The Taito Egret II was an arcade cabinet that first appeared in Japanese video game arcades in the 1990s. It’s a cabinet style affectionately known as a “candy cab”, most likely because of the bright, often neon, colours associated with the cabinets. What made the Egret II stand out was the fact the monitor inside could be easily rotated for games that used a vertical monitor instead of horizontal. This meant it could accommodate most arcade games of the era in a comfortable, sit-down cabinet.
In March 2022, Taito released the Egret II mini, a miniature version of the Egret II cabinet, with 40 in-built games, and the ability to add more games with official SD cards. Every December since Taito has released a new collection of 10 games. The 2022 collection was called “Arcade Memories Vol.1”, then in 2023, “Arcade Memories Vol.2”, and in 2024, “Arcade Memories Vol.3”.
New Collection
This week, Taito announced (through a live YouTube event) that a new collection would be out this December called “Arcade Collection Part 1“. This collection differed this time in that, rather than being just Taito titles, this collection would include classic games from Technōs Japan Corp and Data East – two well-known arcade game manufacturers of the 80s and 90s.
The Games
Here is a rundown on the games in this collection.
Technōs Japan Corp Games:
- Mysterious Stones: Dr. Kick’s Adventure (Mysterious Stones: Dr. John’s Adventure)
- Bogey Manor
- Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (Renegade)
- Xain’d Sleena (Solar Warrior)
- Double Dragon
Data East Games:
- Atomic Runner Chelnov
- Dark Seal (Gate of Doom)
- The Cliffhanger: Edward Randy
- Wolf Fang: Kuuga 2001 (Rohga: Armor Force)
- The Great Ragtime Show (Boogie Wings)
The collection also includes the full colour 32 page strategy guide “Dengeki Taito Station Volume 5”, and mini instruction cards/marquees for all 10 games.
Here’s the official Taito announcement video showing all 10 games:
Other Announcements
Taito also made 4 other announcements:
- A firmware update (released on the 18th July), that fixes a few issues in the main unit, and is available to all owners of the Egret II mini. It is likely a requirement of Arcade Collection Part 1 that the main unit be running the latest firmware.
- Taito is now selling the Egret II mini in a new colour (violet buttons and joystick ball). There are no changes to the functioning of the unit, only the colour change.
- You can buy a set with the Egret II mini in the new colour and Arcade Collection Part 1 together.
- Each of Arcade Memories Vol.1, 2 and 3 has been re-issued as “Lite” versions that don’t include the strategy guides. This is good news for people who missed out on the original releases. Unfortunately, the guides are not included, which may disappoint collectors.
Games That Have Gone Before
If you are wondering what was on the original Egret II mini, and all the add-ons, here is a full list of all the games. I’ll put together a full review of the main unit soon.
Built-in Games
The unit comes with 40 built-in arcade classics.
- Adventure Canoe
- Bubble Bobble
- Bubble Memories
- Bubble Symphony
- Cadash
- Chack’n Pop
- Dan-Ku-Ga
- Darius Gaiden
- Don Doko Don
- Elevator Action
- Elevator Action Returns
- The Fairyland Story
- Gun Frontier
- Halley’s Comet
- Hat Trick Hero (Football Champ)
- Kaiser Knuckle
- KiKi KaiKai
- Kyuukyoku Tiger (Twin Cobra)
- The Legend of Kage
- Lunar Rescue
- Lupin III
- Metal Black
- Mizubaku Adventure (Liquid Kids)
- The New Zealand Story
- The Ninja Kids
- Outer Zone
- Pirate Pete
- Puzzle Bobble 2X (Bust-a-Move 2)
- Qix
- Rainbow Islands Extra
- Raimais
- Rastan Saga
- RayForce
- Runark (Growl)
- Scramble Formation
- Space Invaders
- Steel Worker
- Tatsujin (Truxton)
- Violence Fight
- Volfied
Trackball/Paddle Controller
If you purchased the paddle and trackball controller, another 10 games are included.
- Arkanoid
- Arkanoid Returns
- Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh
- Birdie King
- Cameltry
- Marine Date
- Plump Pop
- Puchi Carat
- Strike Bowling
- Syvalion
Arcade Memories Vol.1
Another 10 games are included with Taito Egret II mini Arcade Memories Vol.1.
- Cleopatra Fortune (Cleopatra’s Fortune)
- Daisenpuu (Twin Hawk)
- Gekirindan
- Great Swordsman
- Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer
- Light Bringer (Dungeon Magic)
- Ougon No Shiro (Gladiator)
- PuLiRuLa
- Riding Fight
- Slap Fight
Arcade Memories Vol.2
Another 10 games are included with Taito Egret II mini Arcade Memories Vol.2:
- Chuka Taisen
- Crime City
- Kyukyoku Tiger II (Twin Cobra II)
- Night Striker
- Operation Wolf
- Return of the Invaders
- Tokushu Butai U.A.G. (Thundercade / Twin Formation)
- Wardner no Mori (Wardner)
- Wyvern F-0
- Yuuyu no Quiz Go! Go!
Arcade Memories Vol.3
Another 10 games are included with Taito Egret II mini Arcade Memories Vol.3:
- Galactic Storm
- Wiz
- Rumba Lumber
- Metal Soldier Issac 2
- Akkanvader (Space Invaders ’95: The Attack of Lunar Loonies)
- Extermination
- Dr. Toppel Tankentai (Dr. Toppel’s Adventure)
- Aqua Jack (Aquattack)
- Mr. Do!
- Top Landing
Final Words
I have been collecting all of these games for the Egret II mini, along with all of the optional controllers. It’s not a cheap hobby to have, but I appreciate the love and dedication that Taito has put into this system. Of all my mini systems the Egret II mini is my pride and joy.
This collection has a good mix of some classics and less well-known games, making it a must-have for an Egret II mini collector and Taito fan like myself.
If you want to purchase anything mentioned here you can check out the Taito shop. These products are meant for the Japanese market, so you might have some difficulty (or expense) getting them delivered outside of Japan. I likely won’t pick up my purchase until mid-2026, but I’ll put a review up then.