Bubble Bobble is a 1986 platform game developed and published by Taito for arcades. It was distributed in the United States by Romstar, and in Europe by Electrocoin. Players control Bub and Bob, two dragons that set out to save their girlfriends from a world known as the Cave of Monsters. In each level, Bub and Bob must defeat each enemy present by trapping them in bubbles and popping, who turn into bonus items when they hit the ground. There are 100 levels total, each becoming progressively more difficult.
Arkanoid is a 1986 block breaker arcade game developed and published by Taito. In North America, it was published by Romstar. Controlling a paddle-like craft known as the Vaus, the player is tasked with clearing a formation of colorful blocks by deflecting a ball towards it without letting the ball leave the bottom edge of the playfield. Some blocks contain power-ups that have various effects, such as increasing the length of the Vaus, creating several additional balls, or equipping the Vaus with cannons. Other blocks may be indestructible or require multiple hits to break.
SNK Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform, and electronics. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku Corporation was founded in 1978 by Eikichi Kawasaki. In 1981, the name was informally shortened to SNK Corporation, which became the company's official name in 1986.
Athena is a 1986 platform arcade video game developed and published by SNK. Conversions were later released for the NES console and ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computers.
Technōs Japan Corp. was a Japanese video game developer, best known for the Double Dragon and Kunio-kun franchises as well as Karate Champ, The Combatribes and Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer. As of June 2015, Arc System Works owns the intellectual properties of Technōs Japan.
Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series originally developed and published by Technōs Japan. It began with the release of the arcade game Double Dragon in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
Tiger-Heli is a vertically scrolling shooter game developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1985. It was published in Japan by Taito and in North America by Romstar. Controlling the titular attack helicopter, the player must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. The Tiger-Heli has a powerful bomb at its disposal that can clear the screen of enemies when fired. It was the first shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their third video game overall.
Twin Cobra, known as Kyukyoku Tiger in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1987 by Taito in Japan and Europe, then in North America by Romstar. It is a sequel to the 1985 arcade game Tiger-Heli. Controlling the titular attack helicopter, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. It was the fourth shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their tenth video game overall. It was ported to multiple platforms, with each done by different third-party developers that made several changes or additions.
Flying Shark, known as Sky Shark in North America, is a 1987 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published by Taito in Japan, Romstar in North America and Electrocoin in Europe. Controlling the titular biplane, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. The plane has a powerful bomb at its disposal that can clear the screen of enemies when fired. It was the third shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their eighth video game overall.
Snow Bros. is a 1990 platform arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan first published in Japan, then in North America by Romstar and later in Europe. Starring the eponymous snowmen twins Nick and Tom, players are tasked with travelling through 50 stages, throwing and building snowballs, jumping on and off platforms to navigate level obstacles while dodging and defeating monsters in order to rescue the princesses Puripuri and Puchipuchi from captivity. Although first launched in arcades, the game was later ported across multiple platforms, each one being created by different third-party developers and featuring several changes or additions compared with the original version. Conversions for various microcomputers were in development but none were officially released to the public.
Kaneko Seisakusho (金子製作所), stylized as KANE<O, also referred to as Kaneko Co. Ltd. (カネコ株式会社), was a Japanese video game publisher founded in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan, by Hiroshi Kaneko. It published a number of games both under its brand and other companies, such as Air Buster, Nexzr, Shogun Warriors, DJ Boy, Guts'n, and the Gals Panic series.
SETA Corporation was a Japanese computer gaming company, founded on October 1, 1985 and dissolved on February 9, 2009. SETA was headquartered in Kōtō, Tokyo, with a branch in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Athena Co. Ltd. was a Japanese video game developer, founded in July 1987.
Rally Bike is a racing arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published by Taito in May 1988. In Rally Bike, players compete against computer-controlled opponents in races across locations in the United States. Initially released in arcades, the game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System and X68000 by different developers.
ADK Corporation, formerly known as Alpha Denshi Corporation (アルファ電子株式会社), was a Japanese video game developer founded in 1980. ADK began as a developer of arcade games and is best known for their library of SNK Neo Geo titles, including for its home consoles, produced in partnership with SNK. Most notable among these are their fighting games and, in particular, the World Heroes series and Aggressors of Dark Kombat. The company closed with properties sold to SNK Playmore in 2003.
Wardner is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Toaplan and published in arcades worldwide by Taito in 1987.
Visco Corporation (株式会社ビスコ) is a software company located in Japan. It was founded in 1982 by Tetsuo Akiyama and later became corporate on August 8, 1983 while revealing itself as "Visco" in Japan. They originally developed video games for several platforms from the arcades and NES, to the Nintendo 64 and Neo Geo in the past. When Visco was one of the companies under the Taito umbrella, some of its titles back then were labeled "Taito". They also teamed up with Seta and Sammy in developing arcade games powered by the SSV arcade system board until Sammy fully acquired noted game company Sega under a new company titled Sega Sammy Holdings in 2004, while Seta's parent company Aruze announced in December 2008 that Seta decided to close their doors after 23 years of existence. Therefore, the SSV board was no longer being produced. From 2008, Visco began manufacturing slot machines for casinos mostly in southeast Asian regions.
M2 Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer and publisher, best known for handling emulation of re-released games, such as some Sega Ages titles, Virtual Console titles for Nintendo systems, the 3D Classics series for the Nintendo 3DS and their ShotTriggers range of classic STG games. M2 has also created entirely new titles such as WiiWare games for Konami under the ReBirth moniker and more recently a new GG Aleste game. In addition, M2 currently holds the rights of Aleste series and all NEC Avenue and NEC Interchannel games on TurboGrafx-16 and variants, previously owned by Lightweight.
Capcom Coin-Op was a pinball manufacturer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Capcom USA, which was founded in June 1995 and closed in December 1996. It developed and sold pinball and arcade game machines and converted games for the US market. Based in Sunnyvale, California and Arlington Heights, Illinois, the company developed eight pinball machines over the course of its short existence, though only four ever made it to release.
