What happend to Data East??...

[snap monkey]

Damn, you're right.

...

[ST Dragon]

Huh? What about Chelnov (Atomic Runner)? Without doubt my favourite Data East game (the MD version is actually especially good). One of the best and most underrated run n guns ever, after you've fiddled with the control options that is.

I only tried this via emulation & it's an excellent game!
It feels more like a horizontal shmup rather than a platform game, primarily due to the fact that you can't control the scrolling of the screen.

[Shatterhand]

I remember Activision being bankrupt back in the days. They released some Amiga games (Hunter was great), then they dissapeared. I remember reading that they had closed.

Then, out from nowhere, they appear with Pitfall for Mega-Drive and Snes.

Robocop wasnt stupidly hard, I finished the Spectrum/MSX version a dozen of times. It was stupid in certain ways (In level 1, there are some badguys who crouch and shoot, and as you CANT JUMP, all you can do is sit still and receive all the shots), but I always thought the game was pretty easy actually. Maybe I just played it too much The song in the title-screen also was memorable.

Hudson Hawk was also published by Ocean and its top-notch stuff.

And ST Dragon, Liquid Kids on Amiga was never released. Dont forget that it was an effort from the guys at the Amiga scene that relesead the game into public (I remember someone said the master disk still had some bugs that had to be removed and stuff)

[BrianC]

I remember Activision being bankrupt back in the days. They released some Amiga games (Hunter was great), then they dissapeared. I remember reading that they had closed.

Then, out from nowhere, they appear with Pitfall for Mega-Drive and Snes.

Robocop wasnt stupidly hard, I finished the Spectrum/MSX version a dozen of times. It was stupid in certain ways (In level 1, there are some badguys who crouch and shoot, and as you CANT JUMP, all you can do is sit still and receive all the shots), but I always thought the game was pretty easy actually. Maybe I just played it too much The song in the title-screen also was memorable.

Hudson Hawk was also published by Ocean and its top-notch stuff.

And ST Dragon, Liquid Kids on Amiga was never released. Dont forget that it was an effort from the guys at the Amiga scene that relesead the game into public (I remember someone said the master disk still had some bugs that had to be removed and stuff)

Activision seems to be a different company than the one back in the days. They are more of a publisher now and I'm not sure if any of the original developers develop for their developers. I know that much of the old Activision staff moved to Absolute, but they are gone now, though Activision seems to own the rights to them.

oh yeah, I liked Ocean's GB robocop. It seems to be a port of C64 version with music more like the arcade game's music. I also like the NES Jurassic Park, though it got some low reviews. The GB Parasol Stars (which just happened to be at an EB, oddly enough) is a very good port. I really liked the SNES Addams Family (seems to be a port of the Amiga version). I like how it's loosely based on the first movie and how some of the bosses are exggerations of characters from the movie. I also liked the SNES "sequel" to the game based on the cartoon, though I don't care much for the cartoon.

[Marc]

I remember Activision being bankrupt back in the days. They released some Amiga games (Hunter was great), then they dissapeared. I remember reading that they had closed.

Damn, Hunter, what a game. I was addicted to the Amiga version way back when. Never did get very far with the actual mission though.

You must have been pretty good at Robocop then, it pissed me off something chronic, although I never really did have much time for either that or Batman. Hudson Hawk was cool though. Amiga Liquid Kids? never seen that, any extra info?

[ST Dragon]

I remember back in 1994, a friend of mine showed me Robocop & New Zealand Story on his black & white Amstrad. I must say that I was pretty impressed by the gameplay & graphics of that old system, even though I was an Amiga1200 freak at the time.
Very good ports on the good old Amstrad, even with no colours.

[K-J N.]

Dataeast X Sunsoft:
http://www1.neweb.ne.jp/wa/h-namikai/de ... n_free.htm

If you like Data East then take a look at this. It's a movie inspired by Namco X Capcom but with Data East and Sunsoft instead. Featuring characters from games such as Magical Drop, Karate Champ, Chelnov, Karnov, Waku Waky 7, etc. Very nice work.

[Shatterhand]

About Addams Family, the Amiga one is the port. It was released first on the SNES. I remember reading a preview of it on an Amiga magazine saying that.

Anyway, it was a top notch game indeed.

Now Batman was very difficult. Level 1 was already very frustrating, but I never liked the game anyway.


