was a

Japanese video game Video games are a major industry in Japan. Japanese game development is often identified with the golden age of video games, including Nintendo under Shigeru Miyamoto and Hiroshi Yamauchi, Sega during the same time period, Sony Computer Enterta ...

developer Developer may refer to: Computers * Software developer, a person or organization who develop programs/applications * Video game developer, a person or business involved in video game development, the process of designing and creating games * Web d ...

, best known for the ''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. The original ...

'' and ''

Kunio-kun The series (typically localized as ''River City'') is a video game series started by Technōs Japan. The series is now handled by Arc System Works who purchased all of the intellectual property rights from Technōs' successor, Million Corp. The ...

franchises Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

(the latter including ''

Renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *'' Comman ...

'', ''

Super Dodge Ball ''Super Dodge Ball'' is a dodgeball-based sports game produced by Technos Japan Corp. originally released as an arcade game in 1987. In Japan, it was the second game starring Technos Japan's video game character Kunio-kun, following ''Nekketsu ...

'' and ''

River City Ransom ''River City Ransom'', later released as ''Street Gangs'' in the PAL regions, is an open world action role-playing beat 'em up video game originally for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was developed by Technōs Japan and originally relea ...

'') as well as ''

Karate Champ ''Karate Champ'', known in Japan as , is a 1984 arcade fighting game developed by Technōs Japan (which would later developing 1995 Neo Geo titles ''Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer'' with SNK) and released by Data East. A variety of moves can be perform ...

'', ''

The Combatribes is a 1990 beat 'em-up game released for the arcades by Technos Japan Corp (the developers of ''Renegade'' and ''Double Dragon''). A home version for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was also released in 1992. The game centers on thre ...

'' and ''

Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer ''Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer'' is a 1995 superhero-themed head-to-head fighting game produced by Technos Japan Corp. for the Neo Geo arcade and home console. It was the companys second attempt at a fighting game, following the Neo Geo fighting g ...

''. As of June 2015,

Arc System Works , commonly referred to as ArcSys, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher located in Yokohama. Founded by Minoru Kidooka in 1988, the company is known for arcade 2D fighting game franchises, including ''Guilty Gear'' and ''BlazBlue'', a ...

owns the intellectual properties of Technōs Japan.

History

Initially operating from a single-room

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

, Technōs was founded in 1981 by three staff members of

Data East , also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo. The Am ...

. Their first game was ''Minky Monkey'', released in 1982. A few months after their foundation, a lawsuit was brought up against the company by Data East under allegations that Technos had stolen data from Data East's arcade game ''Pro Tennis'' with the intent of producing and selling a bootleg of it. The two companies settled in August 1983 and Technos would go on to create two arcade games published by Data East, ''

Tag Team Wrestling Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

'' and ''

''. Technōs Japan's earlier games were published by other companies, as Technōs at the time did not have the economical resource to distribute their own games. ''

Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun , released as ''Renegade'' in the West, is a beat 'em up video game developed by Technōs Japan and distributed by Taito for the arcades in 1986. In the original Japanese version ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun'', the game revolves around a high-scho ...

'' ("Hot Blooded Tough Guy Kunio"), a side-scrolling

beat-em-up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...

released in 1986 about a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

student who fought thugs and delinquents from other schools, was the company's first big hit in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. ''Kunio-kun'' was released in the west as ''

'' with the game's graphics changed to make the game marketable in the overseas market. Technōs would then produce a

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 ...

version of the game, which would be Technōs' first game for the home console market. Technōs Japan's subsequent arcade beat-em-up, ''

'', was a big success worldwide when it was released in 1987, leading to the production of an NES version of the game, as well as licensed versions by other companies for various platforms. The success of ''Kunio-kun'' led to the production of numerous spin-offs and

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

s starring the same character produced for the 8-bit Family Computer platform in Japan and later for the

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

and

Super Famicom 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 Euro ...

