12 Days of NESmas Finale: Front Line, Tiger-Heli, Magmax and Star Force (#12)

Game: Front Line
Console: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1st August 1985

Front Line is scrolling shooter game in which players make their way through a battlefield on foot to their tank and then drive their tank far enough into enemy territory to make them surrender. After this has been achieved, the game loops and so the total playtime for a single completion is around 3 minutes. For any game this is a very short amount of time to be looping around after, and it's really a shame there's not some more levels included at least with some different terrain.

One of the game's main issues is the lack of ability to aim in a different direction than you are moving; with just the single control pad on the NES, players are forced to turn wherever they'd like to shoot, making progress that little bit harder. As a twin stick shooter this game would have felt far better. Players have a choice of grenades or bullets from their gun to defeat enemy soldiers, which I suppose is better than only one weapon choice.

Graphically the game is very simple with most sprites and objects drawn in what I can only describe as somewhat of a wonky style. Soldiers look odd as they walk, and the tanks are very simple shapes which require a little imagination. As for sound, there's only the noise of the player's footsteps, grenades an gunshots to enjoy which get old pretty fast.

Overall Front Line could have done with some technological advances before its release to improve the playability and amount of content featured in the game. While the idea of battling both on foot and from a tank is a good one, it's not enough without tight controls, good music and sound or even a few looping levels.

Rating: 30/100
Grade: E

Game: Tiger-Heli
Console: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Micronics
Release Date: 1986

Tiger-Heli is a helicopter based shooter game where players make their way through some bland and repetitive landscapes shooting tanks and trying to avoid being shot themselves. There are power-ups which can aid players in their mission, and most non-enemy objects are slightly destructible for some extra points.

The movement of the helicopter is a little stiff, and it can be difficult to avoid the tank shots as they occur, since the screen scrolls continuously. The worst feature of the game is the lack of proper checkpoints, with only a few landing pads where players recover briefly before taking off again and continuing. Because of this, the game becomes a slog and its runtime feels like far longer than it needs to be, and less exciting.

Graphically the game isn't much to look at, with simple effects for houses, water and grass. The sprites are slightly better but still aren't great, even for the NES era. The music which accompanies gameplay is surprisingly good and probably my favourite part of the entire experience.

Overall, a little more excitement would have helped Tiger-Heli to be less monotonous. With NES games it's important to present as many different levels, landscapes and enemy types as possible because with most games looping around after a short while, the enjoyment level will decrease with each replay of the game. Instead, Tiger-Heli is just an average shoot 'em up for the time.

Rating: 58/100
Grade: D

Game: Magmax
Console: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Nihon Bussan
Release Date: 1986

Magmax is an interesting shoot 'em up game which takes place on 2 planes; there's the above ground level where players can move freely around on the ground, dodging and shooting enemies and collecting parts to make their robot bigger, or the underground/sea level where players do just the same, but this time able to move around in a different 2 dimensions; up/down and right/left. Neither area is harder per se, but there's the option to swap between them at grey holes, though its possible to stay on a level if desired.

There's a boss which appears after a while, only requiring some persistent shooting and dodging to beat before the game loops. While it's fairly easy for a shoot 'em up of it's kind, whilst playing Magmax, you get a sense of fun that's often absent from far harder games of the genre. The upgradability of the your robot, added to the different game levels which occur concurrently make for a fresh experience for the time. A nice feature is that the parts of the robots which are collected act as extra lives, disappearing when they take a hit from an enemy.

Graphically the game isn't much to look at, with the overground level somewhat reminiscent of Exitebike, but the underground sections look much more like a contemporary shoot 'em up. The music isn't the best either, with some fairly experimental and ultimately grating tunes to listen to, but it's nice to see a different accompaniment for both the underground and overground sections as well as some boss music.

Overall Magmax is a breath of fresh air when compared to most other NES shoot 'em ups and as such is more enjoyable as a game today. Whilst there's not a huge amount of replayability and the game loops after an easy boss, the time I spent playing was far more pleasing than many of the other games I've played in the past 2 weeks on the NES.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C

Game: Star Force
Console: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Hudson Soft
Release Date: 1987

Star Force is the final game I'll be looking at in this NESmas feature; a shoot 'em up with plenty of enemies, bases and bonuses to target, but one where the colours chosen for the player's ship and the background were too similar causing difficulties with actually being able to see the ship. The game features areas, each with their own boss which can be pretty easily dispatched with a few seconds of shooting and dodging.

