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Meisaku Album Volume 12 [1/4]
Meisaku Album Volume 12 [1/4]
This installment of Meisaku Album features the Supervisor of Gunstar Heroes, Treasure Corporation's CEO (Shacho) Masato Maekawa. We talk about everything from their unique naming of the "Shacho Laser", to the secrets of Treasure's game creation methods, and why all the bosses in Gunstar have such individuality.
Profile: CEO of Treasure Corporation. Founded company in 1992. During that time was also a programmer, working on several games including Dynamite Headdy. Currently has the position of producer for all Treasure titles, including Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, Guardian Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, Tsumi to Batsu, and BLEACH.
First, I'd like to say that for today's interview about Gunstar Heroes [Gunstar], I'd like to tell it as a representative of Treasure. That's to say, I don't want those that know of the inner circumstances surrounding the game to think, "but you're not the one that made it!" (laughs).
Profile: CEO of Treasure Corporation. Founded company in 1992. During that time was also a programmer, working on several games including Dynamite Headdy. Currently has the position of producer for all Treasure titles, including Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, Guardian Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, Tsumi to Batsu, and BLEACH.
First, I'd like to say that for today's interview about Gunstar Heroes [Gunstar], I'd like to tell it as a representative of Treasure. That's to say, I don't want those that know of the inner circumstances surrounding the game to think, "but you're not the one that made it!" (laughs).
-Can you tell us about the time when you were planning Gunstar?
When we started planning, the company didn't even have the name Treasure, or any name for that matter. We met in coffee shops to hold discussions. It was just after we had started the company, so we knew we would have to go with something based on our skill set. We chose for our first project the action shooting genre, as it was one we were good at. We also decided to base it on a "refreshing" and "anything goes" concept.
Incidentally, the title during planning was "Lunatic Gunstar". However, "lunatic" has a bad connotation to it so it was inevitable that we would change the title. Someone suggested "Blade Gunner", taken from the movie "Blade Runner", but we decided against this as well.
It was confirmed that the game would go on sale in North America as well, so Sega of America suggested to us something with the word "heroes, since it's cool". Thus, in the end we decided on Gunstar Heroes. It's a nice, easy to remember title, but whether or not "heroes" is cool or not is still up for debate (laughs).
Incidentally, the title during planning was "Lunatic Gunstar". However, "lunatic" has a bad connotation to it so it was inevitable that we would change the title. Someone suggested "Blade Gunner", taken from the movie "Blade Runner", but we decided against this as well.
It was confirmed that the game would go on sale in North America as well, so Sega of America suggested to us something with the word "heroes, since it's cool". Thus, in the end we decided on Gunstar Heroes. It's a nice, easy to remember title, but whether or not "heroes" is cool or not is still up for debate (laughs).
-When you took it to Sega was it immediately accepted?
When we first took the plans to Sega we had problems because they didn't give us the OK to start development. At that time, getting permission for original games was easier than it is today. Perhaps it was because we had no previous work record, but they didn't go for it right away.
During this time, we received the designs for McDonald Treasure Island Adventure [McDonald], and began developing it in parallel with Gunstar. After several months of working on McDonald, we got the official OK for Gunstar. When Sega saw the multi-jointed bosses in the prototype, they said, "this is good!" and gave us the stamp of approval. So technically, the contract for Gunstar started after McDonald.
Also, in terms of development, McDonald was done first, but when you think of the first work of Treasure, we'd like to think that it was Gunstar. In the end, we were able to release Gunstar on 09.10.1993.
These days, the development house and developers names being known are a given, but back then, there was a trend to not credit the devs, but I really wanted to show the Treasure name. We received permission from Sega, and were able to put the Treasure logo in the game. Looking back, I think this really helped the Treasure name gain recognition.
During this time, we received the designs for McDonald Treasure Island Adventure [McDonald], and began developing it in parallel with Gunstar. After several months of working on McDonald, we got the official OK for Gunstar. When Sega saw the multi-jointed bosses in the prototype, they said, "this is good!" and gave us the stamp of approval. So technically, the contract for Gunstar started after McDonald.
Also, in terms of development, McDonald was done first, but when you think of the first work of Treasure, we'd like to think that it was Gunstar. In the end, we were able to release Gunstar on 09.10.1993.
These days, the development house and developers names being known are a given, but back then, there was a trend to not credit the devs, but I really wanted to show the Treasure name. We received permission from Sega, and were able to put the Treasure logo in the game. Looking back, I think this really helped the Treasure name gain recognition.
-I wonder what the players of that time thought of Gunstar.
I think we were able to relay the concept of "refreshing" well. After it went on sale, the game became more popular than we had imagined, and actually was ranked #1 in the reader listings of "BEEP! Mega Drive".
Gunstar can be played completely differently based on the difficulty and weapon selection. It's obvious that each weapon brings on new strategies, but also depending on the difficulty setting, enemies have different attack patterns, so the way the game is played from person to person differs.
For example, there are people that play like me, with the "Shacho Laser", just wanting to get that "refreshing" feeling, but also those that will go for a cool style of play using the "Fix Shot" in Expert Mode.
Incidentally, since when I played I always used the Shacho Laser, they just left the name like that. [Shacho = CEO]. For the normal setting, I think it's the easiest weapon to clear the game with. But on hard and above, it doesn't pierce and just holding down the button and dodging can be kind of boring, so I think maybe it doesn't have such an appropriate name (laughs).
Gunstar can be played completely differently based on the difficulty and weapon selection. It's obvious that each weapon brings on new strategies, but also depending on the difficulty setting, enemies have different attack patterns, so the way the game is played from person to person differs.
For example, there are people that play like me, with the "Shacho Laser", just wanting to get that "refreshing" feeling, but also those that will go for a cool style of play using the "Fix Shot" in Expert Mode.
Incidentally, since when I played I always used the Shacho Laser, they just left the name like that. [Shacho = CEO]. For the normal setting, I think it's the easiest weapon to clear the game with. But on hard and above, it doesn't pierce and just holding down the button and dodging can be kind of boring, so I think maybe it doesn't have such an appropriate name (laughs).
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