Hal

Founded in 1980, HAL Laboratory has made many fine games over the years. While the company has been attached to Nintendo for over a decade, their first games weren't on a Nintendo machine. HAL began as a computer game developer.

Fruit Search(MSX, 1983) - You have to guess which fruit each girl is thinking of. I don't really understand it.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...earch_game.gif

Space Maze Attack(MSX, 1983) - A maze shooter as the name implies, nothing too exciting.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...ttack_game.gif

Picture Puzzle(MSX, 1983) - A video version of those picture puzzle thingies.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...uzzle_game.gif

Super Snake(MSX, 1983) - Eat items for points while avoiding enemies and biting yourself.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...snake_game.gif

Butan Pants(MSX, 1983)
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...pants_game.gif

Heavy Boxing(MSX, 1983)
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...oxing_game.gif

Super Billiards(MSX, 1983)
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...ards_title.gif

Dragon Attack(MSX, 1983) - Very similar to Space Invaders except with approaching dragons.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...ttack_game.gif

Rollerball(MSX, 1984) - HAL's first video pinball game. A version was later made for the NES.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...rball_game.gif
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/nes/01/rollerball.html

Hole in One(MSX, 1984) - This was the first in their golf series that would continue on to the SNES.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...n_one_game.gif

Mr. Chin(MSX, 1984) - The object of this game is to place plates on top of rods while avoiding the evil ball-rolling dude.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens..._chin_game.gif

Space Trouble(MSX, 1984)
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...ouble_game.gif

Balance(MSX, 1984) - Balance manages to be educational and entertaining. A train above you is heading for a misguided track. You have to straighten the track by grabbing flying numbers and placing them in the correct math problems above. This game is the first appearance of the blue ball character Lolo.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...lance_game.gif

Eggerland Mystery(MSX, 1985) - This was the first game in what would later be known as the Adventures of Lolo series. These were great puzzle games. The series spans several games on MSX, Famicom Disk, NES and Game Boy.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...tery2_game.gif

http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics/loloGB.html

Dunk Shot(MSX, 1986) - This basketball game had a sequel years later on SNES.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...kshot_game.gif

Inspector Z(MSX, 1986)

Gall Force(FDS, 1986) HAL released their first game on a Nintendo system in 1986. The anime-based shooter Gall Force was published by Sony.
http://www.kojima.freeserve.co.uk/gallforce2.gif

They also made an MSX2 version of Gall Force; I assume it's the same game.

Kick It(MSX, 1987)
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...ck_it_game.gif

Pyroman(MSX, 1987)
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...roman_game.gif

Mobile Planet Stills(MSX, 1987) - This overhead action game reminds me of Alien Syndrome.
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...lanet_game.gif

Yajikita Doutyu(MSX2, 1987)
http://www.generation-msx.nl/screens...outyu_game.gif

Ninja-kun(MSX2, 1987) - A port of UPL's Famicom action game.

Fire Bam(FDS, 1988)
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/fds/01/71.html

Defender 2(NES, 1988) - They did a good job on this port of the Williams arcade game. http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/nes/01/defender2.html

Millipede(NES, 1988) - A port of Atari's arcade game.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/nes/01/millipede.html

Air Fortress(NES, 1989) - Air Fortress was a mix of horizontal shooting and on the ground action. It was okay but I never got into it.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/03/air.html

Ghostbusters 2(NES, 1990)
http://uvlftp.arteh.com/jacek/ghostb2_nes.jpg

With the arrival of the Game Boy, HAL quickly became one of the best developers for it. I haven't played their rendition of Shanghai but their 1990 pinball game Revenge of the Gator was a favorite of mine back then. The game had such personality with its artwork, dancing alligators and addictive gameplay.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/gb/01/pinballgator.html

HAL published Human's excellent NES platformer Kabuki Quantum Fighter domestically in 1990.

