Romstar Inc. was a video game distribution company based in Torrance, California that started operations in 1984. They originally started as the first American distribution arm for SNK (before SNK of America was founded in 1987). They were known for licensing arcade games from major makers for distribution. Among Romstar's clients include Taito,

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...

, SNK, Toaplan, and Seta. They also made games for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

, the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

, and Game Boy. The ultimate fate of the company is not known. Games continued to be released using the Romstar name until at least 1994 (Goofy Hoops). It is also partnered with Capcom in 1993 to form Game Star (a.k.a. GameStar Inc.), an electromechanical factory in

Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a municipality in Cook County with a small portion in Lake County in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 77,676. Per the ...

that Romstar had a 30% stake in. In 1995, Capcom would later fully take over Game Star to form Capcom Coin-Op, a pinball manufacturer. The key personnel of Romstar, Takahito Yasuki, Ron Czerny, and Darryl Williams, later founded Atrativa Games and

Playphone Playphone is a social gaming network founded in 2003 that allows users to interact with their friends over mobile games. History Founded in April 2003 by Ron Czerny, Playphone is funded by Menlo Ventures, Cardinal Venture Capital, and Coral Cap ...

, both cellular phone entertainment companies. Playphone was acquired by GungHo Online Entertainment in October 2014.

List of Games Distributed by Romstar

Licensed from Taito

* '' Tiger Heli'' (developed by Toaplan) * '' Arkanoid'' * '' Bubble Bobble'' * '' Arkanoid: Revenge of DOH'' * '' Twin Cobra'' (developed by Toaplan) * '' Sky Shark'' (developed by Toaplan) * '' Empire City: 1931'' (developed by

Seibu Kaihatsu was a Japanese manufacturer of arcade games. The company was founded in 1982 at Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan as , but changed to its current name sometime in 1984. It is currently owned by Hitoshi Hamada. One of their earliest arcade hits was ...

) * ''

Aqua Jack ''Aqua Jack'' (also released as ''Aquattack'') is a 3D shoot 'em up arcade video game released by Taito in 1989. A hovercraft is piloted over water and land while dodging bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammuni ...

'' * ''

Twin Eagle ''Twin Eagle: Revenge Joe's Brother'' is a scrolling shooter, vertically scrolling shooter arcade game which was published in 1988. It was developed by SETA Corporation and licensed to Taito. It was one of the first arcade to use extensive digital ...

'' (developed by Seta, NES version) * '' Battle Lane Vol. 5'' (developed by Technos) * '' Final Blow'' * ''

Rally Bike ''Rally Bike'' is a racing arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published by Taito in May 1988.Translationby Shmuplations. ). In ''Rally Bike'', players compete against computer-controlled opponents in races across locations in ...

'' (developed by Toaplan, NES) * '' Top Speed'' * ''Kageki'' (developed by Kaneko) * ''

Tokio Tokio may refer to: * , the capital of Japan, used primarily in non-English-speaking countries may also refer to: Music * Tokio (band), a Japanese pop/rock band ** ''Tokio'' (album), their debut album * Tokio Hotel, a German rock band * Toki ...

'' * ''China Gate'' (developed by Technos) * '' Thundercade'' (developed by Seta) * ''Super Qix'' (developed by Kaneko) * ''

The Ninja Warriors is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game developed and released by Taito in 1987. The original arcade game situated one display in between projected images of two other displays, creating the appearance of a triple-wide screen. Ports were rel ...

'' * ''Kickstart'' * ''

Great Swordsman is an arcade fighting game developed by Allumer and published by Taito in 1984. In 2005, it was later included in ''Taito Legends''. Gameplay In ''Great Swordsman'', one or two players can play while taking turns. Players control with two-way ...

'' (developed by Allumer) * ''Tournament Arkanoid''

Licensed from Capcom

* ''

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

'' (also distributed by Williams) * '' Ghosts 'n Goblins'' (also distributed by Taito) * '' Side Arms: Hyper Dyne'' * '' Trojan'' * '' Black Tiger'' * ''

Gun.Smoke is a 1985 vertical scrolling run-and-gun shooter arcade game produced by Capcom and designed by Yoshiki Okamoto. A Western-themed game, ''Gun.Smoke'' centers on a character named Billy Bob, a bounty hunter going after the criminals of the ...

