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Toaplan Co., Ltd.
Toaplan
Native name
株式会社東亜プラン
Kabushiki gaisha Tōapuran
Company typeKabushiki gaisha
IndustryVideo games
PredecessorOrca, Crux
FoundedApril 1979; 45 years ago (April 1979)
FounderKiyoshi Motoyoshi
DefunctMarch 1994; 30 years ago (March 1994)
FateBankruptcy
HeadquartersShimizu, Suginami, Tokyo, Japan
Area served
Japan
Key people
ProductsVideo games
Websitetoaplan.co.jp

Toaplan Co., Ltd.[a] was a Japanese video game developer founded in 1979. They were responsible for the creation of a wide array of scrolling shooters and other arcade games.

History

Origins

Toaplan was established in 1979 but its gaming division was established by former Orca and Crux members.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

1980s

Performan was created by most of the same team that previously worked on several projects at Orca and Crux before both companies declared bankruptcy,[18][19][20][21] after which a group of employees from the two gaming divisions would go on to form Toaplan and among them were composers Masahiro Yuge and Tatsuya Uemura, both of which recounted the project's development process and history between 1990 and 2012 through Japanese publications such as Gamest and Shooting Gameside.[4][7][8][12][13][14]

1990s

In 1992, Yoshiyuki Kiyomoto stepped down from his position as CEO at Toaplan, with Taizo Hayashi now serving as the company's president.[22][23] Toaplan provivded consultance and advising to Raizing (now Eighting) during development of Sorcer Striker, as well as licensing their arcade board to the company, since the president of the latter company previously served as an employee of the former.[24][25] Snow Bros. 2: With New Elves served as one of the final projects to be developed by Toaplan, as the company ceased development of shoot 'em up games prior to their closure.[10][26]

2010s

The rights to nearly every Toaplan IP are currently owned by Tatsujin, a Japanese company formed by Yuge and now-affiliate of Japanese arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia.[27][28][29][30][31][32]

In 2019, Japanese company M2 announced that in 2020 they will release every game by Toaplan (excluding Mahjong Sisters and Enma Daiō) for consoles in Japan.[33][34][35][36]

Staff and design philosophy

Various individuals have been important figures in the history of Toaplan:

  • Masahiro Yuge – One of the six original team members and frequent composer.[1][7][12][13][14] Later worked at Takumi Corporation and Eighting on several projects.[6]
  • Tatsuya Uemura – One of the six original team members and frequent composer.[1][7][12][13][14] Later worked at Gazelle and Eighting on several projects.[6]
  • Toshiaki Tomizawa – Music composer for Demon's World, Zero Wing and Vimana.[1][14][26] Co-founder of CAVE.[6][37]
  • Osamu Ōta – Music composer for Wardner, Rally Bike and Twin Hawk.[1][14] Producer of Gekirindan at Taito.[6]
  • Toshiaki Ōta – One of the six original team members and head of software development.[2][6][7][12][13] Co-founder of Tamsoft.[6][7][13]
  • Naoki Ogiwara – Artist and designer for Truxton and Out Zone.[4][9][26][14] Co-founder of CAVE.[6][37]
  • Kōetsu Iwabuchi – Artist for Guardian and Twin Cobra.[4] Later served as planning manager for Grind Stormer.[38]
  • Yuko Tataka – Frequent character designer.[5][6]
  • Sanae Nitō – Frequent character designer.[5][6]
  • Tsuneki Ikeda - Programmer for Grind Stormer and Batsugun.[38][39][40][41] Co-founder of CAVE.[6][13][37][41]
  • Junya Inoue - Designer for Dogyuun, Knuckle Bash and Batsugun.[42][43] Later worked at Gazelle and CAVE on several projects.[42][43][44]
  • Yusuke Naora - Graphic designer for Grind Stormer. Later worked at Square Enix on several projects.[42][45]
  • Kenichi Takano - One of the six original team members and designer for Performan.[7][8][12][13] Co-founder of CAVE.[6][13][37][41]
  • Yuichirō Nozawa - One of the six original team members and designer for Twin Hawk.[8][12][13]
  • Atsushi Kawaguchi - One of the six original team members and artist for Demon's World.[8][12]
  • Nanpei Kaneko - Designer for FixEight and Knuckle Bash.[42][46] Later worked as illustrator for Japanese magazines.[42][46]

