Sunsoft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sunsoft | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Founded | April 16, 1971 |
| Headquarters | |
| Industry | Computer and video game industry |
| Website | http://www.sun-denshi.co.jp/soft/ |
Sunsoft (サンソフト?) is a video game development company founded on April 16, 1971 as a division of Sun Corporation, itself a division of Sun Electronics, or Sun Denshi (サン電子) in Japan (its U.S. subsidiary operated under the name Sunsoft of America, though games they published showed a logo that read only SUNSOFT). Originally, they specialized in creating products for the home video game console market, specifically the NES, PC games, and coin-operated arcade games, usually based on popular movie licenses of the day (e.g. Batman, The Addams Family, etc.)
Outside Japan, the definite golden era for the company was the 8-bit NES, on which their games were practically the state of the art in graphical and aural prowess. (Journey to Silius is a common example.) By the time 16-bit home consoles rolled out and Sunsoft switched to them, however, there was a marked drop in the overall quality of their games (compared to the general games of the time, AND to Sunsoft's earlier accomplishments), and finally in 1995, they heavily restructured in the face of bankruptcy, eventually resurfacing with a scant number of video games for the PlayStation and the Game Boy Color. Additionally, a number of Sega games, including Fantasy Zone, Fantasy Zone II and After Burner, have been ported for Nintendo consoles by Sunsoft.
The last games released and published by this company in the USA were Eternal Eyes, Blaster Master: Blasting Again, Blaster Master: Enemy Below and Power Quest. Citing several factors, like yet-another "next generation" console transition, and high overhead production costs, Sunsoft closed its offices in America and Europe, and initiated a re-organization. To this day, Sunsoft has continued to operate in Japan, developing and publishing a steady trickle of RPG titles, pachinko games and such. On September 14, 2006, Nintendo Co., Ltd. announced that the developer was a partner on the Wii's Virtual Console.[1]
[edit] Notable titles
- ACME Animation Factory (SNES)
- Aero the Acro-Bat (SNES, Sega Genesis)
- Aero the Acro-Bat 2 (SNES, Sega Genesis)
- Albert Odyssey series
- Arabian (Arcade)
- Super Arabian (Famicom)
- Astra Super Stars (Sega Saturn)
- Atlantis no Nazo (Famicom)
- Babapapa (PlayStation)
- Batman (NES, Game Boy, Sega Genesis)
- Batman: Return of the Joker (NES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy)
- Barcode World (バーコードワールド) (Famicom)
- Blaster Master series:
- Blaster Master (Chô Wakusei Senki Metafight in Japan) (NES)
- Blaster Master Boy (Game Boy; possible conversion of Hudson's Bomber Boy)
- Blaster Master 2 (Sega Genesis)
- Blaster Master: Enemy Below (Metafight EX in Japan) (Game Boy Color)
- Blaster Master: Blasting Again ("Blaster Master" in Japan) (PlayStation)
- Bugs Bunny Rabbit Rampage (SNES)
- Clock Tower 3 (PlayStation 2, published by Capcom in America)
- Chameleon Twist (Nintendo 64)
- Chameleon Twist 2 (Nintendo 64)
- Daedalian Opus (Game Boy)
- Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions (SNES, Game Boy)
- Daze Before Christmas (SNES, Sega Genesis)
- Dead Zone (Famicom Disk System)
- Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban (SNES)
- Death and Return of Superman (SNES, Sega Genesis)
- Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Quest (Sega Genesis)
- Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Roar of the Beast (Sega Genesis)
- Eternal Eyes (PlayStation)
- Fester's Quest (NES)
- Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy; re-release of a Square title from the Mana series)
- Flashback (Super Famicom)
- Freedom Force (NES)
- Galaxy Fight (Neo Geo, Sega Saturn)
- Gimmick! (NES)
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch (NES)
- Hebereke (Ufouria) series (NES, Super Famicom, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Arcade)
- Ikki (Arcade, Famicom)
- Initial D: Takahashi Ryosuke no Typing Saisoku Riron (PlayStation 2)
- Journey to Silius (NES) (known as Raf World in Japan)
- Kangaroo (Arcade)
- Lemmings (NES, SNES)
- Lionex (Nintendo Vs.)
- Logical (NES)
- Looney Tunes (Game Boy, Game Boy Color)
- Looney Tunes B-Ball (SNES, published by Acclaim)
- Mitokoumon (Famicom)
- Monsterseed (PlayStation)
- Moomin's Tale (Game Boy Color)
- Myst (Sega Saturn)
- Pirates of Dark Water (Sega Genesis, SNES)
- Power Quest (Game Boy Color)
- Project S-11 (Game Boy Color)
- Ripple Island (Famicom)
- Road Runner's Death Valley Rally (SNES)
- Route 16 (arcade game, Famicom)
- Shanghai: True Valor (PlayStation)
- Sky Kid (NES)
- Speedy Gonzales - Los Gatos Bandidos (SNES, published by Acclaim)
- Super Spy Hunter (NES)
- Super Fantasy Zone (Sega Genesis)
- Superman (Sega Genesis)
- T.R.A.G. (PlayStation)
- Tōkaidō Gojūsan-tsugi (Famicom)
- Trip World (Game Boy)
- Waku Waku 7 (Neo Geo, Sega Saturn)
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Game Boy)
- The Wing of Madoola (Famicom)
- Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel (SNES, Sega Genesis)
[edit] References
- ^ NCL Wii Event. GoNintendo.com.
[edit] External links
- (Japanese)Sun-Denshi Sunsoft's Japanese website
