Taito Milestones 3 (Nintendo Switch)
Is the third time the charm?
The previous two Taito Milestones games were released to mixed reception. I wouldn’t be shocked if the same ultimately proves true with Taito Milestones 3. Let’s face it: while 10 arcade games are once again included, it’s doubtful that everyone will click with you. Even as a middle-aged gamer with fond memories of the arcade scene from the mid-80s and early ’90s (the time period the games in this collection represent) only a few of them prompted repeat plays.
Not that I expected any of these selected games to be dripping with depth. Most are beat ’em ups (including the entire Rastan Saga trilogy). Of course, if you have a player two who is into games like these, this collection will increase in worth by a sizable amount. Or even players three and four for certain games like Dead Connection and Runark. But those aren’t my wife’s type of games. Thankfully, Bubble Bobble and (one of its many sequels) Rainbow Islands click with her. Bub and Bob are fun, whether in dinosaur/dragon form or human.
But therein lies more food for thought. I find myself asking “As much as Bubble Bobble is one of our favorites, how many versions of it do we need?” The bulk of the games in this collection (with a few exceptions like Thunder Fox) have been released time and again as solo releases or in various compilations. Hence, most of this package consists of games you can buy individually under the Arcade Archives banner. If you already own a couple, this release will give you more pause.
Imagine if, instead of $40 collections, there was a promo where you could pick ten Taito Arcade Archive games for that price. I bet people would jump all over that, as they could curate their favorites. But I am left with the reality that is Taito Milestones 3. To be fair, many of these games impress me graphically, with colors, details, parallax, and more on-screen objects than I would’ve expected. Many impressed me with strong music, tunes that I would’ve struggled to hear as a kid in a crowded hall of youngsters. And, many impressed me with their design, having features and options I wouldn’t have expected in quarter munchers of the time: Cadash (an arcade RPG) wins points on uniqueness alone. But, in the end, it’s all about the gameplay. And that’s where I am mixed, not too dissimilar to Kirk when reviewing Tatio Milestones and its follow-up.
The majority of the games in this collection I find interesting. Most are fun to watch. But the idea with arcade games wasn’t to get lurkers or those who would pop in a single quarter and move on to the next games. It was to get those who would blow their allowance or Nana’s pocket money in an hour. And certainly, if you’re buying this release to have on your Switch and play at home, you’d rightly expect your profile activity to show more than “Played for a little while”. That’s not me, though it may be you.
If these Taito milestone compilations are to continue, a slightly lower price combined with a couple more exclusives could be the winning combination. Some extra historical content (seen in comparable collections) could add welcomed value, too. But I’ll say this for emphasis, if you already own the A-material in this third installment as individual Arcade Archive releases, you might not be the ideal audience. Give pause before dropping $39.99 on Taito Milestones 3, unless you’re nostalgic.
