AND Skill Milestones The series has already seen two collections (the '3' at the end of Taito Milestones 3 is a bit of a giveaway), but the odd thing about this series is that the quality has certainly improved with each offering, rather than diminishing like the Best Games showed early on.
As we noted with the first Taito milestones, the selection was a bit disappointing, but it improved with the second edition, which boasts the characters Newzealand Story, Metal Black and Darius II.
That sense of progression continues with Taito Milestones 3, which may be the best selection of Taito games to date. It's actually remarkable that solid gold classics like Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands and Rastan were held over until the third volume, but they're all here; In fact, you get the entire Rastan saga in this collection, including Sublime Warrior Blade, which uses the same ultra-wide screen layout as Darius II.
Otherwise, the lovable Action RPG Cadash is worth a spin, while the 1990s environmentally conscious fighter Runner (Aka Growl) is so funny that it simply has to be experienced at least once in your life. It's hardly in the same league as Final Fight, Golden Ax, or Streets of Rage, but it's still a many fun – especially with another player involved.
Also from 1990 ThunderPretty typical run-and-gun shooter with Arnie-style heroes and lots of stuff to blow up. The Arcade Original is vastly superior to the Genesis / Mega Drive port which most people will play, even if they haven't Enough up to the standard of, say, contras or even green berets.
in 1992 Dead connection is a title that didn't really make much of an impression in the arcades, but is something of a hidden gem in Tait's catalog. A top-down shooter that pits you against the Mafia in the 1950s, it's a fantastic game that deserves another shot at glory.
Finally, we have The Wrestler of Champions, a grappler from 1989, which features Rastan as a playable character. It's perfectly serviceable, but it pales in comparison to later examples of the genre like WWF Superstars (Also from 1989) and WWF Wrestlefest (1991).
All of the games featured here are worth your time and then, making this one of the best retro collections you can get on the Switch right now. As we've previously noted with the other Taito Milestones Collections, however, many of the games included here are already available individually as part of Hamster's Arcade Archive Series – the exceptions being Thunder Fox and Dead Connection.
If you've already picked up some of these, you might want to think twice before double-dipping, but if you're sticking around, Taito Milestones 3 is excellent value for money, especially when you consider the cost of picking up each game on its own.
