Taito Legends 2

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:36 am

I don't think Parasol Stars was ever released on arcades, though it was originally planned as an arcade game. It's not even on MAME AFAIK.

Parasol Stars is a hell out of a game, IMO it's the best game of its kind.

Regarding the Gamespot review.. I think every compilation of arcade games is always reviews like that in nearly all gaming sites. Can't remember reading a single review where the reviewer actually REVIEWS the games....

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:39 am

Thanks, Shatterhand. I didn't realize that Parasol Stars was a console-exclusive. Nor did it occur to me that Taito Legends has mostly (or exclusively?) arcade titles.

Adigun A. Polack · Post by **Adigun A. Polack** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:48 am

I saw Gamespot’s own review of Taito Legends 2 just now, and found it to be pretty plain DAMN stupid... especially on some of the ridiculous wording from within that review, too!! Apparently, the reviewer sure doesn’t know what the bloody hell he is even doing writing this one, you know!?

! I mean, look, this is gonna be blatantly compared with AceGamez review of that same very compilation we are talking about (found right here), which is so superior and cuts right to the heart of this title itself on PS2.

And by the way, me and my grandma ordered it for myself last week online at the GameStop site, and when it finally comes through and I try it out, I will be giving you my full personal reactions about Taito Legends 2, okay now?

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:22 am

The thing with Parasol Stars is that some people believe that an arcade version was actually produced and a few PCBs of it exist somewhere but for some reason the game was never distributed on this form... but I have never find any proof of it.

Was the TG-16 version made by Taito? One thing I always found weird is that the Amiga one was published by Ocean and made by Graftgold (the same guys behind the excelent conversion of Rainbow Islands... not to mention the amazing Uridium game)... how the heck could they port a game that "never existed" ?

Another interesting note is that the Amiga version actually is subtitled "The story of Rainbow Islands II" instead of "The story of Bubble Bobble III" like the other versions. Maybe that's because Rainbow Islands was much more sucessful than Bubble Bobble on Amiga (Being a MUCH SUPERIOR port certainly helped

), so Ocean prefered to link it to Rainbow Islands instead of Bubble Bobble

edit: oops. Wrong info.. it looks like Graftgold did NOT make Parasol Stars on Amiga, only Rainbow Islands.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:31 am

Working Designs/Taito did the Parasol Stars on TG-16. I was just playing it. I'm starting to get the idea. Very fun so far.

Adigun A. Polack · Post by **Adigun A. Polack** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:36 am

Actually professor ganson, if memory serves me correctly, Taito fully developed Parasol Stars on TG-16/PC-Engine back in 1991, while Working Designs got the rights to distribute the game on US shores. That is as far as I remember. And really, you are on the right track also... this game could have really been excellent as a fully-fledged arcade release, too!!

!

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 4:21 am

The thing I still don't understand is that despite 2 US releases and 4 JAP ones , arkanoid is still nowhere to be seen. this is BS.

DJ Incompetent · Post by **DJ Incompetent** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:59 am

yojo! wrote:The thing I still don't understand is that despite 2 US releases and 4 JAP ones , arkanoid is still nowhere to be seen. this is BS.

I am addicted to Puchi Carat. It's kinda all I play

Bloodreign · Post by **Bloodreign** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:32 am

I'm hoping for a third volume to finish covering the rest of the Memories releases we didn't see, for one thing I'd like the rest of the Bubble Bobble series, as well as Rainbow Islands Extra (why on that one, I dunno, it's supposed to be even harder than the original revision). It's a shame Taito didn't put Parasol Stars out in arcades, though I have heard that any arcade version that may exist may be a TG-16 inside a JAMMA cabinet.

Also I'd love to see the rest of the Puzzle Bobble games included (including the real Puzzle Bobble 2, not that Bust A Move Again crap we got stuck with).

JusteZero · Post by **JusteZero** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:42 am

This same guy reviewed Legends 1, and he complained about no light gun support for Operation Wolf/Thunderbolt. Of course these games were never light gun games in the arcade at all! They were positional guns, which are basically big plastic guns stuck ontop of analog sticks. So you could say TL1 emulates them arcade perfect.

To program light gun support into a 20 year old game would be a nightmare I'm sure, as it would alter the very fundamentals of how the game detects hits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_gun#Positional_guns

I wish they'd hire people who know something about retro games to review these compilations, instead of whiny unreasonable jackasses.

stuminator · Post by **stuminator** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:54 pm

yojo! wrote:The thing I still don't understand is that despite 2 US releases and 4 JAP ones , arkanoid is still nowhere to be seen. this is BS.

