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Taito Milestones 3 (NS)

Taito Milestones 3 (NS) - Review

by Evan Norris , posted on 01 January 2025 / 1,880 Views

For the third year in a row, ININ, Taito, and Hamster Corporation have pooled their resources to release a collection of 10 arcade titles from the glory days of Taito. This compilation, Taito Milestones 3, includes a few true milestones, namely Bubble Bobble, Rastan Saga, and Cadash, alongside an assortment of sequels, spin-offs, and other curiosities. If you already played the first and second installments of the anthology series, you more or less know what to expect here.

Like its predecessors, Taito Milestones 3 is a collection of 10 games restyled according to Hamster's Arcade Archives template. Now, you could argue that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And, truly, the Archives formula works. Each game arrives with interrupt save data; a host of display, game, and button settings; a helpful manual that explains both the controls and in-game strategies; and online leaderboards. If you're looking for user-friendly versions of formerly inaccessible arcade games, Hamster is your studio. Still, there's no denying the overall presentation and packaging is bare-bones, just as it was with the previous two entries. In the end, Taito Milestones 3 is a convenient way to play 10 Arcade Archives games in one place, not a glossy video game collection with bonus content.

As a result, the quality of the included games is paramount. Luckily, things are moderately good on that front. The collection kicks off with Bubble Bobble, a true arcade classic. While it suffers from some difficulty spikes and a serious lack of musical variety, it remains one of the finest co-op action-platformers of its era. Its sequel/spin-off Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 is less successful, in part due to its rainbow-slinging gameplay and in part due to its excessively complicated scoring system, but is still a decently fun time.

Next up is Rastan Saga, or simply Rastan as it was known in North America. It's one of the better fantasy-flavored action titles from the period, thanks to fast-moving combat, surprisingly intelligent enemies, and a few interesting visual flourishes, including weather and daytime changes. Its direct follow-up, conversely, is far less successful. Rastan Saga II includes more weapon upgrades and larger sprites, which is nice, but it plays slower & stiffer and its stages are flat, linear affairs.

The next title actually features Rastan, but well outside his comfort zone. It's the wrestling game Champion Wrestler. It doesn't include any licensed superstars and its power meter is a little awkward, but it's a perfectly acceptable brawler for its time. More interesting and ambitious is Cadash, a platform-RPG in the vein of Wonder Boy in Monster Land. While the game is a little too rigid and difficult for its own good, it's a fascinating early example of the push to incorporate fantasy role-playing gameplay into the arcade scene.

Taito Milestones 3 also includes Thunder Fox, a side-scrolling action title in the style of Rolling Thunder, and Runark, a four-player belt-scrolling beat-'em-up. Although Thunder Fox has some fun moments, including several vehicle interludes, it's ultimately too clumsy to truly enjoy. Runark comes off better, due to its four-player functionality, over-the-top violence, and bonkers storyline, in which beefy rangers take on an evil syndicate of animal poachers.

The true stars of the collection, though, are Warrior Blade and Dead Connection. Warrior Blade, also known as Rastan Saga Episode III, transforms the Rastan series from an action-platformer into a Golden Axe-esque beat-'em-up. It looks absolutely marvelous, thanks to large, detailed models and a widescreen, multi-monitor display. More importantly, it plays well. You can select from three very different characters — Rastan, Dewey, and Sophia — and even choose the order in which you tackle each level. One of the game's more inspired features is the crystal ball pick-up, which summons the wizard Mahadidekaradi, who will use powerful spells to defeat enemies. Taito Milestones 3 represents the first home console port for Warrior Blade outside Japan.

If you think that's momentous, just wait. The collection also represents the first home console port ever for the isometric arena shooter Dead Connection. Not only is this obscure 1992 action game the rarest entry, it's also one of the best. Each level takes place in a sort of zoomed-out diorama, and features tense 8-way directional shoot-outs staged against impeccably detailed backgrounds. It's a lot of fun.

Due to rarities like Dead Connection and Warrior Blade, and a couple of classics in Bubble Bobble and Rastan Saga, Taito Milestones 3 is a fairly good investment for arcade enthusiasts and retro game collectors. Its biggest problem, outside of a handful of middling titles, is the same flaw that has affected all three compilations: a lack of special features and connective tissue binding the games together. If you're only interested in the games, though, and you haven't already bought any of the individual titles à la carte, this might be the collection for you.



This review is based on a digital copy of Taito Milestones 3 for the NS, provided by the publisher.

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1 Comments
ireadtabloids (on 05 January 2025)

Cadash fascinates me. Great to hear you had fun with this.

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