Lets talk about Treasure (without any undue bias)

[Zerodash]

These ain't the GG! boards...

Lets talk about Treasure, but with as little of the intangible "aura" that surrounds its name as possible. Lets forget that it may be "hardcore" to love Treasure or that its "cool" to bash 'em just to go against the grain.

I feel that the biggest asset that Treasure has is the uniqueness that many of their games offer. Games like Sihlouette Mirage and Trouble Makers, while not reinventing the 2-D platformer genere, did offer gameplay aspects that truly were original. The stellar Sin and Punishment took some inspiration from Panzer Dragoon and crafted a highly enjoyable, action-packed shooter. Their 2-D shooter, Bangaioh, offered us a fun and funny merging of gameplay elements from Gravitar/Subterannea, Robotron 2084, and Macross (amongst others). The beloved Gunstar Heroes is just a well crafted action shooter in the vein of Contra.

My personal Treasure favorite is Guardian Heroes, which merged elements of Final Fight, Street Fighter, and RPGs. Multiple pathways, unlockable characters, and hidden stages make this one one of my favorite games of all time. Too bad the music is mismatched to the game's theme...

Treasure is not immune to putting out some downright lousy games, though (who is?). Their Diablo-esque Light Crusader on the Genesis is no gem, and neither is their work on Silpheed: TLP. These guys are not gods by any means- dont listen to those fanboys

The advent of ebay and game collecting becoming more common has helped some Treasure games garner huge prices on the market. Radiant Silvergun has become infamous for fetching $150+ on ebay. The MegaDrive-only games Alien Soldier and their Yu Yu Hakusho fighting game have also become high-pricers. Are these games worth the price in terms of gameplay? Maybe, but it depends on who you ask.

All in all, I see Treasure as what they are: a grouping of some very talented game designers that are by no means the gods that some may profess them to be. One of my favorite developers.

[Kinopio]

Behind Nintendo and SEGA, they are my 3rd favorite developer. Radiant Silvergun alone puts them ahead of everyone else. Why its "cool" to bash Treasure is beyond me. The fact that they made a beat 'em up I enjoy is a great compliment, because I absolutely HATE that genre.
In all fairness, Silpheed: TLP wasn't their fault either. And from what I played of Wario World, that is going to be a great game. McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure is my 2nd favorite genesis game, so that is saying something as well.

[Tain]

Zerodash, you said exactly waht I would say.

Oh, and Kinopio, one of the very few Beat 'em ups that I enjoy is Guardian Heroes. That, SOR, and River City Ransom.

[Diff-chan]

Treasure's a cool game company just because they try to expand their horizons. I think you gotta respect anybody, be it a game company, movie director, artist, author, whomever, who doesn't really let themselves settle into a groove and make similar stuff over and over.

They have continuously pushed into new genres and that is really cool. Of course, some of their ventures (like... Stretch Panic) didn't come out that well - in fact, in Panic's case, it turned out to be very doubleplusungood. But at least they tried.

[sleeve]

Treasure is one of very few truly independent game developers still in existence.

Anyone who knows how gaming began and flourished in the 1970s and 80s should be able to appreciate this. Videogaming grew not in the boardrooms of multimillion dollar corporations, but in the garages of creative, intelligent young programmers.

Today, most games are created by committee and by large dev staffs, but Treasure still makes games the old-fashioned way, through the dedicated efforts of a few supremely talented coders.

Regardless of how you feel about their games, you have to respect them for that.

[NeoZeedeater]

Like sleeveboy said, you have to respect them. I'm surprised they manage to survive.

Their games are hit and miss for me.

While I don't care much for Mischief Makers, Stretch Panic, Light Crusader and Dynamite Headdy, I absolutely love Sin & Punishment, Gunstar Heroes, and Alien Soldier.

The only Treasure games I haven't played are Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, Silpheed:TLP and Rakugaki Showtime.

I made the mistake of passing on Radiant when it first came out. Now, I refuse to buy it without playing it first. It sounds incredible though.

And nice 1984 reference, diffx.

[Bystander]

Why won't they remake Radiant Silvergun? Ikaruga is pretty, but it's no Radiant Silvergun.

[Mr_B]

I think they are one of the best out there in the world. I mean if you had to place odds on whether their game is going to be good or bad. Their track records puts them up there with the best the industry has to offer.

Have they released some turds, yes! But who hasn't?

I think the only developers with a better track record are Nintendo, Sega and Blizzard.

[Sqoon]

I can't stand Dynamite Headdy or Silhouette Mirage (Saturn version included) for more than fifteen minutes before turning off their respective systems in disgust.

However, I think the good (Gunstar Heroes, Guardian Heroes, Bangai-O, Radiant Silvergun) easily outweighs the bad because, even then, their bad material isn't that terrible.

[Metal_Slug]

Never did complete Silhouette Mirage (PS)...

I dunno, it doesn't really make you sit down and just want to play forever and ever...