fairly simple early arcade title from Taito; players control an anti aircraft gun and attempt to shoot down swinging bombs which are attached to balloons. If the bomb is shot then it explodes, taking the balloon with it, but if the balloon is shot then the bomb falls towards the player. The bomb can be shot down before it reaches the ground, but if it isn't then it will create a hole where it lands, preventing players from travelling further than that hole in one direction.
Once again the controls are simply the d-pad and a single button, and the graphics are simple coloured band sprites. There's a simple musical theme which accompanies gameplay which I quite liked, and overall it's a pretty fun high score style arcade game.
Rating: 42/100
Grade: D
Game: Crazy Balloon
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1980
Crazy Balloon is a very simple maze game where players must guide a swinging balloon through different levels of a maze which escalate in difficulty. The d-pad is all that's used to control the game. If players hit an obstacle in the maze, then it will disappear for all subsequent turns which I found impressive as this can be used tactically to make the maze slightly easier in later levels.
Graphically the game is very similar to the first two games featured although I noted particularly smooth movement animations on the balloon. There's a small music theme when a life is lost, but little else in the way of sound. Overall this game might be a little simple for its own good.
Rating: 7/100
Grade: F
Game: Qix
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1981
Qix is one of the most famous game concepts in existence although it's name isn't that familiar to most gamers. The aim of the game is to gain a supermajority of the playfield by drawing lines across it to claim territory whilst avoiding enemies. The enemies present in this game are the Qix, a fast moving set of lines which makes the player lose a life if touched while in the play area, and Sparx which travel around the outside edges, forcing the player to constantly gain more territory.
Players can choose to draw quickly with one button, or slowly with another for more points. As the difficulty is fairly high, most of the time it's advisable to be drawing fast. The concept of this game has been reused many times in more modern games such as Pacxon and the Art Class minigame from Bully.
Graphically the game is simple, but displays all necessary information well. It's easy to see whether lines have been drawn slowly or quickly, and my only wish is that the Sparx were a little easier to see, as many times I lost track of them only to lose a life due to being caught by one. Overall this version of Qix isn't the best I've played as later games have provided updates to the formula which improves it, but there's no denying the influence this game had on many later projects.
Rating: 60/100
Grade; D
Game: Alpine Ski
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1982
Alpine Ski is a fairly simple arcade game where players must control a skiier and avoid hitting obstacles whilst collecting points and navigating a ski course. There are three parts to the course, the first where players must only survive, the second where there are gates to pass through, the third where a jump must be made. It's very difficult to get to the 3rd stage, even with the maximum time limit, as obstacles can be hard to avoid.
The controls for the game are simple; the d-pad is used for movement, with a single button to increase the speed of the skiier. Unfortunately the movement isn't very responsive and the difference between a little and lots of movement isn't too well defined, resulting in a lot of mistakes and colliding with things.
Graphically the game is colourful and a little better than the games that came before it, featuring some fairly impressive trees and other visuals for 1982, considering that the Atari 2600 was the height of home console technology back then. The sound of the game is pretty average for the time, featuring a decent tune which gets interrupted by the crash sound far too much.
Overall this is a difficult arcade game which more than anything shows the progression of arcade games of the time. While there's a little fun to be had with the skiing action, the difficulty gets in the way of any true enjoyment, and the overall simplicity of the game limits its replay value.
Rating: 18/100
Grade: F
Game: Wild Western
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1982
Wild Western is an incredibly simple arcade game which features 2 repeating levels. Both involve shooting bandits who are attempting to rob a train. Players control the sheriff who can be moved in all directions, but only shoots in a north westerly direction. This requires careful placing of the sheriff to successfully shoot all of the bandits before the sheriff himself is shot. Other than this though, the game presents no real challenge; there are 6 bandits per level, and once they're shot the game changes scene and moves onto the other level for more of the same.
Graphically the game is pretty poor, with its 2D depiction of horse riders leaving much to be desired. Similarly, players are treated to a strange rendition of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" as backing music. Overall with an overly simplistic concept, two levels of play, bad graphics and music, this isn't so much of an arcade legend as retro game that needs to be forgotten.
