Category Archives: Taito

Chase HQ, FM Towns

The FM Towns conversion of Taito‘s classic arcade game, Chase HQ, looks great and plays well, and is also considerably easier than the arcade original, which may appeal to some. It was published by Ving in 1991 in Japan only.

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Operation Wolf, FM Towns

The FM Towns conversion of Taito‘s smash hit arcade shooter, Operation Wolf, is both an authentic port of the original, and also a playable and fun game that utilises mouse controls to great effect. It was first published by Ving in 1990.

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Space Gun, Arcade

Released into arcades by Taito in 1990, Space Gun is a first-person sci-fi horror shooter set on a crippled spaceship that has been overrun by killer aliens. It can be played by one or two players.

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Pu-Li-Ru-La, Arcade

I don’t really know if Taito‘s 1991 arcade game, Pu-Li-Ru-La, is obscure, or if it’s a ‘cult game’, or if it’s based on an existing anime or not, because I’d never even heard of it until recently. It’s a cartoony, one or simultaneous two-player beat ’em up featuring a boy and a girl who are given magical sticks to fight enemies in order to restore the flow of time in a place called “Radishland“…

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Kiki Kaikai, Arcade

Kiki Kaikai (the literal translation being “Strange and Mysterious World“) is a shoot ’em up developed and distributed into Japanese arcades by Taito in 1986. Set in Feudal Japan, the player assumes the role of a Shinto shrine maiden, called Sayo-chan, who must use her ‘O-Fuda’ scrolls and ‘Gohei’ wand to defeat renegade spirits and monsters from Japanese mythology. Sayo’s ultimate aim is to free The Gods of Fortune who have been imprisoned by evil spirits.

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Don Doko Don, Arcade

Don Doko Don is an arcade game developed and distributed by Taito in 1989. It was only ever released in Japan – as were ports of the game that appeared on the Famicom and PC Engine – although the small amount of text in the game appears to be in English so is easy to understand.

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Syvalion, Arcade

Released into arcades by Taito in 1988, Syvalion is a strange-but-interesting scrolling shooter in which you control a golden metal dragon (called “Mechadragon“) that must fight its way to the end of a series of mazes within a time limit. The dragon can breathe fire to destroy enemies and must pick up power-ups, or move quickly without firing, to keep its flame breath bar filled. At the end of each stage is a boss battle which you need to win to progress.

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Cabal, Arcade

Cabal is a third-person, war-based shooter developed by TAD Corporation and distributed into arcades by Taito in Japan, by Fabtek in North America and by Capcom in Europe, in 1988.

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Cameltry, Super Nintendo

Cameltry is a simple-but-absorbing gravity game where you rotate the landscape around in order to make a ball fall through a maze – eventually reaching the goal. The quicker you complete a level the more chance you have of extra time being added to your next round.

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Cameltry, Arcade

Also known as “On The Ball” in some English-speaking regions, Cameltry is a game where you have to drop a ball through a rotating maze to reach a goal area within a time limit. It was first distributed into arcades by Taito in 1989.

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