The New Zealand Story
Game: The New Zealand Story
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1988
The New Zealand Story is an undoubtedly cute platformer which features a kiwi as its main character whose task is to rescue his friends from having been kidnapped. Gameplay is initially similar to the Super Mario Bros. series in many ways, though later in the game other mechanics are introduced which help to differentiate the gameplay a little from Nintendo's classic title.
Some of these changes include platforms, on which players can float freely around the level until the platform is destroyed or a bottleneck is reached where the platform cannot be taken, underwater segments which are fairly free of enemies as players have few attacking options whilst swimming (though the player's kiwi does put on a little snorkel, which is adorable), and boss fights which are more akin to other games like Fantasy Zone.
Controlwise players can jump and shoot, with various powerups available for their shot including fireballs and lasers. Precision jumping can be tricky as the jump controls feel as if they're on ice, but for regular jumps it's hardly noticeable.
Graphically the levels are fairly colourful, despite featuring many shades of brown and green which can be rather confusing at times, as hazards are far harder to spot. The kiwis featured in the game don't look much like real kiwis at all, which is a little odd, though they're more in keeping with the graphical style and bright aesthetic than a depiction of a real world kiwi would be.
Overall The New Zealand Story is a fairly fun platform game with inventive levels and ideas based on the platforming genre. Exploring levels is fun and they're set out well, with decent controls as long as there's no precision platforming needed. Enemies are well designed and have a range of different attack patterns, which keeps the gameplay fresh across levels.
Rating: 69/100
Grade: C
Operation Thunderbolt
Game: Operation Thunderbolt
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1988
You may remember Operation Wolf from part 2 of this collection review; I gave it an A Grade for being an action packed, faced paced shooter which was neither too hard nor too difficult, and which featured inventive levels and ideas. Operation Thunderbolt, its sequel is like a poor imitation of the original. The best new feature is the option for two player games, which could well heighten the fun a little, but there's some fundamental issues with the game.
Firstly the number of enemies has increased greatly; the first game had a counter which kept track of kills needed to finish the level which usually started at around 50. In the first level of Operation Thunderbolt alone, I made 154 kills all of which were terrorists rather than their vehicles, as none feature in the first level. This trend continues throughout the game and at times makes it frustrating and difficult to progress, as there can be many grenades, knives and rockets onscreen at any one time, all of which require shooting to prevent loss of health.
Another issue with the game is that half of its levels are now "Outrun" style, with the terrain coming towards players rather than scrolling. This gives are more limited range of shooting, and usually makes it harder to defend against incoming attacks. Graphically the game is somewhat of an improvement on Operation Wolf, but without any background music all that accompanies gameplay is the sound of an enormous amount of gunfire.
Overall I'd have preferred a slightly easier game which still held some challenge to a harder game which kept offering life-up and weapon packages from the sky. Perhaps the added difficulty would be less of a factor in two player mode, but the monotony and poor design of the game compared to Operation Wolf wouldn't disappear. An incredibly disappointing sequel, all things considered.
Rating: 44/100
Grade: D
Battle Shark
Game: Battle Shark
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1989
Battle Shark's arcade cabinet had a fairly unique design for a lightgun shooter style game, in that instead of a gun, a periscope was attached as a sight which players aimed and shot through. As you can probably guess from this, the game is nautical in theme and challenges players to shoot their way through 10 underwater and above water levels in order to take down the enemy.
Due to being underwater, there's a delay between the player's shot being fired and reaching enemy ships which must be anticipated, making the game a little harder than the average shooter of this kind. The game can be a little difficult at times, with bosses and helicopters shooting missiles back at players, however these can be intercepted and even if they're not, there are 5 chances before the Battle Shark is destroyed and continue is lost.
Graphically the game is beautiful with detailed underwater backgrounds, features and enemies. Effects and explosions look as full of impact as they feel, and this adds a stylish juxtaposition to the beauty and calm of the ocean. The musical accompaniment is enjoyable and suits the game well, and the progression and difficulty of the game as a whole escalates nicely.
Overall Battle Shark has enjoyable themeing and gameplay, which helps to propel it above the average light gun shooter. Though it can get a little difficult at times, players are allowed to continue from exactly where they left off, and the entire game can be completed on 10 credits or less. My only complaint is that the action can get a little tedious at times, especially during boss battle which require many, many hits to beat.
Rating: 74/100
Grade: B
Plotting
Game: Plotting
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1989
As soon as I started to play Plotting, I knew I'd seen it somewhere before. A short while after, it clicked that it had been on one of the Game Boy multicarts I reviewed a while back, retitled as Flipull, but still published by Taito. It's a very simple puzzle game, that doesn't require too much skill or forethought, and which could easily be played in a board game style rather than taking up space at arcades.
The graphics are certainly far better than those of Flipull on the Game Boy, but you'd expect that given the difference in power between arcade systems and the original Game Boy. I gave Flipull 14 out of 100 in my Game Boy review, and I'm afraid it's a similar fate for this version of the game as it's just not interesting enough to score any higher.
Rating: 20/100
Grade: F
Volfied
Game: Volfied
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1989
With such an exciting title and game intro, you might think that Volfied is going to be the first in a new level of space shooters, with exciting graphics and gameplay. You'd be wrong however, as Taito may as well have just called this 'Space Qix'. Sure, I thought Qix was pretty fun the first time I played it, and Super Qix was alright, despite not really building on the formula so much as repeating it, but a third game without changing very much is just offensive to the consumer.
