Taito Legends
Box art
Developer(s)Empire Interactive
Publisher(s)Empire Interactive (Europe)
Sega (North America)
Platform(s)
Release
  • EU: 14 October 2005
  • NA: 25 October 2005[1]
Genre(s)Various
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

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.

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

While 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]

Titles included in the Western and Japanese releases of the collection
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]

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

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

  1. ^ Score based on 23 reviews.
  2. ^ Score based on 6 reviews.
  3. ^ Score based on 17 reviews.
  4. ^ Score based on 18 reviews.
  5. ^ Score based on 8 reviews.
  6. ^ Score based on 16 reviews.

References

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ "Taito". Japsai. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Taito Legends for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Taito Legends for PC". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Taito Legends for Xbox". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Taito Legends for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Taito Legends for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Taito Legends for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  9. ^ Parish, Jeremy (11 November 2005). "Taito Legends". 1Up.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  10. ^ Coxall, Martin (18 October 2005). "Taito Legends". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  11. ^ Fischer, Russ (20 March 2006). "Taito Legends Review". G4. Archived from the original on 23 April 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  12. ^ a b Gerstmann, Jeff (31 October 2005). "Taito Legends Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  13. ^ Turner, Benjamin (24 October 2005). "Taito Legends". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  14. ^ jkdmedia (4 May 2012). "Taito Legends – PS2 – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  15. ^ a b Clayman, David (8 November 2005). "Taito Legends". IGN. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  16. ^ Price, Tom (January 2006). "Taito Legends". Official Xbox Magazine. No. 53. p. 71. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  17. ^ Low, David (24 December 2005). "Taito Legends Review". PALGN. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Taito Legends". PC Games (in German). Computec Media GmbH. March 2006. p. 92. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  19. ^ Hogarty, Steve (January 2006). "Taito Legends". PC Zone. No. 163. p. 85. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Taito Legends". Play. No. 135. December 2005. p. 98. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  21. ^ Soboleski, Brent (25 October 2005). "Taito Legends Review (Xbox)". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2023.

External links

Taito Legends
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