Pretty much what you'd expect.

User Rating: 7 | Taito Legends XBOX
Yep, it's another compilation of games from the arcade days of yore. As a kid who grew up in the 80s who spent countless hours playing Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids, Donkey Kong and all the other classics, I never get sick of popping these compilations in and reliving the days when controls were simple and it was all about having the fastest reflexes and the quickest fingers.

I do get sick, however, of the flaws that always seem to crop up here and there when it comes to these emulations.

I can deal with the slight blurriness that somewhat marrs each game's graphics...hell, back in the day with the older monitors and the common burn-in that plagued them, that was pretty much the norm. But nothing ruins the memory of playing these games more than substandard or inaccurate audio. The bleeps and bloops of yesteryear are a huge part of what makes these games classics. Part of the reason I picked this up was to play Phoenix, a great old-school shooter if there ever was one. I don't know what exactly happened here, but the sound has been mangled beyond recognition. Sorry, but with this hardware and the age of that game, that's inexcusable.

The presentation could have been better as well. You have the option of playing games like Space Invaders II in their original aspect ratio, or stretching them out to fit the screen. Naturally, I want to play them in their original form. So instead of filling out the left and right portions of the screen with the original arcade artwork (a la Namco), or just simply blacking out those areas, you see a blue border with "Taito Legends" written all over the place. It doesn't exactly kill the whole experience, but it doesn't do a whole lot to take you back, either.

Overall, this compilation will give older games what they're looking for...a (cracked) window into their gaming pasts. Just expect to be a little disappointed along the way.