The TurboGrafx-16, known as the PC Engine outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, though the console has an 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) coupled with a 16-bit graphics processor. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. In Europe, the console is known as the PC Engine, after the Japanese model was imported and distributed in the United Kingdom and France from 1988. In Japan, the system was launched as a competitor to the Famicom, but the delayed United States release meant that it ended up competing with the Sega Genesis and later the Super NES.
Darius II is a 1989 arcade video game developed by Taito. It is the direct sequel to the 1987 Darius. It was later released as Sagaia in Japan in 1991 for the Game Boy as well as non-Japanese ports. A remake was released for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² as Super Darius II in 1993.
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (レインボーアイランド) is a 1987 arcade game developed and published by Taito. The arcade version was licensed to Romstar for North American manufacturing and distribution. The game is subtitled "The Story of Bubble Bobble 2" and is the sequel to Taito's hit game Bubble Bobble from the previous year. It is the second of four arcade games in the Bubble Bobble series. The game was ported for numerous home computers and game consoles.
Darius Gaiden is a 1994 horizontal-scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Taito. The fifth entry in its Darius series, players control a starship named the Silver Hawk in its mission to destroy the Belsar empire before it wipes out the population of planet Darius. Gaiden adds several new features to the core concepts of its predecessors, including screen-clearing black hole bombs and the ability to capture mid-level bosses. The game has been ported to several consoles, including the Sega Saturn and PlayStation.
Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
Ninja Gaiden is a series of action video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as Ninja Ryukenden in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American Ninja Gaiden title means "side story" in Japanese. The original arcade version, first two Nintendo Entertainment System games and Game Boy game were released as Shadow Warriors in PAL regions. As of 2008, the series has shipped over 7.7 million copies.
Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III (パラソルスター) is a video game by Taito released in 1991. It is a sequel to Rainbow Islands and the third game in the Bubble Bobble series.
Darius is a 1987 horizontal-scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Taito. Players control a starship named the Silver Hawk in its mission to destroy the Belser empire before they wipe out the planet Darius. Its gameplay involves traversing through a series of scrolling levels while destroying enemies and collecting power-up icons. It is notable for its unique three-screen panoramic display, upbeat soundtrack, and cute anime-influenced graphics.
Salamander, retitled Life Force in North America and in the Japanese arcade re-release, is a scrolling shooter arcade video game by Konami. Released in 1986 as a spin-off of Gradius, Salamander introduced a simplified power-up system, two-player cooperative gameplay and both horizontally and vertically scrolling stages. Some of these later became normal for future Gradius games. In Japanese, the title is written using ateji, which are kanji used for spelling foreign words that has been supplanted in everyday use by katakana. Contra, another game by Konami was also given this treatment, with its title written in Japanese as 魂斗羅.
Gradius II is a side-scrolling shooter game developed and published by Konami. Originally released for the arcades in Japan in 1988, it is the sequel to original Gradius and was succeeded by Gradius III. Ports of Gradius II were released for the Family Computer, PC-Engine Super CD-ROM², and the X68000 in Japan. The original arcade version is also included in the Gradius Deluxe Pack compilation for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn and in Gradius Collection for the PlayStation Portable.
Taito Legends 2 is the sequel to Taito Legends and is a follow-up collection of 39 Taito arcade games for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. As the former collection, it has been derived from the Japan exclusive Taito Memories series.
G-Darius is a shoot'em up arcade game, released by Taito in 1997. It is the fourth arcade installment of the Darius series and the first in the series to feature three-dimensional polygonal graphics.
The Ninja Warriors (ニンジャウォーリアーズ) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game developed and released by Taito in 1987. The original arcade game situated one display in between projected images of two other displays, creating the appearance of a triple-wide screen. Ports were released for home systems including the Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, PC Engine, and Sega Mega-CD.
Metal Black is a 1991 scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed and published by Taito. Set in the dystopian future of 2052, players assume the role of rogue pilot John Ford taking command of the CF-345 Black Fly space fighter craft to defeat the Nemesis alien race and save humanity.
Liquid Kids is a 1990 platform arcade video game developed and published by Taito. Starring the hippopotamus Hipopo, players travel through the land of Woody-Lake throwing water bombs, jumping on and off platforms to navigate level obstacles while dodging and defeating monsters in order to rescue Tamasun from her captor, the Fire Demon. The game was ported to the PC Engine and Sega Saturn. Home computer versions were in development but none were officially released to the public.
WarTech: Senko no Ronde is an Xbox 360 video game, a port of the arcade fighter/shooter hybrid developed by G.rev for the Sega Naomi board. Two revisions have been released in the arcades. A home port was released in Japan on July 27, 2006 for the Xbox 360 with enhanced graphics, a more concise story for each character, and network play. The American and European localizations were released on May 29, 2007 and June 8, 2007, respectively for the Xbox 360 from Ubisoft. On May 20, 2010, a sequel entitled Senko no Ronde: Dis-United Order was released for the Xbox 360 exclusively in Japan, which has many new features, a larger cast and more extensive story mode. A reboot of Dis-United Order, titled Senko no Ronde 2, was released for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows on September 7, 2017.
Syvalion is an arcade shooter video game released by Taito in 1988 and designed by Fukio Mitsuji, creator of Bubble Bobble. The player controls a golden metal dragon which flies around, breathing fire at its enemies while collecting power-ups to recharge its fire. The enemies are robots and tanks. At the end of each level, the player fights a boss.
Space Invaders DX is a 1993 fixed shooter arcade game developed and published in Japan by Taito. It has been re-released for several consoles since, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, PC Engine CD, and Sega Saturn — several of these conversions use the name Space Invaders: The Original Game. The player assumes control of a laser base that must fend off waves of incoming enemies, who march down in formation towards the bottom of the screen. It is the fifth entry in the long-running Space Invaders series. DX contains four variations of the original Space Invaders, in addition to a multiplayer mode and a "Parody Mode" that replaces the characters with those from other Taito franchises. Home ports of DX received mixed reviews for their high price point and general lack of content.
Dariusburst is a horizontal scrolling shooter developed by Pyramid and published by Taito. Forming part of the Darius series, it was released for the PlayStation Portable on December 24, 2009. Like previous Darius games, Dariusburst is an offbeat sci-fi shooter set in outer space with aquatic-themed robotic enemies. In keeping with tradition, the game also features branching paths instead of the linear progression found in most games of the genre. There are a total of 11 zones in the game, with 5 stages per run.
Darius Cozmic Collection is a compilation of Darius scrolling shooter titles. It was released in Japan for the Nintendo Switch on February 28, 2019, and on PlayStation 4 on March 5, 2020. A worldwide release on both platforms followed on June 16, 2020. The Arcade arc of the collection was released in 2021 on Steam.
