The Sunsoft Thread

Throughout their history and with a few name changes (Sun Electronics to Sun Corporation/Sunsoft), this company has released some good games.

Kangaroo is an old favorite.

http://www.atarihq.com/museum/coinop...s/kangaroo.jpg

Arabian was kind of cool. I vaguely remember playing a Famicom version a long time ago.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/arcade/arabian.html

Their NES years were great. Blaster Master is probably still my favorite Sunsoft game. Journey to Silius, Batman, and Freedom Force were fun as well.

http://www.gamecritics.com/feature/i..._master_02.gif

http://wonderland.disflux.net/screen...ytosilius2.gif

Batman on Genesis was pretty good. And they also released Super Fantasy Zone although I don't know if they or Sega developed it.

Unfortunately, Blaster Master 2 was disappointing and I still haven't played the PS1 game.

Sunsoft was also a big funder of Myst but I don't know if I want to thank them for that.

What are your favorite Sunsoft games?

Is that the only games they have made?

Batman for NES was by far my fav Sunsoft game.

I remember enjoying that Uncle Fester game, though many people thought it sucked.

Of course they have made a hell of a lot more games than just those. I'm just waiting for people to jog my memory. :)

Funny thing about Sunsoft and MYST. Though they did help out with the release of the game, Sunsoft wanted only the profits of the console versions, which as you may know, completely tanked. The PC version is still the best-selling PC game ever.

A good chunk of my NES memories stem from Sunsoft games and they'll always have a spot in my heart. Their most recent localized effort, Eternal Eyes, is probably my favorite Sunsoft game.

Yeah, Sunsoft could have made so much cash if they got royalties from the PC version.

Eternal Eyes, huh? I heard it sucked bad but I know you have good taste in games so I may have to check it out.

Sunsoft was amazing on the NES. Their music back then was other-fooking-worldly. Sadly they took a nosedive after the NES. Blaster Master is probably my favorite Sunsoft game.

I bought Blaster Master: Blasting Again several months ago, but it's been awhile since I last played it and I still haven't finished it. It's actually quite nice, almost like a 3D Metroid. I find it quite weird that decided to continue the butchered story from the American Blaster Master instead of the Japanese original with Kane and Jennifer.

Anyway, Sunsoft developed quite a few games in their career such as the Ufouria/Hebereke series, Dead Zone, Wings of Madoola, Super Spy Hunter (aka Battle Formula), the Albert Oddysey series, Out Live, Super Fantasy Zone, Waku Waku 7. They had a development team called Tokai Engineering that were responsible for the original Metafight, Raf World (aka Journey to Silius) and Ripple Island. It's a shame that most of the stuff Sunsoft USA released was licensed crap.

http://www.interq.or.jp/earth/ilyn/image/4.jpg

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Originally posted by Johnny Undaunted
I had Blaster Master: Blasting Again for quite awhile, but it's been awhile since I last played it and I still haven't finished it. It's actually quite nice, almost like a 3D Metroid. I find it quite weird that decided to continue the butchered story from the American Blaster Master instead of the Japanese original with Kane and Jennifer.

Anyway, Sunsoft developed quite a few games in their career such as the Ufouria/Hebereke series, Dead Zone, Wings of Madoola, Super Spy Hunter (aka Battle Formula), the Albert Oddysey series, Out Live, Super Fantasy Zone, Waku Waku 7. They had a development team called Tokai Engineering that were responsible for the original Metafight, Raf World (aka Journey to Silius) and Ripple Island. It's a shame that most of the stuff Sunsoft USA released was licensed crap.

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I agree that their liscensed stuff on Super NES is crap, but I really like Batman and Gremlins 2 for NES.

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Originally posted by CorruptedOldGnom(sic)


I agree that their liscensed stuff on Super NES is crap, but I really like Batman and Gremlins 2 for NES.

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Oh my! How could I forgotten those two? I meant that they released nothing but licensed crap during the Super NES days (then again, Fester's Quest was kinda crappy too).

Fester's Quest was great, it just required a rapid-fire game pad. Without it, I have to admit that it might exude a bit of suck factor. With it, it's a whole different game.

James

Is Dead Zone any good? I know it's a Famicom disk game but what kind of game is it? An RPG?

What is Wings of Madoola? It doesn't ring a bell.

Hebereke is pretty cool. I played one of those.

I can't say I cared for Fester's Quest or Gremlins 2.

Anyone played Firepower 2000 on SNES? I remember EGM giving it good reviews.

I remember someone who was a huge Lunar fan buying Albert Odyssey for Saturn thinking it was a Game Arts game. Boy, was he disappointed.