Graphics wise, the space themeing would add interest if it wasn't so blatantly obvious that this was a simple re-skin of another Taito game. I'm aware that this was far more common in the 1980s than it is today, but if we wouldn't stand for thousands of re-skinned versions of Pong and Tetris back in the day, why should this be any different?
Rating: 47/100
Grade: D
The Ninja Kids
Game: The Ninja Kids
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1990
The Ninja Kids is an interesting little Beat 'em up which challenges players to fight their way through satanic hordes of enemies as one of four Ninja Kids, each of whom has a special elemental power. It features many short stages chained together which act as levels, at the end of which there are hostages to be rescued. Some of the concepts featured are culturally Japanese in nature, evidenced by attempts at translation such as "You will be servants of The Satan".
On the whole, gameplay isn't particularly interesting as players are only given jump, attack and special buttons. The special can only be used once per continue, and the jumping attack is somewhat useless, so most of the time players will be mashing the attack button to make their way through the mass of enemies in their way.
The game's graphics are cartoon-like and generally easy on the eye, if a little simplistic. There's a good overall sense of humour with limbs flying off everywhere and zombies controlling mechanical equipment to name just a few comical moments. The music is repetitive, but enjoyable for the most part, even if it isn't the most memorable soundtrack to an arcade game.
Overall Ninja Kids has its problems with controls and unpredictability of offscreen attacks, but overall it's worth a play if you're a fan of Beat 'em Ups, especially since there's a two player mode. I'd have preferred the game to have longer stages instead of chaining very short stages or even rooms together, but the overall effect is about the same, I suppose.
Rating: 65/100
Grade: C
Space Gun
Game: Space Gun
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1990
Having though the title sounded familiar, I had a look through my other games and sure enough Space Gun got a conversion to the Sega Master System. Having said that the arcade version is a lot smoother, with far better graphics but the concept is pretty much the same. As a light gun shooter in the same style as Operation Wolf, players must shoot their way through various space stations infested with aliens in order to save hostages.
Armed with only a few special attacks, players must get by for the most part with their main automatic weapon, neutralising the aliens. Annoyingly even the basic aliens take a fair few hits to die, which means that it becomes more of a bullet spray fest than my favoured fast paced sniping style of lightgun shooter.
Graphically the game looks superb, with Super Nintendo style shadows and textures. The colours used and mood really set the scene well, and the music adds a horror element to tie the themes together. Overall Space Gun is a bearable light gun shooter which has a few major issues that prevent it from being quite as enjoyable as it could be.
Rating; 60/100
Grade: D
Thunder Fox
Game: Thunder Fox
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1990
Thunder Fox is part Beat 'Em Up, part Run and Gun, part Shoot 'Em Up with equal amounts of awesome thrown in. Players attempt to make their way through levels, using only their knife at first but with the ability to pick up grenades, pistols, flamethrowers, rocket launchers, automatic weapons and more through the course of the game. There's also the chance to play shoot 'em up style levels between the main levels as new locations are travelled to.
Controlwise the game is great; there are separate buttons for melee and weapon attacks (meaning you can beat baddies up with a rocket launcher, without firing it and wasting ammo), as well as the jump and kick buttons. The level layouts are interesting and fun to explore, with added features such as having to escape from an exploding plane in a certain time limit. While the difficulty does ramp up quite quickly, the fun factor is high so it's not as much of an issue.
Graphically the game is well made with detailed sprites, textures and locations. The game's screen i often cluttered with enemies, but it's usually easy enough to tell where is safe, and how best to defeat the onslaught of goons. Bosses are somewhat disappointing and could have been both more fun to fight, and more interesting. The music featured in the game doesn't quite fit the mood, but is of a good quality and works at a basic level alongside the game.
Overall Thunder Fox is a great arcade game in that it allows players to do many things that other games of this kind do not such as stealing enemy weapons to use against them, driving vehicles to cause damage to enemies, and drowning enemies by letting them fall into the sea in one of the shoot 'em up stages. There are a few issues with the game, but nothing that prevents it from being lots of fun.
Rating; 87/100
Grade: B
Tube-It
Game: Tube-It
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1993
Tube-It is a fun and addictive puzzle game in which players must link tubes from one side of the screen to the other (or back on themselves) in order to destroy the blocks onscreen and continue playing the game. There are several different shapes of tube which appear on screen, and so linking one side to another can be challenging if a specific type of tube is required.
Blocks can be moved from one place to another as long as there is nothing preventing them from being moved. In this way players must think quickly about what block types they require, as there's only a short time before the required block will become immobile, thanks to surrounding blocks being dropped from above. Levels require players to remove a certain amount of blocks in order to progress. if the blocks reach the top of the screen at any point, the game is over and players will have to start the level again if they wish to continue.
Graphically the game is colourful, though simplistic especially considering it's date of release (1993). The music which accompanies gameplay is cheerful an upbeat, if a little repetitive but generally fits the game rather well. Overall as a puzzle game, Tube-It is enjoyable as a fast paced battle of wits, especially in two player form.
Rating: 64/100
Grade: C
As a collection, Taito Legends features a large amount of varied games both in genre and quality. Games such as Operation Wolf, Thunder Fox and Exzius show Taito at their very best, creating fun and innovative arcade games with mass appeal to gamers. Games such as Plump Pop, Plotting and Zoo Keeper represent titles that feel somewhat flat when played in the modern era, though they're nowhere near as poor as the earliest titles featured on Taito Legends 2. Overall, this collection is enjoyably varied and that's what keeps it interesting.
Rating: 75/100
Grade: B
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