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Taito Legends Review: Reasons To Buy

Taito Legends

Taito Legends Review: Reasons To Buy

Taito Legends is a compilation of arcade style games developed and published by Empire Interactive and released in 2005 for
PlayStation 2, Xbox,
and Microsoft Windows. Most of the games are an amalgam of shooter, platform and puzzle. Due to the number of games within Taito Legends this review will focus on a few key games within. Let’s find out if this compilation is worth the money and time.

Now That’s Gaming

Super Qix Screenshot
Super Qix.

There are 29 games in Taito Legends including Battle Shark, Bubble Bobble, Colony 7, Continental Circus, Electric Yo-Yo, Elevator Action, Exzisus, Gladiator, Great Swordsman, Jungle Hunt, Ninja Kids, The New Zealand Story, Operation Thunderbolt, Operation Wolf, Phoenix, Plotting, Plump Pop, Rainbow Islands, Rastan, Return of the Invaders, Space Gun, Space Invaders, Space Invaders Part 2, Super Qix, Thunderfox, Tokio, Tube It, Volfied and Zoo Keeper.

True arcade fanatics from the golden age will probably have no problem recalling each and every game contained within while the average casual gamer will have heard of only a small portion of the games offered in this compilation.

Taito Legends depth is typically in the form of an ever-increasing difficulty that incorporates more enemies at a faster pace while recycling the same levels or environments. The gameplay is firmly established at the beginning of the game and since they are arcade games they aren’t too difficult to get the hang of.

Getting Into Some Specifics

Bubble Bobble Cover
Bubble Bobble Cover Art.

Bubble Bobble features two dinosaur brothers, Bub and Bob as they jump from platform to platform in an attempt to capture monsters by trapping them in the bubbles, they are able to blow. Once trapped, they can pop the bubbles and destroy the monsters within, which will leave certain treats for our heroes to collect within a given time frame.

Plump Pop requires you to bounce an animal on a trampoline to burst a horde of balloons let loose over the sky. Watch out for flying enemies. Super Qix is the game where you have to outline sections of a picture before the evil gremlin attacks your drawing line before you complete outlining a rectangular section. Operation Thunderbolt features Green Berets attempting to rescue hostages from terrorists. Elevator Action stars Agent 17 as he tries to steal documents from atop a building using a series of interconnected elevators and escalators. Tube It is a Tetris rip-off where your bin fills with pipes that you must connect in order to make them disappear. Exzisus is a simple, side-scrolling, space shooter in which you fly over a planet shooting at anything in your path.

Things To Consider in Taito Legends

Pheonix Arcade Cover
Pheonix Arcade Poster Art.

The only real downside to the Taito Legends compilation is that some of these shooters would have benefited from the inclusion of a light gun. Instead, you get a cursor which tends to diminish the impact. You probably won’t miss it if you’ve never even heard of games such as Operation Thunderbolt and Space Gun, which is like an unflattering combination of Alien and Doom.

Taito’s Legends is like having an arcade in your own home. Maybe not the best arcade in town but more like the cheesy one you might recall on the wrong side of the tracks next to the 24-hour bowling alley and laundromat. Don’t deny yourself the pleasure of tackling some of these games just for the heck of it.

Worth A Shot

The price is great if you want to purchase it, but you can’t go wrong renting it for a retro-weekend party. This collection will keep fans and gaming enthusiasts on the edge of their seats.

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