Taito Arcade Classics for PS2, Xbox, and PC

[MegaDrive20XX]

British publisher Empire announced they will release a new Taito Arcade Classics series for PS2, Xbox and PC this year, they will bring over 30 Taito arcade classes over the past 20 years, including Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands and Operation Wolf.

I want that...

http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm

[kainemaxwell]

I hope they include Zoo Keeper!

[Lady Jaye]

Will this be available in North America, or only in Europe?

[esquire]

Hopefully these will be included:
Darius/Darius II/Darius Gaiden
G. Darius
Qix
Arkanoid
Double Dragon
Elevator Action
Front Line
Gun Frontier
Metal Black
Jungle Hunt/King
Insector X
Rayforce/Ray Storm/Raycrisis
Rastan I and II
Thunder Fox
Twin Cobra
Tiger-Heli.

and of course my personal favorite, STRATOVOX.

[shai hulud]

as long as Bubble Bobble plays well its worth the $30

[Jibbajaba]

Sign me up. I love arcade compilations.

Chris

[nildem]

UPDATE!

Source: Famitsu (via Gamefront.de (http://www.gamefront.de))

The official Japanese title of the game will be Taito Memories: Volume 1, and will include (at least) the following games:

- Elevator Action Returns
- Space Invader Color
- Darius Gaiden
- Lunar Rescue
- Alpine Ski
- The Fairyland Story
- KiKi KaiKai
- Bubble Bobble
- Rastan Saga
- Kuri Kinton
- Syvalion
- Jigoku Meguri
- Cameltry
- Don Doko Don
- Flipull
- Kyuukyoku Harikiri Koshien
- Majestic Twelve - The Space Invaders Part IV
- Runark
- Pulirura
- Metal Black
- Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer
- Space Invader DX
- Light Bringer
- Cleopatra Fortune
- Puchi Carat

[slownerveaction]

Oh... my... God. That's incredibly awesome. There are a bunch of games on there I'd pay at least $20 for by themselves. Hell, some of those were previously only available as rare/pricey imports (like Elevator Action Returns and Metal Black). And vol. 1 would indicate... there's a second volume (or more) coming? I hope that has Rainbow Islands, Bubble Symphony, and Bubble Memories.

[kainemaxwell]

Awsome, but i still want Zoo Keeper in one these collections!

oooh, Flipull!!

[Rogmeister]

I still haven't heard whether these will be released in the U.S. The lead post here refers to it being done by a British publisher...which makes me wonder. I also wonder if we'll ever get any arcade compilation featuring Crazy Climber. I'd love to get that (in a U.S. release since I don't buy imports) but wonder if anyone even has the rights anymore. I'm not sure if the company that published the original arcade game is even in business anymore.

[Neil Koch]

Why do they have Rastan Saga (which is pretty horrible) on there but not the first one which is one of the best hack n slash games ever?

Still, it's nice to see a lot of rarities on there...

[Crush Crawfish]

Dear God, please let that get a US release. It's worth it for Pulirula alone. Of course It's not getting a GCN release so I can't even import it if the US gets screwed over..... x_x

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Nichibutsu (the makers of Crazy Climber) are still around - they published a 3D update of Crazy Climber in 2000, in fact, and licensed out a re-release of the version of CC that appeared on the older Nichibutsu Arcade Classics out to Majorwave (I think it was Majorwave) for a reprint. So they're still out there - but I don't think they're "into" mining the ol' back catalog as much as, say, Namco. Or apparently Taito. And they seem to be blissfully unaware of the appeal that their retro titles would have on this side of the Pacific. *shrug*

[Famidrive-16]

Wow, a bunch of Japanese titles I haven't heard of!

You know this means a good thing in my case, right.

[DDCecil]

Worth it for KiKi KaiKai (Pocky and Rocky) and Syvalion (I've been playing the Super Famicom one a lot lately) alone! I hope to see a Vol. 2 with Time Gal included :D

[bargora]

I don't suppose that any of those titles translate as "Front Line", do they?

[Retsudo]

I saw the same thing at Gamespot. No mention of this comin out for the XBox or Pc. They only said PS2.

[Tron 2.0]

I still haven't heard whether these will be released in the U.S. The lead post here refers to it being done by a British publisher...which makes me wonder. I also wonder if we'll ever get any arcade compilation featuring Crazy Climber. I'd love to get that (in a U.S. release since I don't buy imports) but wonder if anyone even has the rights anymore. I'm not sure if the company that published the original arcade game is even in business anymore.
Not unless Natsume does it's about only, compeny left that cares to publish any thing by Taito.

Man i miss when Taito had a U.S office :(

[GobopopRevisited]

Cameltry!!!

Hopefully it will make use of Live Scoreboards.

[Captain J]

thats an awesome set and i will be importing it sir! i remember when they were releasing the taito memories for ngage that had space invaders, qix, and bubble bobble on it. it was the whole reason i bought an ngage in the first place. they even had the official box out at eb and gs and then they cancelled the game. i have the official box still in my collection for what might have been!

[DTJAAAAMJSLM]

Sounds good, I hope the original Rastan will eventually make the cut.

[klausien]

I think it is the original Rastan. If I remember correctly, Rastan was Rastan Saga in Japan.

It's unfortunate that neither of the first two Darius games, nor Ninja Warriors makes an appearance. I was hoping for those. The inclusion of Metal Black is phenomenal though. Was looking to spend some $$$ on the Saturn version sooner rather than later.

I would love to see a multi-volume release ala the original Namco Museum 1-5 & Encore on the PSX or the Capcom Generations series.

[Neil Koch]

I think it is the original Rastan. If I remember correctly, Rastan was Rastan Saga in Japan.

You are correct sir (I just did a quick Google search). I will be definitely getting this then. Rastan (both in the arcade and on SMS) is one of my all-time favorites... too bad the sequels blew.

[pragmatic insanester]

damnit. i pay $55 bucks for pulirula and THEN they release it on a compilation for about the same price. :-/

[klausien]

damnit. i pay $55 bucks for pulirula and THEN they release it on a compilation for about the same price. :-/

That's alright man. I imported the DC Ikaruga for $60 and then it came out on the GC for $30. I also overpaid for my PSX copy of Twinbee Deluxe Pack. No regrets.

Now everyone else (provided this package comes to the US in unaltered form) will get the chance to try out the wackiness that is Pulirula. I feel the same way about Treasure's greatest games. I have a good collection of them, and paid quite a bit for some, but I am heartily for a compilation of the games. A current or next gen release of Panzer Dragoon Saga would also be wonderful, especially if the graphics were improved even a little.