A Slew Of The Best Mega Drive Games! The Legend Of Treasure

Famitsu Translations

Publish Date: 11/15/2018

The legendary developer Treasure continued releasing high quality games on the Mega Drive from the time they first started as a company, and made fans incredibly aware of their existence as a developmer. We ask President Masato Maegawa to tell us some stories from back then.

Masato Maegawa (President of Treasure)

He was involved with many different action games as a programmer at a major game company. He and some co-workers started Treasure in 1992. They've been continually developing games since then, primarily focusing on action and shooting games.

Games They Like Over Games That Sell

Why did you develop your maiden work, Gunstar Heroes, for the Mega Drive? Continue Reading

The Creators Of The Shining Series

Publish Date: 11/15/2018

Hiroyuki Takahashi (President of Camelot)

After working on the Dragon Quest series, he went independent and developed Shining in the Darkness. Afterward he established the company as being named "Sonic" and worked on the Shining series, which was incredibly influential to strategy RPGs going forward.

Shugo Takahashi (Co-President of Camelot)

Hiroyuki Takahashi's younger brother. He previously worked at a business software company, but then went over to the games industry at his brother's invitation, when he helped established Sonic. Together they worked on the Shining Force series.

Before Developing Any Software, They Started By Creating Tools

First of all, please tell us the details about how you arrived at Shining in the Darkness. (Hiroyuki) I was previously with Enix, and worked on the Dragon Quest series. I was sent overseas at that time, and I saw the game market there for the first time, with my own eyes. The Japanese game market was getting noticed overseas at that point, but I felt that entertainment was consumed in a different way. They were taking notice of Japanese games, but Japanese developers saying things like "Let's surprise foreign gamers even more" felt lacking in spirit to me. The Dragon Quest games were very refined titles, but I didn't think they could compete worldwide as they were. Continue Reading

The Pioneer Game Music Composer That Created The Songs You Remember

Publish Date: 11/15/2018

Yuzo Koshiro (President of Ancient)

He's composed music for numerous games, both with Nihon Falcom and later as a freelancer. He also worked on a lot of Sega games, such as Streets of Rage II and Shenmue, after establishing his company Ancient. Having started as a composer specializing in game music long before game music was established as a genre, Yuzo Koshiro is a game music composer that worked on many different Sega titles. What was the Mega Drive era like for him? He told us inside stories of composing for the Streets of Rage series, his honest opinion on the eagerly awaited Mega Drive Mini, and more! Continue Reading

A Witness To Numerous Mega Drive Talents

Famitsu Translations

Publish Date: 11/15/2018

Sega has an extensive library of games, from arcade to home console. A first-hand witness to this history of celebrated creators, Rieko Kodama has worked with them all from past to present. Not only do we hear anecdotes and stories, but we also get to see some unbelievably rare materials from back in the day...!

Rieko Kodama (Sega Games Producer)

Having entered Sega as a designer in 1984, she worked on such arcade games as Sega Ninja (Shinobi Princess). Afterward she was involved with various home console titles, and served as director for Magic Knight Rayearth on the Sega Saturn. Continue Reading

The Man Who Created the Guts of the Mega Drive

Famitsu Translations

Publish Date: 11/15/2018

Masami Ishikawa (Former Member of the Sega Interactive Product R&D Division)

He joined Sega in 1979. From the time Sega entered the home console market, he planned out designs for the SG-1000 II, Master System/Sega Mark III, Mega Drive, and other pieces of hardware. The Mega Drive was released in 1988 with the slogan "The 16-bits that the era demands" (in Japan). Today we're talking to Masami Ishikawa about the hardships he went through when planning for the development of this console that was so powerful for its time. Continue Reading