Review: Taito Milestones
Even if you’re a casual gamer, chances are you’ve played a game developed or published by Taito. The quality and depth of their catalogue is extremely impressive featuring titles such as Space Invaders, Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Renegade, Double Dragon, Operation Wolf, Rainbow Islands, Chase H.Q, and The New Zealand Story to name a few. With the exception of Space Invaders, all of the above titles were released between 1986 and 1988. Wow! What an incredible run of games to release in such a short space of time!
As you can probably tell, I have a soft spot for Taito, which is why I was looking forward to checking out the Taito Milestones collection. As you will read in my review, most of the games included are from the early to mid-80’s, and truth be told, I’ve only played one of these games before. However, if you’ve read any of my Evercade collection reviews, you’ll know I enjoy checking out games I’ve never played, as it gives me a better appreciation of the history of videogames.
Before I get into the actual games themselves, let me review the presentation of this collection. To say it’s barebones is a bit of an understatement. There is no additional information about the games, or screenshots etc. As the game loads you are shown the controls screen and can change the display settings such a screen filters, display frame and position. You can also create save states. There is a digital instruction manual, but that’s about it. I would have liked to read a bit more about the history of each game, but maybe I’ve been spoilt by the Evercade instruction manuals?
Anyway, now I’ve set the scene, let’s see what Taito Milestones has to offer. As with my Evercade reviews, I’ll rate each game out of five and then provide an overall summary.
Qix – 1981
Qix is a puzzle game which I can best describe as a digital version of Etch a Sketch. You move a marker around the edge of the screen. You draw lines around the field and the aim of the game is to fill in 75% of the main screen. Sounds simple, but the only problem is the titular Qix which flies around the screen. This is a fairly large obstacle which will kill you instantly if it touches you or your line before you manage to finish your drawing. There are also Sparx which move along the edge of the screen and follow the lines you draw. The more of the screen you fill in, the smaller it gets making it more difficult to avoid the Qix and Sparx. Qix is a very tricky game, but also fun. Despite getting a bit annoyed, I also found myself having “just one more go” which is the sign of a good game. 3/5
Space Seeker – 1981
To be quite honest, Space Seeker was initially a bit baffling! The game opens up with a planet. You control a red and white blob. There are smaller planets and something resembling a spaceship. If you move your red and white blob into a spaceship, the game turns into a side scrolling shooter very similar to Scramble, coincidentally released in 1981 by Konami. If you move your blob to a planet, it turns into a first-person shooter where you control a turret and must destroy other spaceships. I like the ambition and concept of Space Seeker as it mixes up different genres of games. The only problem is that the action sections are incredibly difficult, so I don’t know how to actually improve. You have three red and white blobs and once you lose them the game is over. Whilst I applaud the ingenuity (especially for a game from 1981), the insane difficulty turns me off very quickly. 2/5
Alpine Ski – 1982
As the name implies you control a skier in this top-down racer. You have two minutes to try and get the highest score possible. There are obstacles in your way including trees, fires, and other skiers. You can pick up additional points by collecting them along the way. The graphics are bright and colourful, albeit a bit basic. You can forgive this as the game is from 1982. The music is jaunty and suits the fun nature of this type of game. However, there are two major problems with Alpine Ski. The first are the controls. Your skier feels very jerky when he moves left and right, which makes it difficult to avoid obstacles. This is the second problem, as you only have to barely touch something before crashing. When you crash you lose 10 seconds from your two-minute timer, which means a game can be over very quickly. 1.5/5
Wild Western – 1982
Wild Western is another top-down shooter which sees you taking control of a sheriff who must stop gangsters from robbing a train. The train runs along the centre of the screen and your character is on a white horse. There are a number of train robbers who are also on horses. The aim is to shoot the bad guys before they shoot you. This is difficult as the baddies are crack shots and can knock you off your horse before you can say yippee kay yay! If you do manage to take out the enemies, you are treated to a bonus round where you horse throws a coin into the air, and you get one chance to shoot it. Wild Western is ok, but the controls aren’t great. It doesn’t feel particularly responsive, and the high difficulty is frustrating to say the least. 2/5
Front Line – 1982
Front Line it a top-down shooter where you control a lone soldier taking on an army of enemies. As soon as Front Line started, I was immediately reminded of Commando or Ikari Warriors. You have a gun and can throw grenades, but the main difference is you can fire your gun in eight different directions by moving the right stick on your controller. However, there was something a bit off about Front Line. The first thing is the utterly ridiculous way your character moves. It’s hard to describe, but it looks as if his feet aren’t quite connected to his legs. Seriously, check out the video below and you’ll see what I mean. The other thing is that your character looks like he’s wearing a wok on his head. Whilst the gameplay is fine (albeit quite hard) it’s difficult to take the game seriously for the above reasons, and as I’ve mentioned, I’d rather play Commando. 2/5
Elevator Action – 1983
