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It\u2019s 1982, and you\u2019re heading to an arcade. You have a choice (there were choices back then) of visiting\u2014for the sake of historical accuracy\u2014the Ashland Arcade or Diamond Jim\u2019s. The latter is larger, but you go with the Ashland Arcade because they have a particular game you want to play.<\/p>\n

When you get there, however, that game\u2019s controls are busted. Or maybe it just has a really long line (there were lines back then). So, you try a new game. It\u2019s one you haven\u2019t played. Could be that it\u2019s new, but it\u2019s more likely you just never noticed it.<\/p>\n

Ends up, it\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n

This scenario used to happen to me quite often, and it\u2019s just been recreated with TAITO Milestones for Nintendo Switch. Ten games released throughout the 1980s comprise this collection:<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t familiar with most of these games going into the review, having heard of only Qix, Wild Western, Alpine Action and Elevator Action. The former two were favorites, however, and I was looking forward to playing them again.<\/p>\n

Qix is still fun, but it was much harder than I remember. Controls? My old age? Maybe both. The point of this game is to cordon off sections of the screen without being touched by the Qix, which is basically an undulating chunk of Windows screensaver. You\u2019re safe from it if you\u2019re on a closed section, but you\u2019re not safe from the sparx or fuses that travel the lines you\u2019ve completed. Drawing slowly gets you double points when you\u00a0 finish a section, and the goal is to close off a certain percentage of the screen.<\/p>\n

It all functions quite well on the Switch, but I recall it being easier (and more fun) to play when you could slam around the control stick on an arcade cabinet.<\/p>\n

Controls are a bigger issue with Wild Western. Here you\u2019re a sheriff (I hope) racing beside a speeding train as you protect it from bandits. There are hazards to dodge, and you can jump from horse to train and back again to complete your mission. It\u2019s quite fun, but the controls don\u2019t translate well to the Switch. The arcade machine had a rotating wheel you could spin to aim and push to shoot. The default Switch controls have you moving with the left stick, aiming with the right, and firing with B. Remapping fire to the shoulder buttons allows you to continue aiming while shooting, but it doesn\u2019t feel as natural as the wheel.<\/p>\n

So, being slightly disappointed in the games I wanted to play, I dug into the titles that wer new to me. There, I discovered the glory of The Fairyland Story. In the vein of Mario Bros., you jump from platform to platform to avoid the bad guys, using your wand to turn them into cupcakes. They\u2019ll turn back, so you have to quickly push the cupcakes off the ledges to make them disappear. You\u2019ll get bonus points if you squash others in the process.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the entire game. I mean, it changes as you progress, but only a bit. Video games used to be about getting you off the machine quickly, so there was no reason to advance the gameplay beyond quickly ramping up on the difficulty.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why collections of old arcade games are a hard sell. They\u2019re centered around nostalgia. Nobody buys Taito Milestones anticipating multi-hour gaming sessions. You play a few rounds, you say, \u201cHey, I remember this!\u201d and then you play something else. Does that justify the asking price? Sometimes. It\u2019s a solid way to fill gaps in your day. There\u2019s also a minor thrill to beating your previous score, and a slightly bigger thrill to sharing that score on the leaderboards.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the joy of discovery. There are too many games here for me to dig into each\u2019s details, but I can say I\u2019m looking forward to pushing further into a couple. The Ninjawarriors appeals to my Shinobi fandom, Halley\u2019s Comet is fun in a Xevious sort-of-way, and Alpine Ski is surprisingly diverse for a basic sports sim. However, I never really liked Elevator Action, and I\u2019m just confused by Chack\u2019n Pop and Space Seeker. The latter reminds me a little of Intellivision\u2019s Space Battle, but not as well done.<\/p>\n

I do like that the collection doesn\u2019t get fancy with its setup; you just pick a game and go. There are no bothersome history lessons to bypass or a virtual arcade to walk through. You can also remap the controls, as mentioned above, and tweak some other settings such as difficulty, number of lives, basic display elements, etc.<\/p>\n

Whether the gameplay, nostalgia, or functionality justifies the $40 asking price is trickier to answer. Most of the games here are available as individual Arcade Archive entries for $7.99 a piece. But if that\u2019s the way I\u2019d gone, I\u2019d\u2019ve never tried The Fairyland Story (also available separately), and it\u2019s my favorite here.<\/p>\n

So, if you occasionally want access to a diverse collection of games, this will scratch that itch, albeit with some clunky controls. However, if your tastes are more precise, or if you already know you\u2019re not interested in half of what\u2019s included in TAITO Milestones, you\u2019re better off buying them individually.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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It\u2019s 1982, and you\u2019re heading to an arcade. You have a choice (there were choices back then) of visiting\u2014for the sake of historical accuracy\u2014the Ashland Arcade or Diamond Jim\u2019s. The latter is larger, but you go with the Ashland Arcade because they have a particular game you want to play. When you get there, however, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/purenintendo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/taitomilestones-splash.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[576],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nintendo"],"yoast_head":"\n