AlphaDream
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 Tokyo, Japan |
Defunct | October 2, 2019 |
Fate | Bankrupt |
Headquarters | Tokyo , Japan |
Key people | Tetsuo Mizuno |
Products | Mario & Luigi series |
Number of employees | 46 (2018)[1] |
Website | www |
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.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4]
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)
References
- ^ "会社概要 -Profile-". Alpha Dream (in Japanese). AlphaDream. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- ^ Their second most notable game serials would be Hamtaro video game series.
- ^ http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/35014/history-of-alphadream-ketchup-and-plumbers
- ^ 帝国データバンク (2 October 2019). "『マリオ&ルイージRPG』など開発 アルファドリームが破産開始". Yahoo! News Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 October 2019.