Taito Legends

[Kubrick]

Has anyone got the PC version? Or read anything about it? Surely that will support a USB controller?

That could be my best bet for Rainbow Islands joystick goodness...

[Ostrog]

The only differences I've noticed would be the music in some games - the tempo seems slower than it does in either the Taito Memories versions or on MAME. That's about it. I can understand how these little things can sometimes spoil one's enjoyment of these games since it's all about recapturing old memories, sensations and such. For me, it's all about the music - that Bubble Bobble tune has been hard-wired into my brain since I first heard it, and to hear it slightly altered can be a bit jarring at first. still, it plays well enough, and that's the main thing.
I'm really enjoying this, and I'm glad my favourites are on here. Space Gun is class!

[C']

I'm a bit confused about this not supporting sticks issue. Does an arcade stick send a different signal to the console so the machine knows whether a pad or stick is connected?

I was always under the impression that a stick just pretended to be a pad :/

[AlonzoUK]

This arrived this morning in the post (XBOX) and I have to say that I am well chuffed with it - for me it's even better value than the Midway Arcade Treasure collections.

Now back to Bubble Bobble.

[JamesS]

I'm a bit confused about this not supporting sticks issue. Does an arcade stick send a different signal to the console so the machine knows whether a pad or stick is connected?

Most PS2 arcade sticks appear to the console as an old-style (non-analogue) PS1 pad, which this pack doesn't support. It only supports Dual Shock controllers. This means you can't use arcade sticks or most decent digital joypads.

It's a pretty decent pack, but I'd agree that it's a bit rough compared to the Japanese Taito Memories collections. The sound on a lot of the games seems quite thin and scratchy compared to how it should be, and I think there's a bit of a delay on it, too. Just feels off somehow. Comparing Bubble Bobble between the two collections, the Japanese one is definitely better. There's an odd little pause at the start of each stage on the UK version too, which is a bit strange.

They would definitely seem to be using different emulators. For one thing, a look at the credits would suggest that all the coding was done in the UK for this pack.

It's definitely worth getting for those games that aren't already on Taito Memories, though. The faults are quite minor and probably wouldn't bother most people.

[Mad Gear]

I went to get this today. Should've been a simple purchase.......

Large Game store - no
Smaller Game store - no
Woolies - no
HMV - no
Virgin - no
Gamestation - no

Eventually found it in e-play and they only had a couple for each system. Wtf is going on?

[C']

I managed to get one this morning. Perhaps yesterday I went too early and stock hadn't arrived but I saw XB and PS2 copies in both Game and HMV.

I've bought both versions

[Kaladron]

I just played Super Qix for the first time in my life. It's a simple idea but it works so well. I'd love to see a DS version of this.

[muse hunter]

I went to get this today. Should've been a simple purchase.......

Large Game store - no
Smaller Game store - no
Woolies - no
HMV - no
Virgin - no
Gamestation - no

Eventually found it in e-play and they only had a couple for each system. Wtf is going on?

I'm with you here, it has totally pissed me off, i've been looking forward to this game but i can't find it anywhere, thats two gamestations and a game that are useless as eachother. Have to wait till the weekend and then go back, it better be there or i'm going to be too angry for words

[John Beaulieu]

if anyone wants to ask a question or two to the developers, let me know asap (via pm will probably be the best bet)

Interesting little fact, Nicola Salmoria (founder of Mame) was part of the development team...

[optimusrhymes]

I can't believe the amount of griping and nitpicking going on here! This pack offers 29 games and can be bought off play.com for ?14.99 - that's just over 50p a game for crikeys sake!

I played through and clocked New Zealand Story this weekend and it was just as I remembered, and I thouroughly enjoyed playing it - now throw in Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Op wolf, Volfied, Rastan etc etc top stuff!

Had a great time playing such guilty pleasures as Ninja kids, Thunder fox and Jungle hunt too!

How more cheesed off would we all be if this compilation never saw the light of day over here!?! plus it doesn't require all that unlocking malarky of the japanese editions.

PLUS Taito Legends 2 seems set to have 40 titles, including elevator action returns, Darius and Puzzle Bobble 2 - surley another must buy!

Any chance of Parasol Stars?!? One title I would love to see included!

Now to go and hunt down the rest of those pesky art cards....

[E. Randy Dupre]

Strider, you got any idea what's being considered for the second pack? I've only just noticed that Puchi Carat isn't included on this one, which has pissed me off mightily - if there was ever a brilliant game that deserved a much wider audience, it's that one.

[buster_broon]

well i managed to play the Xbox version

tis a shame - crying shame

you can ever hear with games like bubble bobble - the musci is slow and the game is slow

even rastan has the intro music missing - wondered what happened

only played a couple - nice collection, shame they dont run as fast as the arcade versions

[Mad Gear]

Strider, you got any idea what's being considered for the second pack? I've only just noticed that Puchi Carat isn't included on this one, which has pissed me off mightily - if there was ever a brilliant game that deserved a much wider audience, it's that one.

It looks like pretty much the stuff that's on the other compilation ie Don-Doko-Don, Darius, Elevator Action Returns etc.

I'd love to see Chase HQ, S.C.I, Bubble Symphony, Liquid Kids, Parasol Stars, Arkanoid, Revenge of D'oh and Ninja Warriors.

[Dock]

It'll be interesting to see whether the US release of this game (about a week from now) suffers the same problems as the PAL release. If so then it's very strange that the western version suffers problems that the original Japanese version did not.