Taito Legends Power-Up Explained

Developer:Empire Oxford
Mine Loader Software
Series:Taito Legends
Genre:Various
Modes:Single-player, multiplayer
Platforms:PlayStation Portable

Taito Legends Power-Up is a compilation of classic Taito video games released for the PlayStation Portable system. Patterned after the Taito Memories series for PlayStation 2, Power-Up marks the first release of the franchise on a portable gaming system. The Japanese version is called Taito Memories Pocket and has sixteen games. The Western versions remove Rainbow Islands Extra, and replace it with six other games, for a total of 21 games on the Western compilation.

Games

Taito Legends Power-Up features 21 (16 in Japan) different games from Taito's back-catalog of arcade titles. Some of these games have appeared on the Taito Legends console releases, while others are exclusive to Power-Up. These titles include:[1]

Titles included in Taito Legends Power-Up
TitleReleasePower-UpPocket (Japan)Taito Legends console appearances
Alpine Ski Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Balloon Bomber Yes Yes Taito Legends 2 (PS2 version)
Cameltry Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Chack'n Pop Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Crazy Balloon 1980 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Elevator Action 1983 Yes Yes Taito Legends
The Fairyland Story 1985 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
KiKi KaiKai 1986 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Kuri Kinton 1988 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
The Legend of Kage 1985 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Lunar Rescue 1979 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
The NewZealand Story 1988 Yes Yes Taito Legends
Phoenix 1980 Yes Taito Legends
Qix 1981 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Raimais 1988 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Rainbow Islands Extra 1988 Yes
Rastan Saga (Japanese version)1987 Yes Yes Taito Legends
Return of the Invaders 1985 Yes Taito Legends
Space Chaser 1980 Yes
Space Dungeon 1981 Yes
Space Invaders 1978 Yes Taito Legends
Space Invaders Part II 1979 Yes Taito Legends

Also included are deluxe versions of four games—Balloon Bomber, Cameltry, Crazy Balloon and The Legend of Kage. These versions offer upgraded graphics and extended gameplay.

Taito Legends Power-Up also utilizes the PlayStation Portable's game-sharing feature. Any of the games (original versions only) may be wirelessly transmitted to any other PSP, including those that do not own the full version of the game. Downloaded games remain resident within the PSP's memory until the unit is turned off.

Reception

Taito Legends Power-Up received mixed reviews with an aggregate score of 60.60% on GameRankings.[2] Greg Miller of IGN rated the game 7.2 (decent) for incomplete multiplayer support.[3] Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot rated the game 6.5 (fair), and criticized the omission of Bubble Bobble and Double Dragon, (the latter was licensed from Technōs Japan for the U.S.), as well as including too many iterations of Space Invaders.[4]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: More Taito Legends headed to US . 2009-03-10 . 2008-05-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080513034652/http://www.gamespot.com/news/6168839.html . live .
  2. Web site: Video Game Reviews, Articles, Trailers and more - Metacritic. 2011-07-05. 2019-12-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20191209014534/https://www.gamerankings.com/psp/934327-taito-legends-power-up/index.html. live.
  3. Web site: Taito Legends Power-Up Review . 2009-03-10 . 2009-02-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090213203215/http://psp.ign.com/articles/790/790922p1.html . live .
  4. Web site: Taito Legends Review. 2011-07-05. 2011-06-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20110629101311/http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/taitolegends/review.html. live.