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Originally posted by NeoZeedeater
Is Dead Zone any good? I know it's a Famicom disk game but what kind of game is it? An RPG?

What is Wings of Madoola? It doesn't ring a bell.

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Dead Zone is an adventure game similar to Snatcher or Famicom Tantei Club, while Wings of Madoola is an action RPG for the Famicom. Unfortunately, I haven't played either of them yet.

The main thing that has kept me from buying a Famicom Disk System is I'm afraid the disks might be demagnetizing and be dead already or soon. I hope my C64 disks in my closet still work but I'll have to buy another disk drive to try them out.

NeoZeedEater: You can still order disk cards straight from Nintendo, believe it or not.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/fc_disk/index.html

Whoa! That's awesome. :)

I should update my web browser to display Japanese text though. It's all garbled on my screen.

I should have thought to ask this in my first post in this thread, but does anyone know who composed the music for Sunsoft's NES games?

Sunsoft seems pretty quiet these days, but they used to be capable of some real gems in the NES/Famicom days. Hebereke, Raf World, Wings of Madoola, and the awesome Gimmick. Batman NES is still one of the greatest movie-to-game adaptations ever, just because it's a classic action/platformer. Even some of their older titles like Ikki and Super Arabian are worth noting. Though, like most people, my favorite 8-bit Sunsoft title is still Blaster Master / Chou-Wakusei Senki Meta Fight. One of my most played games from that era, I always wish it had recived a "proper" 2D update, and in a sense, I'm still waiting. Though I might check out Blasting Again as it's a $9 title.

Love the cover art.
http://www.bmunderground.com/gfx/etc...fight_cart.jpg

Although I haven't played it, I thought I'd bring this to people's attention:
http://www.bmunderground.com/gfx/bmeb/mfex/mfex_fc.jpg

Interesting, huh?

Since the 8-bit era, the only Sunsoft game to really catch my eye has been Waku Waku 7. One of the better fighting games from the later half of the 1990s, and still fun to play today. Though Astra Superstars, the assumed follow-up, left alot to be desired.

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Originally posted by Sqoon
The PC version is still the best-selling PC game ever.

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I'm sure there was a news story here about The Sims being the best selling PC game now. It was either on the old boards or got pushed off, because I can't find it now.

That reminds me, Bahn: Archive your news and features, dammit! First that Dan Jevons interview wouldn't work, and now I can't find old news.

Methinks Waku Waku 7 is Sunsoft's finest game. Judging from the ending credits, it seems the game is based on a manga. Given the game's premise, it probably would be a DBZ ripoff or some other "legend of the monkey king".


I dont think anyone has mentioned Sunsoft's attempt to make a mascot: Aero the Acrobat for the SNES and Genny. I think there was even a sequel made. The first Areo was not half bad- a solid little platformer not unlike Sonic.

Gremlins 2 by far is my favorite Sunsoft game.

I was never much of a fan of the movies, but after seeing a walk-thru in Nintendo Power, I was so floored by the graphics and level design I had to get it.

Haven't played it for years though, maybe I'll have to dig it out one of these days...

I love Sunsoft. They made Waku Waku 7. Not many companies can say they've made Waku Waku 7. Such a wonderfull fighter that way too many people overlook. As good as any other on the Neo, and yet totally different in looks and play than any other on the Neo.

*Shameless plug*
Head on over to http://www.neogeoforlife.com if you want a cool Waku Waku 7 MVS insert. I made it. :)
*end shameless plug*

Erm... Sunsoft. Oh yeah. Blaster Master rules. It will always rule. So does Batman. I have to say I like the NES Batman much better than the Genny version because (you're all gonna think I'm crazy here) the sound is just so much better on the NES. Actually, many NES games sounded better than their Genny counterparts (Battletoads anyone?). Batman was great on either platform tho'.

sunsoft had some great games back in the days. mt favorite sunsoft game(s) would have to be batman on the nes and batman on the gameboy.

i also think the nes batman is better than the genesis one.

as for the gameboy one, that one totally caught me off guard. it was waaaay better than i thought it would be. has anyone else played it? the character graphics were tiny, but very effective. it followed the movie pretty closely. your main weapon was the batgun, which fired different stuff depending on what you picked up. two levels had you fly the batwing in horizontal shooter style. great action shooter, not to mention one of my favorite gameboy games of all time.

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Originally posted by Nash
as for the gameboy one, that one totally caught me off guard. it was waaaay better than i thought it would be. has anyone else played it? the character graphics were tiny, but very effective. it followed the movie pretty closely. your main weapon was the batgun, which fired different stuff depending on what you picked up. two levels had you fly the batwing in horizontal shooter style. great action shooter, not to mention one of my favorite gameboy games of all time.

