
Update: Publisher ININ Games has announced on social media that it is to publish Taito Milestones in the west.
The collection is expected to launch in Japan in February 2022.
Original Story [Mon 14th Jun, 2021 11:00 BST]: The Arcade Archives series has been a huge part of the retro scene on Nintendo Switch, with an impressive range of titles. Taito has had its share of releases, and is now planning to launch Taito Milestones as a collection of some 1980s classics.
Due in February 2022 in Japan, it was initially revealed in Famitsu (thanks, Gematsu), so we certainly hope to see a localised version announced in the future. Made in collaboration with Arcade Archive port masters HAMSTER, it includes the following eight games - only Chack’n Pop is yet to have an eShop release.
- The Ninja Warriors
- Halley’s Comet
- The Fairyland Story
- Chack’n Pop
- Elevator Action
- Alpine Ski
- Wild Western
- Front Line
The design of the official website and the Famitsu article highlight the tease that more titles may come in the future; it's unclear at this stage but it seems possible that it could follow a similar approach to Capcom Arcade Stadium.
Let us know if you're keen to see this get a release outside of Japan!
[source famitsu.com, via gematsu.com]
Comments 86
Strange selection of games, I’m not getting it for those...
I just want a port of Rainbow Islands tbh. Don't know if there's copyright issues if they released anything other than the NES version with the changed music though.
Chase HQ, Rainbow Islands, Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Renegade, Continental Circus, Operation Wolf/Thunderbolt.... I know there will always be issues behind the scenes with licensing etc so we will never get perfect collections, but for me personally, most collections always are so wide of the mark (Sonic Collection and Metal Gear Anthology aside : ) )
It's weird to release it with so many overlapping games (with Arcade Archives). I guess if the price is right, and they'll come out with other volumes, then it might be a good strategy for them.
TAITO man, they made so much stuff over the years...
.. February?
That's an awfully long time for linking a bunch of roms together...
No Rainbow Islands, no sale!
@Peteykins Kiwi's and rainbows must be someone else's property....
I'd love a collection of Taito games, but … not these games?
On a side not, anyone else noticing that alot of Neo Geo Games have disappeared from the eShop? Can't buy any of the Neo Geo Super Sidekicks games, Neo Geo Cup '98 etc.
Huh... This is cool but the title selection is lacking. I'd rather they release
RayStorm
Gun Frontier
Metal Black
etc...
The Egret II Mini looks more promising.
@Sinton It seems it's due to the PR of China lobbying to take Taiwan out of video games as a recognized country, so someone thought it would be easier to just remove these games instead of slightly alter them (which was the solution to the same problem in Baseball Stars 2).
@gojiguy Agree, I for one have stopped buying Taito games in Arcade Archives because I want to see if they end up in the Egret II Mini, and if that happens it will be enough to have them there. Bubble Bobble would be an exception, though.
Anyway, if this collection was physical I'd probably give it a thought.
Of course many of us would like a Taito collection but surely more in number of games than this? I appreciate there's probably going to be volumes dependent on sales and demand but even so! There's also the issue with this particular selection of choice games
8 months notice is just plain stupid for a collection of games from the 1980s... why have they done that? Any excitement I have for this has instantly evaporated.
Rastan... Cadash... no to both? No thanks, Taito
I've already bought 4 of these titles but will absolutely be getting this. Taito are the masters.
This is exactly what I want to see more of. This collection is a weird mix of games, but it’s a good start. Would love to see a collection with some Neo Geo games!
NINJA APPROVED
I have Taito Legends 1 and 2 on PS2. They do have a pretty interesting back catalogue of games.
@Moroboshi876 @Sinton Aside from sports titles would you happen to know what other games were affected by this?
Taito Legends puts this collection to shame. It's too bad we can't just have an HD re-release of that instead.
Not a great collection IMO, Taito Legends 1/2 on PS2 has a far better selection including Elevator Action Returns, Cleopatra's Fortune, Kuri Kinton, Growl, and Darius Gaiden.
Qix, please and thank you.
Zoo Keeper, too.
This collection is lackluster and already have most of these through Arcade Archives, wish they’d release Chack n Pop through that.
All these games from their mini arcade better be in the collection soon.
Where in the heck is Qix??????? Not in this collection nor on Arcade Archives!
No Kiki Kaikai, no buy.
And thanks to the AVGN, I'm curious about Violence Fight.
A lot of these don't feel like milestones. Feels like they need a best of collection.
I saw the title of this article and clicked the link hoping for Rainbow Islands, New Zealand Story and Bubble Bobble!
