Climax Entertainment
CLIMAX Inc. (株式会社クライマックス, Kabushiki Gaisha Kuraimakkusu, "Climax Share Company")[2] branded Climax Entertainment, was an independent game development studio founded in April 1990 with Hiroyuki Takahashi as representative managing director and Kan Naito as assistant director.[3] Among the founders of Climax were Yoshinori Tagawa, artists Hidehiro Yoshida and Yoshitaka Tamaki, and programmer Yasuhiro Taguchi. Kan Naito would take over as president of Climax following Takahashi's departure to found Sonic.[4]
Many of the founders of Climax were associated with Enix. Takahashi had been an assistant producer on Dragon Quest IV, on which Naito worked as chief programmer at Chunsoft. Takahashi met Taguchi when the programmer presented a dungeon crawler engine demo to Enix.[5] Tamaki, a freelancer, had been a participant in an Enix art contest for which Takahashi had been a judge.[6]
Without any announcement, Climax shut down in 2015. The final news post on the company's website was made in October 2014 stating that Climax was hiring, but the website's front page was replaced with a maintenance notice in 2015, and the website was taken offline by the end of the year.[7]
Games Developed
Climax's first game was Shining and the Darkness, completed in early 1991. Climax would codevelop Shining Force with Sonic! Software Planning, a studio founded with investment from Sega in June 1991. Afterward, under Kan Naito's direction, Climax developed Land Stalker: The Emperor's Treasure, a game originally planned to carry the Shining brand, as well as its sequels Lady Stalker and Time Stalkers. Staff from Climax including Kan Naito would return to the Shining series to work with Amusement Vision on the Game Boy Advance remake of Shining Force released in 2004. Although the name of the studio does not appear in the credits of the game, Climax listed the Shining Force remake on their official website's product page.[8]
| Release | Title | Publisher | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Shining and the Darkness (JP) Shining in the Darkness (NA, EU) |
Sega | Mega Drive |
| 1992 | Shining Force | Sega | Mega Drive |
| 1992 | Landstalker ~Kōtei no Zaihō~ (JP) Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (NA, PAL) |
Sega | Mega Drive |
| 1995 | Lady Stalker ~Kako kara no Chōsen~ | Taito Corporation | Super Nintendo |
| 1996 | Dark Savior | Sega | Saturn |
| 1997 | Runabout (JP) Felony 11-79 (NA, PAL) |
Yanoman ASCII |
PlayStation |
| 1999 | Climax Landers (JP) Time Stalkers (NA, EU) |
Sega | Saturn |
| 1999 | Runabout 2 | Climax Entertainment (JP) Hot-B USA (NA) Midas Interactive Entertainment (EU) |
PlayStation |
| 2000 | Super Runabout | Climax Entertainment | Dreamcast |
| 2000 | Super Runabout: San Fransisco Edition | Climax Entertainment (JP) Interplay Entertainment (NA) Virgin Interactive (EU) |
Dreamcast |
| 2000 | Virtua Athlete 2K (JP, EU) Virtua Athlete 2000 (NA) |
Sega (JP, EU) Agetec (NA) |
Dreamcast |
| 2002 | Runabout 3: Neo Age | Hearty Robin (JP) BAM! Entertainment (EU) |
PlayStation 2 |
| 2004 | Shining Force: Resurrection of the Black Dragon (JP)[8] Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon (NA, EU) |
Sega Atlus |
Game Boy Advance |
| 2005 | Ten no Mon (JP) Kingdom of Paradise (NA) Key of Heaven (EU) |
Sony Computer Entertainment | PlayStation Portable |
| 2006 | Tenchi no Mon 2: Busoden | Sony Computer Entertainment | PlayStation Portable |
| 2006 | Ore no Dungeon | Sega | PlayStation Portable |
| 2007 | Kodai Ōja: Kyōryū Kingu Nanatsu no Kakera (JP) Dinosaur King (NA, EU, AU) |
Sega | Nintendo DS |
| 2008 | Steal Princess ~Tōzoku Ōjo~ (JP) Steal Princess (NA) |
Marvelous Entertainment (JP) Atlus (NA) |
Nintendo DS |
| 2008 | Miburi & Teburi | Sega | Wii |
| 2009 | Hottarake no Shima: Kanatā to Nijiiro no Kagami | Bandai Namco | Nintendo DS |
| 2009 | Element Hunters | Bandai Namco | Nintendo DS |
| 2012 | Runabout 3D: Drive: Impossible (JP) Crash City Mayham (NA, EU) |
Climax Entertainment (JP) Majesco Entertainment Company (NA) Ghostlight (EU) |
Nintendo 3DS |
| 2012 | Danbōrusenki Baku Boost (JP) LBX: Little Battlers eXperience (NA, EU) |
Level-5 (JP) Nintendo (NA, EU) |
Nintendo 3DS |
References
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive (ビープ！メガドライブ), November Issue. SoftBank, October 1991.[1]
- ↑ Company website. Climax Entertainment, Climax.co.jp. [Archived] June 18, 2013.
- ↑ Mega Drive Fan (メガドライブFAN), November 1990 issue. Tokuma Shoten Intermedia, October 1990, p. 7.
- ↑ "My History With Golf, Vol. 22: Camelot Co., Ltd., President and CEO Hiroyuki Takahashi and Executive Vice President Shugo Takahashi",「わたしのゴルフ履歴書〜Vol.22〜株式会社キャメロット 高橋宏之代表取締役社長、高橋秀五代表取締役副社長」. Gridge. Da-Bird, 2020. [Archived] March 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Behind the Scenes: Shining Force", 25 Greatest Sega Games. GamesTM, 2009. p. 27.
- ↑ "Yoshitaka Tamaki interview - Animeland", VGDensetsu. Originally published in Animeland, issue 71. May 2001. [Archived] October 9, 2023.
- ↑ Company website. Climax Entertainment, Climax.co.jp. [Archived] December 8, 2014.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Product page, company website, Climax Entertainment, Climax.co.jp. [Archived] December 28, 2007.
Studio Directory
- See alsoː Who Made the Shining Series?
| Shining Studios | |
|---|---|
| Game Studios | Climax Entertainment・Sonic! Software Planning・Camelot Software Planning・Nex Entertainment・Grasshopper Manufacture・Amusement Vision・Neverland Company・Flight-Plan・Sega AM2・Studio Saizensen・Media.Vision |
| Supporting Studios | Rit's・R.I.S.・Seraphic・Winds・Treasure |
| Art Studios | Salamander Factory・Swallowtails・Studio 4°C |
| Related Studios | |
| Game Studios | Enix・Max Entertainment・Matrix Software |