AlphaDream

AlphaDream Corporation, Ltd.

File:AlphaDream logo.png
Native name	[株式会社アルファドリーム] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language code: jp (help)
Romanized name	Kabushikigaisha ArufaDorīmu
Formerly	AlphaStar
Company type	Private
Industry	Video games
Founded	January 12, 2000 (2000-01-12) Tokyo, Japan
Defunct	October 2, 2019 (2019-10-02)
Fate	Bankrupt
Headquarters	Tokyo , Japan
Key people	Tetsuo Mizuno
Products	Mario & Luigi series
Number of employees	46 (2018)
Website	www.alphadream.co.jp

AlphaDream Corporation, Ltd. (株式会社アルファドリーム, Kabushikigaisha ArufaDorīmu) was a Japanese video game development company founded in 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno in Tokyo, Japan. It was formerly known as Alpha Star.

In partnership with Nintendo, it produced software for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS, including the Mario & Luigi series. The company's staff included prominent former developers from Square, such as Chihiro Fujioka.

History

AlphaDream was founded on January 12, 2000. They were then known as Alpha Star. Several members of their staff were notable staff from Square. They are known for their RPGs, most notably the Mario & Luigi series for the Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo 3DS.

The company was founded in 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno, the past president of Square. Their first game, Koto Battle, was a Pokémon-style role-playing game, wherein the player battles three of their twenty character cards against AI opponents. It was released in March 2001 for the Game Boy Color. While it remains a Japan-only game, it was later re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.

AlphaDream's next game was Tomato Adventure, released in January 2002. The player, as DeMille, a tomato-hater in the Ketchup Kingdom, fights his way from his outcast village to rescue his girlfriend. The in-game weapons are toy-like and the battles against opponents involve minigames.

Tomato Adventure was co-developed with Graphic Research and directed by Chihiro Fujioka of Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy Legend III. It was expected for release on the Game Boy Color as Gimmick Land, but was pushed to the new Game Boy Advance and renamed for better marketing. Tomato Adventure has not been released outside Japan.

AlphaDream became the developer of the Mario & Luigi series of JRPG games shortly after, with the first entry in the series, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, releasing in 2003.

On October 2, 2019, AlphaDream declared bankruptcy, citing sluggish revenues and high development costs, among other reasons.

Software produced

Original series

For GBC

• Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito (Japan only)

For GBA

• Tomato Adventure (Japan only; assisted by Graphic Research)

For Nintendo DS

• PostPet DS (Japan only; published by Marvelous Inc.)

Hamtaro game series

• Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue (Japan and Europe only)
• Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games
• Hi! HamTaro Ham-Ham Challenge

Mario & Luigi series

• Superstar Saga
• Partners in Time
• Bowser's Inside Story
• Dream Team
• Paper Jam (a crossover with the Paper Mario series)
• Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
• Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey

Other

For iOS/Android

• Kedama no Gonjiro: Fit & Run (Japan only; published by ForwardWorks Corporation)

External links

• Official website Template:Ja icon