ADK (company)

ADK

Former type	Private
Industry	Computer and video game industry
Fate	Merge with SNK Playmore
Founded	July 1980
Defunct	2003
Headquarters	Saitama, Japan
Products	Arcade games Video games

ADK Corporation (株式会社エーディーケイ), also known as Alpha Denshi Corporation (株式会社アルファ電子), was a Japanese video game production company founded sometime in July 1980. "ADK" is an acronym for Alpha, Denshi, and the Japanese term for "corporation", Kabushiki kaisha. The company was originally independent, but later became best known in the 1990s, who partnered with SNK and created various games mainly for SNK's Neo Geo platforms, as many video games. They developed various video games for many genres, most notably their fighting games, especially the World Heroes series.

History

Origins

When ADK was founded in July 1980 in Saitama, Japan,^{[citation needed]}, it was known as Alpha Denshi Kabushiki kaisha, or sometimes known as Alpha Denshi or simply Alpha. The first two arcade video games they created were Janputer (ジャンピュータ), the world's first mechanical arcade Mahjong game that was released in May 1981 by Sanritsu Giken Corp; and Shougi (将棋), a basic, but well-developed Japanese chess game that was released a year later by Tehkan. Afterwards, Sega and Tecmo would sell Alpha Denshi-produced games through the early 1980s. In the later 1980s, Alpha Denshi became a partner of SNK. Around 1993, Alpha Denshi Kabushiki kaisha abbreviated its name to ADK.

ADK made games for many genres, including maze games like Crush Roller, sports like Champion Baseball, shooters like Time Soldiers, platformers like Blue's Journey, role-playing games like STED: Iseki Wakusei no Yabou, fighting games like the World Heroes series, and beat 'em up games like Gang Wars and Ninja Combat. The company became quite famous, with considerable success in North America.

In early 1990s, ADK started developing many games for SNK's Neo Geo system. However, through the mid to late 1990s, ADK failed to win very much success, especially during the eras of the Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld systems, which were also failing at the time. The company eventually went bankrupt and closed its installations in early 2000 (SNK itself would declare bankruptcy the very next year). SNK's successor SNK Playmore ended up buying ADK's intellectual properties.

Legacy

Today, ADK has a legacy in the hands of SNK Playmore, with new appearances of its characters, notably in the fighting game Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, where Hanzo, Fuuma, Mudman and Neo Dio from the World Heroes series appeared, as well as Kisarah Westfield and Joe Kusanagi (in a cameo in one of Kisarah's attacks) from Aggressors of Dark Kombat.

Some originally ADK characters have made an appearance in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash, such as Hanzo from the World Heroes franchise and Sasuke from Ninja Master's. Their characters appear in this game as SNK character cards and as Action and Counter cards.

List of products

Early arcade games

Although, some were ported to other platforms, they all started on this platform.

• Shougi (1980) (published by Tehkan)
• Dorachan (1980) (credited to 'CRAUL DENSHI')
• Janputer (1981)
• Crush Roller (1982) (published in North America by Williams Electronics as Make Trax)
• Talbot (1982)
• Exciting Soccer (1983)
• Champion Baseball (1983) (published by Sega)
• Champion Baseball II (1983) (published by Sega and SNK)
• Bull Fighter (1984) (published by Sega)
• Equites (1984)
• Exciting Soccer II (1985)
• High Voltage (1985)
• Perfect Janputer (1985)
• The Koukouyakyuh (1985)
• Splendor Blast (1985)
• The High School Baseball (1985)
• Super Stingray (1986) (published by Sega)
• Kyros No Yakata / Kyros (1986)
• Time Soldiers / Battlefield (1987) (published by SNK)
• Sky Soldier (1987) (published by SNK)
• Gang Wars (1989) (published by SNK)
• Sky Adventure (1989) (published by SNK)
• Super Champion Baseball (1989) (published by SNK) (formally titled as Kaettekita Champion Baseball)

NES

• STED: Iseki Wakusei no Yabou (1990) (published by K Amusement Leasing/KAC, a company known for co-supporting SNK in the NES market)

Neo-Geo

Although, some were ported to other platforms, they all started on this platform.

• Magician Lord (1990) (published by SNK)
• Ninja Combat (1990) (published by SNK)
• Blue's Journey / Raguy (1990) (published by SNK)
• Sun Shine (1990) (published by SNK)
• Thrash Rally (1990) (published by SNK)
• Crossed Swords (1991) (published by SNK)
• Ninja Commando (1992) (published by SNK)
• World Heroes (1992) (published by Alpha Denshi and SNK)
• World Heroes 2 (1993) (published by Alpha Denshi/ADK and SNK)
• Aggressors of Dark Kombat (1994) (published by SNK)
• World Heroes 2 Jet (1994) (published by SNK)
• Shougi no Tatsujin - Master of Shougi (1995) (published by SNK)
• World Heroes Perfect (1995) (published by SNK)
• Ninja Master's Haou Ninpou-chou (1996)
• Over Top (1996)
• Twinkle Star Sprites (1996) (published by SNK)

Neo-Geo CD

• Crossed Swords 2 (1995)
• ADK World (1995)

Hyper Neo-Geo 64

• Beast Busters: Second Nightmare (1997) (published by SNK)

PlayStation

• Treasure Gear (1997) (MiraiSoft was actually a concealment label of ADK)
• Star Monja (1997) (labeled as MiraiSoft. Published by GMF)

Neo-Geo Pocket

• Dokodemo Mahjong (1998) (published by ADK and SNK)
• Melon Chan no Seichou Nikki (1998)
• Shougi no Tatsujin (1998) (published by SNK)

Neo-Geo Pocket Color

• Crush Roller (1999) (published by SNK)
• Dokodemo Mahjong Color (1999) (published by SNK)
• Dynamite Slugger (1999) (published by SNK)
• Neo Poke Pro Yakyuu (1999) (published by SNK)
• Party Mail (1999) (published by SNK)
• Shougi no Tatsujin Color (1999) (published by SNK)

External links

• The History of ADK at Jap-Sai.com
• ADK HEROES - an ADK fan site (Japanese)
• "ADK Corporation" at MobyGames