Treasure (company)

Origins and 16-bit era (1990s) Treasure founder and president Masato Maegawa dreamed of working in the video game industry when he was young and began learning computer programming in junior high school. He studied programming in college and was hired by developer and publisher Konami after graduating. In 1991, Maegawa and several other Konami employees began planning an original game that would become Gunstar Heroes (1993), but their concept was rejected by Konami. Maegawa and his team were growing frustrated with Konami's growing reliance on sequels to established franchises such as its Castlevania and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. . Treasure was founded on June 19, 1992; the company name came from wanting to be a "treasure" to the industry. Even though most of the staff made games for the Super NES at Konami, they wanted to develop Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis because the system's Motorola 68000 microprocessor was necessary for the visuals and gameplay they were striving for. ''McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure was released next, initiating a trend for Treasure of developing games based on licensed properties. As a small studio, Treasure required the revenue from licensed games to develop original projects. After Gunstar Heroes, Treasure was divided into four teams to develop (in order of release): platformer Dynamite Headdy (1994), fighting game Yu Yu Hakusho Makyō Tōitsusen (1994), run and gun Alien Soldier (1995), and action-adventure Light Crusader (1995). The game was ported to the Saturn later that year. This was followed by the multidirectional shooter Bangai-O'' (1999) which received a limited release on the Nintendo 64, but was later modified and re-released for the Dreamcast. Identity crisis (2000s) Treasure began the 2000s with some early troubles. Also, Silpheed: The Lost Planet (2000) and Stretch Panic (2001) for the PlayStation 2 both weren't received very well. The game was not released in western territories but grew a cult following among import gamers. While Sin and Punishment was still in development, Treasure started development on a spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun titled Ikaruga (2001). The arcade shooter was co-developed with G.rev, and was critically praised for returning to Treasure's classic side-scrolling action style that had been missing from its recent output. By 2009, the company had 20-30 employees. Recent history (2020s) On June 19, 2022, its 30th anniversary, Treasure announced it was working on a "highly requested" game. Shortly afterwords, it re-released Radiant Silvergun for the Nintendo Switch. They had less than 10 staff by 2022. ==Staff and design philosophy==

Treasure does not have a rigid hierarchy. They pride themselves in creating original ideas and avoiding imitating other works or being associated with games already on the market. They have made games based on licensed properties to generate revenue to pursue original projects. Explaining the Treasure design philosophy, Maegawa said it "simply, to create the games we want to make" and "creating the things we love in the way we like." The company has generally employed around 20 to 30 people at any given time. == Reputation ==

Treasure was one of the most celebrated developers of the 16-bit era and grew a cult following during the period. Maximum: The Video Game Magazine called it "one of the most respected programming houses in the world" in 1996. ''Gamers' Republic agreed in 1998, writing: "Any action or platform gamer worth his salt recognizes Treasure as one of the finest development houses in the world." In 2005, 1UP.com'' called Treasure "one of Japan's most famous independent development houses [...] releasing some of the most finely crafted, creative, and offbeat action games the world has ever seen." Treasure did not have any large commercial successes, which influenced Retro Gamer to describe their output as "critically acclaimed yet commercially unsuccessful." Because of the loyal fan base but low sales, prices of Treasure games such as Rakugaki Showtime and Radiant Silvergun have climbed on the secondary market. The company established a signature style early on that became consistent across their work. Their first game, Gunstar Heroes, established what 1UP.com called Treasure's key themes: "creativity, weirdness, and a tendency toward completely absurd levels of action." Wireframe called their style "fast, aggressive [...] featuring bold graphics and surreal dashes of humour." Retro Gamer wrote that they have "consistently excellent art direction" and are renowned for their "action-packed" and "explosive" gameplay. They explained that Treasure is "at the very cutting edge of artistic freedom, forging its own very particular path and creating a softography guided by nothing other than the whims of the creators." The company is known for taking risks within established genres, borrowing conventional ideas and adding their own creative touches to create something new and innovative. They became recognized for their prowess in 2D game design, with ''Gamers' Republic'' calling their output "the finest 2D platform games on the planet." Treasure is also known for technological innovation; several of their games pushed the hardware to their limits. ==Games developed==

Cancelled games • Gun Beat (Arcade, cancelled 2000) • Tiny Toon Adventures: Defenders of the Universe (GameCube & PlayStation 2, cancelled 2002) ==Notes==