Introduction Rad Racer, known in Japan as Highway Star, was developed and published by Square, directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and programmed by Nasir Gebelli, with art from Kazuko Shibuya and an early soundtrack credit for Nobuo Uematsu, several of whom would go on to build the original Final Fantasy together the very same year. Square…
Introduction RoboCop for the NES was developed by Japanese studio SAS Sakata and published by Data East in 1989, following on from Data East’s own 1988 arcade version but built as a distinct, console-tailored adaptation of the Paul Verhoeven film rather than a straight port, with Ocean bringing it to Europe in 1991. Players control…
Introduction Mighty Final Fight was developed and published by Capcom, produced by Tokuro Fujiwara, and released in Japan in June 1993 before reaching North America that July, arriving as a spinoff of the studio’s own 1989 arcade brawler Final Fight rather than a direct port. Its most immediately obvious change is the art style: the…
Introduction Tiny Toon Adventures was developed and published by Konami, directed by Kazuyuki Yamashita with programming by Yuji Shibata, art from Kazumichi Ishihara and Hirotaka Fukuda, and a score credited to Jun Funahashi, Masae Nakashima, and Satoko Miyawaki, releasing in December 1991 as the animated series’ first video game adaptation on any console. Its stage…
Introduction Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers was developed and published by Capcom, produced by Tokuro Fujiwara off the back of his work on titles like Mega Man 2 and Ghosts ‘n Goblins, and released in North America and Japan in 1990 following Europe the next year. It was Capcom’s second Disney-licensed platformer after 1989’s DuckTales,…
Introduction Metal Gear began life as Hideo Kojima’s directorial debut, originally released by Konami for the MSX2 computer in Japan and parts of Europe in 1987. The NES version that followed, reaching Japan in December 1987 and North America the following June through Konami’s Ultra Games label, has a notably messier history: a separate Tokyo-based…
Introduction The Goonies is a 1986 platform game produced by Konami and based on the Richard Donner film of the same name, released for the Family Computer in Japan in February 1986 but never officially published outside the country on cartridge, though Nintendo did bring a US-exclusive arcade conversion, VS. The Goonies, to PlayChoice-10 and…
Introduction Dragon Warrior III, known in Japan as Dragon Quest III, was developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix, releasing for the Famicom in Japan in February 1988 and reaching the NES in North America in March 1992. It became a genuine cultural phenomenon in Japan, reportedly selling 1.1 million copies in a single day…
Introduction Dragon Warrior II, known in Japan as Dragon Quest II, was developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix, again written and designed by series creator Yuji Horii with Koichi Nakamura directing, character art from Akira Toriyama, and music by Koichi Sugiyama. It released for the Famicom in Japan in January 1987 and reached the…
Introduction Dragon Warrior is the North American localization of Dragon Quest, developed by Chunsoft under creator Yuji Horii and published by Enix, with character art from Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama and a soundtrack by Koichi Sugiyama, originally released for the Famicom in Japan in May 1986 before Nintendo brought a visually updated version to…
Introduction Gun.Smoke began as a 1985 Capcom arcade shooter designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, who would later oversee the studio’s biggest hits like Final Fight and Street Fighter II, with programming by Takashi Aoki and a soundtrack by Ayako Mori that helped make it one of Japan’s highest-grossing arcade games in early 1986. Capcom brought it…
Introduction Super Dodge Ball was developed and published by Technos Japan, directed by Mitsuhiro Yoshida with design work by Koji Ogata, loosely adapting the studio’s own 1987 arcade game of the same name and serving as the second entry in the Kunio-kun series even though that connection was scrubbed from international releases. It launched in…