About Liquid Kids:

http://hol.abime.net/4860

Basically someone at eab ( eab.abime.net ) got in touch with the guy who programmed the game. He had finished the game many years ago, but for some reason Ocean cancelled the game. So he kept the disk with the code for all those years. He sent the disk to some guy in EAB, but if I remember correctly, it still had some bugs. So the guys there removed the bugs, and then Liquid Kids was a reality.

[ST Dragon]

I've never seen Liquid Kids even downloadable anywhere...
I'm not sure whether that story is actually true.

[Zweihander]

you mean Data East did more than just Bad Dudes???

[Neon]

Just tried Tumble Pop in mame and it's excellent. Suck up your enemies in the vacuum cleaner and then 'chain' for higher point values (hit them with other enemies in increasing amounts).

That alone adds a pretty good amount of depth. Single screen platformers are the shit.

[Randorama]

...And Diet Go-Go is even better, try it out (!!1!)

[FRO]

I love the crappy voice sample on the NES version of Bad Dudes...

"I'm bad!"

[zaphod]

THe arcade is just about as crappy on that sample (laugh)

I think there are multiple revisoins of that particular arcade game, some of which run on beefier hardware. I remember the gfx being a ot better before I found it again in an arcade.

The two arcade versions also differ in how fast thescreens scroll down in the "forest" area. one they scrolle ddown really realyl slowly, and the oter one they scrolled down pretty quick.

[ST Dragon]

Interesting, never noticed that on the arcade version.

Anyway, I remember spending 2 whole weekends with a mate trying to beat the NES version.
The final boss fight on the heli rocked.

Truly wonderful times!

[Specineff]

THe arcade is just about as crappy on that sample (laugh)

I think there are multiple revisoins of that particular arcade game, some of which run on beefier hardware. I remember the gfx being a ot better before I found it again in an arcade.

The two arcade versions also differ in how fast thescreens scroll down in the "forest" area. one they scrolle ddown really realyl slowly, and the oter one they scrolled down pretty quick.

The american version (Bad dudes) has voice samples with "Hee-yaa!" "HEEEH!" when the dudes attack, and "UGH!" "AAAAGH!" when hurt and KO'ed. The japanese version, named simply "DragonNinja" has none of the loud ones. Don't know which one is superior. I like the japanese one as it is less exaggerate with their battle cries.

[D]

Robocop came out in the arcade way before the home releases.

The home releases were based on the arcade release, but not really conversions. Rather the home versions have extra bits in them like an Operation Wolf scene where you have to take out a gunmen who holds a pressumed innocent lady.

I acctually started from the bottom, got the Spectrum version, pretty decent!, then the amiga verison and when I saw the arcade version I was blown away. what about Robocop 2? Is it any good?

[Neo Rasa]

Again, Data East just published that one. Beam Software or something like that did the SNES one and Blue Sky did the Genesis one.

Pa

Didn't Data East do the Sega CD one though?*

Anyone actually play that one? Amazing, it's like Shining Force only set in Neo Tokyo. The world needs more cyberpunk RPGs.

I've always been a huge fan of Data East's crazy design sensibilities. They would somehow latch onto the most bizarre artists and designers in existence and have them churn out addictive as hell games (Actfancer, Chelnov, Karnov, all that insane stuff).

I mean really, play those three games now, through more mature eyes, and LOOK at the stuff you're fighting, what the hell? Even by eighties game standards it's almost disturbing.

I wish Data East had gotten more RPG developers, as any RPG they published was fantastic. Anyone here familiar with the Metal Max games?

Plus the TG-16 version of Bloody Wolf has got to be one of the sinlge most badass games ever made.

Great company, I was really sad when they departed.


I can't believe anyone could dislike the company that brought us HEAVY BARREL, THUNDER ZONE, and MIDNIGHT RESISTANCE. Not to mention the sheer audacity of what you could do in Two Crude. I mean when a vehicle charged out at you, with the right timing you could PICK IT UP, then beat the driver to death with it after they were thrown out. Guns? HA! You take down a helicopter in that game by literally ripping pieces of it apart and hitting the still airborne pieces with it until there's nothing left.


No one in my area likes Data East, it's a damn shame. Were I richer I'd get a group together and devote my life to owning their IP and releasing compilations.



*Compile developed this one, figures.

[FRO]

Act Fancer is flippin' hard. However, I do have to agree that Heavy Barrel rocks. That's one of my fav 80's non-shmup arcade games.

