Taito is one of those interesting historical games companies.

For the longest time I knew they made Space Invaders…. And that’s it. It turns out that from the 70’s through to very recently they have been absolutely pumping out arcade games, and with the Taito Collection packages you can check out 10 games from their history.

Straight out of the gate I will say this package is lacking.

When it comes to retro games, 80% of it is the fun of being able to play a preserved old game. The other 20% comes with the context. When was this released? What was it competing with? Were there design choices made for reasons? What made this game unique?  In other words, why are these milestones?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection was the gold standard for collections, the number of pieces of art, the articles, the booklets, the everything. The amount of content for each game in that collection was insane, and while that might not be for everyone, that is how you make a collection that treasures and preserves the past.

Unfortunately Taito Milestones 2, and after some Googling, the same for Milestones 1, doesn’t get that deep. The games have been emulated beautifully to really feel like you are playing the same game that was being played 30-40 years ago. Well you know, same game, but on a Switch on the train instead of a bulky arcade cabinet in an arcade.  Still, you get what I mean.

When it comes to the collection itself, this is a really fun collection given the breadth of genres it covers.

You get an old school fighter with Solitary Fighters and you get some side scrolling action with the Legend of Kage.

Even within the shooters you get some nice variety with the Side scrolling shooters Metal Black and Darius II, through to Gun Frontier being a top down shooter. Kiki Kaikai is a weird one which is in every way a top down shooter, but because you play as a shrine maiden throwing scrolls, instead of a ship shooting at enemies, it feels like a totally different genre.

When it comes to the platformers, this is where I wanted to really see the collection’s value as some old school platformers stand up better than they should. Ben Bero Beh, Liquid Kids, and The New Zealand story all play OK, and offer something unique enough to justify giving each one a crack. The moment I saw the New Zealand Story I was intrigued.

Unfortunately the main character that is supposedly a kiwi…. does not look like a kiwi.  I know I am bringing 2023 baggage to a 1986 game, so everything was pretty loose, but you throw my country name into anything and I have high hopes.

The weirdest thing is Dino Rex.

The game’s aesthetic looks so much better than it should have for the time. And a fighting game with dinosaurs, I am so in. Unfortunately it is borderline unplayable.

It’s fascinating to play, but so damn hard to try to play. This is where some interesting information about the game, what was achieved, and how they tried to do it would have made this a potentially really insightful look at that moment in gaming.

Annoyingly it’s just a fascinating, painful to play, weird looking moment in history that has me more curious than informed.

What we have here is a really interesting collection of games from covering a massive number of years.  Seeing the changes in capability is great, and some games are actually fun to play.  As a historical collection though, it lacks in the history part which would have taken this from an OK collection, to an amazing tribute to these titles.

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ININ and TAITO have again come together to provide retro gamers and arcade fans with the ultimate gaming experience.

The TAITO Milestones Collection will receive its deserved sequel, with the two partners bringing ten more beloved classics from TAITO’s vault to modern consoles. But for everyone who has already got to experience the first TAITO Milestones, ININ prepared a few options that will allow you to expand your personal arcade collection, as often before, available for pre-order NOW through their partner store Strictly Limited Games.

Apart from the Retail and Digital Edition of TAITO Milestones 2, with the retail edition already available for pre-order, TAITO Milestones 2 will be available worldwide as a Limited Edition

As a tribute to collectors, ININ prepared some bundle options for you to have all 20 arcade classics in one single collection.

TAITO Milestones 1&2 Bundle offers all 20 gems in one Limited Edition Collection, featuring an additional Arcade booklet in an attractive cardboard slipcase, limited to 400 copies worldwide.

TAITO Milestones 1&2 Bundle Upgrade is designed for those who have already purchased the first Milestones collection, featuring the Limited Edition of TAITO Milestones 2 and an exciting Arcade booklet in a colorful cardboard slipcase which will let you also store the edition you already own.

TAITO Milestones 1&2 Collector’s Bundle is the ultimate TAITO’s vault Collector’s Edition, featuring the Collector’s Edition of the first TAITO Milestones collection, the Limited Edition of the second TAITO Milestones collection and of course the educative Arcade booklet, all in a colorful cardboard slipcase. Limited to 400 copies worldwide.

TAITO Milestones 1&2 Collector’s Bundle Upgrade is designed for the biggest supporters, who have already put their hands on a TAITO Milestones Collector’s Edition and only wish to complete their collection. Featuring the Limited Edition of TAITO Milestones 2 and the exciting Arcade booklet, this bundle comes in a colorful cardboard slipcase which will let you also store the edition you already own.

