TAITO Milestones (Nintendo Switch) – The test

A pioneering publisher, Taito marked the history of arcade games and even that of video games in general, with indelible ink. They invented the shoot-them-up with the legendary Space Invaders (1978), dynamited the arcade platform game with the brilliant Bubble Bobble series (and its too-Kawaii dinos), and boosted the brick breaker to the SF sauce with Arkanoid (Amstrad players will have a moved thought, and the little tear at its mere mention).

After the compilations dedicated to the series of Darius shmups, Taito sets the stage again by rummaging through his treasure chest (the one at the bottom of the attic under a mound of dust, an animal skin and a candlestick) and offers us 10 classics from 80s arcades.

Of course, before embarking on this compilation, it will be a question of being informed about the graphic part of these titles; the games presented are true (and venerable) antiques, most dating from the early 80s. The patterns are simple, and the colors are usually garish.

Small selection of the best titles

• Many 40s, 50s and up will remember the classic Qix from 1981. For pitch (and you’ll appreciate its relative clarity), we’re a dot that draws lines inside a large black rectangle. The goal is to create areas (coloring once closed) and to gain territory on the black rectangle, without getting hit by enemies. The depiction is abstract and the game takes some practice to fully grasp all of its intricacies, but once mastered, expect strong adrenaline rushes as the score goes up. It’s nervous, intense (the enemies don’t let us rest) and tactical. Qix works wonderfully, still to this day.

• The vertically scrolling shmup, Halley’s Comet (1986), is the other must-have game in the compilation. It invites us to an exciting space battle that adds, to the classic horde of enemy ships and big bosses, impressive comets to destroy. A percentage alerts us to the imminent destruction of the Earth, which ideally puts the pressure not to miss any comets heading straight for our beautiful planet. This is a solid shmup, with an innovative concept, in a genre that usually rarely ventures into originality.

• Ninja Warriors, the most recent title on the list (1987), is a beat-them-all where you play as Ninjas against an armada of overarmed soldiers. The game offered a revolutionary action in its time since it took place in a panoramic way on no less than three screens! The effect on Switch is necessarily diminished, and only black bands crushing the screen remain from the original experience. This is also what we find on period console conversions. Ultimately, it’s a good little game with (very very) simple gameplay. The animations are successful and the level of graphic detail is appreciable. It was a cutting edge game at the time.

• The other good surprise from Taito Milestones is the ancient Space Seeker (1981), reminiscent of the no less ancient Star Raiders of 1979. As in the latter, we first evolve on a 2D map to choose the base to attack, and secondly, it’s inside the cockpit that we attack the aliens with a view simulating 3D. Enemy sprites grow visibly bigger to give us the feeling of depth. Do not be fooled by its rather austere presentation and connection with its time, the game can be very addictive. A success !

In the ray of disappointment

• the run and gun with a view from above, Front Line (1982), inspired nothing less than Capcom’s famous Commando. If the game lays the foundations of the genre, its exhausting difficulty, especially linked to the character’s movement speed (we’re going to say that it is “slow” to be polite) and to a fairly asthmatic shooting while dozens of enemies assail us, will quickly dampen our enthusiasm.

• In Wild Western (1982), the defense of the train while embodying the Sheriff distills a delicious atmosphere of cowboy films (with John Wayne in the lead). The music of yesteryear (and more generally for all the games) is catchy and contributes a lot to the charm of this game. However, you will have to get used to the controls which require you to direct your gun to aim with the right stick , while handling his horse (there are obstacles to avoid) with the left stick, and of course, keeping one finger to press the fire button. An uncomfortable gymnastics requiring three hands (the Joy-Con trigger would have been more appropriate for shooting) which reminds us that the game is indeed of its time.

• Alpine Ski is a very classic ski game, even in 1982, asking us to avoid various obstacles on the track, while collecting the points that mark our route. The more we accelerate, the higher the score, the more we take risks, knowing that the view from above, quite close to our free-rider, leaves us little time to react. It’s nice, but not unforgettable. Activision already offered us the excellent Skiing on the Atari 2600 in 1980. And this game with minimalist graphics frankly compares with the title of Taito, yet published on an arcade machine.

• The Elevator Action run and gun probably inspired the legendary Rolling Thunder series, with these gangsters coming out of the doors in a loop. For the time, it was to prove to be a step forward for video games with the possibility of managing our own progress using an elevator, in a 30-storey building. But today, only archeology and scoring will motivate you because the action itself is completely outdated.

• The FairyLand Story and Chack’n Pop recall the spirit of Bubble Bobble: a cute universe and a succession of fixed tables for a typically arcade platform. We even find some common enemies in the game of bubbling dragons. If the first is simple and effective, even elementary (a magician who shoots with her magic wand, three-four platforms per table and enemies to azimuth), the second suffers from its concept: being able to defy gravity and walk on the ceiling with enemies everywhere. It’s original but never comfortable, even with practice. Confusion reigns over commands and what can and cannot be done. These two games sum up our feeling on this compilation, and it’s a little mixed.

As far as options are concerned, we have all the possibilities offered by the usual Switch ports: (temporary) saves at any time, configurable lives and infinite continuous (by spamming the trigger). We also have a world ranking in order to compare our scores with those of elite players, and also a story for the publisher to increase the lifespan of each title, including the games, at no cost, based almost exclusively on scoring, rarely exceed ten minutes. To conclude this test on our biggest disappointment: it’s a shame that there is no virtual museum, notes or image gallery to present these games to us with dignity and embellish the compilation.

Conclusion

If we agree to spend the sum of €39.99, we therefore have the opportunity to revise our History of video games and discover singular and rare arcade games. In the batch, we also have titles of their time, having not exceeded, with good reason, the decade of the eighties. The set proves, for the player of today, unequal between an excellent Halley’s Comet and an arthritic Front Line. And frustrating because the best Taito games of the time, namely Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble and Arkanoid, are missing from the compilation.