Taito Milestones review

If you have the cash, the EGRET II mini offers four times as many Taito memories, with a tighter focus on the seminal ones. But for collectors on a budget, Taito Milestones bundles the company’s 80’s titles. If you haven’t already purchased these through the Arcade Archives series, this compiles ten of them, in a no frills compilation.

Shinjuku-based Taito certainly has a curious history. Established after World War II by Michael Kogan, Taito Trading Company was Japan’s first vodka distillery and dabbled with devices like vending machines and jukeboxes. But in 1973, the company changed direction, when integrated circuit (IC) technology allowed for the creation of coin-operated video games.

What followed were derivatives of Pong, a car racing game, and a shooter named Gun Fight. Each were popular, with Speed Race helping establish the longstanding 100-yen price point for arcade machines. But none of their early 70’s efforts came close to matching the hysteria caused by the debut of 1978’s Space Invaders.

“Milestones” Might Be Used a Bit Loosely

Tomohiro Nishikado’s effort wasn’t just the first shoot ‘em up, but it demonstrated that video games were capable of feats more sophisticated than their electro-magnetic predecessors. And while Space Invaders was undoubtedly an achievement for the company, you won’t find the game on the recent release of Taito Milestones. No, Space Invaders got its own collection, while G-Darius received a remaster as well as a pair of anthologies.

Instead, Taito Milestones is focused on a pivotal time for Taito, the period between 1981’s Qix and Space Seeker and 1987’s The Ninja Warriors. Sure, not every one of the ten titles in this anthology are memorable, making the title a bit of a misnomer. Instead, the compilation reveals just how much games progressed during the Eighties. Considering the occasionally hazy distinction between the eighth (PlayStation 4, Xbox One) and ninth (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X) console generations, the technological development is noteworthy for those interested in game history.

Gorf before Gorf

Space Seeker’s trifecta of top-down movement, first-person gunning, and horizontally-scrolling shooting was probably pretty revolutionary in ’81. But I’d suspect most players will be perplexed by the allure of the low-res action in 2022. Like many of the other nine titles in Milestones, you’ll might need to consult the in-game manual that available via an in-game menu. The goals of each mode might feel a bit unclear for first-timers.

1981’s Qix also excludes ambiguity, but in a good way. The sole American-designed entry in the collection, Qix is delightfully abstract, tasking players with drawing lines to gradually repossess the rectangular playfield. Once you’re secured at least 75% of the playfield, you’re whisked away to a new stage, where you’ll be threatened by more firework-like enemies. The design still shows up in the sporadic indie game, which demonstrates how creative and entertaining the concept is.

The Competent Years

Sadly, the games that followed aren’t as remarkable. Sure, Front Line might have pioneered with twin-stick shooter, but with jerky, stick-figure visuals it feels like a relic. Wild Western changes the setting and adds a train in the middle of the playfield, which enemies can takeover. But it’s mostly the same, with slow reload speeds forcing you to trap enemies at angles. 1982’s Alpine Ski is an improved version of Activision’s Skiing for the Atari 2600, Here, you’ll have three minutes to collect point bonuses, while avoiding bushes, rocks, moving obstacles across a collection of courses. The problem here is the hit detection in unreliable. Even scraping flora will assess a ten-second penalty.

But once Milestones hits 1983, Elevator Action shows a bit more complexity, as your pompadoured spy descends down floors of adversity filled buildings. You’ll have to determine whether you want to drop down as quickly as possible or gun down nearby opposition with limitless ammo. Carelessness can lead to you shooting out lights, making enemies harder to see. Meanwhile, Chack’n Pop feels like Bubble Bobble where your characters drop timed bombs. It’s an interesting curio that takes some time to get accustomed to. But once you do, it offers beguiling fun. Likewise, The Fairyland Story feels like another Bobble deviation, where a witch with a ray gun turns creatures into confectionaries. Like Chack’n Pop, it’s a slightly inferior reworking.

Through the End of the Shōwa Years

Halley’s Comet isn’t a remarkable shoot ‘em up; think Galaga’s whirling foes but with the Space Invader’s planet defense premise. Letting enemies slip past you gradually depletes the planet’s health bar, meaning you can just play defensively. Unlike its celestial namesake, this Halley’s Comet is hardly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it’s an intriguing example of an early game attempting to associate itself with a non-commercial zeitgeist.

Finally, there’s the star of the show, 1997’s The Ninja Warriors, which extended the horizontally-scrolling action of Item’s Kung-Fu Master across a trio of monitors. When released in arcades, the  game filled your peripheral vision. And Hamster’s adaptation recaptures the same aspect ratio and even offers to simulate the slight color variations across the trio of screens. The gimmick here is that you’re given a small collection of shuriken in addition to your standing and stooping melee attacks. It fun, but not nearly as nuanced as the recent spiritual successor.

Conclusion

Like too many retro compilations, Taito Milestones is remarkably stingy with the supplementals. With many of the original creators retiring from the industry, the opportunity for insight into the creation process is growing smaller. Sadly, the anthology includes little more than a manual for each game, extending little context for each game in the package. Milestones doesn’t even extend any fancy menus, unceremoniously dropping players into the selection screen.

On the upside, Hamster’s emulation is consistently flawless. There are no signs of hiccups, visual glitching, or slightly out-of-tune audio. Players have access to simulated DIP switches, allowing for adjustments to difficulty, the number of starting lives, and continues. But the lack of additions like caravan mode or any other tweaks is a bit disheartening. Ideally, a package that includes Milestones in its moniker should do more that offer a set of well-emulated ROMs.

Taito Milestones was played on Switch
with review code provided by the developer.