Unlike many shoot 'em ups, it's hard to tell quite what you're meant to be doing, apart from shooting everything in sight. There are capital letters in boxes, and small letters in boxes which appear from time to time, and get counted at the end of each level. I assume the goal is to pick up all of them, but they don't seem to make a huge amount of difference to gameplay.

Graphically the game is pretty good, aside from the main issue of terrible visibility. The sprites of enemies, and general locations featured behind gameplay are interesting and work well with the space theme. As you can probably see from the picture above, this isn't much good when you can't see enemies or bullets flying towards you.

Overall the game is ruined by one of its few flaws, as game overs occur far more quickly when players can't see what they're doing. It's a shame that no-one in the development team caught this issue before the game's release, as it could have been far better of a game.

Rating: 49/100
Grade: D

As a final round-up of the games I've played in the last 12 days, here's a table featuring everything that's been reviewed, in score order. There's been some great games, and a few that were shockingly bad, but overall most games had at least some promise or sense of unique gameplay and fun.

#1	Adventure Island					B	80.05
#2	Balloon Fight					B	75.20
#3	Joust					C	73.38
#4	Hogan's Alley					C	73.02
#5	Pac-man					C	72.02
#6	Wild Gunman					C	70.35
#7	Magmax					C	70.15
#8	Mario Bros					C	68.80
#9	Binary Land					C	66.05
#10	Excite Bike					C	62.85
#11	Arkanoid					C	62.50
#12	Nuts & Milk					C	62.30
#13	Yie Ar Kung Fu					C	62.05
#14	Hyper Olympic					C	62.02
#15	Battle City					D	61.95
#16	Devil World					D	61.85
#17	Dig Dug					D	60.95
#18	Kung Fu					D	60.27
#19	BurgerTime					D	59.10
#20	Tiger-Heli					D	58.80
#21	Space Invaders					D	57.35
#22	Road Fighter					D	57.10
#23	Life Force					D	56.50
#24	Mappy					D	55.30
#25	City Connection					D	54.60
#26	Popeye					D	54.10
#27	10 Yard Fight					D	51.60
#28	Duck Hunt					D	50.90
#29	Circus Charlie					D	50.90
#30	Star Force					D	49.50
#31	The Legend Of Kage					D	49.30
#32	Flappy					D	46.85
#33	F1 Race					D	45.95
#34	Galaga					D	45.30
#35	Donkey Kong Jr.					D	45.30
#36	Karateka					D	45.05
#37	Spy Hunter					E	40.00
#38	Exerion					E	39.30
#39	Baseball					E	36.60
#40	Donkey Kong 3					E	34.20
#41	Zippy Race					E	33.60
#42	Galaxian					E	33.60
#43	Chack N Pop					E	33.60
#44	Golf					E	32.20
#45	Bird Week					E	31.10
#46	Bomberman					E	31.10
#47	Front Line					E	30.55
#48	Urban Champion					F	28.50

Collection Review: Taito Legends Part 3 - 1988-93

And so for the last 9 games on this Taito collection, which were released towards the end of the classic arcade era.

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

Collection Review: Taito Legends Part 2 - 1986-7

While this part of my review contains as many games as the first, Taito's release schedule had become more crowded by 1986, so much that these 10 games only span 2 years at the company.

Bubble Bobble

Game: Bubble Bobble
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1986

Bubble Bobble is one of Taito's more famous arcade titles from this collection, featuring a pair of brothers who have been turned into small dragons called Bub and Bob that the player guides through 100 levels in order to rescue their girlfriends, With only a bubble attack at their disposal until the very end of the game, players must make use of the level layouts to trap enemies inside bubbles and subsequently pop them with the spines on their dragon's back.

The game was also one of the first to feature multiple endings, telling players to come back and complete the game with a friend, if completed in single player mode, and only revealing its true ending if completed in 'Super Mode', Controlwise and conceptwise the game is good for its age, though I'd prefer 10 good scrolling levels to 100 mediocre short ones; even the most keen of players is bound to get a little tired when levels reach triple digits.

