Cave (company)CAVE Interactive Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game company founded in 1994 by former employees of Toaplan following its bankruptcy. It is known primarily for its "bullet hell" shoot 'em ups; from 1995 up to 2013, CAVE was one of the most prolific shoot 'em up developers in the Japanese market. Alongside this, CAVE has produced a variety of other types games for arcades, home consoles, PCs, and smartphones, also dating back to 1995.
Takumi CorporationTakumi Corporation (タクミコーポレーション, Takumi Kōporēshon) was a Japanese video game company founded in May 1994 that is famous for developing arcadeshoot 'em ups. Following Toaplan's bankruptcy, some of the former staff went to Takumi. Among Toaplan's offshoots, only Takumi has developed any sequels to former Toaplan games. Takumi is one of the splinter companies formed when the company Toaplan disbanded in 1994, the other being Cave.
Tiger-HeliTiger-Heli is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Toaplan and released as an arcade video game in 1985 in Japan by Taito and North America by Romstar. A version for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was published in 1986. It is the first entry in the Tiger series and the first shoot 'em up from Toaplan. The player controls the Tiger attack helicopter fighting against enemies.Shoot 'em upShoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or, chiefly in Japan, STGs) are a subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character movement, while others allow a broader definition including characters on foot and a variety of perspectives.
TamsoftTamsoft Corporation (株式会社タムソフト, Kabushiki Gaisha Tamu Sofuto) is a Japanese video game developer founded in 1992, best known for their work on the Battle Arena Toshinden, Onechanbara and Senran Kagura series. Its former president, Toshiaki Ōta, previously worked at Toaplan as one of the six original team members and head of software development.EightingEighting Co., Ltd., stylized as 8ing, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It formerly existed as two separate companies: Eighting and Raizing. It is known for its shoot 'em ups and its licensed fighting games. Eighting's name comes from nanakorobi yaoki, a Japanese proverb that says "fall down seven times and get up eight times." Raizing was derived from raijingu (rising) and Raijin, the Japanese god of lightning.
Gazelle (video game developer)Gazelle Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game developer founded in 1994 by former Toaplan employees after the latter company declared bankruptcy the same year. HistoryAfter Toaplan declared bankruptcy, Gazelle was founded by Tatsuya Uemura, Junya Inoue, Mikio Yamaguchi, Kaneyo Ōhira, and Yoshitatsu Sakai. The new firm originally focused on printed circuit board exportation prior to game development. Cave co-founder Tsuneki Ikeda refused to join the company.
Video game developerA video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with employee responsibilities split between individual disciplines, such as programmers, designers, artists, etc. Most game development companies have video game publisher financial and usually marketing support.Arcade video gameCoin-operated entertainment machine genreTwo children playing the arcade racing gameThe Fast and the Furious: Drift in 2007An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display.
Bandai Namco EntertainmentBandai Namco Entertainment Inc. (BNEI) is a Japanese multinationalvideo gamepublisher and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as Namco Bandai Games Inc., it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game business, as well as Bandai's former equivalent division. Development operations were spun off into a new company in 2012, Namco Bandai Studios, now called Bandai Namco Studios.
TokyoTokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital and most populous city of Japan. The population of the city proper was over 14 million as of 2023. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 33 million residents as of 2025. Lying at the head of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo is part of the Kantō region, on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island.
Sega GenesisHome video game consoleThe Sega Genesis, known as the Mega Drive outside North America, is a 16-bitfourth generationhome video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in October 1988 in Japan as the Mega Drive, and in August 1989 in North America as the Genesis. In 1990, it was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, Sega Ozisoft in Australasia, and Tectoy in Brazil.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.