, resulting in more than twenty games starring Kunio by the mid-1990s, many of which were rule-bending

sports game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport (s ...

s. A few ''Kunio-kun'' games were localized for the North American market; namely ''

'', ''

'' (considered by critics to be a cult classic) and ''

Nintendo World Cup ''Nintendo World Cup'' is a soccer video game for the Family Computer/NES and Game Boy, developed by Technōs Japan and released in 1990. It is a localization of the fourth ''Kunio-kun'' game released for the Family Computer. Ports for the PC ...

'', but none maintain any connection with each other. Technōs would attempt to remedy this by attempting to localize several ''Kunio-kun'' under the ''Crash 'n the Boys'' label, but only '' Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge'' was released (the game's ending features a teaser for ''Ice Challenge'', which was unreleased). Technōs also released two arcade sequels to ''Double Dragon'': '' Double Dragon II: The Revenge'' in 1988 and '' Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone'' in 1990 (the latter was developed by an external development team at East Technology), and produced the respective NES versions of those games, as well as ''

Super Double Dragon ''Super Double Dragon'', released in Japan as , is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. It was published by Tradewest in North America and the PAL region and by Technōs Japan in Japan. ''Supe ...

'' in 1992, an original installment for the

Super NES 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 E ...

. An American-produced ''Double Dragon'' animated series and a live-action film were also made as well. Outside the ''Double Dragon'' and ''Kunio-kun'' games, Technōs produced a few original games for the arcade and home markets such as ''

U.S. Championship V'Ball ''U.S. Championship V'Ball'', also known simply as ''V'Ball'', is a 1988 beach volleyball sports game released for the arcades by Technōs Japan Corporation. The arcade version was distributed in North America by Taito. A Nintendo Entertainme ...

'', ''

'' and ''Shadow Force'', as well as two '' WWF'' arcade games (''

WWF Superstars is a List of wrestling video games, wrestling video game manufactured by Technōs Japan and released for arcade game, arcades in 1989. It is the first WWE, WWF arcade game to be released. A series of unrelated games with the WWF Superstars (Game ...

'' and ''

WWF Wrestlefest is a professional wrestling video game developed and released by Technōs Japan for arcades in 1991, featuring stars of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The game was distributed by Technōs in Japan and North America, and by Tecmo in Japa ...

''), but most of these games did not achieve the same kind of success that ''Kunio-kun'' and ''Double Dragon'' achieved. The company's last games were produced for the

Neo Geo Neo Geo is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. On the market from 1990 to 2004, the brand originated with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES. The Neo Geo MVS was su ...

hardware, which include a ''

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

based on the movie, their second and last fighting game ''

'', and a Neo Geo sequel to ''Super Dodge Ball''. By 1996, Technōs Japan declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. Some of the developers who worked on the Neo Geo titles (including Kengo Asai) briefly worked at Face, a former affiliate of

SNK is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...

Post-bankruptcy

Following the closure, a licensing company named Million Co., Ltd was formed to purchase the former intellectual properties of Technōs Japan. Million continued to produce new games such as '' Super Dodge Ball Advance'', '' Double Dragon Advance'' and '' River City Ransom EX'' for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

, '' Super Dodgeball Brawlers'' for the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

, as well as reissuing older titles via the

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

and other services. In June 2015, Arc System Works acquired all intellectual properties of Technōs Japan from Million Co., Ltd.

U.S. subsidiary

Technōs Japan had a subsidiary in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

called American Technōs Inc., which was located at

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...

. American Technōs was formed in 1987, shortly after the release of ''Double Dragon'' at the arcades and published all of Technōs Japan's arcade games in North America beginning with ''Double Dragon II: The Revenge''. While the majority of Technōs Japan's console games were still licensed to other companies such as

Tradewest Tradewest was an American video game company based in Corsicana, Texas that produced numerous games in the 1980s and early 1990s. The company was the publisher of the ''Battletoads'' and ''Double Dragon'' series in North America and the PAL region. ...

(''Double Dragon'' and ''Super Double Dragon''),

Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally formed by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes and Jim Scoroposki out of an Oyster Bay storefront in 1987, the company established a worldwide d ...