Rating: 6/100
Grade: F
Game: Chack'n Pop
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1983
Another maze style arcade game, Chack'n Pop tasks players with rescuing stolen hearts by traversing a maze filled with monsters using only only bombs and the main character's ability to defy gravity. While navigating the maze and freeing the hearts from their cages is fairly easy, once the monsters begin to drop from the ceiling in large numbers, as they do a few moments into each level, there's almost no way to stop them from taking away a life.
Bombs are pretty useless as they'll either roll past the position of the monster as it moves, since there's a delay on their explosion, or end up taking you with the monster as the bomb explodes. With no other way of killing the monsters, and no options for avoiding them, especially in large numbers, this means that it's hard to get at all far in Chack'n Pop.
Graphically the game looks eye catching and uses a lot of colours despite its simple appearance. The music used to accompany gameplay is very simple, but the game's theme and other music has an almost NES like quality to it. Overall there are quite a few issues with Chack'n Pop, but if you're a fan of mastering slightly difficult games, it might be worth a look.
Rating: 35/100
Grade: E
Game: Front Line
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1983
Front Line is a very poor excuse for a military arcade shooting game. Players control a soldier who is only able to shoot straight upwards, with bullets that don't travel much further than a foot in front of them. There are also grenades which can be thrown, but their trajectory is strange and unpredictable meaning that most of the time they're useless. Enemy soldiers move around and shoot quite a lot, making them difficult to hit and avoid shots from. Controlwise the game is also poor; the movement doesn't feel natural and getting around obstacles without being shot is incredibly difficult.
The graphics are poor, with worse representations of trees and people than Alpine Ski from the previous year. The play area is small when compared to the screen size and enemies can move into positions which are invulnerable to player shots. Overall Front Line is hardly enjoyable at all, and I'm a little puzzled as to how it was chosen as a 'legend' for this collection.
Rating: 4/100
Grade: F
Game: The Fairyland Story
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1985
While clones of existing games are bound to exist in the video game industry, it's rare to see a company clone their own game. Taito released Bubble Bobble in 1986, and it's one of their best known games, however just one year before this, The Fairyland Story was released. In this game, players take control of Ptolemy the Witch and jump around platforms in each level, aiming to turn all enemies into cake and push them off the edges.
The game controls and plays very similarly to Bubble Bobble, and feels almost like a prototype. It's fairly easy until multiple enemy types are introduced and the number of starting enemies increases, at which point survival becomes more difficult. There's a high amount of challenge to the game, and while the first few levels feel too easy, the latter ones feel too hard. It's possible to kill enemies by using your magic several times on them and I found myself doing this more than pushing them off edges.
Graphically the game is in a cartoon style and although simple, it feels similar to that of some later NES games. The most notable feature is the similarity in layout to Bubble Bobble. Musically the game features an engaging but somewhat childish soundtrack, giving the impression that the title was aimed more at children. Overall while The Fairyland Story isn't a great or particularly engaging arcade game, it's definitely a piece of Taito's history and is worth a play.
Rating: 44/100
Grade: E
Game: The Legend Of Kage
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date 1985
The first arcade game that I truly enjoyed on this collection, The Legend Of Kage follows the titular character in his efforts to rescue his girlfriend from a seemingly random enemy. The game plays out across 5 stages which culminate in a boss, and then repeat with a changed season, swapping the colour palette. Kage must use his throwing stars and sword to defeat the enemies in his way and advance through the game.
Kage's jump is very powerful and sends him high in the air, however his trajectory cannot be altered one he's taken off. It's possible to fire the throwing stars in 7 directions, straight downwards being the only way they won't go. The first stage is set in the forest, the second at the castle moat, the third scaling the castle walls, the fourth inside of the castle, and the final level is a boss fight which is far easier than it should be.