Graphically the game is bright and enjoyable, despite featuring fairly crude sprites and basic level design. Enemies are easily recognisible, and there's a good variety of monsters who are out to get the little dragons. This game is also the first in the collection to feature 'proper music' behind gameplay, in that far more effort was put into constructing a melody which fits the theme and feel of the title.

Overall Bubble Bobble is a fun little arcade classic which holds a fair amount of enjoyability though perhaps a few too many levels before the final boss. With good sound and graphical design, the game's popularity was well deserved and I'll be looking at its sequel a little later on.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C

Gladiator

Game: Gladiator
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1986

Gladiator is a primitive hack n' slash arcade game in which players guide a gladiator through various stages as weapons and airborne enemies fly towards them, which can be blocked with the shield. After a while, some enemy gladiators appear who can be taken down with superior sword work (thought button mashing seems to work just as well, if not better). There's no real story as far as I can tell, as each level loads up without any text or cutscenes.

Dodging the airborne hazards in the first section of levels is difficult and imprecise. Often the gladiator will take damage even when he doesn't appear to have been hit, and collecting powerups/score bonuses usually only results in taking more damage. Fighting other gladiators is also difficult as they seem to block most of the player's attacks and have a longer reach.

Graphically the game is pretty detailed for 1986, and looks like it's heading towards the 16-bit era. While the animations are a little choppy, the visuals on the whole are quite impressive. The musical accompaniment to the game consists of a loop approximately 5 seconds long, which is only interrupted by the loss of a life. The sound effects too are lacklustre and don't add much to the game.

Overall Gladiator is based on a good idea; each part of the body has armour protecting it. If the armour is hit, it is removed leaving the bare flesh vulnerable to a second hit, which will end the player's turn. Unfortunately in practice, this doesn't work half as well as it could, and controlling the sword and shield together can prove confusing.

Rating: 55/100
Grade: D

Tokio

Game; Tokio
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1986

Despite being a shoot 'em up from 1986, Tokio does a lot to differentiate itself from other titles of the era. For a start the graphics are very nicely presented, with some almost pixel art-esque moments featured in the game's backgrounds. As players fly through the game and shoot enemies, planes of their own colour will appear which can be shot and added to the allied group. Not only do additional planes provide extra chances for the player, should they be hit by bullets, but attack power is also significantly increased.

While the game can be fairly difficult at times due to the large number of bullets onscreen and their tendency to blend in with the detailed background graphics, it's far easier when controlling a large group of allied planes, and in this way the bonus system works well. With practice it's possible to get pretty far into the game, which is more than can be said for many other shoot 'em ups.

As previously mentioned the game's graphics are impressive for the most part, and the same can be said for its musical accompaniment. Technologically it's far advanced from the simple tunes and bleeps that arcade machines of just a few years before would make, and provides an exciting and fitting musical backdrop to the game.

Overall Tokio is an enjoyable arcade shoot 'em up experience which seems to have withstood the test of time fairly well; very few elements are outdated, and the controls and concept remain excellent. There's very little I'd change about the game as a whole, even nowadays - perhaps only a slight tweaking of the difficulty and some additional powerups.

Rating: 74/100
Grade: B

Continental Circus

Game: Continental Circus
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1987

Released as Continental Circuit in the US (which makes a lot more sense for a racing game), Continental Circus is an interesting Formula 1 style racing game where players must gain positions whilst racing around different circuits all over the world. Many circuits feature multiple pit lanes as there's a high chance of collisions thanks to the stiff overall car handling and stubborn AI who won't move out of the way. The racing featured is similar to that of Outrun, with a "stationary car, moving track" visual style.

Once players have completed an entire lap of a circuit, and are within the target qualifying position when crossing the finish line, they'll move on to the next race. Otherwise crashing out, running out of time and not making the cut for qualifying will result in a game over, though players can continue where they left off if they wish, making for a fairly easy game in terms of progression. Unfortunately this can also be exploited and used to gain far more positions that would be possible from racing normally.

Graphically the game has some impressive points with detailed backgrounds and track features, comparing well to Outrun and similar games. The locations and tracks featured are fairly varied, and serve to keep players interested as they continue through the game.Unfortunately there's no music which plays behind racing; the only in-game musical accompaniment can be found on menu screens and in the pits. There's still some engine/racing noises, but these would be far more interesting with a fast tempo track behind them.