(''Double Dragon II'' and ''III''),

CSG Imagesoft Sony Imagesoft Inc. was an American video game publisher that operated from 1989 to 1995 and was located in California. It was established in January 1989 in Los Angeles, California, as a subsidiary of the Japan-based CBS/Sony Group (CSG) and in ...

(''Super Dodge Ball'') and even

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

(''Super Spike V'Ball'' and ''Nintendo World Cup''), American Technōs also managed to publish a few console games, namely ''River City Ransom'' and ''Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge'' for the NES, ''Super Double Dragon'' (co-published with Tradewest) and ''The Combatribes'' for the Super NES, and ''Geom Cube'' for the PlayStation. American Technōs also published '' Super Bowling'' (developed by Athena) and ''Super Pinball: Behind the Mask'' (developed by Meldac/KAZe) for the Super NES and the helicopter game ''Strike Point'' for the PlayStation. American Technōs was still operating after Technōs Japan's demise until sometime during the late 1990s. Its former president was Keiichi Iwamoto.

List of games by platforms

All games are listed by original Japanese titles unless otherwise noted.

games are listed separately from the other arcade games. This list does not take account licensed versions that were released by other companies (such as the

Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

port of ''

'' and the

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, though ...

ports of the Kunio games published by Naxat Soft) or games that were produced by Million, the subsequent copyrights holder of Technōs Japan's former properties. Also, all of the following games are listed by their original Japanese release date.

Arcade

* '' Minky Monkey'': 1982 * '' Zeroize'': 1983 * ''

Eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

'' (Japanese: ''Scrambled Eggs''): 9/1983 * '' Dommy'': 1983 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''The Big Pro-Wrestling!''): 12/1983 * ''

'': 7/1984 * '' Shusse Ōzumō'': 1984 * '' Mysterious Stones'': 11/1984 * '' Acrobatic Dog-Fight'' (Japanese: ''Dog-Fight: Batten O'Hara no Sucharaka Kuuchuu-sen''): 1984 * '' Bogey Manor'': 1985 * '' Mat Mania'' (Japanese: ''Exciting Hour''): 1985 * '' Mania Challenge'': 1986 * ''

Battle Lane Vol. 5 A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

'': 1986 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun''): 5/1986 * ''

Xain'd Sleena is a two genre platformer and side-scrolling arcade video game produced by Technos in 1986. It was licensed for release outside of Japan by Taito. In the USA, the game was published by Memetron, and the game was renamed to ''Solar Warrior''. ...

'' (American title: ''Solar Warrior''; European title: ''Soldier of Light''): 11/1986 * ''

'': 6/1987 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''Nekketsu KōKō Dodgeball Bu''): 11/1987 * '' China Gate'' (Japanese: ''Sai Yu Gou Ma Roku''): 3/1988 * '' Double Dragon II: The Revenge'': 6/1988 * ''

'': 12/1988 * ''

'': 7/1989 * '' Block Out'': 10/1989 * ''

'': 6/1990 * '' Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone'' (developed by East Technology): 11/1990 * ''

'': 7/1991 * '' Shadow Force'': 6/1993

Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System

* ''

'' (Japanese: ''Nekketsu Kōuha Kunio-kun''): 4/17/1987 * ''

'': 4/8/1988 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''Nekketsu KōKō Dodgeball Bu''): 7/26/1988 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari'';