[Melf]

It's all about Nitro Ball. One of the most original hybrids ever.

[1983parrothead]

I know this thread is quite old, but to answer most people's questions: former Data East employees moved to Paon to develop the latest game in the Glory of Heracles franchise for Nintendo DS. They also bought the rights to some others like the Kuuga Trilogy, Karnov, Atomic Runner Chelnov, and of course, the Glory of Heracles franchise.

Other employees moved to Technos Japan (succeeded by Million Co. Ltd.), TAD Corporation, Idea Factory, Cattle Call and a few others. Some Technos Japan employees also founded Almanic / Givro, while TAD Corporation founded Use Co. Ltd.

Most other games were bought by G-Mode, but today, there's still no updates on what they will do with most Data East titles.

I assume that Data East was paying tribute to most games while adding twists. I like their style. At least they focused on quality more than uniqueness.

Before Fighter's History caused a court case, there was Data East VS. Epyx in a controversy between Karate Champ and International Karate.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

You might recall the classic arcade LD game by the name of Cobra Command...of course, the latter arcade PCB game of the same name can't hold a candle with the slick 1st-person viewpoint anime scenes of the former arcade LD game.

The very first time I saw the arcade LD game of Cobra Command, it was at a local 7-11 hangout in Ceres, CA back in 1984. The price per credit: 50 cents. Eventually, it made the local rounds at the Tilt! arcade and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater (both based out of Modesto, CA as usual) in the mid-1980s. It wasn't until Funai's arcade LD game of Interstellar (as a deluxe sitdown styled cab for maximum audio/visual impact) made an apperance at the local CEC in March of 1984, that was cool for it's time -- it took two tokens to play per credit, indeed. If you saw the uber-rare arcade promo poster for Interstellar with it's famous tagline: "3, 2, 1...Blast Off to Interstellar Adventures!" -- simply unforgettable during the Golden Age of Arcades era.

CC was re-released on the SS and PSX platforms under the name of Thunder Storm FX -- the PSX port has smooth playback of all the various FMV scenes .

Data East Cobra Command arcade LD game Factoid: During a demo run, you could watch the staff ending credits without having to spend a single quarter! How cool is that?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Captain]

[Pretas]

DECO's US division, Data East Pinball, was responsible for some well designed tables like Tales from the Crypt and The Who's Tommy back in the day. Unfortunately, Tattoo Assassins was their first and only attempt at branching out into video games, and I think we all know how that turned out.

[boagman]

Tattoo Assassins was their first and only attempt at branching out into video games

You do know that it exists, though, right?

[BrianC]

DECO's US division, Data East Pinball, was responsible for some well designed tables like Tales from the Crypt and The Who's Tommy back in the day.

I think of them as a different company as the JP Data East, though. They are technically still around as Stern Pinball.

[1983parrothead]

DECO's US division, Data East Pinball, was responsible for some well designed tables like Tales from the Crypt and The Who's Tommy back in the day.

I think of them as a different company as the JP Data East, though. They are technically still around as Stern Pinball.

Correct. But between Data East Pinball and Stern Pinball, there was also Sega Pinball, which was announced in A.C.'s ending of Tattoo Assassins.

[Marc]

Robocop came out in the arcade way before the home releases.

The home releases were based on the arcade release, but not really conversions. Rather the home versions have extra bits in them like an Operation Wolf scene where you have to take out a gunmen who holds a pressumed innocent lady.

I acctually started from the bottom, got the Spectrum version, pretty decent!, then the amiga verison and when I saw the arcade version I was blown away. what about Robocop 2? Is it any good?

Although it came out first, Ocean had actually bought the complete rights and Data East actually had to license the rights for the coin-op from them, not sure if that ever happened again.

And I remember ARC RoboCop 2 being a clunky charmless load of shite, couldn't tell you why as I'd forgotten about its existence until now. I think a MAME night may be in order...

[Skykid]

And I remember ARC RoboCop 2 being a clunky charmless load of shite, couldn't tell you why as I'd forgotten about its existence until now. I think a MAME night may be in order...

Arcade RoboCop 2 is fucking awesome, I love it. It's like a scrolling beat em up with guns and cool bonus intermissions. The music is heavy duty too, esp. The boss themes.

One of my favourites back in the day and a soft 1cc.