Episode 463: Taito, Pt. II (Patreon)

A couple of months ago (back in episode 451, if memory serves), Ray Barnholt and Brandon Sheffield and I kicked off a discussion about one of the all-time movers-and-shakers of video gaming: Taito. Our previous episode largely centered on their early days—the formation of the company and the rocky hit-or-miss titles that followed in the wake of Japan's first-ever video game blockbuster, Space Invaders. This episode may not have anything quite so foundational as Invaders, but the games we tackle this time around have the advantage of being a hell of a lot of fun to play even today. Bubble Bobble! Double Dragon! Arkanoid! Darius! The NinjaWarriors! Time Gal! Well, OK, Time Gal ain't great, but its weird energy and stunning Toei-produced animation still catch the eye.

Anyway, great stuff here. And there's still one more discussion to go. As you might expect, I won't be giving up on this thread of conversation until we get to Elevator Action II.

Art by Shaan Khan, and edits by Greg Leahy.