Taito’s “Ray” series of vertically-scrolling shoot ‘em ups hasn’t seen nearly as many entries as their Darius series, but it retains a devoted following among fans of the genre. Comprised of RayForce, RayStorm, and RayCrisis, the Ray games are known for their lock-on mechanics that allow players to fire upon enemies in...

Darius might be Taito's best-known series of shoot 'em ups, but the "Ray'z" series is popular too. Beginning with 1994's 2D RayForce (also known as Layer Section and Galactic Attack), the series went on to spawn two polygonal entries: RayStorm in 1996 and RayCrisis in 1998. Various iterations of these games will be included in a pair of upcoming collections for PlayStation and Switch from ININ Games: RayStorm X RayCrisis HD Collection and Ray'z Arcade Chronology. Both titles are due out on June 30.

In December 2021, Sega and a company called Zuiki released the Astro City Mini, a miniature arcade cabinet featuring 37 classic Sega arcade games. Now to be outdone, Taito recently announced its own mini arcade cabinet: the Egret II Mini. Scheduled for release in March 2022, the Egret II Mini will include 40 classic arcade games, 10 of which feature 2-player local co-op. Even better, the optional Paddle & Trackball Game Expansion Set adds 10 more games and a very special controller. That’s a lot of classic co-op goodness!