Taito Legends Power-Up

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.

Taito Legends Power-Up
European packaging artwork
Developer(s)Empire Oxford
Mine Loader Software
Publisher(s)
SeriesTaito Legends
Platform(s)PlayStation Portable
Release
  • JP: January 5, 2006
  • EU: October 6, 2006
  • AU: November 9, 2006
  • NA: May 17, 2007
Genre(s)Various
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Games

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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
Title Release Power-Up Pocket (Japan) Taito Legends console appearances
Alpine Ski 1981 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Balloon Bomber 1980 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2 (PS2 version)
Cameltry 1989 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Chack'n Pop 1983 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 No Taito Legends
Qix 1981 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Raimais 1988 Yes Yes Taito Legends 2
Rainbow Islands Extra 1988 No Yes No
Rastan Saga (Japanese version) 1987 Yes Yes Taito Legends
Return of the Invaders 1985 Yes No Taito Legends
Space Chaser 1980 Yes No No
Space Dungeon 1981 Yes No No
Space Invaders 1978 Yes No Taito Legends
Space Invaders Part II 1979 Yes No 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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "More Taito Legends headed to US". Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  2. ^ "Video Game Reviews, Articles, Trailers and more - Metacritic". Archived from the original on 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
  3. ^ "Taito Legends Power-Up Review". Archived from the original on 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  4. ^ "Taito Legends Review". Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2011-07-05.