One of the most influential creators in the shoot ’em up genre, Toaplan burned brightly from its very first shooter Tiger Heli (1985) all the way up to its amazing final entry Batsugun (1993). Despite being around for only ten years the company completely redefined the shape of arcade shooters, and its effects can still be seen today. For many years it was hard to get Toaplan’s shooters at home in arcade-perfect form, but an ex-Toaplan developer, Masahiro Yuge, resurrected the brand under the Tatsujin name in 2018. Releases started to trickle out via a number of sources, and when the company was acquired in 2022 by Embracer, the faucet really opened up. But which way is the best way to play these games? Steam? Mobile? PlayStation 4? Switch? OTHER? Shaun investigates!
Some things before we get started in earnest, however. One, I’m a pretty big Toaplan fan. I used to hang off a Tiger Heli cabinet in my local mall when I was just a little goober, and the love affair started at that time never cooled off. As such, I have a wide array of ways to play these games, which is why I decided to write this. I’m leaving out the old console ports because we’ll be here for days if I don’t. Modern, actively sold things only. I’ve got six of them here, though I could split hairs further if I really wanted to.
Two, and this is an important one. One of the six I have featured here is the Evercade from Blaze. I have worked for Blaze in the past, writing game descriptions for the UI of the Evercade console and writing the instruction manual that was included with the Evercade EXP handheld. I am doing my utmost to be fair here, but it’s worth considering that I could potentially be biased to some degree despite my efforts.
Three, I don’t have any special equipment for measuring things like input lag or framerates. This is all down to my gut and experience, and it’s up to you how much you feel like trusting that. At the very least, I can say that I spent a not inconsiderable amount of time going back and forth between these versions while preparing for this article. Okay, let’s get to business.
Toaplan Arcade Shoot’em Up Ultimate Collection
Platform: Steam, GOG
Developer/Publisher: Bitwave Games
Price: $69.99
Accuracy Rank: 3rd
Extras Rank: 2nd
Value Rank: 2nd
Overall Rank: 1st
This is the latest release of the lot. Bitwave Games handled the chores here, bringing a whopping sixteen of Toaplan’s shooters to computers and the Steam Deck. Pretty much every Toaplan shoot ’em up you could want is here, including a couple that haven’t seen many reissues before. The games run well for the most part, though there have been a number of audio issues that have had to be patched after launch. Even now, some games don’t sound completely accurate, but even those examples are very close. Input latency is great here, and there are a ton of excellent extra features to enjoy. You can buy the games individually for a very reasonable price or in bundles if you want to save even more money. I think for the average user that wants to get into Toaplan’s catalog, this is