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The GB Batman game was great!

I haven't thought it about in years, until now just reading your post.

What I remember specifically was the tiny character sprites (almost super deformed), and the "shooty web gun" which from a gameplay perspective worked out pretty well.

I also remember something about the Batman logo rotating, or doing something cool at the beginning of game.

I still have my copy, so I'll SURELY be busting this out tonite.

I forgot about the GB version! Great game indeed. I have to go find a copy now...

Heh I used to get the Sunsoft newsletter about their games and hints. This was back in the NES days must of sent in something from a magazine. Anyone remember getting that?

Korian

batman on the gameboy was pretty tight, yes - the little pointy ears on batman's cowl took up 2 of the perhaps 12 pixels they allocated for the player sprite. sweet.

batman the animated series on the gameboy is even better, though. my brother looked for that for about 5 years before we dug it out of some used game pile in an EB. fools!!

t

Didn't Sunsoft make Hard Edge (released here in the US as T.R.A.G.) for the PSX? It was a pretty cool little game- kind of a cross between the movie Die Hard and Resident Evil.

Yep, they made T.R.A.G.

I always thought it was a strategy game. It's a survival horror game? I may have to check it out now.

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Originally posted by Dolemite
Didn't Sunsoft make Hard Edge (released here in the US as T.R.A.G.) for the PSX? It was a pretty cool little game- kind of a cross between the movie Die Hard and Resident Evil.

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As a matter of fact, they did.

Sunsoft recently released a series of 1,500 yen compilation titles called the Sunsoft Memorial Series. Has anyone played it? Vol. 4 has Metafight.

Don't those Sunsoft Memorial collections have only three games per disc? I still would love to check them out. Anyone have a list for each collection?

http://allsoft.scei.co.jp/jacket/l/slps03181b.jpg

Batman on GB was AWESOME! I really liked Batman: Return of the Joker on the NES as well...I still say it looks better than the genesis version. The sprites were HUGE by NES standards. The only bad thing I have to say about the NES version is that the weapon variety was lacking and, at times, it seemed like this was a pre-existing game that they threw batman into. Why was there a forest stage, featuring wizards throwing tornados, in a Batman game?

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Originally posted by NeoZeedeater
Yep, they made T.R.A.G.

I always thought it was a strategy game. It's a survival horror game? I may have to check it out now.

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Well, it's sorta like survival horror. It's in the future, and terrorists have taken over this skyscraper and you play as one of 4 characters- you start as one of two commandos (a male with a gun and a female with a sword), and later you can also use a detective and a dopey little android girl. It has the usual RE-type aspects- pre-rendered backgrounds, polygonal characters, puzzles, etc. Unlimited inventory, though. You fight terrorists and mutants. In addition to weapons, you have various hand-to-hand combat moves. At first glance it seems like a generic RE clone, but it has a certain charm to it. It's very anime-influenced, especially the character design. And the voice acting is pretty damn funny at times. If you can find it cheap I say go for it. It was fun. And, best of all, it controls like Metal Gear Solid in that you move in the direction you push- none of that "push up to move forward" stuff that everyone seems to hate (personally, I don't mind it).

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Originally posted by NeoZeedeater
Don't those Sunsoft Memorial collections have only three games per disc? I still would love to check them out. Anyone have a list for each collection?

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Actually, there are only two games in each disc, but it's hard to complain with such a low price for each disc.

Vol. 1: Ikki and Super Arabian
Vol. 2: Atlantis no Nazo and Route-16 Turbo
Vol. 3: Wing of Madoola and Tokaidou Gojuusan Tsugi
Vol. 4: Chou Wakusei Metafight and Ripple Island
Vol. 5: Raf World and Hebereke

http://www.sun-denshi.co.jp/soft/sms/main.html

I'll probably get them one day but for now the Sega, Konami, and Irem collections take precedence for me.

There's an Irem collection? What's in that one?

I really enjoyeed their Aero(sp?) the Acrobat series a lot. The first one remains on of the most challenging platformers ever. And no one has mentioned their sequel to the Aero series, Zero The Kamikaze Squirel. Although Im not sure anyone ever played that game....

I actively looked for Zero during my SNES playing days and I could never find it. Aero the Acrobat was cool, though...so was Aero the Acrobat 2, but that one was MUCH easier than its predecessor.

There are a few Irem collections-

Irem Arcade Classics (Saturn) - Zippy Race, 10 Yard Fight, and Spartan X(Kung Fu Master)

X-Multiply/Image Fight (Saturn)

R-Types (PS1) - R-Type 1 and 2