Graphically the game is pretty simple and resembles NES graphics somewhat. Most of the enemies are the same sprite, but palette swapped which means that things can get a little repetitive after a while. The music of the game is good at first but can get repetitive after a little while, as it doesn't change from stage to stage.
Overall The Legend of Kage isn't the most exciting or engaging game ever, but with decent controls, a selection of stages and some good progression it's easily one of the better games so far. I'd recommend a run through if you're a fan of action/ninja style games as the choice of weapons and general gameplay make this a cut above the rest.
Rating: 64/100
Grade: C
Game: KiKi KaiKai
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Date: 1986
In KiKi KaiKai players control Priestess Sayo-chan who must repel ghosts in order to rescue seven Lucky Gods. Sayo-chan can shoot with her talisman to defeat enemies or use a purifying rod to wave enemies away. There's also supposedly the option to use a crystal ball by pressing both the rod and talisman buttons together but I couldn't find an opportunity to use it.
Levels are fairly linear and enemies can easily be avoided as long as they're not travelling directly towards the player. Once a key has been picked up, the boss of each level can be fought. This presents a challenge in that players can only shoot in the direction that they're facing, meaning that dodging whilst shooting is far harder than in a traditional space shooter, for instance. This is also a problem every now and then in the levels themselves.
Graphically the game resembles that cartoon style of The Fairyland Story, from from an overhead view. There's nothing particularly impressive in either sound or visuals and the gameplay also leaves something to be desired. Overall KiKi KaiKai seems to be missing a few features that would make it a true arcade hit.
Rating: 42/100
Grade: E
Game: Kuri Kinton
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1988
Kuri Kinton is a fairly simple beat 'em up, following the story of a policeman who is working his way through an underground base to rescue a high ranking officer and his daughter who have been kidnapped. Players are given one button to perform attacks, and have free range of movement around the base, including 2 types of jumps.
The game moves continuously downwards through the underground base, past mid stage bosses, regular bosses and legions of henchmen towards the final boss. There's nothing particularly special in the way the game plays out, save for the fact that there's no breaks after bosses. The difficulty is well balanced, and with infinite continues available most players should be able to make their way to the end of the game easily.
Graphically this is the first game to be anywhere near the 16-bit style of SNES or Mega Drive graphics. The comic style onomatopoeia above the player when attacks land is a nice touch, but the levels seem to repeat somewhat even if they do change colour. The music of the game is good but a little forgettable.
Overall Kuri Kinton is a no frills, short but fun beat 'em up which has most of the makings of a good arcade game. Despite only have one button for attacks, there's a good range of hits that can be landed when moving about, and the variety of boss patterns is impressive.
Rating: 71/100
Grade: C
Game: Syvalion
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1988
The final game I'll be looking at today is Syvalion, a game where players guide a metal dragon robot through a maze whilst shooting fire at enemies. The fire gets less powerful the more it's used, but is rechargable and the dragon itself is able to take a certain number of hits before exploding into tiny pieces. There are five stages, each with their own boss to work through and a story which is resolved by the end of the game, but not of much note.
The controls for the game are fairly standard with a single button to shoot flames, and either the d-pad or analog stick used to direct the dragon. The analog sticks and d-pad move the dragon at different speeds, however and a combination of the two speeds is needed to successfully navigate through the maze. At times its best to charge through timed obstacles as fast as possible before they damage you, but at others moving fast will only get players stuck.
Graphically the game looks impressive, especially for 1988 as it resembles 16-bit graphics. The sounds and music of the game are also good, and add to the experience. Unfortunately the game is rather hard, even on easy mode I ended up using at least 20 lives to finish the story. As there are infinite continues on this version of the game, it's not a problem, but it could be in arcades and the constant interruption to reset players breaks the flow of gameplay somewhat.
Overall Syvalion seems like a good concept that was executed a little poorly in the end. The controls don't quite work as well as I'd like them too, and when couple with the short length of the game and its overall difficulty, these points mean that there's little replay value or interest to the game as a whole.
Rating: 55/100
Grade: D
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