I don't think I'd want to play it on a compilation unless they included a paddle controller. There's been a couple of games with similar control schemes released on compilations (Plump Pop, Block Block) and even the PS2 analog sticks are terrible for these.

shinsage · Post by **shinsage** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 9:50 pm

"However, Arkanoid and its sequels have not appeared on any of the recent Taito Memories or Taito Legends compilations – it has been claimed that this was due to legal action from Atari."

wikipedia's the greatest.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:09 pm

I'm wondering about that Atari legal action over Arkanoid thing, though. Puchi Carat and Plump Pop both borrow from breakout too and are included in the Taito Legends collections. No legal action was taken against Break 'em All on the DS. Block Block is in a couple of Capcom collections too. Some Arkanoid based mini games appear in this Wario Ware like game from Taito (forgot the name of it).

Post by **undamned** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:21 pm

JusteZero wrote:This same guy reviewed Legends 1, and he complained about no light gun support for Operation Wolf/Thunderbolt. Of course these games were never light gun games in the arcade at all! They were positional guns, which are basically big plastic guns stuck ontop of analog sticks. So you could say TL1 emulates them arcade perfect.

Neat! I never knew about positional guns! I think T2 is light, though.
-ud

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:21 pm

Capcom should sue SNK.

This is completely silly if it's true.

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:19 am

Stage 1's music and the boss tune in Nastar are damn good. What kills Nastar as a game is the control- a far greater sin than the lack of branching paths.

Growl isn't the best beat-'em-up, but there are some sweet moves in it- especially the finishing blows and the throw where you repeatedly slam the opponent into the ground.

Gerstmann's review seems like it was written under the influence of some nasty shit.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:51 am

undamned wrote:
JusteZero wrote:This same guy reviewed Legends 1, and he complained about no light gun support for Operation Wolf/Thunderbolt. Of course these games were never light gun games in the arcade at all! They were positional guns, which are basically big plastic guns stuck ontop of analog sticks. So you could say TL1 emulates them arcade perfect.
Neat! I never knew about positional guns! I think T2 is light, though.
-ud

Nope, not a light gun game either.

Veracity · Post by **Veracity** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:51 am

BrianC wrote:I'm wondering about that Atari legal action over Arkanoid thing, though. Puchi Carat and Plump Pop both borrow from breakout too and are included in the Taito Legends collections. No legal action was taken against Break 'em All on the DS. Block Block is in a couple of Capcom collections too. Some Arkanoid based mini games appear in this Wario Ware like game from Taito (forgot the name of it).

Is there any definite substance to this legal action, or is it just random internet gossip? It seems pretty weird, considering Atari isn't Atari, but that doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't hold the Breakout IP, I guess. If there is an unsettled suit over Arkanoid, it wouldn't be that surprising that they'll include other similar games, assuming the suit refers only to Arkanoid. I would think the difficulty of translating the controls might be a concern, but other games have gone in with highly questionable control implementations. Was Arkanoid as absurdly hard as I remember it? I recall it as a ridiculous credit-muncher, but was never really comfortable with dial games, so that might be a lot of the reason. Again, anyway, hard to see this as a reason for not including it if you look at some of the other stuff that is there.

On the subject of dodgy analog, has anyone managed to get the controls on PC Puchi Carat to stop sucking? I think the PS2 version can be switched between analog stick and 2-speed digital with an 'accelerate' button, but the PC version appears to be stuck on single-speed digital, which isn't really playable. I ended up just running it in MAME so I could use mouse control - why this wasn't an option by default (unless I'm missing it) I don't know.

Another minor but irksome emulation issue: Darius Gaiden and Gekirindan are set to 2 lives on 'Medium' difficulty, whereas the arcade default (assuming MAME gets it right) was 3. You can correct this by using 'Custom' difficulty, but then your scores won't be saved.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:47 am

I'm really impressed so far. So many quality games that I might not have discovered otherwise. The vertical shmups are not worthwhile so far-- the version of Gekirindan is chopped in a pretty bad way, it seems to me, though I haven't played it in tate. Space Invaders '95 is a real surprise. Completely fun and looks great.

shinsage · Post by **shinsage** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:53 am

I thought the yoko of Geki in this collection was better than the yoko for the Saturn port.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:04 am

I thought the yoko was good myself, though it's better suited to a larger TV with at least S-Video. It stinks how the only adjustment that can be made is a Detana Twinbee/Taito Legends 1 style full screen mode. The yoko at least touches the top and bottom of the screen. It's better than the yoko in Taito Legends 1, which is somewhat finicky with its resizing and only seems to be able to be resized vertically.