Like the best games, Elevator Action is easy to pick up and play, but is difficult to master. It also has that “just one more go” factor. You control a spy who uses his grappling hook to enter the roof of a building. There are thirty floors in the building and as the name implies, there are elevators linking them. On each floor there are a mixture of blue and red doors. The blue doors contain agents which occasionally come out and try to shoot you. You have your own gun, so these can be dispatched fairly easily. The red doors contain documents which you must steal. The aim of the game is to grab all the documents and make your way to the basement to your getaway vehicle. As you get lower into the building, the game gets more difficult by adding escalators, more bad guys, and different elevators which are only accessible by certain routes. I managed to get to floor three before losing all of my lives. I quite enjoyed Elevator Action. It’s a fun game which made me want to try and reach the goal. 4/5
Chack‘n Pop – 1984
Chack’n Pop is a platformer which shares links to the classic Bubble Bobble. With that in mind I was optimistic when the game loaded. You control Mr Chack’n who must capture hearts which have been stolen by the bad guys. Once you release a heart, the exit opens, and you have to escape. The only thing standing in your way are the numerous enemies. Luckily, you have grenades which can be thrown from the left and right of your character. Despite my hopes I really didn’t get on very well with Chack’n Pop. The main reasons are the platforming and it’s too bloody hard! The biggest issue is Chack’n can’t jump. You’d think this would be a pretty fundamental flaw for a platforming game? His legs extend meaning he can stick to walls, but with the number of enemies buzzing around, it’s nigh on impossible to even get close to the exit. You’d think the bombs would help, but they are practically useless, and even worse, more dangerous to you! The bombs take an age to explode and when they do, they leave a cloud of smoke which is deadly to Chack’n and the enemies. Not only this, but you only have one life! All of this meant I dropped Chack’n Pop quicker than a bride’s knickers! 1.5/5
The Fairyland Story – 1985
The Fairyland Story is an ultra-cute platformer where you control a witch. Each level contains a number of enemies which must be dispatched before you can move on. Being a witch, you can cast spells which turn the bad guys into a cake. Yes, a cake! There are two ways to kill them. Firstly, you can turn them into a cake and push them off a ledge, or hit the fire button as fast as possible which makes them disappear. Despite knowing absolutely nothing about The Fairyland Story, I actually really enjoyed it! It’s a simple game to play but also quite fun. Although it starts off simply enough, there are new enemies introduced which provide a stiffer challenge. The Fairyland Story reminded me of the excellent Rod Land which was released in 1990. If I had to pick one platformer from this collection between Chack’n Pop or The Fairyland Story, I would go for the latter every day of the week. 3/5
Halley’s Comet – 1986
Halley’s Comet is a vertical scrolling shooter very similar to the myriad of these type of games you’ve no doubt played before. My initial thoughts were that it resembled Galaga or Galaxian. Halley’s Comet is slightly different to those as you can find upgrades to your weapons as you destroy asteroids. On the right-hand side of your screen, it shows your spaceship and the distance to the end point. There is also a percentage which increases. I initially thought this was how close I was to reaching the end, but according to the instruction manual, this is how much damage is being done to earth. If it gets to 100% the game is over. Along with the usual enemy spaceships, there are comets which also have to be destroyed. If you don’t blow them up, your percentage increases. Halley’s Comet is a decent shooter, but there isn’t much that makes it stand out from the crowd. The graphics are ok, and it plays well enough. It also suffers from the same gameplay flaw that a lot of these kind of games feature. When you die you lose all of your upgrades, and you start from the same place where you died. This makes it virtually impossible to get any further. Maybe it’s just my aging reflexes which are the problem? 2.5/5
The Ninja Warriors – 1987
As I mentioned in my introduction, there is one game I have played in this collection and that game is Ninja Warriors. I was a huge fan of anything ninja related when I was a kid, so it was no surprise that I HAD to play Ninja Warriors when I saw it in the arcades all those years ago. Ninja Warriors is a side scrolling beat ‘em up which follows in the footsteps of Kung Fu Master and similar games. You move to the right and are attacked by different soldiers. Some of them run straight at you and others stop to fire rifles. Occasionally you’ll come across another ninja or fire breathing bad guy, but it tends to be soldiers which attack you. I quite like this juxtaposition of a ninja trained in the ancient ways of stealth being attacked by modern style enemies. You even get attacked by a tank at one point! Anyway, you can slash with your knives or throw a finite supply of shuriken’s. You have an energy bar and most of the enemies pose little threat, but you quickly lose health when you are faced by anything else. This makes the game insanely difficult and I’m sad to say not particularly fun. One detail I’ve always enjoyed is how your character physically changes based on how much energy you lose. You are like The Terminator who loses his fleshy body to reveal a metallic skeleton. The soundtrack is also excellent. Ultimately Ninja Warriors is a game best left consigned to the fond memories I had as a child, as the high difficulty robs the game of its fun. 2.5/5
Overall
The Taito Milestones collection features some fairly obscure games from a company which has a long and storied history. There maybe some of you reading this saying “these games aren’t obscure, how dare you!” That maybe the case, but as someone who has been playing games for over 40 years, I like to think I have a fairly expansive amount of knowledge on the subject, and if I haven’t played them, I’m guessing there are a fair few people who probably haven’t played them either. So, in that respect, you have to commend this collection for sharing the rich history of Taito. But (there’s always a but) in the cold light of day, these games are fairly average at best. As is the case with collections like this, there are usually one or two classics to make up for the lesser known, or just plain crap games. Unfortunately this isn’t the case with the Taito Milestones Collection, and everything is just fairly average. Therefore it’s a hard one to recommend, unless you are the kind of person who has to own every game Taito have ever released.
The Taito Milestones Collection is available now for Nintendo Switch.
Review by Chris.
