Taito Legends 2
 | This article's factual accuracy is disputed. (March 2011) |
| Taito Legends 2 | |
|---|---|
 Front box art for the European Playstation 2 version | |
| Developer(s) | Taito |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix Empire Interactive (EU) Destineer (NA) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 Xbox Microsoft Windows |
| Release | PlayStation 2: Microsoft Windows: |
| Genre(s) | Arcade games |
| Mode(s) | PEGI: 7+ |
Taito Legends 2 is the sequel to Taito Legends and is a follow-up collection of 39 (or 43, see below) Taito arcade games for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. Like its predecessor, the Xbox version of the game is not compatible with Xbox 360. As the former collection, it has been derived from the Japan exclusive Taito Memories series.
In Europe and Australia, published by Empire Interactive, all three versions were released in March 2006. In the United States, published by Destineer, it was released for the PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2007 and for PC on July 28, 2007, with the Xbox version never being released in North America. However, the European PAL-based Xbox version works on the North American NTSC-based Xbox systems, without any modifications [citation needed].
Controversially, eight of the 43 games - Balloon Bomber, Bubble Symphony, Cadash, RayForce, RayStorm, G-Darius, Pop'n Pop, and Syvalion - were split across the platforms due to porting issues,[1] requiring players to buy more than one version to get every game available.
Games
Taito Legends 2 consists of the following 43 arcade games, split across Xbox/PC and PS2 (the Xbox/PC and PS2 versions each have four exclusive games, for a total of 39 games on each):
| Title | First release | Windows | PS2 | Xbox | Taito Memories | Regional title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Ski | 1982 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Arabian Magic | 1992 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Bonze Adventure | 1988 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | Jigoku Meguri (Japan) |
| Cameltry | 1989 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Chack'n Pop | 1983 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Cleopatra Fortune | 1996 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Crazy Balloon | 1980 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Darius Gaiden | 1994 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Don Doko Don | 1989 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Dungeon Magic | 1994 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | Light Bringer (Japan) |
| Elevator Action Returns | 1995 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | Elevator Action II (USA) |
| The Fairyland Story | 1985 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Football Champ | 1990 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | Hat Trick Hero (Japan) |
| Front Line | 1982 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Gekirindan | 1995 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer | 1992 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Growl | 1990 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | Runark (Japan) |
| Gun Frontier | 1990 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Insector X | 1989 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| KiKi KaiKai | 1986 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Kuri Kinton | 1988 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| The Legend of Kage | 1984 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Liquid Kids | 1990 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | Mizubaku Adventure (Japan) |
| Lunar Rescue | 1979 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Metal Black | 1991 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | Gun Frontier 2 |
| Nastar Warrior | 1988 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | Rastan Saga 2 (Japan); Nastar (EU) |
| Puchi Carat | 1997 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Puzzle Bobble 2 | 1995 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | Bust-a-Move Again (Western arcades): in PS2 release |
| Qix | 1981 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Raimais | 1988 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Space Invaders '95 | 1995 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | Akkan-vaders (Japan) |
| Space Invaders DX | 1994 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | |
| Super Space Invaders '91 | 1990 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.1 | Majestic Twelve: The Space Invaders Part IV (Japan) |
| Violence Fight | 1989 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Wild Western | 1982 | Yes | Yes | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Balloon Bomber | 1980 | No | Yes | No | I Vol.2 | |
| G-Darius | 1997 | No | Yes | No | I Vol.2 | |
| RayStorm | 1996 | No | Yes | No | I Vol.2 | |
| Syvalion | 1988 | No | Yes | No | I Vol.1 | |
| Bubble Symphony | 1994 | Yes | No | Yes | II Vol.2 | aka Bubble Bobble II |
| Cadash | 1989 | Yes | No | Yes | I Vol.2 | |
| Pop'n Pop | 1997 | Yes | No | Yes | — | |
| RayForce | 1993 | Yes | No | Yes | II Vol.1 | Gunlock (Arcade), Layer Section (Japan), Galactic Attack (EU, USA) |
The titles included in the Western release were taken directly from various volumes of the Japanese Taito Memories-series:
- 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)[2]
- 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 only title not previously released in the Japanese Taito Memories-series is Pop 'n Pop. In addition, the North American PS2 version replaces Puzzle Bobble 2 (the original Japanese version) with Bust-a-Move Again, the game's North American equivalent. The only games not included on this collection are the color version of Space Invaders (not to be confused with Space Invaders Part II), PuLiRuLa, and a baseball game called Aa Eikō no Kōshien.
Copy Protection
The PC version of this game uses StarForce copy protection. As such, it will not run on Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 without updating the StarForce drivers.
Reception
Taito Legends 2 received mixed reviews with a score of 67.60% for the PlayStation 2 version based on 15 reviews, 77.50% for the Xbox version based on 1 review, and 78.33% for the Windows version from GameRankings, based on 3 reviews.[3] Major criticisms include the large amount of obscure and "filler" titles, all of which are from the Japanese Taito Memories collections in which they are little known in the U.S., (with GameSpot quoting, "There's really nothing legendary about most of the old arcade games found in Taito Legends 2".),[4] as well as unresponsive, "flipped", and clunky controls. Kristan Reed of Eurogamer wrote a more positive response saying, "It's all but impossible to make an objective assessment that takes into account everyone's hugely varying tastes. What's definitely unarguable, though, that this particular package has much better presentation than the last one, with all games sorted into chronological order (a small but valuable point), and various useful options that make the experience far better than most retro collections."[5] Some reviewers also compared Taito Legends 2 unfavorably with the Sega Genesis Collection, writing the aforementioned Genesis Collection as superior,[6] and was also criticized for its lack of bonus content, (asides from instructions panels that can be viewed in the main menu and during gameplay).[7]
References
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ "株式会社タイトー｜". 株式会社タイトー. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ "Taito Legends 2". Gamerankings.com. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ [2] [dead link]
- ^ "Taito Legends 2". Eurogamer.net. 31 March 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ "Taito Legends 2 Review". Psxextreme.com. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ "Taito Legends 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
External links
- Destineer site
- Empire support site: PC Xplosiv, PS2 Xplosiv, Xbox Empire