Closure

The company declared bankruptcy on March 31, 1994.[26][47] Its closure led to the formation of several offshoot companies.[48][49]

Companies spun off from Toaplan

After Toaplan closed its doors in 1994, several former employees formed or were involved with the following companies, many of which were dedicated to arcade shooters:[38][42][39][40][37][43][41]

Reputation

Games

Developed

Year Title Original platform(s) Publisher Co-developer
1984 Jongō Arcade SNK —
1985 Performan Arcade Data East —
Tiger-Heli Arcade, Nintendo Entertainment System, PlayStation Taito, Romstar Micronics (NES), Gazelle (PS1)
Jongkyō Arcade Data East —
1986 Guardian Arcade Taito, Kitkorp —
Slap Fight Arcade, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Thomson MO5, Thomson TO8, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Sega Mega Drive Taito Probe Software (CPC/ZXS), Imagine Software (C64), France Image Logiciel (MO5/TO8), Abersoft Limited (ST), M.N.M Software (SMD)
Mahjong Sisters Arcade Toaplan —
1987 Flying Shark Arcade, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Nintendo Entertainment System, MS-DOS, X68000, FM Towns Taito, Romstar, Electrocoin Catalyst Coders (C64), Graftgold (ZXS/CPC), Images Software (AGA/ST), Software Creations (C64/NES), Banana Development Corporation (DOS), Kaneko (X68K), Ving (FMT)
Wardner Arcade, Famicom Disk System, Sega Genesis Taito Daiei Seisakusho (FDS), Dragnet (SG)
Twin Cobra Arcade, PC Engine, NES, Sega Genesis, X68000, FM Towns, PlayStation Taito, Romstar A.I Company (PCE), Micronics (NES), Graphic Research (SG), Inter State (X68K), Ving (FMT), Gazelle (PS1)
1988 Rally Bike Arcade, Nintendo Entertainment System, X68000 Taito Visco Corporation (NES), SPS (X68K)
Truxton Arcade, Sega Genesis, PC Engine Taito, Midway Sting Entertainment (PCE)
1989 Hellfire Arcade, Sega Genesis, PC Engine Super CD-ROM² Taito, U.S.A. Games NCS Corporation (SG), NEC Avenue (PCE SCD-ROM²)
Twin Hawk Arcade, Sega Mega Drive, PC Engine, PC Engine CD-ROM² Taito Center Tech (PCE), NEC Avenue (PCE CD-ROM²)
Demon's World Arcade, PC Engine Super CD-ROM² Taito, Catalina Games NEC Avenue (PCE SCD-ROM²)
Zero Wing Arcade, Sega Mega Drive, PC Engine CD-ROM² Namco, Williams Electronics —
Fire Shark Arcade, Sega Genesis Toaplan, Romstar, Dooyong —
1990 Snow Bros. Arcade, Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive Toaplan, Romstar Dual (GB), Soft House (NES)
Out Zone Arcade Tecmo, Romstar, Toaplan —
1991 Teki Paki Arcade Tecmo, Honest Trading, Spacy —
Vimana Arcade Tecmo, Toaplan —
Ghox Arcade Taito —
1992 Pipi & Bibi's Arcade Toaplan, Nova Apparate —
Truxton II Arcade, FM Towns Toaplan Ving (FMT)
FixEight Arcade Toaplan —
Dogyuun Arcade Toaplan —
1993 Grind Stormer Arcade, Sega Genesis Toaplan Tengen (SG)
Knuckle Bash Arcade Toaplan, Atari Games —
Enma Daiō Arcade Taito —
Batsugun Arcade, Sega Saturn Toaplan, Taito, Unite Trading Gazelle (SS)
1994 Snow Bros. 2: With New Elves Arcade Hanafram —

Published

Year Title Platform Developer Co-Publisher Ref.
1990 MUSHA Sega Genesis Compile Seismic [50]
1991 Snow Bros. Nintendo Entertainment System Soft House Capcom [9][51]

Cancelled

Title Genre Publisher(s) Planned Release Date/Last Year Developed or Mentioned Notes/Reasons
Tank da Don!! Platform, Run and gun — 27 October 2011 [26]
Untitled Sega System 1 game Action Sega 1 June 2009 [10]
Dynamic Trial 7 Racing, Vehicular combat Toaplan 1 June 2009 [10]
Teki Paki 2 Puzzle — 1 June 2009 [10]
Genkai Chōsen Distopia Action, Hack and slash, Platform — 1 June 2009 [10]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: 株式会社東亜プラン, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Tōapuran