Twenty games, each representing a specific breakthrough in the development and gaming history and spanning a variety of genres. Platform, sports, shooting, puzzle and more, all releasing on Nintendo Switch.

All editions will be released on September 29th, 2023.

The post Taito to Release 20 Vault Classics appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

AtGames in partnership with TAITO Corporation, a leading producer of legendary video games, has announced that 47 of TAITO’s original arcade classics, including Space Invaders, Rastan, Qix, Operation Wolf, Bubble Bobble, Cadash, and Zoo Keeper are now available on Legends Arcade Family products.

These products, which include the full-size Legends Ultimate home arcade, Legends Gamer Pro wireless tabletop controller, and other devices with authentic controls, run on the Legends Arcade Platform, which allows for a range of impressive connected features, including ArcadeNet, BYOG, and universal global leaderboards.

Thanks to the flexibility of the Legends Arcade Family products, each of the 47 games (list below), which appear bundled together for the very first time, can be played with authentic arcade controls and in their original aspect ratios.

For even more authenticity with classic light gun games like Operation Wolf and Operation Thunderbolt, players can not only use an arcade-quality trackball, but also compatible light guns like the AimTrak or AtGames BitBlaster.

These TAITO arcade games are also being integrated into the exclusive AtGames Leagues Leaderboards (ALL) feature, which lets players on the Legends Arcade Platform compete on universal global leaderboards. Some of the great TAITO arcade games already leaderboard-enabled are Alpine Ski, Chack ‘n Pop, Colony 7, Kiki KaiKai, Liquid Kids, and Lunar Rescue.

The 47 TAITO arcade games are:

Alpine Ski

Battle Shark

Ben Bero Beh

Bonze Adventure

Bubble Bobble

Cadash

Cameltry

Chack ‘n Pop

Colony 7

Crazy Balloon

Don Doko Don

Elevator Action

Elevator Action Returns

Football Champ

Front Line

Growl

Gun & Frontier

Halley’s Comet

KiKi KaiKai

Kram

Kuri Kinton

Liquid Kids

Lunar Rescue

Metal Black

Nastar Warrior

Operation Thunderbolt

Operation Wolf

Pirate Pete

Plotting

Plump Pop

Qix

Raimais

Rastan

Space Gun

Space Invaders

Space Invaders DX

Syvalion

The Electric Yo-Yo

The Fairyland Story

The Legend of Kage

The New Zealand Story

The Ninja Kids

Thunder Fox

Violence Fight

Volfied

Wild Western

Zoo Keeper

These 47 TAITO arcade games, which are available via a standard firmware update, are part of the growing number of built-in, licensed games on Legends Arcade Family products like the Legends Ultimate and Legends Gamer series. Other current and future Legends Arcade Family products feature a similarly impressive mix of licensed arcade and console titles.

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The post 47 TAITO Arcade Classics Featured on Legends Arcade Family appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Previously announced in 2018, the pioneer of the Japanese video game industry, TAITO Corporation, is returning to the market for console games after around ten years with well-known and new TAITO IPs.

The first Western title from the game developer and publisher TAITO is a reboot of Ninja Warriors – a game which came onto the market for the Super Nintendo in 1994. 

The game will be released in North America and Europe by the German United Games GmbH, digitally and physically. The title will be marketed through Strictly Limited Games as limited editions and through the newly founded publishing label ININ as traditional retail and digital versions. 

TAITO Corporation was founded 65 years ago and shaped video game history at the time. In the 1980s and 90s, TAITO enthused millions of players with megahits such as PUZZLE BOBBLE, Rainbow Islands, ARKANOID and many other megasellers which enjoy cult status with gamers all over the world even today. In particular, SPACE INVADERS, the company’s best known title, brought global fame to the game pioneer TAITO and took the international game market by storm. The famous characters from SPACE INVADERS have since become the corporate characters of TAITO and represent a piece of pop culture which appears again and again, even outside of games.

No matter if in Hollywood movies, advertising, fashion or art – the ironically designed extraterrestrial invaders draw attention everywhere.

“We are proud to work together with TAITO Corporation, which has been a legend in the Japanese game industry for many years. We look forward to and are convinced that this cooperation will be a great success,” says Helmut Schmitz, CEO, United Games.

Details on Ninja Warriors will be announced later.

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