Overall Continental Circus is a fun racing game, despite not handling quite as well as its closest competitors. The ranking system and grand prix themeing add an element of challenge and competition to the game, though on the whole the game isn't particularly hard to complete.

Rating: 65/100
Grade: C

Exzisus

Game: Exzisus
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1987

One of my favourites on the collection so far, Exzisus is a shoot 'em up set in space which shares similar elements with Fantasy Zone, and other space themed shoot 'em ups in general. Unlike Fantasy Zone the screen constantly scrolls, though the player is free to move around inside of the frame. Enemies of all shapes and sizes come from every direction and must be seen off with the ship's various weapons.

Without any powerups, players have bullets and bombs at their disposal which are fired simultaneously. Once powerups have been collected players can make use of homing missiles, lasers, allied ships, air-to-ground missiles and more. There's also a powerup which transforms the player into a ship until they are hit, effectively allowing one more hit before death, though the ship is larger than the original player sprite making it harder to dodge incoming fire.

So far you may think that the Fantasy Zone comparison is unwarranted, however the first boss of the game has the exact same concept as the first boss of Fantasy Zone; players must shoot it in a specific spot whilst avoiding scattered bullet fire travelling towards them. Despite this similarity, I wouldn't say that Exzisus copied Fantasy Zone, despite being released a year later as the idea is pretty standard for shoot 'em up.

Graphically the game is good, though perhaps a little less detailed than other Taito games of the time. The music is fitting if somewhat of a short loop, becoming repetitive after a little while. Overall Exzisus provides a fun and engaging shoot 'em up experience which has a good level of challenge, a useful powerup system and the option to continue where you left off, instead of starting all over again.

Rating: 84/100
Grade: B

Operation Wolf

Game: Operation Wolf
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1987

Originally a light gun shooter in arcades and its many home conversions, it's unfortunate that Xplosiv didn't add light gun support when porting this to the Taito Legends collection. As such players have to make do with controlling an on screen reticule used to target shots and grenades. There are six levels in all, in which players rescue hostages and eventually guide them safely onto a plane to escape a concentration camp.

With different types of targets such as helicopters, armoured vehicles and soldiers scattered across the screen, projectiles which can be shot out of the air and other exciting features, Operation Wolf was a step forward in light gun gaming. Even without the light gun element it's fun to play through and fairly easy to complete once you realise that your weapon is to be fired machine-gun style rather than like a sniper.

There's also a great deal of humour in the game; shooting animals will yield extra bullets and grenades, and accidentally shooting innocents will result in their spirit departing their body. Graphically the game is excellent with great detail and vibrant colours, though soundwise there's a rather annoying effect which plays when enemy soldiers are injured and becomes pretty irritating through repetition.

Overall Operation Wolf is a great light gun style shooter which would be even better with light gun support on this collection. It's short but sweet story line packs a punch and can be repeated endlessly, there's plenty of destruction and havoc to wreak and the hit detection is spot on. With the past few games considered it seems 1987 was a golden year for Taito.

Rating: 88/100
Grade; A

Game: Plump Pop
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1987

Having just said that 1987 was a golden year for Taito it was inevitable that the next game would be fairly awful. Plump Pop is just that as it's essentially a Breakout clone featuring small animals. There's not much more to the game than that really; there's a choice of dogs, cats and pigs to play as none of which affect gameplay in any way, and the levels appear to go on and on with no end or story in sight.The controls are pretty poor no matter how the sensitivity is set, and losing by not catching your animal on the trampoline is guaranteed after a short while.

Graphically the game looks far more like a Famicom title than it has any right to, considering what we've seen from previous titles, and the music isn't particularly great either. Overall when you combine a boring concept with other unexciting elements, you're left with a kids game which won't even appeal to the youngest consumers.

Rating: 22/100
Grade: F

Rainbow Islands

Game: Rainbow Islands
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1987

Rainbow Islands seems to me like the sort of game which divides opinion due to a novel, but frustratingly hard to get used to control system. The first action button creates a rainbow which can kill or trap enemies, and the second action button is used to jump. Jumping on enemies won't kill them and results in the loss of a life, but jumping on enemies trapped under a rainbow is an effective method of getting rid of them.