Eh. Should’ve included all the games that they put on that mini arcade thingy. I’ll be sticking to MAME for my Taito arcade games for now.
Boring lineup and was hoping for things that aren't already on the eShop, pass.
These guys are too afraid of going back to doing the larger value collections I had back on my PS2 and Xbox. This is a ripoff by comparison.
@ThomasBW84 Forgot Taito for a retro fix,
I just looked on the eShop - Bullseye (the greatest 80s TV Gamshow in the world) has appeared on the eShop 😂😂😂
Looking forward to winning an Austin Metro or a 2 Birth Caravan
Wow, now THAT is a throwback!
Not the games I want personally, but hopefully this leads to more Taito games on Switch and other currently-supported platforms. I'm still waiting for Light Bringer and an uncensored version of Growl.
I'd also like a sequel to or remake of Wild Guns that lets me move my character and aim at the same time, although Wii probably would have been the best platform for that.
Don't they mean Hailey's Comet?
@BloodNinja I agree with this.
Would've bought it if it included phoenix I really enjoy that game
@BooJoh What is this about the NES version with changed music?
I know that Rainbow Islands actually got two versions on the NES.
The JP/NA version by Taito and the PAL version by Ocean.
Surprising that Ocean produced what seems like the better version (though it was also made three years later). Further odd that the music seemed more correct when I ran the PAL version on my toploader. I wonder if Ocean had plans to release their version in NA, before Taito decided they were going to publish theirs.
@Tempestryke It actually is Halley's Comet.
Probably the most specifically timed reference you could make a video game out of.
It is actual astrological thing, that was of scientific note in 1986, the year the game was made.
@KingMike The original music for World 1 - 4 sounds quite a bit like Somewhere Over the Rainbow, probably intentional, but the NES version (at least in NA) had a new song (which I liked better tbh.)
@KingMike Oh. I didn't know that, I stand corrected.
I’ve only got Elevator Action out of those, and I’d never buy any of the rest individually, so I like this.
No Crazy Climber????
Omg I was so excited to click on this then I saw the lineup. 😖 not even 10 games?? Many many 80s classics missing. Jungle Hunt? Arkanoid? Operation Wolf? space Dungeon? Bubble Bobble? Rainbow Islands to name a few. Plus if it’s digital only then most of these games can be snagged via the Hamster lineup. I don’t get it. And there’s the question of whether this will even come west and the price tag. Very excited then disappointed afterwards. Let’s hope this is just the first volume?
The Megadrive Collection spoiled me. It showed me that I could have 50 games for a very reasonable price. For me, that's the standard that other compilations should be striving for.
This makes me hugely excited for possible future releases.
Come on Taito, just do a release of Legends on Switch please! I won't be happy until I can play New Zealand Story, Rainbow Islands and Parasol Stars on Swtich.
Problem w/ these modern collections is that they're not better than PS2 era.
The Capcom, Taito, and Sega sets were bigger and better back then.
Taito? So, +9,000 yen I suppose?
@MrFox understandable about bubble bobble and I have a copy of the 4 friends disc. But I’d assume some don’t want to drop $40 because it has the arcade classic included as opposed to an $8 single release like hamster does or including it here. You mentioned some nice selections there too and just reiterates my point that so much was left on the table here even if this initial collection was limited to the 80s era. But overall jeez there’s just a ton of Taito games I would love to see! Someone here mentioned rereleasing the Taito Legends discs instead from the Ps2 era. I’d gladly take that. But Again hopefully this is like a volume 1 and more will come in the future. 🙏
@joey302 "understandable about bubble bobble and I have a copy of the 4 friends disc. But I’d assume some don’t want to drop $40 because it has the arcade classic included as opposed to an $8 single release like hamster does or including it here"
I'd LOVE to own Bubble Bobble on Switch, but the insane price point of "4 Friends" prevents that.
I'd LOVE to have owned "Space Invaders Invincible Collection", but the insane price point prevented that, and now it's been delisted.
I'd like to own that "Groove Coaster" game, but the insane price point for a rhythm game prevents that.
Even on sale, the Taito prices are too ridiculous to even entertain.
Nice start , next release gives us arcade versions of
Chase HQ , New Zealand story , Bubble bobbles
@masterLEON I'm not sure. I have four games on my wish list that I can no longer see, and I'm pretty sure all of those were Neo Geo games, with three of them being football games, but for all I know the fourth one was not a Neo Geo game or another football game.
@Sinton Curiouser and curiouser. If they were pulled by political pressure from China, then they may edit those affected teams to something else and then reupload it later with the changes, like they did with Baseball Stars 2. It really sucks. I'm not into football (American included), but at one point I would have gotten Super Sidekicks 3 and NEOGEO Cup '98 as I found those really fun.
