Taito Legends is a compilation of 29 arcade games released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. The games were originally developed by Taito. The European release was published by Empire Interactive, who had licensed the games from Taito and developed the compilation. Although they did not get official credit for it in the American versions, Sega published the North American and South American releases.
| Taito Legends | |
|---|---|
 Box art | |
| Developer(s) | Empire Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Empire Interactive (Europe) Sega (North America) |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Various |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Extra features include interviews with some of the game designers, original sales flyers, and arcade cabinet art.
Two follow-up compilations were issued; Taito Legends 2 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC and the PlayStation Portable exclusive Taito Legends Power-Up.
Games
editWhile the Western Taito Legends consists of 29 arcade games, the Japanese Taito Memories includes only 25 arcade games per volume, omitting Jungle Hunt, Colony 7, The Electric Yo-Yo, Zoo Keeper and Tube It.[citation needed]
| Title | Arcade release | Taito Memories | Alternative title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Space Invaders | 1978 | I Vol.2 | |
| Space Invaders Part II | 1979 | I Vol.2 | Deluxe Space Invaders (USA) |
| Phoenix | 1980 | II Vol.2 | |
| Colony 7 | 1981 | No | |
| The Electric Yo-Yo | 1982 | No | |
| Jungle Hunt | 1982 | No | Jungle King (original) and Pirate Pete (official clone) |
| Zoo Keeper | 1982 | No | |
| Elevator Action | 1983 | I Vol.2 | |
| Great Swordsman | 1984 | II Vol.2 | |
| Return of the Invaders | 1985 | II Vol.1 | |
| Bubble Bobble | 1986 | I Vol.1 | |
| Gladiator | 1986 | II Vol.1 | Ougon no Shiro (Japan) |
| Tokio | 1986 | II Vol.1 | Scramble Formation (Japan) |
| Exzisus | 1987 | II Vol.1 | |
| Operation Wolf | 1987 | II Vol.2 | |
| Plump Pop | 1987 | II Vol.2 | |
| Rastan | 1987 | I Vol.1 | Rastan Saga (Japan, Europe) |
| Rainbow Islands | 1987 | II Vol.1 | |
| Super Qix | 1987 | II Vol.1 | |
| Operation Thunderbolt | 1988 | II Vol.1 | |
| The NewZealand Story | 1988 | I Vol.2 | |
| Battle Shark | 1989 | II Vol.2 | |
| Continental Circus | 1989 | II Vol.1 | |
| Plotting | 1989 | I Vol.1 | Flipull (Japan) |
| Volfied | 1989 | II Vol.2 | |
| The Ninja Kids | 1990 | II Vol.1 | |
| Space Gun | 1990 | II Vol.1 | |
| Thunder Fox | 1990 | II Vol.2 | |
| Tube It | 1993 | No | Cachat (Japan) |
Between 2005 and 2007, in total four similar compilations had been released by Taito for the PlayStation 2 in its home market of Japan:[2]
- Taito Memories Volume 1 (タイトーメモリーズ 上巻, Taitō Memorīzu Joukan)
- Taito Memories Volume 2 (タイトーメモリーズ 下巻, Taitō Memorīzu Gekan)
- Taito Memories II Volume 1 (タイトーメモリーズ2 上巻, Taitō Memorīzu 2 Joukan)
- Taito Memories II Volume 2 (タイトーメモリーズ2 下巻, Taitō Memorīzu 2 Gekan)
The games on this compilation are emulations of their respective arcade originals; however, the software lacks light gun support for Operation Wolf, Operation Thunderbolt, and Space Gun. These games place a gun cursor on the screen, which the player can move around with the analog stick (console versions), or mouse (PC version).
The games that had to be altered due to licensing issues are Jungle Hunt and Rainbow Islands. Elements of Jungle Hunt had to be altered such as the design of the Tarzanesque character and the signature Tarzan yell due to licensing issues with Edgar Rice Burroughs estate. Rainbow Islands had to alter its music for the re-release due to licensing.
Reception
edit| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | PS2: 71%[a][3] PC: 75%[b][4] XBOX: 74%[c][5] |
| Metacritic | PS2: 68/100[d][6] PC: 75/100[e][7] XBOX: 74/100[f][8] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| 1Up.com | B[9] |
| Eurogamer | 8/10[10] |
| G4 |   [11] |
| GameSpot | 7.1/10[12] |
| GameSpy |  [13] |
| GameZone | 7.9/10[14] |
| IGN | 7.8/10[15] |
| Official Xbox Magazine (UK) | 5.5/10[16] |
| PALGN | 7.0/10[17] |
| PC Games (DE) | 63/100[18] |
| PC Zone | 60/100[19] |
| Play | 73/100[20] |
| TeamXbox | 7.6/10[21] |
Taito Legends received "mixed or average reviews" for PlayStation 2 and Xbox according to review aggregators GameRankings and Metacritic;[3][5][6][8] the Windows version received "generally favorable reviews".[4][7] IGN praised the collection for a superb presentation, as well as the large amount of bonus material, but criticized some titles in the collection as "worthless filler".[15] Other criticisms are the lack of online leaderboards, the omission of Arkanoid and Chase H.Q., the lack of light gun support for Operation Wolf, Operation Thunderbolt, and Space Gun,[12] the lack of control configuration, and for the controls being "flipped", making it potentially uncomfortable and unnatural to many, less-adaptable players. Only the Windows version fixes the error regarding the collection's control scheme.
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "SEGA AND EMPIRE INTERACTIVE LAUNCH TAITO LEGENDS FOR PLAYSTATION 2, XBOX, PC". Sega. 25 October 2005. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ "Taito". Japsai. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Taito Legends for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Taito Legends for PC". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Taito Legends for Xbox". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Taito Legends for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Taito Legends for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Taito Legends for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ Parish, Jeremy (11 November 2005). "Taito Legends". 1Up.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ Coxall, Martin (18 October 2005). "Taito Legends". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ Fischer, Russ (20 March 2006). "Taito Legends Review". G4. Archived from the original on 23 April 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ a b Gerstmann, Jeff (31 October 2005). "Taito Legends Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ Turner, Benjamin (24 October 2005). "Taito Legends". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ jkdmedia (4 May 2012). "Taito Legends – PS2 – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ a b Clayman, David (8 November 2005). "Taito Legends". IGN. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ Price, Tom (January 2006). "Taito Legends". Official Xbox Magazine. No. 53. p. 71. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ Low, David (24 December 2005). "Taito Legends Review". PALGN. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "Taito Legends". PC Games (in German). Computec Media GmbH. March 2006. p. 92. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ Hogarty, Steve (January 2006). "Taito Legends". PC Zone. No. 163. p. 85. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ "Taito Legends". Play. No. 135. December 2005. p. 98. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ Soboleski, Brent (25 October 2005). "Taito Legends Review (Xbox)". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
External links
edit- Xplosiv pages: PS2,
- Empire support pages: PC (xplosiv red), PC xplosiv, PS2 Xplosiv, Xbox Empire
- XPLOSIV UNVEILS TAITO LEGENDS LINE-UP
- Empire Interactive announces the much-anticipated Taito Legends[permanent dead link]