Taito’s RayForce hits iOS for … more than you’d expect

The term “Square Enix Tax” refers to the publisher’s frequent tendency to price its games more than others on the same platform. Most of Square Enix’s DS games retailed for $ 39.99, for example, and even the simplistic Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy carries a price of ¥6,090 ($ 79!) in Japan.

Even with that background, however, we were a bit surprised when the publisher released an iOS port of Taito’s 1993 arcade shmup RayForce yesterday, with a price point of $ 11.99. It’s not that the game doesn’t appear to be worth it (the port looks great!) — that’s just more than we’d expect any publisher to attempt on the iOS market. Especially for a vintage game.

We’re trying to be excited about this, Square! That price point is not helping.