『 Taito Legends Vol 1 & 2 』

I don't know about you, but I love good, old arcade games. Especially the ones from late eighties and early nineties. Whenever I see a decent compilation of arcade ports, I just buy it. No two ways about it.


Taito was certainly not first to re-release their oldies in a brand new package. We've seen countless compilations of Namco classics and even though I love Pac-Man and Galaga, how many times can you buy those five games? Not many. Taito was smart enough to include some of the less known titles along with the popular classics.


As you can tell from the photos, I have scored a pair of Taito Legends released for the PlayStation 2. They were wasting away in a bargain bin so I just had to save them. Not only were they insanely cheap, byt they turned out to be worth their full retail price.


Taito is well known for their Space Invaders and yes, the game is present on both compilations in various versions, including a quite entertaining update - Space Invaders '95. We do have Rainbow Islands, Bubble Bobble and New Zealand Story, but aside of the titles that have already been ported to tons of platforms over the years, we have some goodies that you don't want to pass on.


This is where Taito Legends 2 shines. It includes the more recent and accessible releases. If you're not into the extreme oldies and you want to get most play for your money, this compilation is the one to choose. Among the titles worth checking out are Elevator Action Returns - a sequel to an old classic present on the first disc, Cleopatra Fortune - An addictive tetris-esque puzzle game with great music, also available on Dreamcast, Liquid Kids - A cute platformer with interesting game mechanics including throwing water as weapon.


There are also plenty of shooters to choose from. We have Metal Black [not to be confused with Twisted Metal Black, which is not a shooter and wasn't developed by Taito], Darius Gaiden and Insector X, among others. Also, exclusive to PlayStation 2 is an arcade perfect conversion of G Darius. If that's not a treat for every shmup fan, I don't know what is.


Ok, do does all that mean Taito Legends 2 is so much better than the first collection? Yes and no. That depends entirely on what you're looking for. If you ask me, Taito should have distributed the games more evenly, mixing the old with the new and giving us more reasons for purchasing both of their releases. They chose however to include older titles on Taito Legends but like I said, this should not discourage you in any way. Older games can still be great.


Compilation number one includes one of my favorite arcade titles in its genre - Rastan. Not only was Rastan a great game, but for its time it featured some amazing music and I would sometimes play it just to enjoy the soundtrack. The fun doesn't end with Rastan though. We've got Operation Wolf, Space Gun and Battle Shark which are all excellent lightgun games. Sadly, Taito didn't implement the lightgun support so they can only be controlled with analogue stick, which is pretty damn annoying with first two games since they automatically return the crosshair to the center of the screen if you let go of the analogue stick.


That being said, don't let the minor flaws get to you as each and every game on both of the discs can still be enjoyed and as I said, it's certainly a great buy for an arcade game fans, Taito fans and casual gamers alike.


These days we associate the term of casual gaming with some middle aged, going bald, Microsoft PR guys and we somehow don't find that appealing. Taito Legends is fully loaded with games that one could classify as casual. After all, isn't all arcade gaming casual by definition? You pop a quarter into the machine, enjoy yourself for a bit and you're on your way.


If you're looking for some good arcade fun with learning curve basically non existant, treat yourself to these fine compilations and you will not regret it. Surely, buying these discs is money well spent and you can post hate comments here if you buy Taito Legends and feel that I overhyped the subject.


If Taito Legends can't be found in bargain bins near you, check out the official website by clicking HERE. From there you can visit the Empire Interactive online store. Alternatively, look it up on eBay and get it for cheap. Happy hunting and have fun!

『 THE お姉チャンポン～THE姉チャン２特別編～ 』

Ah, The OneeChanbara. What's more appealing than half naked, computer generated women, with big katana swords, slashing through the hordes of undead, half-dead and zombiefied foes? Nothing. OneeChanbara is just one of these series that you have to get to know before you can really appriciate how much fun it actually is. But let's start from the beginning.


The OneeChanbara is a series of hack and slash titles developed by Tamsoft Corporation [株式会社タムソフト] for D3, a publisher responsible for the Simple 2000 idea. "Simple" is a series of budget priced titles developed mostly by smaller companies for various platforms including PlayStation [Simple 1500], PlayStation 2 [Simple 2000] and Simple Wii.


"Simple" titles do not have the same production values as big, commercial titles, but they can be enjoyable nonetheless. One could say that the Simple series is the equivalent of Xbox Live Arcade or Wii Ware, offering titles developed by smaller companies, for reasonable cash. But back on the subject of The OneeChanbara ...


The developer behind The OneeChanbara is the previously mentioned Tamsoft. If the name doesn't ring a bell, try thinking of Battle Arena Toshinden or Choro Q. That's right. The guys didn't make it on the big market, so they decided to conquer the budget price world and to a degree, they succeeded.


Before I stant telling you about the gameplay, I'll explain the title. The OneeChanbara is actually a wordplay, combining two words: oneechan [older sister] and chanbara [sword fighting, a term commonly used to describe samurai themed movies]. So there it is. Sword fighting older sister. Different parts of the series can have slightly different titles and they usually are a pun of some kind aswell. The game you can see on the photos for example, The OneeChanpon: The Oneechan 2 Tokubetsuhen. Chanpon is a noodle dish originating from Korea consisting of fried pork, seaweed, vegetables and chicken soup as a base. The name itself means "a mix".


OneeChanbara games are often compared to Devil May Cry, and while both games are a hack and slash type titles, the way our character is controlled is completly different in Tamsoft's title. Controls are a bit crude, but there's not that much to complain about and all the flaws of the camera and steering are compensated by the auto aim funtion.


The game mechanics are simple. You can slash, you can kick and you can jump. While you're killing off your enemies, your sword starts dripping of blood, your attacks become slower and if the sword is too dirty, it will get stuck in the bodies of your enemies. You can easily clean it by shaking off the blood and that's pretty much it. You level, you have special moves, but the moves you'll be using will be short sword and kick combos.


The only upgrades that can be made to your character and that are worth mentioning are the costumes. You have to dress your babes for killing and you can dress them pretty nicely too. You can tell that most of the processing power is poured into how the main character looks.


If you think only Tecmo can make a game full of bouncy breasts and violence, think again. The OneeChanbara series is the number one with a bullet when it comes to babes and gore. There are six games out [seven, if you count the mobile phone title, but you can't get it aoutside of Japan, and without a phone registered with a japanese network] and I'll be reviewing them shortly, so be on the lookout and pick up this title now.