Taito Milestones 3 Review
As the name suggests, Taito Milestones 3 is the 3rd and hopefully not the last in the series of retro arcade compilation goodness from Taito. This time around we have a collection consisting of mainly action games and we even finally see the inclusion of Bobble Bubble!
Upon launching the game you are met with the collection’s very basic, yet functional selection menu listing all ten games, there’s no options or credits menus here, you just choose a game and play.
The games included are: –
- Bubble Bobble
- Rainbow Islands
- Rastan Saga
- Rastan Saga II
- Champion Wrestler
- Cadash
- Thunder Fox
- Runark
- Warrior Blade
- Dead Connection
Each game in the collection is an Arcade Archives release from Hamster with the menu merely acting as a container for these faithfully accurate ports.
Bubble Bobble
Bubble Bobble is a classic action puzzle game and one that needs no introduction. It’s as addictive as ever and a lot of fun to play alone or with a friend. The goal of Bubble Bobble is to rescue Bub and Bob’s girlfriends by descending a 100-floor cave and defeating enemies along the way by capturing them in bubbles.
Rainbow Islands
This sequel to Bubble Bobble plays a lot different than the original and it’s nice to see it included here. Instead of heading down into caves, the aim of the game here is to climb up each level to reach the goal and occasionally a boss fight. Use your rainbows as temporary platforms to help you ascend each level while collecting various food items for additional points. A great and very colourful game.
Rastan Saga
The first of many action platformers in this collection, Rastan battles his way across many different lands with the ultimate goal of defeating a dragon to protect the kingdom. Rastan plays a little like a classic Castlevania game, your character is quite stiff and your weapon can changed by picking up upgrades.
Between the endlessly respawning enemies and difficult bosses, Rastan proves to be quite the challenge.
Rastan Saga II
Rastan Saga II opts for a different art style with much chunkier sprites and feels slightly slower. Compared to the original Rastan II feels a lot more manageable and you don’t seem to get overwhelmed as often, that said, the platforming sections suck! Either that, or I suck at them either of which could be true.
Champion Wrestling
A great little wrestler not affiliated with the usual wrestling companies. Simple to control with only two buttons but very difficult to master. You can even play Champion Wrestling via local co-op and participate in some tag matches.
Cadash
A classic action RPG and a welcome addition to the collection. You choose from one of four characters each with different playstyles and set off on your adventure to rescue the kidnapped princess.
Cadash is a bit of a cult classic and I can see why, it’s a lot of fun levelling up and never feels unfair like some other arcade games.
Thunder Fox
A great run and gun action game, Thunderfox lets you ride vehicles and pick up a ton of different weapon types as you slowly make your way to the enemy base.
Thunder Fox plays a little like Contra but is much more forgiving, that said, later levels do get quite challenging.
Runark
Runark is a classic beat-em-up much like the Streets of Rage or Caddilacs and Dinosaurs games except you play as one of four different rangers and you face off against an almost endless amount of poachers.
You can rescue various animals along your playthrough and some of them will help you out briefly before escaping to freedom. It’s good fun, especially in local co-op.
Warrior Blade (Rastan III)
In my opinion, this is the best of all three of the Rastan games. The first thing you’ll notice is the aspect ratio as this used to be a dual-screen cabinet in the arcades like Darius II.
The animations and wider screen real estate really give Warrior Blade a cinematic quality and it’s also a little more forgiving than its predecessors which is always a welcome change.
Dead Connection
Dead Connection is quite a unique game, you play as one of four detectives having a shoot-out with the Mafia. Each game map acts as a sort of arena with waves of enemies that need to be defeated before you can move on.
Enemies drop weapons and health pickups to keep you in fighting shape as you dodge out of the way of incoming fire and take out the bad guys. This was my first time playing it and it’s a game I’m going to be sure to add to my rotation of Arcade shooters.
Presentation & Menus
You can access the menu in each included title with a quick press of the + button. Things are pretty bare-bones in terms of options and settings, you have all the standard features you expect from a retro release such as dip switch settings for difficulty, Digital how-to-play manuals and screen settings.
There’s bizarrely only one choosable wallpaper unless I’m missing something in the options menu. This might perhaps be a bug?
The game screen can be scaled and rotated which is a nice option to have included along with some very basic scanlines effects. By default, each game seems to be set to a display filter that applies some kind of bilinear effect making everything look a little soft.
I had to go into the menu on all ten titles to remove this as I think it looks horrible, but I can appreciate some people may prefer it.
Conclusion
Taito Milestones 3 might be the best Milestones release yet on the Switch. They’ve included some really great games this time around even if it is a little heavy on the action platformers. I appreciate the no-frills approach to the game selection menu and the ports are of a very high quality.
Cadash, Bobble Bubble & Warrior Blade alone make this collection essential for any fan of classic arcade games, just don’t expect them to go easy on you!
8.5
Nintendo Switch review code kindly provided by PR Hound