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

version: ''Street Gangs''): 4/25/1989 * '' Super Spike V'Ball'' (Japanese: ''U.S. Championship V'Ball''): 11/10/1989 * '' Double Dragon II: The Revenge'': 12/22/1989 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''Nekketsu KōKō Dodgeball Bu Soccer Hen''): 5/18/1990 * '' Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku Soreyuku Daiundōkai'': 10/12/1990 * '' Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones'' (Japanese: ''Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone''): 2/22/1991 * '' Sugoro Quest'': 6/28/1991 * '' Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki dayo Zen'in Shūgō'': 7/26/1991 * '' Ike Ike! Nekketsu Hockey Bu: Subette Koronde Dairantō'' (announced in the U.S. as ''Crash 'n the Boys: Ice Challenge'', but was unreleased): 2/7/1992 * '' Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge'' (Japanese: ''Bikkuri Nekketsu Shinkiroku: Harukanaru Kin Medal''): 6/26/1992 * '' Nekketsu Kakutō Densetsu'': 12/23/1992 * '' Kunio-kun no Nekketsu Soccer League'': 4/23/1993 * ''Nekketsu Street Basket: Ganbare Dunk Heroes'': 12/17/1993 * ''Block Out '': Unreleased * ''Nekketsu Kunio-Kun Zukan'': Unreleasedhttps://www.unseen64.net/2020/06/11/nekketsu-kuniokun-zukan-cancelled * ''Nekketsu Yakyuu Kozou'': Unreleased * ''Xain'D Sleena'': Unreleased * ''China Gate'': Unreleased * ''Double Dragon IV: Renegade'': Unreleased

Game Boy

* ''

'': 7/20/1990 * '' Double Dragon II'' (Japanese: ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Bangai Rantō Hen'') 12/7/1990 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''Nekketsu Kōkō Soccer Bu: World Cup Hen''): 4/26/1991 * ''Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: Kyōteki! Dodge Soldier no Maki'' (Game Boy version of ''Super Dodge Ball'' released only in Japan): 11/8/1991 * '' Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Dokodemo Daiundōkai'': 7/24/1992 * '' Bikkuri Nekketsu Shinkiroku: Dokodemo Kin Medal'': 7/16/1993 * '' Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki dayo Zen'in Shūgō'': 12/22/1993 * '' Taiyō no Tenshi Marlowe: Ohana Batake no Dai Panic!'': 5/27/1994 * '' Nekketsu! Beach Volley dayo: Kunio-kun'': 7/29/1994

Super NES/Super Famicom

* ''

Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun The series (typically localized as ''River City'') is a video game series started by Technōs Japan. The series is now handled by Arc System Works who purchased all of the intellectual property rights from Technōs' successor, Million Corp. The ...

'': 8/7/1992 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''Return of Double Dragon''): 10/16/1992 * ''

'': 12/23/1992 * '' Kunio-kun no Dodgeball dayo Zen'in Shūgō'': 8/6/1993 * ''

Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Challenge ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English language, English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central ...

'': 12/17/1993 * '' Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka'' (developed by Almanic): 4/29/1994 * '' Kunio no Oden'': 5/27/1994 * '' Popeye: Ijiwaru Majo Sea Hag no Maki'': 8/12/1994 * '' Funaki Masakatsu no Hybrid Wrestler: Tōgi Denshō'': 10/21/1994 * '' Sugoro Quest ++: Dicenics'': 12/9/1994 * '' Dun Quest: Mashin Fūin no Densetsu'': 7/21/1995 * ''Kunio no Bike Racing: Nekketsu Bari Bari Kouttotai'': Unreleased

Game Gear

* '' Popeye: Beach Volleyball'': 8/12/1994

PlayStation

* '' Geom Cube'' (3D puzzle game similar to ''

Blockout ''Blockout'' is a puzzle video game published in 1989 by California Dreams. It was developed in Poland by Aleksander Ustaszewski and Mirosław Zabłocki. American Technos published an arcade version. ''Blockout'' is an unlicensed, 3D version of ...

''): 12/22/1994

Neo Geo

* ''

'': 2/1995 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''Chōjin Gakuen Gowcaizer''): 9/1995 * ''

'' (Japanese: ''Kunio no Nekketsu Dodgeball Densetsu''): 1996 * ''High Voltage 12+1'': Unreleased * ''Death Match'': Unreleased * ''DarkSeed''/''Dragon's Heaven'' (co-developed with Face): Unreleased

References

External links

Technōs Japan Portal Website
official website * *
Russian Nekketsu Community

Polish Nekketsu Community

Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu Community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Technos Japan Video game development companies Software companies based in Tokyo Video game companies established in 1981 Video game companies disestablished in 1996 Defunct video game companies of Japan Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Japan Japanese companies established in 1981 Japanese companies disestablished in 1996