HAL's final Famicom Disk System game was their text adventure Metal Slader Glory in 1991. Here's a picture from its Super Famicom remake.
http://www.ciudadfutura.com/snes/pic...%20Cut%20b.jpg

1991 marked HAL's entry in the 16-bit world with Hyper Zone, a 3d flying game for the SNES. The Mode 7 graphics impressed me but the game was boring unlike the stuff Nintendo was making with their new hardware.
http://yannick.fleurit.free.fr/Chron...%20Zone-02.gif

It was around this time that HAL was majorly suffering from financial trouble. Back then, there was mention in magazines that they were going bankrupt. I'm not sure exactly how they recovered but money from Nintendo seems most likely what saved them. HAL became a major developer to Nintendo and many of their games from this point on were co-developed by Nintendo.

Kirby's Dream Land(GB, 1992) - The birth of a new Nintendo icon.
http://www.nemoprod.net/emu/console/gmbshot/kirby.gif

As I'm sure most people here know, Kirby is a pink ghost that sucks in his enemies and takes their abilities. Dream Land was the first in the line of awesome Kirby platformers. Dream Land 2 was released for the Game Boy in 1995 and Dream Land 3 came out for the SNES in 1997.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics6/kirby3.html

Arcana(SNES, 1992) - An RPG.
http://turemu.kolayweb.com/snes/arcana.gif

Kirby's Adventure(NES, 1993) - One of the last great NES games, this 6-meg cartridge proved that the decade-old hardware still had some life left in it. This game was recently remade for GBA.
http://www.gamespy.com/spotlights/de...kirby/rr_1.gif

Kirby's Pinball Land(GB, 1993)
http://www.gamesen.nl/DBImg/Portal31...pinball_gb.jpg

Alcahest(SFC, 1993) - This Action/RPG was published by Square.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/snes01/01/alcahest.html

Kirby's Dream Course(SNES, 1995) - Kirby goes golfing.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/snes01/01/kirbydc.html

Kirby's Avalanche(SNES, 1995) - This wasn't really a HAL creation. It was a port of Compile's Puyo Puyo made with Kirby characters. http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/snes01/01/avalanche.html

Sim City 2000(SFC, 1995) - A port of Maxis' computer game. They also made Sim City 64 for N64 a few years later.

Earthbound AKA Mother 2(SNES, 1995) - I'm not sure exactly what HAL contributed to this RPG but I'm guessing the bulk of it was done by original Mother developer Ape. Either way, it's a great game.
http://uvl.supereva.it/pics/earthbound.jpg

Kirby Super Star(SNES, 1996) - This was another Kirby platformer. From what I remember it was good but I didn't like it as much as Kirby's Adventure.

Kirby's Block Ball(GB, 1996) - Is this game any good?
http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics/kirbysblockball.html

Shigesato Itoi No. 1 Bass Tsuri wo Suru(SFC, 1997) - Another co-production with Ape's Shigesato Itoi. There was also a version of this game made for N64. I have no idea what the game is like though.

Kirby's Star Stacker(GB, 1997) - Is this puzzle game any good?
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/gb/01...arstacker.html

Kirby no Kirakira Kids(SFC, 1998) - An upgraded version of Star Stacker. This version never came out in North America.

Pokemon Snap(N64, 1999) - Want to take pictures of Pokemon? Me neither.
[thumbnail]http://www.pokegames.free.fr/images/jeuvideo/snap/13b.jpg[/thumbnail]

Super Smash Bros.(N64, 1999) - This is easily my favorite HAL series. Smash Bros. beautifully mixed in a heavy dose of Nintendo characters and nostalgia with a simple yet brilliantly crafted fighting system. It reminds me a lot of the original 1983 Mario Bros.. The 2001 GC sequel had much better graphics and refined gameplay.
http://www.nintendo.com.au/gamecube/images/smash2.jpg

Pokemon Pinball(GBC, 2000) - HAL's best pinball game yet. It even had a rumble feature built into the cartridge.
http://dorando.emuverse.com/images/p...pinball_01.png

Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards(N64, 2000) - I still haven't played this one but I hear it's very good although insanely easy.
http://www.n64europe.com/graphicsx/kirby1.jpg

Kirby's Tilt 'n Tumble(GBC, 2001) - I haven't played this yet either but it sounds neat. The cartridge has a sensor in it so when you move the Game Boy, it moves Kirby.

What are your thoughts on HAL Laboratory?

Very interesting.

I rank them un-notable-decent.