Some parts of the game don't require the creation of rainbows at all; many of the platforms featured are close enough together to jump from one to the other without any need for rainbow help. There are however collectibles available for defeating enemies which have various uses such as creating a double rainbow instead of a single one (though I find that this confuses the gameplay even more). At the end of each area there's a boss fight, most of which are easier than the journey to the end of the area, which is a shame.

Graphically the game has a cartoon style kiddie graphics, much like those of Bubble Bobble. They're not unexciting to look at, and fit the game well, but I wouldn't call them impressive in any way. Musically the game has a light hearted and upbeat accompaniment which suits the presentation and atmosphere.

Overall I wasn't too much of a fan of the overall concept and execution of Rainbow Islands. I found that it complicated platforming with two ways to move upwards, yet only one style of attacking enemies. I can however see how others could get used to and even enjoy this style of play; it's not at all badly made and there's enough areas in game for a proper experience.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C

Rastan

Game: Rastan
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1987

Rastan is a hack and slash/adventure style game which sees players taking control of the titular hero through hordes of enemies, with a choice of a few hidden weapon power ups. The best strategy overall for the game seems to be keeping enemies at an arm's length from Rastan, as he'll take damage otherwise. This can be frustrating as many enemies get close fairly quickly, and there's platforming challenges as well as fighting.

The levels themselves seem to be ripped from the pages of generic fantasy books, with no real original features. The enemies faces are fairly interesting, but it's difficult to make out exactly what they're supposed to be. With no overarching story or explanation of Rastan's quest, players will have to rely on their gaming instincts to progress through the game.

Graphically the game isn't quite as easy on the eye as it could be, but it's also not unbearable; the style's somewhere between 3rd and 4th generation graphics. The real visual (and gameplay) issue is that Rastan only has one main attack animation, unless he's crouching. This renders gameplay and fighting in general pretty boring.

Overall Rastan is as generic as it gets; you guide a hero through some fantasy landscapes against enemies, collect powerups and different weapons in an effort to save somewhere. Or something. Probably. It's definitely not the worst thing ever made, but it's too unexciting to really care about for my liking.

Rating: 52/100
Grade: D

Super Qix

Game: Super Qix
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1987

If you've ever played the PS2 game Bully, you might remember the minigame from art class where you'd have to draw lines across the screen whilst avoiding different types of enemies to reveal a picture. Super Qix is essentially the same thing and most likely served as inspiration for that particular minigame.

As a full arcade game however, it feels a lot more devoid of content; sure there's different pictures to reveal, and different types of enemies and bonuses, but every level is pretty much the same thing. It seems to be a concept which works much better as a minigame than a game in its own right. After a few levels, I lacked the motivation to continue as I felt that I'd experienced all the game has to offer.

Graphically and musically the game's just as boring as its concept, save for the amount of colour that's used. There's always bound to be a few filler games in this type of arcade collection, and this is quite obviously one of them; it doesn't play awfully at all, but whoever thought that Qix needed a sequel was wrong.

Rating: 49/100
Grade: D

Collection Review: Taito Legends Part 1 1978-85

Having already looked at the second collection of Taito arcade games for the PS2, I thought that it was high time I tried the first, containing many of the original games whose sequels were featured on Taito Legends 2.

Space Invaders

Game: Space Invaders
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1978

Perhaps the most classic and well known of all arcade games, Space Invaders caused a huge spike in the popularity of arcades and gaming worldwide. While there have been many iterations, clones, sequels and games inspired by the original, there's nothing quite like playing the real thing. The goal of the game is to shoot all of the invaders from the top of the screen before the reach the bottom. Doing so will move the player onto the next level and thus continue the game.

While the games industry does owe an awful lot to the creation and popularity of this particular game, the action gets pretty stale after a short while and there's not enough variation in the game as a whole to keep players interested. It's classic gameplay and design will live on in gaming history, but gameplay-wise this feels like a relic compared to games released even 5 years later.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C

Phoenix

Game: Phoenix
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1980

Talking of games inspired by Space Invaders, Phoenix is another Taito title that plays similarly. Instead of invaders which head slowly across and down the screen in formation however, there's a range of fast moving and proactively attacking enemies which appear to be different species of birds. Though it's hard to get particularly far in the game owing to its high difficulty, the desire to see what features in later levels sets it above the original Space Invaders.

