The first Taito Milestones collection bundled 10 classic Taito arcade games in a low-frills package. One year later, Taito and ININ Games have returned with Taito Milestones 2. This installment once again bundles 10 Taito classics into one compilation, but the games lineup is slightly more modern and exciting this time around. We’re talking about some well-known classics like Legend of Kage and Kiki Kaikai, plus no less than three co-op shoot ‘em ups.
After launching Taito Milestones 2, players are taken to a menu depicting the 10 games in the collection (listed chronologically), just as with the first Taito Milestones collection. An original tune (a remix of the one from the previous collection) plays on the menu. No options or historical data can be accessed from the menu, in contrast to the basic but interesting information displayed in ININ’s Space Invaders collections.
The games here do feature option settings; they’re just accessed after launching the individual title. Available options are the same as the ones in the separate Arcade Archives releases that are sold on PlayStation and Switch. As the main menu indicates, Taito Milestones 2 is really a collection of Arcade Archives titles rather than a newly developed compilation.
Non-Cooperative GamesTaito Milestones 2 includes 7 non-cooperative games and three co-op titles. Most of these games can be purchased separately on Switch and PlayStation, with the exception of Solitary Fighter and Dino Rex, though both games have been announced for individual release in the future.
Solitary Fighter
Ben Bero Beh (1984): In this obscure firefighting game, players control a masked firefighter who must navigate single-screen floors of a burning building, shoot fires with a hose, and rescue damsels in distress. The gameplay is clunky but slightly reminiscent of Elevator Action.
The Legend of Kage (1985): Play as Kage, an Iga ninja, as he fights to rescue the princess in his action platformer. Kage can fire shurikens, use a sword to deflect some projectiles, and jump in 8 directions. Jumping is accomplished by hitting up rather than a jump button, though, which makes the gameplay a bit clunky. Many players won’t be able to survive the forest in which Kage gets absolutely swarmed by ninjas, but the game can be fun once you grasp the mechanics.
Kiki Kaikai
Kiki Kaikai (1986): The first game in the Pocky and Rocky series (which is now managed by Natsume) didn’t receive an Americanized title. Unlike 2022’s Pocky & Rocky Reshrined, this one doesn’t support co-op, unfortunately. Players control Pocky, the shrine priestess, as she navigates temples and other environments while battling yokai spirits. As with Reshrined, this is a top-down shooter without a strafing mechanic, so dodging while firing is pretty difficult.
The New Zealand Story (1988): Players control a kiwi bird named Tiki as he navigates through sprawling platforming levels in a quest to rescue his friends. Tiki can jump, swim, shoot arrows, and ride in balloons. These balloons, which can be stolen from enemies or found in the wild, allow the avian hero to fly to higher locations. New Zealand Story is a solid platformer despite the conspicuous lack of parallax scrolling in the backgrounds, but the confusing level design makes it possible to get stuck with nowhere to go at times.
Dino Rex
Liquid Kids (Mizubaku Adventure, 1990): An ugly hippo thing fights to save his pals in this action platformer. The hero, Hipopo, throws water balloons that stun enemies. In mechanics reminiscent of Bubble Bobble, kicking the enemies or kicking stunned enemies into them will actually defeat the enemies. The graphics are much improved over New Zealand Story, though the copious on-screen chaos makes enemies and projectiles difficult to see at times.
Solitary Fighter (Violence Fight II, 1991): The sequel to Violence Fight is a combination of versus fighting game and beat ‘em up. Players select from 6 male characters and then battle against single opponents using beat ‘em up style mechanics. The large sprites and detailed backgrounds are impressive, but the characters themselves lack charm. The Violence Fight games support versus battles, but co-op would’ve significantly improved both games.
Dino Rex (1992): A Primal Rage-style dinosaur fighting game featuring digitized dinosaur puppets: what’s not to like? Artistically, Dino Rex had so much potential (even if the puppets could look better), with tons of background details like human spectators and destructible environments. Sadly, the controls are unbelievably clunky, making the game painful to play.
Co-op GamesDarius II
Whereas the first Taito Milestones only featured one co-op game, the second installment ups the ante with three cooperative shoot ‘em ups.
Darius II
Darius II (3-Screen Arcade Version, 1989): Darius II appeared in arcades in both 2-screen and 3-screen versions. The 2-screen version was previously included in Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade, but the ultra-wide 3-screen version only sells by itself or as part of Taito Milestones 2. It’s a shame that Hamster doesn’t include themed wallpapers for their retro games, because this title displays a lot of blank space at the top and bottom of the Switch’s screen.
Presentation issues aside, Darius II is a fantastic shoot ‘em up and easily one of the best games on this collection. One or two players will fly across all manner of alien planets, battling fish-themed minibosses and bosses, and then selecting between different paths at the end of each stage. These selectable paths add tons of replay value. Taito was firing on all cylinders with this game. The sprites, backgrounds, and soundtrack are all some of the finest to ever grace the shmup genre.
Gun Frontier (1990): This lesser-known vertical shoot ‘em up has an appealing science fiction meets wild west theme, slightly akin to Cowboy Bebop. The players’ aircrafts and many of the enemy ship designs incorporate western-style pistols into their designs, which look quite cool. The backgrounds are fairly plain but occasionally feature tiny, animated humans and animals. Flying over the edge of a waterfall, seeing a flock of birds take off, and then encountering a giant pistol-based boss is a memorable moment, to be sure. Like most Taito games, the soundtrack is catchy too.
Metal Black
Metal Black (1991): What started as a Darius game eventually became Metal Black, a side-scrolling shooter. The powerup system is somewhat unique in that collecting the many molecules that litter the screen will strengthen players’ weapons. Rather than a bomb mechanic, you can charge up a powerful beam attack as well. Metal Black is as graphically impressive as any Taito shmup, with loads of parallax scrolling and background detail.
In the very first stage, you’ll fly across a ruined cityscape before encountering a giant hermit crab that has made a ruined aircraft carrier its shell! Between some levels, a 3D minigame tasks players with downing as many enemies as possible with lock-on missiles. While Metal Black never became a shmup franchise (the generic title probably didn’t help), it’s still an epic and impressive shooter.
Metal Black
The first Taito Milestones suffered from an uneven selection of games, poor presentation, and a relatively high price. Taito Milestones 2 doesn’t improve on presentation or cost, but the $40 price is easier to swallow when most of the included games are fairly appealing. What’s more, the three cooperative shooters are all great, so you can bring a friend along for an ample quantity of retro fun this time. This collection is a smart buy for any Taito fan who doesn’t already own Hamster’s separate Arcade Archive releases.
Taito Milestones 2 for Nintendo Switch costs $39.99 in digital and physical formats. Strictly Limited Games also sells a Limited Edition for $39.99 and a Collector’s Edition for $89.99, though quantities are limited.
A Switch download code was provided by the publisher for this review.