Tag Archives: Hisayoshi Ogura

Aisystem Tokyo, Megadrive/Genesis, Taito, Ving

Rainbow Islands Extra Version, Megadrive/Genesis

Leave a comment

The “Extra Version” of Taito‘s classic Rainbow Islands is a modified version of the original arcade game, where the levels have been rearranged and the enemies changed to make the game more challenging. There are some new power-ups to discover, and the bosses have also been changed too. Rainbow Islands Extra was released into arcades in limited quantities in 1988, and was also released on the Sega Megadrive in 1990 and the FM Towns in 1992.

Continue reading Rainbow Islands Extra Version, Megadrive/Genesis →

FM Towns, Taito, Ving

The NewZealand Story, FM Towns

1 Comment

A conversion of the classic Taito arcade game, featuring the cute Kiwi (Tiki), trying to rescue his girlfriend (Phee Phee) and his other Kiwi friends, from the blue leopard seal who has kidnapped them. The FM Towns version was first released in 1989 by Ving and was ported by Taito themselves.

Continue reading The NewZealand Story, FM Towns →

Arcade, Taito

Kiki Kaikai, Arcade

3 Comments

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.

Continue reading Kiki Kaikai, Arcade →

Arcade, Taito

Syvalion, Arcade

Leave a comment

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.

Continue reading Syvalion, Arcade →

Arcade, Taito

Cameltry, Arcade

1 Comment

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.

Continue reading Cameltry, Arcade →

MSX, Taito

Bubble Bobble, MSX

1 Comment

For my money the MSX conversion is the best 8-bit home computer port of Bubble Bobble out there. It was developed by Taito themselves, who know the game inside-out and obviously knew what they were doing when they programmed it.

Continue reading Bubble Bobble, MSX →

Game Boy, Taito

Bubble Bobble, Game Boy

4 Comments

The Nintendo Game Boy conversion of Bubble Bobble is not an authentic port of the arcade game, even though it was developed by Taito themselves. Continue reading Bubble Bobble, Game Boy →

Famicom Disk System, Taito

Bubble Bobble, Famicom Disk System

1 Comment

The Famicom Disk System version of Bubble Bobble is mostly the same as the NES version, although it came out slightly earlier and was supplied on a two-sided floppy disk.

Continue reading Bubble Bobble, Famicom Disk System →

NES/Famicom, Taito

Bubble Bobble, NES

2 Comments

The Nintendo Entertainment System conversion of Bubble Bobble features beautiful graphics, with some colour changes to the original, but in general it is a very authentic port of the classic Taito arcade game.

Continue reading Bubble Bobble, NES →

Arcade, Taito

Arkanoid, Arcade

8 Comments

Taito‘s Arkanoid was released into arcades in 1986 and did for bat and ball games (often referred to as Breakout clones) what Mario did for platform games. That is: revitalise them with new ideas and features.

Continue reading Arkanoid, Arcade →