Thank you ININ Games for sending us this classic Arcade collection to review!

Taito Milestones 2 is a collection of classic Arcade titles from Taito's back catalog. While I can't directly compare it against the original Taito Milestones, it appears that this collection covers a wide span of time, from 1984 through 1992. It includes some pretty good games, with several highlights, as well as some games that didn't click for me. While the Darius Collections were ported by M2, who is known for very high quality emulation, this one shows 'Powered by Arcade Archives' on the bottom of the menu screen. The emulation seems fine to me, but I thought it was worth pointing out.

In order of release, I'm going to list out each title, and give a short synopsis along with my thoughts.

Ben Bero Beh (1984) - In this game, you are trying to navigate a burning building to rescue your girlfriend. I feel like I played a game like this when I was much younger. It's a classic firefighter game where you put out fires, dodge falling objects, jump over holes and other similar things. It's quite difficult, and fun to play in short sessions, but I don't think it has much staying power. Not bad but not great, either.

The Legend of Kage (1985) - A decent action platformer where you fight off many ninjas or other enemies trying to kill you as you progress from one level to the next. The characters are all really tall and skinny, and when you jump, you go really high up and your character is really floaty. You can use your sword or throw shuriken to kill the bad guys and keep them away. It's pretty fun and not bad, even if it feels dated at times.

Kiki Kaikai (1986) - This is a quirky game, and the prequel to the classic Pocky & Rocky. You play as a shrine maiden, attacking Yokai by throwing scrolls at them or using what I believe to be a gohei to push them aside. The game looks and feels very Japanese, both culturally or otherwise. The description says you are trying to rescue kidnapped gods. It's fun, if a bit difficult.

NewZealand Story (1998) - This is one of the more kid-friendly games in the collection. You play as some kind of flightless bird? (I'm not sure what kind of animal it is) that is trying to rescue their friend. You find your friends at the end of each level in a cage, and you have to navigate the maze-like level to get to the end and save them. You have to use whatever you find in the level to get there, including balloons, birds you can hop on, snorkels, or whatever it takes to get past the obstacles to save your friends. It has mild violence as you can kill enemies. It's cute, and pretty fun too. One of the better games so far.

Darius II (3 Screen Arcade Version) (1989) - The Darius Arcade games are great. They are side-scrolling shoot 'em ups that have stood the test of time, and spawned many amazing sequels. I covered this game when I reviewed the Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade. I must say that the emulation and customization options available here are somewhat bare-bones in this collection compared to the Cozmic Collection, so while this version of Darius II is no doubt a highlight here, the experience is better in that other collection, despite having a play area only two screens wide. Nevertheless, if you want the three-screen ultra-widescreen experience, this is currently the only way to get that for Darius II. Probably the best game in this collection in my opinion.

Liquid Kids (Mizubaku Adventure) (1990) - This is probably the most kid-friendly game in this collection. You play as a hippo who is armed with water bombs, and you're trying to protect your country from Fire Satan (yes really). You can hit enemies with your water bombs and kick them to attack others. It's adorable, with cute art and fun to play. Recommended for fans of platformers for sure.

Gun Frontier (1990) - It's a pretty solid vertical shoot 'em up. It's quite difficult, as it expects you to clear sections without dying, rather than just pumping quarters forever to get past tough spots. Like most shooters, you collect power-ups to make your shots more effective, and you have a screen-clearing bomb in your arsenal. It's fun, and one of the better games in the collection.

Solitary Fighter (1991) - This is a one-on-one fighting game, somewhat like Street Fighter, except much, much worse. There are scantily-clad women in here also, who can get in the way while you fight your main opponent. This game is just bad. Skip it.

Metal Black (1991) - This is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up, somewhat like Darius, except it has a unique gimmick. You collect power-ups, which charges a powerful laser. You can keep shooting with your powered up weapon, or unleash a screen-filling laser that does tons and tons of damage. Your weapon's power resets when the laser is used. You need to charge up the laser with power-ups again. The more power-ups you collect, the more powerful and longer-lasting the laser. This game is really fun, and definitely one of the best games in this collection.

Dinorex (1992) - This is another one-on-one fighter, where you control a big dinosaur. You can choose from one of several, and the fighting action is much better than Solitary Fighter, but still not great. There is some blood splatter when the dinosaurs attack each other. Probably the second-worst game in this collection.

As mentioned or hinted at, there are some moral concerns, but there are at least some games for everyone. Violence is present in most of them, and a bit of blood in a small number (mostly Dinorex). Solitary Fighter has scantily-clad women in it, but I don't recall seeing that in the other games. There is some representations of other religions and other spiritual stuff, as well as Yokai, ghosts, and similar present in at least Kiki Kaikai and some fairy-tale magic in Liquid Kids.

The Taito Milestones 2 collection of classic Arcade games is pretty good, with lots of genres represented. Outside of the not very good one-on-one fighters, most of the other games are fun to play and represent an interesting variety of games to play. I wouldn't call the collection cheap, but if you break it down to number of games/the purchase price, the cost per game is pretty reasonable. If you think you will enjoy most of the games present, then I'd say it may be worth picking up. Or if you just gotta have Darius II in three screens. It's cool!