'' * ''

Tiger Road is a side-scrolling platform game originally released in 1987 as a coin-operated arcade video game. Home computer versions were released in Europe by U.S. Gold for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and ZX Spectrum. An alte ...

'' * ''

F-1 Dream is an automobile racing arcade game released by Capcom in 1988. Like many other Capcom arcade games at the time, it was released in the US by Romstar. It also had a PC Engine port released exclusively in Japan on August 25, 1989. Gameplay Play ...

'' * ''

The King of Dragons is a 1991 beat-'em-up video game by Capcom that follows players as they control characters through the kingdom of Malus to defeat monsters led by the dragon Gildiss. It features a level advancement system, allowing character attributes to be up ...

'' * '' Varth: Operation Thunderstorm'' * '' SonSon''

Licensed from SNK

* '' Baseball Stars 2'' (NES version) * ''

Time Soldiers ''Time Soldiers'', known in Japan as , is a 1987 run-and-gun shooter arcade video game developed by Alpha Denshi and published by SNK, while later distributed in North America by Romstar. A Master System version was also produced, as well as vers ...

'' (developed by Alpha Denshi) * '' Sky Soldiers'' (developed by Alpha Denshi) * ''Gold Medalist'' (developed by Alpha Denshi) * Neo Geo (One-slot conversion kit version)

Licensed from Seta

* ''

Castle of Dragon was a Japanese video game developer, founded in July 1987. Due to the difficulties of recovering financially in the games market, in 2013, the Tokyo Court decided to start the company's bankruptcy process. Games *'' Biometal'' ( Super NES, 199 ...

'' (developed by Athena) * ''DownTown'' * ''

Caliber .50 Caliber .50 is a 1989 scrolling shooter arcade game developed by SETA Corporation. A port of the game was released for the Sega Genesis in 1991. Gameplay Players control a United States Air Force pilot who was taken as a prisoner of war in Vie ...

'' * '' Thunder & Lightning'' (developed by Visco, NES) * ''Meta Fox'' (developed by Jorudan) * '' Nolan Ryan's Baseball'' (SNES)

Licensed from Toaplan

* ''

Out Zone is a run and gun arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published in Japan by Tecmo, North America by Romstar and Europe in August 1990. Set in a future where an alien race from the fictional planet Owagira are threatening to wipe out human ...

'' * '' Snow Bros.'' * ''

Fire Shark ''Fire Shark'' is a 1989 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and Europe, and by Romstar in North America. It is the sequel to ''Flying Shark'', a game released in 1987 on multiple platforms. ...

Others

* '' Double Dragon II: The Revenge'' (developed by Technos) * '' Bloody Wolf'' (developed by Data East) * ''

Flashgal is a side-scrolling beat 'em up action game developed by Kyugo and released for arcades in 1985, by Sega in Japan and Romstar in North America. The game has a mixture of unarmed fighting and shooting gameplay. Information The game was released ...

'' (developed by Kyugo, published by

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

) * ''Skeet Shot'' (developed by Dynamo, top new video game on ''RePlay'' arcade charts in December 1991) * ''Popshot'' (prototype, developed by Dynamo) * '' World Bowling'' (developed by Athena, Game Boy) * ''

Championship Bowling was a Japanese video game developer, founded in July 1987. Due to the difficulties of recovering financially in the games market, in 2013, the Tokyo Court decided to start the company's bankruptcy process. Games *'' Biometal'' (Super NES, 1993 ...

'' (Arcade/NES) * ''Cowboy Kid'' (developed by Visco Games, NES) * ''Magic Darts'' (NES) * ''Mr. Chin's Gourmet Paradise'' (Game Boy) * ''Torpedo Range'' (developed by Seta, Game Boy) * ''Goofy Hoops'' (redemption, partially based on same hardware as Capcom pinballs)

References

{{Authority control Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies established in 1984