When the Taito Egret II Mini was announced in 2021, our collective jaws dropped at this cute and awesome little arcade unit. The Egret II was packed with Taito’s greatest arcade hits, which was a good start. But that wasn’t all! To differentiate itself from the Sega Astro City Mini and any other mini arcade unit on the market, Taito’s offering had a rotating screen (just like its big brother), so you could play games in either TATE (portrait) or landscape (horizontal) orientation – how clever and awesome is that?!
You turn me on!
The games menu is quite intuitive. The orientation of the game is also depicted, which is a great feature
The downside to all this great news was that the Egret II Mini was only going to be available to a limited set of countries for pre-orders. But, we managed to get our hands on the Taito Egret II Mini, and we must say, this thing is so cool and oozes quality – everything looks and feels top notch! The rotating screen is something to behold and feels industrial grade, which is a relief. The other great feature is the ability to switch and lock the joystick in 4-way mode or the usual 8-way – this makes a big difference for games that only have four directions of play!
8-Way or 4-Way – another neat feature!
Taito’s Egret II Mini comes pre-installed with 40 games (see list below), from platformers, shoot’em ups to puzzle, beat’em ups and fighting games to keep you entertained. There are bound to be games you like in Taito’s stable of arcade hits that come with this mini arcade unit. We absolutely love Bubble Bobble, Tatsujin (aka: Truxton), Elevator Action Returns, Rastan Saga and The New Zealand Story to name just a few.
Horizontal? No way!
You spin me right ’round, baby, right ’round
Vertical – that’s much better!
Taito Egret II mini vs Sega Astro City mini: Both are darn cute & awesome!
An essential purchase with the Egret II Mini is the paddle and trackball games expansion set, which incudes the aforementioned paddle and trackball controller and an additional 10 games on an SD card! Speaking of which, we can’t wait to see what the clever modders out there will do with the SD card slot on the Egret II.
It is still early days playing on our Egret II Mini, but so far during this honeymoon period, we love it. This mini arcade unit is packed with great games and feels pretty good to play on. Let’s be honest, this thing is great, but its price does cause a wince. The standard Egret II mini is approx. AU$280 and above (depending on the exchange rate) and that is without shipping. If you want the limited edition (blue joystick top and blue fire buttons), then you pretty much double the price of the standard unit, but we reckon save your dollars and stick with the standard if you really got to have the Taito Egret II mini.
For anyone in Australia looking to get the Taito EGRET II Mini, check them out on Play Asia!
We love the little extras we got with our Taito EGRET II mini
Egret II specs and features:
- 40 pre-installed games, including arcade classics
- Special in-game features like: Save states, adjustable lives and rapid-fire
- 5-inch 4:3 rotating monitor (1024×768 resolution) for horizontal and vertical alignment and an optimal adaptation to the selected game
- 6-button arcade layout and joystick that is individually adjustable for each game – easily switch from 8 directions to 4 directions
- HDMI output to also play the games on newer TVs
- SD card slot to add more games
- Own integrated sound through stereo speakers
- Two USB Type-A controller ports for the additional, optional EGRET II mini controllers
- Power Source: Above 5V/2.4A (12W)
Games:
image source: ININ Games
Have you always wanted to make your own mini arcade tabletop machine? Are you a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) hack just like me? If you answered yes to both questions, then the 
