While not everyone has been happy with the specific distribution of titles in the Taito Milestones series, these compilations have served a valuable purpose in giving people another option for exploring Taito’s impressive library of arcade hits. It usually results in a physical release as well, and having more of Hamster’s Arcade Archives available in hard copy form is a great thing. Taito Milestones 4 brings another 10 games together, and it’s once again a potpourri of famous hits and lesser-known titles from the past.
One difference this time around comes in who is publishing this release outside of Japan. The last three Taito Milestones collections were handled by ININ in the West, while this one is under the care of Clear River Games. This might affect some pricing and availability of the physical version, but the front end, features, options, and so on are all consistent with previous volumes. What that means is that you’re getting a very basic menu to select a game from, and a slightly stripped-down version of each game’s Arcade Archives release.
What I mean by that is that while you get all of the various display, game settings, and button mapping options of the Arcade Archives versions, you only get one regional version of each game and no Score Attack or Caravan modes. You can still compete on the online leaderboards for each game, however. Each game also allows you to save and a digital manual that explains how to play. Games that originally featured a dial controller can also be controlled with a USB mouse. No Switch 2 Mouse Mode support, sadly. Basically, if you just want to play the games then you will have everyrhing you need here. If you love a game enough to want those extra modes, the Arcade Archives releases are there for you. Now, let’s go down the list of the 10 included games.
Water Ski, originally released in 1983, comes from that era where simply representing a thing on-screen and adding a scoring system could take you far. In this case, it’s water-skiing. It was having a moment at the time. A boat pulls you up the screen and you need to avoid the hazards in the water. You can slow down and jump, and if you hit anything you’ll take a time penalty. If you run out of time, that’s that. It’s a fun game to fire up now and then.
Field Day is from 1984 and you might be able to guess from the name that it’s a multi-event sports game. There are seven different events here, and as this is more themed around a girls’ school sports festival than an Olympics-style affair, these aren’t always the kinds of contests you might be expecting. Personally, I’m not a very big fan of this genre but it seems perfectly serviceable for those who like this kind of thing more than I do. Add a friend to have more fun, presumably.
1985’s Typhoon Gal is a martial arts fighting game, and given the era it’s from you shouldn’t be expecting anything like Street Fighter II. In each dojo, you have to defeat a number of students before taking on the master. The heroine has quite a wide array of moves, and the controls take a lot of getting used to in order to play effectively. The game has a lot of charm thanks to its visual presentation, and I think it’s one that is worth putting some time into learning.
Of all the games included here, Arkanoid probably needs an introduction the least. Originally released in 1986, this brick-breaker built on the foundations of Atari’s Breakout with new patterns, power-ups, enemy characters, and more. This one can be controlled with a USB mouse, and it’s highly recommended to do so if you have the option. Otherwise you have to make do with buttons that allow you to speed up or slow down the paddle’s movement, which is less than ideal. Still, this is a classic game for a reason. Note that some of the arcade layouts have been altered for this release due to legal reasons involving the aforementioned Breakout.
Bonze Adventure, a 1988 side-scrolling platformer, isn’t the most famous Taito game but it’s certainly a lot of fun. You play as a monk making his way through spooky environments, using his magic to dispatch the evil spirits he encounters along the way. There’s a vague sense of Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins to this game, but with slightly less frustrating level designs. Your attack in this game consists of magic bubbles that you launch at your foes. There are lots of secrets to find, making for fun replays. Definitely one to check out in this selection.
Kurikinton is another 1988 release, and this one is also worth checking out if you haven’t heard of it. It’s a side-scrolling beat ’em up/platformer that feels a bit visually inspired by Dragon Ball. You have a decent array of attacks and some special attacks, and the action feels quite good. Basic enemies go down pretty easily, while the boss battles can get very intense. Unfortunately since this was not localized back in the day, all of the dialogue here remains in Japanese. We’re probably missing out on a thrilling story.
I’m not sure if 1988’s Sylvalion is the best game in this collection, but it’s definitely the coolest. This is another game that has USB mouse support, as it used a trackball in the arcades. You play as a flying dragon that needs to zip around mazes burning anything that moves with your awesome dragon breath. This game plays fine with normal controls, and arguably might be a little easier in general that way. It’s another very enjoyable game. Taito was clearly having a good year in 1988.
Rolling over to 1989, we have the Bubble Bobble-inspired elimination platformer Don Doko Don. You play as a little dude with a hammer, and you need to squash enemies and throw them. When you defeat them, various food items will appear. You’ll also have a chance to grab some random power-ups on each stage if you can get to them in time. Like many games of this sort, it’s better if you can pull in a friend for some two-player action. Don Doko Don isn’t Taito’s best game of this sort, but it’s more than agreeable enough.
No one really knows what the efforts of a camel have to do with navigating a marble through a maze, but that doesn’t stop 1989’s Cameltry from being a great time. You have to rotate a maze around a marble to guide it to the goal, avoiding time-wasting hazards and scoring extra points wherever you can. This is another game that supports USB mouse controls, but it works okay with the analog stick too. Clever, creative, charmingly odd, and just a plain good time.
The selection is rounded out with The Ninja Kids, a game whose 1990 release puts it right in the middle of the beat ’em up craze that was sweeping arcades at the time. Choose from one of four puppet-like ninja kids and battle your way through belt-scrolling stages full of baddies to bash. It’s quite silly, sometimes cute, and carries itself well enough as a beat ’em up. Again, pull in some friends to have an even better time here.
While you may not love every game in Taito Milestones 4, if you even enjoy half of them you’re beating the odds versus buying them as individual Arcade Archives releases. More than that, I think the value in a curated set like this is that it might lead you to games you wouldn’t have singled out on your own. Grab it for the hits you know, but make sure to try out the other included games. There are surprisingly few duds in the Taito arcade library, so you’re likely to have some fun with any given title from the publisher as long as you have a little patience. This collection demonstrates that quite well.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch
Review Copy Provided by Clear River Games