Also, two of my favorites in this collection, Majestic Twelve and Space Invaders '95, are both yoko games. I like the other vert shmups so far too. Grid Seeker seems interesting with a pod system that was probably borrowed by Iridion II.

shinsage · Post by **shinsage** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:29 am

Space Invaders '95 is crazy, it feels like a Team Parodius game.

louisg · Post by **louisg** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:23 am

This collection is great! I'm a little bummed by the lack of tate, but most of the games came out really well. And, many of the games that aren't that well-known are very good too, so I'm discovering new favorites.

Re: positional lightguns.. I think any arcade gun game that has on-screen crosshairs is positional, right?

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:16 pm

Veracity wrote: Was Arkanoid as absurdly hard as I remember it? I recall it as a ridiculous credit-muncher, but was never really comfortable with dial games, so that might be a lot of the reason. Again, anyway, hard to see this as a reason for not including it if you look at some of the other stuff that is there.

Yes, it was. Damn level 11 that left you with no power-ups, and the ball would get to a crazy speed with no yellow power-up to slow it down. That was very mean from the developers, Level 11 exists only to end your run no matter with how many lives you reach that level.

But I gotta say, I always found Arkanoid 2 to be even harder, and I know at least one guy who claims to 1cc it ....

I guess anything is possible.

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:50 pm

Shatterhand wrote:But I gotta say, I always found Arkanoid 2 to be even harder, and I know at least one guy who claims to 1cc it ....

I guess anything is possible.

are you talking about arkanoid 2000 that got a PS1 release a few years back ?

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:24 pm

No

I am talking about Arkanoid 2: Revenge of Doh

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?let ... me_id=6917

This one that got a PS1 release, unless there's some Arkanoid game I don't know, is Arkanid Returns. This one is a LOT easier than any other Arkanoid game, and is actually one of the very few games I've seen my girlfriend playing and enjoying

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:02 pm

Arkanoid Returns PSX got a re-release named Arkanoid R 2000. As far as I know, the only difference is that the re-release adds analog support. Arkanoid 2 actually got a Famicom version in Japan, as well as many computer ports (a few of which made it to the US). Most home versions of Arkanoid 2, including the Famicom one, have an edit mode, which is also included in Arkanoid: Doh it Again (oddly enough, the JP version shares the same name), the SNES only Arkanoid. I'm not sure of the PSX Arkanoid Returns has an edit mode, but I would be surprised if it didn't.

JusteZero · Post by **JusteZero** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:27 pm

louisg wrote:Re: positional lightguns.. I think any arcade gun game that has on-screen crosshairs is positional, right?

Don't quote me, but yes in my experience thats ussually the case.

In fact if the gun is connected to the cab then its probably 'positional', if theres a cord running from the cab to the gun then its probably 'light'.

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:08 am

Shatterhand wrote:No

I am talking about Arkanoid 2: Revenge of Doh

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?let ... me_id=6917

This one that got a PS1 release, unless there's some Arkanoid game I don't know, is Arkanid Returns. This one is a LOT easier than any other Arkanoid game, and is actually one of the very few games I've seen my girlfriend playing and enjoying

I remember Arkanoid 2: Revenge of Doh. Used to play it a lot on the Amiga. The mouse control made it a lot easier than nowadays console's control pad. The port of the original Arkanoid by discovery software was awesome and almost arcade perfect (i.e. no tate mode).

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:13 am

IGN's Review

Here's a funny comment regarding the lack of unlockables, interviews, etc...

"This time, Taito decided the numbered list of ports -- that you can reorganize if you like -- would suffice, and it's a painful blow to the overall product. Although "Gotta catch'em all" Gamers are going to pick up Legends 2 just to complete their collections, folks browsing the local EB or GameStop (the only places to get Legends 2) would be wise to pass this option-less compilation over for one of the other fleshed-out arcade experiences on the rack."

Yes, so remember folks... don't buy this game, because there are no interviews that you'll only watch once, or unlockable artwork that you'll only glance at. 39 games in one compilation just isn't enough to warrant a purchase, especially since they didn't make any of them unlockable.

...

Is it me, or are some game reviewers trying to bring the overall IQ level down for gaming websites?

shmups.system11.org

Taito Legends 2

Here is what I really think of the Gamespot review.

Here is what I can remember here.

Taito Legends 2

Here is what I *really* think of the Gamespot review.

Here is what I can remember here.

Here is what I really think of the Gamespot review.