June2023
Review Ray'z Arcade Chronology (Switch) - M2 Delivers Fine Ports Of Taito's Trilogy
Confounded by the Rayz
The limited edition retailers are getting out of hand again. The Ray'z Arcade Chronology, originally released in Japan back in March, and published by Taito for Switch and PlayStation 4, is receiving a European release courtesy of ININ games. Bizarrely, ININ Games are releasing two different compilations: this, the Ray’z...
May2023
Review Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! (Switch) - Bubbles Over With Charm (And Useless Bots)
PAYONPAH!
One of the biggest games to dominate the scene of the golden age of arcades was Bubble Bobble, a cute Japanese action platformer centered around little dinosaurs that could shoot bubbles out of their mouths. While that original game eventually went on to spawn a ton of sequels and ports that iterated on the concept, it also led to the...
May2022
A locked-on epic
City Connection, now a fairly prolific shoot-em-up publisher, have been hit-and-miss with its quality control. While some games land fine, others feature severe lag issues, leaderboards that don’t properly differentiate full clears (or disallow auto-fire registries), and usually come devoid of original bonuses. While Layer Section...
February2022
Review Taito Milestones (Switch) - An Oddly Meagre Collection Of Coin-Op Classics
A muted celebration of an important developer
A small "Powered by Arcade Archives" message sits in the corner of Taito Milestones' dual-purpose title/game select screen, a subdued seal of quality there to let players know the emulation within is of the same standard we've come to expect from Hamster's prolific series, with all the usual features...
April2021
Mini Review Densha de Go! Hashiro Yamanote Line - Yes, You Just Drive A Train
Come on, baby, do the locomotion
The eShop trailer for Densha de Go!! Hashirou Yamanote Sen (“Go by train! Drive the Yamanote line”) is just a guy singing “Densha de Go!” repeatedly while trains drive. For series fans, nothing else need be said. But let’s fill in the blanks. Densha de Go! is a Japanese train driving series that started in...
March2021
Review Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX + - A Slightly Disappointing Port Of A Modern Arcade Classic
The Life Aquatic
Editor's note: G-Darius HD and Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX + are currently available individually on the Japanese Switch eShop, but are also part of the Darius Cozmic Revelation physical package. For a guide on how to download games from the Japanese eShop,
Review G-Darius HD - A True Shmup Legend Reimagined For The High-Def Era
Gz and Hustlas
Editor's note: G-Darius HD and Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX + are currently available individually on the Japanese Switch eShop, but are also part of the Darius Cozmic Revelation physical package. For a guide on how to download games from the Japanese eShop, click here. For a guide on where to purchase Ja
December2020
Review Space Invaders Forever - One Great Game Does Not A Great Package Make
We'd rather have a packet of Space Raiders
It’s probably a contentious thought, but does Space Invaders really need to keep coming back? We get it, the game was important. Is it fun to play Space Invaders in the year of our lord 2020? God, no. Not in the slightest. The game, in anything close to its original form, simply doesn’t hold up. But...
November2020
Mini Review Touhou Spell Bubble - A Puzzle Bobble Sequel In All But Name
Taito hops onto the Touhou Project
The Touhou Project is one of the most noteworthy success stories of independent game development there has ever been. Since 1995, creator Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta has self-published 22 games in the series – and over the course of that period, there have been numerous spin-off games created by fans of the series who want...