In terms of graphics, the game looks far better than Space Invaders and is more varied; backgrounds change throughout levels as do enemy types. Musically the game is a little bit more confused with sound effects and music clashing somewhat as the levels progress. For me it's still a little too similar to Space Invaders, and would probably work better as a conventional shoot 'em up, but its a start.

Rating: 64/100
Grade: C

Space Invaders Part II

Whether or not Space Invaders needed a sequel whose gameplay so closely matched the original is debatable, but the popularity of the first game was always going to lead to attempts at making more money from the series. From the outset it appears that Space Invaders Part II is simply the first game, in colour with slightly smoother handling, short cutscenes between levels and a harder difficulty. Other than these factors, not a whole lot has changed.

Any replayability problems that the first game had are still present, and as progression is even more difficult, players are more likely to give up quickly. With less points for nostalgia value and about the same amount to offer, Space Invaders Part II needn't have really existed in hindsight. It doesn't add too much to the collection overall and adds very little to the series as a whole.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C

Colony 7

Game: Colony 7
Console: Arcade
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 1981

Released a year after Missile Command, Colony 7 features similar gameplay which tasks players with defending a colony at the bottom of the screen, with two guns at the right and left hand sides. As attackers appear at the top of the screen, players must move the aiming reticule and try to stop them before the colony is destroyed, or their own guns are bombed by special attack units.

On the whole the game plays well and isn't that difficult to pick up. There's a choice between the regular fire button and limited shots such as the Megashot and Eradicator which deal damage in a far wider area. Once all of the fighters in a squadron have been shot down, the next wave begins. Play continues until the player's guns have been destroyed three times in total.

Graphically the game is simplistic, but features recognisible landmarks and items from outer space. Sound effects are the only audio accompaniment to gameplay, but as a fast paced shooting game, it doesn't feel as if too much is missing. On the whole this is a simple but fun little Missile Command spin-off.

Rating: 67/100
Grade: C

Electric Yo-yo

Featuring gameplay that seems like a cross between Pac-man and Qix, The Electric Yo-yo tasks players with collecting all of the dots onscreen with a yo-yo which must avoid enemies, and can be powered up by hitting special blocks. Once all of the blocks on-screen have been collected, the next level begins. Players begin with 5 lives and lose a life each time they're hit by an enemy.

Each level features different formations of dots, and progressively more enemies. There are two types of enemy; one which can only move around on the dots that moves fairly slowly, and another which bounces around the area which the dots are not occupying. As well as being able to pick up the first type of enemy and deposit them on the dot it next hits, this second enemy type also turns dots into special dots by hitting them. When collected these special blocks make the player's yo-yo go faster, and invulnerable to the slow enemies for a short time.

With a simplistic look and overall concept, the game's audio is also simply the sound effects of the yo-yo moving around and collecting dots. While common for arcade games of the time, it'd have been nice to have some sort of music behind gameplay. Overall Electric Yo-yo is a little too simple to be an enjoyable puzzle game, and feels more like a mash-up of other arcade titles.

Rating: 52/100
Grade: D

Jungle Hunt

Game: Jungle Hunt

Console: Arcade

Developer: Taito

Release Date: 1982

Jungle Hunt is unusual in terms of early arcade games because it features platforming gameplay presented in what could be called minigame style, in a short but fun quest to rescue a girl from being cooked alive by natives. The player's explorer must first swing across vines to reach a crocodile filled lake which he must swim through before jumping over rocks falling down a hill which leads to where the girl is being held captive. All that remains to be done then is to jump over her captors and untie her by cutting the ropes with a knife. Each game is played using only the A button and the D-pad (in true Warioware style!).

At first things can be a little tricky to get the hang of, but with a little practice the game can be complete in around 3 minutes. This is its only real flaw; such a short runtime means that past the initial excitement and experience there is only repetition. The music and graphics are satisfactory, though both could be better in order to keep players interested past the first playthrough.

Rating: 69/100

Grade: C

Zoo Keeper

Game: Zoo Keeper

Console: Arcade

Developer: Taito

Release Date: 1982

Zoo Keeper begins with a good concept; players control a zookeeper who must keep his animals in captivity by building walls around them, and make sure to jump over any that have escaped from inside the walls he has built. Unfortunately the controls and some other gameplay elements prevent this concept from being a good game. Firstly to move, players use the d-pad in whichever direction they wish to travel, until a corner is reached when the button must be changed to whichever direction they now wish to go. While this sounds fairly reasonable, it feels wrong and overcomplex when the controls could have simply been left to move anticlockwise and right to move clockwise. 

