Kidou Senshi Gundam
The very first Gundam home console game was released in the height of Gundam-mania: A few years after the original TV series had wrapped up, approximately one year after the third and final compilation...
View ArticleChoujikuu Yousai Macross
The very first Macross home console game appeared on the short-lived Bandai Arcadia, the Japanese variant of Emerson’s Arcadia 2001 console that was released in the Japanese market by Bandai. This game...
View ArticleNekketsu Kouha Kunio kun
Delinquent high school students talking tough and beating each other up in school uniforms while sporting distinct hair styles is probably not unfamiliar to those who enjoy Japanese media. This genre,...
View ArticleDouble Dragon
Yoshihisa Kishimoto and his team significantly evolved the beat-em-genre with Nekketsu Kouha Kunio kun/Renegade in 1986. Technos Japan naturally wanted them to make more of these games, so they were...
View ArticleFamitsu Special Report – The Mystery of TOSE
(The following is a translation from the 04/13/2017 issue of Famitsu magazine) This is the real story behind TOSE: The game development company that’s been making games for nearly 38 years (since...
View ArticleMakai Mura
“Youkoso irasshai…” (Or “Welcome, come in…”) was the slogan for Makai Mura, a fairly early arcade title by (at the time) young development company Capcom that positively dripped with atmosphere for its...
View ArticleGradius
Gradius (originally titled “Choujikuu Fighter Gradius”) wasn’t the first shoot ’em up to grace arcades with its presence, in fact many big names came before it. Space Invaders, Xevious, Galaxian, Ozma...
View ArticleNier (Gestalt and Replicant)
Back in 2003, Drag-On Dragoon/Drakengard was a divisive release: It had a very layered and intriguing story, but badly implemented Dynasty Warriors-esque gameplay that just couldn’t support it. It had...
View ArticleSpartan X
Spartan X was an Irem developed arcade game in 1984, released overseas by Data East as “Kung-Fu Master”. It served as one of the earliest example of a side-scrolling “beat-em-up” game (or “belt...
View ArticleThe Ninja Warriors
Just a year prior, Nekketsu Kouha Kunio kun and Double Dragon began to change the beat-em-up landscape by taking things off of a single plane, allowing characters to move up and down on the screen....
View ArticleWith the Creators’ Cats: A Cat Games Feature
(The following is a translation from the 03/08/2018 issue of Famitsu magazine. Original page scans can be found at the end of the article.) A Nyan-Nyan Special Feature: Was That Game Made With the...
View ArticleWild Guns Reloaded Developer Interview
(The following is a translation from the 05/03/2018 issue of Famitsu magazine.) The Reason for Remaking Wild Guns A remake of Wild Guns by the original staff. We’ve asked director/programmer Mr. Miyabe...
View ArticleDragon Ninja
Hitting the arcades almost one year after the genre-changing Double Dragon and three years after grandfather Spartan X, Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja was Data East’s first beat-em-up. Like the recently...
View ArticleMr. Video Games – Eric Martin and Game/Japanese Music
Almost anyone that knows Eric Martin undoubtedly knows him as the singer for the rock band Mr. Big, that enjoyed such popularity in the early 90s for their mega hit “To Be With You”. Though they...
View ArticleDarius
Darius certainly wasn’t the first horizontally scrolling shooter, or probably even the first that comes to mind for most people. It wasn’t even the first shooter from developer/publisher Taito. But it...
View ArticleFamista Evolution Interview with MCU
(The following is a translation from the 06/07/2018 issue of Famitsu magazine.) Interview With MCU, The First Artist to Sing a Theme Song For Famista! The Famista series will feature a theme song for...
View ArticleSuper Darius
It took four years from the release of the arcade version of Darius before this first port appeared on the PC Engine CD. It took only just about a year for Gradius to make it from the arcade to the...
View ArticleDarius Plus
This second port of arcade shooter Darius was based on the PC Engine CD Super Darius (the first home port ever, released 6 months prior to this one), from the same developer and publisher. Being on a...
View ArticleJuuouki
While Altered Beast is not Sega’s entry in the beat-em-up genre (that honor goes to the Master System/Mark III Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the Northstar game), it is the first entry into the genre for them...
View ArticleSatoru Iwata – Learn From the President! (An Adult’s Journey Never Ends)
When Satoru Iwata passed away three years ago, I was made aware of a Youtuber who was looking for help translating various Iwata related articles and interviews for use in a tribute that he was put...
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