technos
Latest
Super Dodgeball mini-clips: 'USA! USA!'
"Pow! Right in the kisser!"Aksys Games has put out another round of Super Dodgeball Brawlers videos, this time showcasing the special throws available with Team USA's roster (last week's clips were from the Nekketsu Highschool team). Once again, the movies are extremely short and without sound, but you still get to see some dudes get their blocks knocked off, thrown off the screen and across town from the force of a connected power shot.Super Dodgeball Brawlers is scheduled to smack North America in the back of its head this Spring 2008 (without online support, unfortunately). The next set of videos Aksys plans to release will feature Team England and arrive on January 4th. Head past the break for the rest of this week's seconds-long clips -- you might want to take your glasses off first, though.
Super Dodgeball Brawlers: the first American Kunio game
When Siliconera's Spencer Yip interviewed Aksys's Gail Salamanca about Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles, he also submitted a battery of questions about Super Dodgeball Brawlers, many of which were submitted by readers. One reader asked if Aksys would keep the Kunio series characters for the game, rather than making them more generic and American. Salamanca responded with "Yes, we will be keeping the Kunio names for the US version."This may only be significant to us and to the person asking the question (who was, we admit, also us), but that means that Super Dodgeball Brawlers will be the first Kunio game in the U.S. Renegade, River City Ransom, Crash 'n the Boys Street Challenge, Super Spike V'Ball, Nintendo World Cup, and every previous version of Super Dodge Ball were all part of the Kunio-kun series from Technos, starring two rude high-school kids named Kunio and Riki. And without exception, the original characters were excised from the localization.Another reader asked if more Kunio games were upcoming, and Salamanca replied "We hope so." Not much news there, but if Aksys wants to continue publishing upcoming Kunio games, we're happy to hear it. What a great day for Technos nerds.
River City License Fee
This item may not look like much (despite the classy frame), but it's one of the most important items in the history of the American video game industry. Encased in this frame is American Technos's business license. This document allowed American Technos to localize Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari and release it in North America as River City Ransom. Nintendo published most of their other American NES releases, including Super Spike V'Ball and Nintendo World Cup, but the most important Technos game (and also Crash 'n the Boys Street Challenge) was Technos's own release.Apparently, when Technos folded, they stopped paying for one of their storage lockers, and this was one of the items kept inside. We wonder what else was in that locker? Probably just a bunch of garbage cans and crates for throwing.[Via GameSniped]
Promotional Consideration: Beaning the Red Army
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.With Arc System Works and Milliom [sic] laboring together on a return for the Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club, we finally have an excuse to bring out our favorite ads for the Super Dodgeball series. Put on your gym clothes, tighten your shoelaces, and run past the break to see what we've been waiting to hit you with.
Dodge Ball DS adds Dodge Fist, Dodge Kick and Dodge Panda
Million, the developer of Super Dodge Ball Advance and River City Ransom EX, is made up of former Technos employees, including founder Kunio Taki. It's as close to real Technos as anyone can get. That's why it's so great to see their name (misspelled as "Milliom" though it may be) in the copyright information on the Famitsu story about Cho Nekketsu Koukou Dodge Ball.We're happy to see a return to Kunio and gang after the bizarre character designs in Super Dodge Ball Advance. We're also happy to see insane new power shots, like the "Panda Shoot" seen here, as well as "Cactus Shoot." We're slightly troubled by what appears to be a touch-screen menu for power shot activation.The other big news in this iteration of Dodge Ball is the integration of River City Ransom-style fighting. In addition to beaning each other in the face, you can now just kick some dudes.
Super Dodge Ball DS beans you in the face
Oh, Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club, how we've missed you! If there's one thing that the Nintendo DS has been missing, it's more Kunio-kun. The latest issue of Famitsu reveals that the hot-blooded gang will be returning with another entry to the beloved Super Dodge Ball series, bouncing the game off the back of our heads and onto the DS. Though online support hasn't been revealed -- and we don't expect it, however perfect the idea might be -- developer Arc System Works will include an eight-player free-for-all battle mode, via local download-play. We don't even know eight people! According to initial translations, Cho Nekketukoukou Kuniokun Dodge Ball DS will also feature customization options for players and even teams. We can only hope that a publisher will eventually pick up this title for North America, much like Atlus did with River City Ransom Ex and Super Dodge Ball Advance, both for the GBA. Guard your eyeglasses and scurry past the post break for the magazine scans of this gym class favorite.
Virtually Overlooked: River City Ransom EX
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.Talking about the execrable Renegade last week put us in a Technos kind of mood. It's not really fair to Technos or to you to focus only on their one terrible NES game. Let's cleanse our palates together with a good Kunio game. River City Ransom EX is a Game Boy Advance remake of the NES River City Ransom, which is significantly improved in almost every respect-- except boxart, unfortunately.
Virtually Overlooked: Renegade
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.We often feature bad games on Virtually Overlooked. A lot of bad games are historically notable or weird enough to enjoy. Sometimes they're just funny.Today's bad game, Renegade, is one of the historically important ones. It's also kind of funny, if you don't have to play it for long. It's the first beat-em-up from Technos, who we'd say we'd follow to the grave if they weren't already there. And, yeah, it's got some tuff boxart.
Double Dragon kicks XBLA in the crotch
Unfortunately, crotch kicking isn't available in Double Dragon, but you get the point. Double Dragon is now available for mass consumption on Xbox Live Arcade. Billy and Jimmy Lee are out to save Billy's poor, gut-punched girlfriend. Lucky for them, Billy and Jimmy are martial arts masters who have also mastered the art of self-resurrection. This arcane power used to cost 25 cents, but now it's as easy as hitting the start button. Should you desire Double Dragon it will set you back 400 MS points.Oh, and we've been critical of the game's enhanced graphics in the past. Having now seen the original, pixelated graphics on high definition screen, we take it back. It's enhanced graphics all the way (unless you feel like cutting yourself on all those jagged edges).
Rumor: Double Dragon on XBLA
OXM.co.uk is confident Double Dragon is headed to Xbox Live Arcade. Confident enough not to cite a source. Regardless, given XBLA's track record, this rumor is hardly far-fetched.According to OXM, Double Dragon will weigh it at 12.56MB and feature online co-op. As with other XBLA retro entries, the game's graphics are said to be enhanced. No word was given on street date or price. But if Technos' coin-op classic does see release, Scott Wolf's epic can't be far behind.