Secondly, the game takes place around an invisible rectangle, making it hard to predict the movements of both the animals and the zookeeper. Many times when animals had escaped, I lost a life because I wasn't able to tell that my path was about to coincide with theirs. The last gameplay issue is jumping, as the zookeeper has a very long, but low jump which is enough to jump over animals, but very difficult to judge a landing spot from, creating problems later on in the game with more animal collisions.

There is a section of the game which features more standard platforming, but it seems to have been included only to break up the monotony of the zookeeper levels. With the only objective of the main levels being to wait until time is up, without being hit by any animals, the game quickly becomes too difficult as many animals are set loose at the beginning of the 3rd level and beyond. Overall the game was poorly designed and executed; with a little tweaking and some better ideas it could have been far more enjoyable.

Rating: 36/100

Grade: E

Elevator Action

Game: Elevator Action

Console: Arcade

Developer: Taito

Release Date: 1983

Elevator Action is an innovative blend of run and gun style gameplay with puzzle platforming where players must decend through the floors of a 30 storey skyscraper, collecting secret documents from rooms with red doors on the way down whilst evading or shooting enemy agents. Once the basement is reached, with all of the secret documents in the agent's possession, he speeds away in a car, only to be taken to the next level. 

As the game continues, the layout of the buildings become more complex, and there are greater numbers of enemy agents. While it's not difficult to progress through the game, keeping track of where the elevators, enemies and secret documents are can be challenging at times. Players are able to move, shoot and jump, the last of which is helpful for dodging enemy bullets. 

Graphically the game is simple, and sprites are recognisible by their colours more than any amount of detail included. The music which accompanies gameplay is also fairly simple, but serves well enough to add an old arcade feel to the game, at the very least. Overall Elevator Action is a great concept for an arcade game, though it's a shame that there wasn't the hardware in 1983 to allow the game to reach its full potential. 

Rating: 74/100

Grade: B

Great Swordsman

Game: Great Swordsman

Console: Arcade

Developer: Taito

Release Date: 1984

Great Swordsman allows players to experience the excitement of sword based combat throughout the ages, including fencing, kendo and Roman broadsword fighting. Players control their fighter's movement and have a choice of three different attacks; high, mid and low, none of which do much on their own, but rather act as counters to opponent's attacks and are best used when well timed to score points, fencing style throughout the game. 

The levels are set up so that three fencing battles must be cleared before players progress onto the next section. Unfortunately a loss in any round means game over, and starting again from the beginning. Thanks to this, and the relatively high difficulty level across the game which increases in each round, it's particularly difficult to progress. 

Graphically the game is pretty poor for having been released in 1984; the fighters just about manage to look like actual people, but the effects and animations are basic at best. The music that accompanies gameplay is ill fitting and does nothing to heighten the experience of the game overall. 

On the whole Great Swordsman suffers from controlling poorly, being too niche as a concept, and unbalanced difficulty. With these factors added to the uninspiring visuals and audio, there's really not a lot of gameplay value here.

Rating: 48/100

Grade: D

Game: Return of the Invaders

Console: Arcade

Developer: Taito

Release Date: 1985

Lastly for this part of my review, it's the next sequel to Space Invaders; Return of the Invaders. With upgraded enemies, graphics, and attack patterns, the series is finally given an instalment that's interesting enough to challenge other space based shooters of the time. While the game is still loosely based on the original, with bases to hide behind and some stages featuring the classic formation and attack pattern, there's far more to do in other sections of this game.

From the outset enemies move in more of a circular pattern onscreen, and are more intelligent in their attacks against the player. With a far wider range of enemy types, including some which require precision shooting to kill, players can employ deeper strategies and ideas for progressing to the next level. 

Graphically the game is much improved, with interesting backgrounds as well as enemy design. With easily the best musical accompaniment so far in the collection; a sort of spacey electronic sounding track, the game looks and sounds good. While the improved AI shooting makes it a little harder to progress, it's far better to be outwitted by than the simple increase in speed of the original Space Invaders. Overall while Return of the Invaders still shares a lot of similar features with its predecessors, some original thoughts are in there which improve the game considerably. 

Rating: 65/100

Grade: C