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Abeto, Kobatsu (September 1989). "東亜プランインタビュー". PSG (in Japanese). Vol. 10. FSG. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2017-05-31 at the Wayback Machine).
  2. ^ a b "PC Scramble: 東亜プラン 太田俊昭". PC Engine Fan (in Japanese). Vol. 3, no. 2. Tokuma Shoten. February 1990. p. 87.
  3. ^ "熱血メガドライブ宣言 平成2年版 Part.2: 東亜プラン". Beep! MegaDrive (in Japanese). No. 7. SoftBank Creative. April 1990. pp. 42–43. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-12-30 at the Wayback Machine).
  4. ^ a b c d "東亜プラン". Gamest (in Japanese). No. 49. Shinseisha. September 1990. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-11-07 at the Wayback Machine).
  5. ^ a b c "当世ゲーム業界 働く女性事情 - ワーキング・ガール: 田高祐子•二藤早苗 (東亜プラン) Character Designer". Beep! MegaDrive (in Japanese). No. 14. SoftBank Creative. November 1990. p. 87. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-11-21 at the Wayback Machine).
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Neal, David (10 December 2008). "A History of Toaplan - Post-Toaplan". Insomnia.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Iona; VHS; K-HEX (June 2009). "東亜プラン FOREVER (1/5)". Floor 25 (in Japanese). Vol. 9. (Translation by Gamengai. Archived 2011-02-19 at the Wayback Machine).
  8. ^ a b c d e Iona; VHS; K-HEX (June 2009). "東亜プラン FOREVER (2/5)". Floor 25 (in Japanese). Vol. 9. (Translation by Gamengai. Archived 2013-02-24 at the Wayback Machine).
  9. ^ a b c Iona; VHS; K-HEX (June 2009). "東亜プラン FOREVER (3/5)". Floor 25 (in Japanese). Vol. 9. (Translation by Gamengai. Archived 2019-11-22 at the Wayback Machine).
  10. ^ a b c d e f Iona; VHS; K-HEX (June 2009). "東亜プラン FOREVER (4/5)". Floor 25 (in Japanese). Vol. 9. (Translation by Gamengai. Archived 2013-04-23 at archive.today).
  11. ^ Iona; VHS; K-HEX (June 2009). "東亜プラン FOREVER (5/5)". Floor 25 (in Japanese). Vol. 9. (Translation by Gamengai. Archived 2013-04-23 at archive.today).
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  14. ^ a b c d e f g Kiyoshi, Tane; Tanaka, Haruhisa; Yūsaku, Yamamoto (3 February 2012). "東亜プラン特集 - 元・東亜プラン　開発者インタビュー: 弓削雅稔". Shooting Gameside (in Japanese). Vol. 4. Micro Magazine. pp. 41–48. ISBN 978-4896373844. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-09-06 at the Wayback Machine).
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  22. ^ "オルカ". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 211. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 May 1983. p. 4.
  23. ^ "東亜プラン". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 427. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 June 1992. p. 7.
  24. ^ "Raizing/8ing (ライジング/エイティング) STGの輪舞 - 外山雄一氏/横尾憲一氏". Shooting Gameside (in Japanese). Vol. 1. Micro Magazine. 17 October 2010. pp. 96–128. ISBN 978-4896373486. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-12-30 at the Wayback Machine).
  25. ^ Manami, Rei (24 November 2017). ""エムツー ショット トリガーズ"第3弾『魔法大作戦』発売記念ロングインタビュー（エイティング編）　振り向けば仲間がいた。原作開発時の熱き情熱を当時のスタッフに聞く". Famitsu (in Japanese). Gzbrain. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  26. ^ a b c d e "東亜プラン シューティングクロニクル 特設ページ". SweepRecord (in Japanese). SuperSweep. 27 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-10-02 at the Wayback Machine).
  27. ^ Arata, Hanzōmon (19 October 2018). "『ゲーム天国CruisinMix Special』開発陣が語る『TATSUJIN』とのコラボの経緯とシューティングに対する溢れる想い". Famitsu. Gzbrain. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
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