@masterLEON Yeah, guess they'll either edit the team name and flag and release them again, or they'll just leave them be, thinking those that wanted them have purchased them already.
I was in fact going to pick up the two you mentioned when I noticed.
Where's Lufia? Same publisher, right?
I would so much like to see a Lufia collection sometime.
Nice but I already got some of the games so I'm good already.
@Friendly Lufia is not an arcade game thus won't be part of this collection. Also Lufia is own by Natsume which is now a part of Square Enix. You're more likely going to get remakes or some ports on NSO at the most.
@Specter_of-the_OLED Ah, you're right. I forgot about that. Thanks for the info
No Kiwi Craze?
@Sinton it's called licensing
@evo_9 Taito only did US distribution for that one, Nichibutsu developed it and it's part of Arcade Archives already
@Specter_of-the_OLED The first Lufia game was published by Taito.
@Darkyoshi98 No, it's not. It's called politics.
@Tempestryke : Oh, man. I would have been all over this if it had New Zealand Story.
I’d rather have Midway/Williams Collection!
Wish they'd just rerelease the old Taito Legends compilations from back in PS2 days. With a few modern bells and whistles added.
Interesting way to spell Qix (Quix) on the news release.
Pleeease put Knuckle Joe on the Switch, Taito. It's a childhood game
None of the games aside from Ninja Warriors appeal to me, and I already have a copy of Ninja Warriors. This collection is a hard pass for me.
Oh, inin mention there are 10 games on the collection. So only 1 game is yet to be revealed.
Knuckle Joe, Rastan or Pheonix please (but we all know it will be Bubble Bobble)
Such an odd line up. Where’s the flagship TATIO games?
Chase HQ
Rainbow Islands
Bust a move
Operation Wolf/Thunderbolt
Lufia
Arkanoid
9 forgettable old arcade games? Taito? So it’s going to have four different versions, starting at $149 for the one that only has three of the nine.
In terms of Taito... I'm still waiting for a new comprehensive single player campaign + online Bust-A-Move game on Switch!
Maybe even a Bust-A-Move 99 game could work & suffice?
... Wun can only hope.
Seriously, Taito? Taito (or the current owner of the rights) needs to stop sitting on their hands and start bringing out the heavy hitters, not this B-tier chaff. They've had plenty of time to release the good stuff, either via Arcade Archives or their own collection, but for some reason they have not.
I'm talking about the big guns, like:
There are more of course, but these are the 8 that I would pick, instead of the 8 that are actually coming.
This is literally laughable, TAITO have been on a roll these past few years, but this is a total joke. They are sat on one of the richest back catalogues of incredible arcade games and they think this is a good move?
I always like to see new retro collections, but these games are perhaps not the best selection. For example, Elevator Action, but not Elevator Action Returns... Hopefully they release a more comprehensive collection to match those older PS2 / Xbox compilations in future.
So many Taito arcade games I’d pay to play on Switch and none of them are here
Hopefully there is a sequel that will have Chase HQ, SCI, Operation Wolf / Thunderbolt, Bubble Bobble, New Zealand Story, Rainbow Islands, Arkanoid, Pang…..
So I suppose they're telling us that Ninja Warriors is more of a milestone than Space Invaders!
Let's get one thing straight: Space Invaders is the most important videogame of all time. If you make a milestone collection, that game has to be in it otherwise you'll make me laugh.
This is nice and all, but I really want a Bubble Bobble Switch collection. Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Parasol Stars, Bubble Symphony, Bubble Memories and at least a few Puzzle Bobble games please. Pretty please?.
Space invaders , lunar rescue & phoenix are the only taito games I want
That’s a steep drop in offerings from Taito Legends. What the heck happened? How did they think that would be an appealing product to anyone fond of Taito arcade classics? So strange..
Is this Taito Milestones???? More like Taito Gallstones!!!! Every title is forgettable!!!! At least gives us one of these Top 5!!!!
Operation Wolf
Operation Thunderbolt
Rastan
Cadash
Chase H.Q.
As I mentioned back in June, a very odd underwhelming and worse yet, small collection with many HUGE Taito games missing! And publisher ININ is always quick with the hefty price point- I’m sure this will clock in at $40 which is ridiculous. Now if the lineup was 20-30 tiles big I’d consider this. Oh well.
How is stuff like the fairyland story a milestone for Taito?!? Just stick with Mame if you want to play Taito’s arcade games, and avoid this collection.
@Loki7T1 I think I remember operation wolf
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