Hey, I thought Pokemon Snap sounded lame, but when I saw how you play the game, I don't think it's so bad. I thought you just ran around and took pictures. But it's more of an on rails type of game that takes some pretty good skill to get great shots.

Maybe you already knew this.

Pokemon Snap was a great game, and I hope they release a sequel on gamecube with the ruby/sapphire pokemon. That game ranks very high on my list of the greatest and most fun N64 games.

I only played Pokemon Snap briefly and it didn't seem too exciting but I would like to give it another chance some day.

Kirby Super Star has so much variety, it's easily my favorite Kirby game.

Pokemon Snap was great!

Mild Nitpick: Metal Slader Glory was not a Disk System game. It was a cartridge game (it used the advance MMC5 chip, which was only used domestically for Dracula's Curse) and it's also one of the more sought-after Famicom games in Japan (costing over hundred of dollars complete).

I must add that Ghostbuster 2 game they made was sweet (much better than the piece of crap Activision released here).

From what I can tell, HAL coded the Mother 2, while Ape did the game design. From what I can tell, Ape is actually publisher of strategy guides (having seen their logo on several Nintendo guides) which Shigesato Itoi works for. Itoi did the game design at Ape, while Hal did all the programming. I could be wrong though. I do know Satoru Iwata was the director of Mother 2, who was president of Hal at the time.

Ah, okay. Thanks. Planetnintendo.com listed it as a disk game but they have been known to make mistakes.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by MVS
Very interesting.

I rank them un-notable-decent.

---

MVS should change his name to "7/10"

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Scourge
Pokemon Snap was great!

---

Yussssss.

:lol:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Frogacuda
MVS should change his name to "7/10"

---

What can I say, there's a lot of average stuff out there.

Remember kids, mediocrity is it's own reward.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by MVS
What can I say, there's a lot of average stuff out there.

Remember kids, mediocrity is it's own reward.

---

So make a thread like this about something you think is worthy then. A lack of a strong opinion isn't much to contribute.

And a critique on a lack of strong opinion is?

How's this: I strongly feel they are average.

hahaha

WITH FEELING!

Quote:

---

Originally posted by MVS
And a critique on a lack of strong opinion is?

How's this: I strongly feel they are average.

---

Not so much that that it's developing to be a pattern for you. Most of the posts you make these days are some phrasing of "Meh", usually with a number attatched.

I like to cut out the bullshit and just state the opinion quickly.

Like, "What are you smoking, and where can I get some? 8/10".

Hal is easily one of my favorite developers out there. I have yet to be disappointed in a game by them.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by MVS
I like to cut out the bullshit and just state the opinion quickly.

---

Ah, I see you are taking Jeremy's philosophy as your own. Good for you.

JM

Too bad the last kirby game was dung.

Lolo was probably their finest series. They should really do another one.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by 680x0
Too bad the last kirby game was dung.

---

Do you mean Nightmare in Dreamland? Or 64?

kirby's dream course owned.

Best (mini) golf game ever.

Revenge of the Gator is really the only pinball game that competes with Naxat titles IMO.

You forgot Trax for Gameboy.

http://www.boomspeed.com/neoalpha0/trax.jpg

Further proof that Hal could make anything cute and a decent little overhead tank game. It could have been great if the Gameboy had enough buttons to let you change turrent direction both ways.

Kirby 3 on SNES and Kirby's Adventure for NES are the only ones in the series I can stand. For some strange reason they took the rotating tower out of Nightmare in Dreamland. Lazy programmers...

*-neo

I was talking about that GBA sodomy against gaming, of course.

What didn't you like about it?

I never really played the NES version of it...I thought the GBA one was quite good (if not incredibly easy, but I think that's par for the Kirby course)

Kirby's Dream Course was one of the most inventive games I've played ever, and it's fun to boot.

Kirby 3 was retartedly easy. I think Dreamland 2 on GB was the best.

It just feels like they put no effort into nightmare in dreamland at all. The challenge was non-existant, the extras were pathetic, the level designs were garbage, the game was like the amorphous idiot child of kirby 1 and superstar. Nevermind I don't think much of the "classic" kirby's outside of Superstar. Give me something new, or atleast something that I can't easily replicate (lolo compilation would be nice though)

Play Superstar and get the real deal.