Taito Legends 2 finally hits America, POW! Right in the kisser!
 

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Well, in a few days apparently. GameStop exclusive! For twenty bucks you get..

- Alpine Ski
- Arabian Magic
- Balloon Bomber
- Bonze Adventure
- Cameltry
- Chack 'n Pop
- Cleopatra Fortune
- Crazy Balloon
- Darius Gaiden
- Don Doko Don
- Dungeon Magic
- Elevator Action Returns
- Football Champ
- Front Line
- G Darius
- Gekirindan
- Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer
- Growl
- Gun Frontier
- Insector X
- KiKi KaiKai
- Kuri Kinton
- Legend of Kage
- Liquid Kids
- Lunar Rescue
- Metal Black
- Nastar (Rastan 2)
- Puchi Carat
- Puzzle Bobble 2
- Qix
- Raimais
- Ray Storm
- Space Invaders '95
- Space Invaders DX
- Sylvalion
- The Fairyland Story
- Violence Fight
- Wild Western

But they're only releasing the PS2 version. When the PAL version came out last year, it was also on Xbox. For fun and excitement, both versions each had four exclusive games. According to Empire (the Euro developer), it was because they couldn't get Bubble Symphony running smoothly on the PS2. Taito Japan wouldn't help them figure it out, so uh, they decided to mix and match games around. For Destineer not to bother with the Xbox version for America is a bit silly, I know the original Xbox is dead and all, but it's not like everyone chucked them in the bin. Joke about Xbox not fitting in the bin goes here. The PS2 version misses out ooooooon..

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Bubble Symphony

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Cadash

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Pop 'n Pop

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Rayforce

Plus the Xbox version features a much nicer menu selection (full 3D arcade cabinets and some trance remix) compared to the PS2's dull scrolling list.

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BUT HEY BORING USELESS DETAILS! The PS2 version is still completely awesome. There's a lot of excllent stuff in here! Balloon Bomber, G Darius, Ray Storm and Syvalion were exclusive to it, and G Darius is love. I found myself addicted to Puchi Carat, a puzzle game that does its best to distract you with the weirdo cast of characters dancing away or whatever in the background. You pretty much can't go wrong considering the asking price. I remember when Puzzle Bobble 2 was ported to N64 as a full price release. ;_;

Also Taito Legends Power-Up for PSP is getting released at the same time. Again, GameStop exclusive, $20.

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It's got stuff from both console Legend releases, but misses some of the best for some stupid reason. HOW CAN YOU NOT AT LEAST PUT BUBBLE BOBBLE ON THERE? Probably so they can release a Power-Up 2: The Revenge in the future.

- Alpine Ski
- Balloon Bomber
- Cameltry
- Chack n' Pop
- Crazy Balloon
- Elevator Action
- Kiki Kaikai
- Kuri Kinton
- Legend of Kage
- Lunar Rescue
- New Zealand Story
- Phoenix
- Qix
- Raimais
- Rastan Saga
- Return of the Invaders
- Space Dungeon
- Space Invaders
- Space Invaders Part 2
- The Fairyland Story

Plus four updated versions (same game, slightly better graphics and sound)

- Balloon Bomber Enhanced
- Cameltry Enhanced
- Crazy Balloon Enhanced
- Legend of Kage Enhanced

Taito should pay me for this. :cmb:

It's sad, but this is the game I'm most looking forward to at the moment. God, ALL that...All those shmups, cool puzzle games, the awesome Space Invaders remakes and all the cool stuff inbetween and dirt cheap to boot. I mean, I paid $40 just for G-Darius back in the day. No Bubble Symphony pisses me off though.

And yeah, most of it can be played on emulators, but playing on my PS2 is a huge "win" factor. At least until I find a place to get my Xbox modded into an emulation monster.

First one's really good too. Taito's old-ass games are really underrated in the fun department (I can't even name most of them...I just pop them on and have a good time for five minutes, then switch up...rinse and repeat).

I'd love to see a Konami one with all of their famous (and not-so-famous) shooter franchises.

Emulation is great, but only when it works. Granted it's been over a year since I tried it, but I seem to recall MAME having issues with Rayforce. Something with the Taito sound driver slowly filling up with garbage. And I have to admit, that's a hell of a deal, exclusives notwithstanding.

How can you go wrong when it features a game called Arabian Magic?

I'm a bit irked they took out PuLiRuLa and Rayforce, but I still plan to pick this up sometime. For a shmup fan this collection is a dream.

Cadash? Bubble Symphony? Rayforce?!

Oh wait, these are games we don't get? Aw nuts.

I'll probably still get it sometime because I love playing older games more than 90% of the new stuff coming out, and paying $20 for 20 or 30 games I love versus paying $40 for one game that's okay is an obvious choice.

PuLiRuLa was going to be in this collection??? RAGE I couldn't have given them my money fast enough if that was in the box.

Does anyone know what the actual release date of this title is? It looks like it might be worth picking up, and if it's a GS exclusive I wonder if it might be hard to find later on...

Ooh, just noticed it has Qix! That's definitely one of the most unique, nail-biting old-school titles around. You know, they should really remake that game in 3d somehow: FP Qix ftw!

A well-deserved BUMP!

And the game that triggered this bump? PUCHI CARAT!

Holy shit, this game is addicting. Imagine Puzzle Bobble (trying to drop block combos), but you're doing the Arkanoid-style paddle thing instead, either in 1p survival or VS. Both are insane. It looks slower than Arkanoid, but once you miss, the lines start flying down and...well, normally you die. I've probably put at least 10 hours into this already. Can't do much in 1p mode survival mode (I got it down to 51 lines once), but I can beat Vs mode in less than 5 credits now (not bad, considering how quickly matches are). Best game I've played in years. And the music isn't half bad either.

Other than that, there's been some hits and some misses. Darius Gaiden looks and plays sweet, but it's pretty hard. I normally stop playing because I realize how many credits I'd have spent in a real arcade, keeping myself alive. Elevator Action Returns is awesome in a mindless-arcade-game style (that's a compliment). Space Invaders 95 is a great update (DX is kind of lame). Lunar Rescue and Alpine are great, considering they were out before I was born. Arabian Magic has potential, but I get the feeling it works better as a TMNT/Simpsons brawler with more than one player in. Cleopatra's fun, but it gets too fast too soon...I have to play with it some more. Only lame thing is Puzzle Bobble 2 doesn't seem right...The dinosaurs aren't there and the music cuts off abruptly. Luckily I kept my PS1 game of it. That, and endless credits are cheap...but oh well. Self moderation helps.

And that's just scratching the surface...Too much Puchi Carat for anything else. Best $20 ever spent and that's minus Bubble Symphony and PuLiRuLa (and with a crappy Puzzle Bobble 2).

Hmm, does anyone know if the Japanese Xbox version is region-free? I might see if I can snag it on the cheap for the missing games down the road.

Haha yeah, Puchi Carat is one hell of an addictive beast. It's still my most played game on the collection! The final level with the weirdo muscle guy is brutal! Also there is no Japanese Xbox version, unfortunately. Taito Legends 1 and 2 were put together by a Euro developer and never released over there. Taito Japan then went on to do their very own collections called Taito Memories for PS2. The second one includes Bubble Symphony. ;_; Also Chase HQ!

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