Banpresto was a Japanese toy and video game company famous for its anime-based games and action figures, mostly the Super Robot Wars video game series and the SD Gundam toys.
The company was founded in 1977 under the name of Hoei Sangyo Co. Ltd. to later change its name as Coreland in 1982 and being third party for Sega. It became partially owned by Bandai in 1989, when it gained its current name. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (later known as Bandai Namco Holdings) in March 2006.
Finally, the company ended during The New '10s: the video games section was merged in 2008 with BECnote into B.B. Studios, a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Games (but still publishing as Banpresto until 2014). In the other part, the toys section was absorbed by Bandai Spirits (Bandai's subsidiary meant for their offerings targeted at older demographics such as plastic sets and figurines which were previously sold under the regular Bandai name until the formation of Bandai Spirits) in February 2019.
Games developed and/or published by Banpresto
- Another Century's Episode series (developed by FromSoftware)
- Ar tonelico series (developed by Gust)
- Batsugun (Sega Saturn port, developed by Toaplan)
- Compati Hero Series
- Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi no Yobu Cinema Land no Daibouken
- Denjin Makai (developed by WinkySoft)
- Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure (Japan publisher)
- Dragon Ball Z Arcade series
- Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors
- Eternal Poison (developed by Flight-Plan, Japan publisher)
- Genei Tougi series (developed by Racdym)
- Gundhara
- Jump Bug2
- Kamen Rider: Seigi no Keifu
- Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Makai no Bookmark
- Kyousogiga (anime co-produced with Toei Animation)
- Lode Runner for WonderSwan
- Magna Carta (developed by Softmax)
- Magna Carta: Crimson Stigmata
- Metamoqester
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Sega)
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie (Game Gear port, developed by SIMS)
- Panzer Bandit (developed by Fill-in Café)
- Pengo1 (published by Sega)
- Project × Zone (co-developed with Monolith Soft)
- Puyo Puyo (1992) (SNES and Game Boy ports, developed by Compile and WinkySoft respectively)
- Super Nazo Puyo: Rulue no Roux (developed by Compile)
- Queen's Blade: Spiral Chaos and Queen's Gate: Spiral Chaos (developed by TOSE)
- Sailor Moon Arcade series (developed by Gazelle)
- Seishun Scandal1
- Sengoku Ace (developed by Psikyo)
- Super Heroine Chronicle
- Summon Night series (developed by Flight-Plan)
- Summon Night
- Summon Night 2
- Summon Night 3
- Summon Night: Swordcraft Story
- Summon Night Ex-These: Yoake no Tsubasa (Japan only)
- Summon Night X
- Summon Night 4
- Super Robot Wars seriesnote
- Super Robot Wars (developed by WinkySoft)
- Super Robot Wars 2 (developed by WinkySoft)
- Super Robot Wars 3 (developed by WinkySoft)
- Super Robot Wars EX (developed by WinkySoft)
- Super Robot Wars 4 (developed by WinkySoft)
- Super Robot Wars Gaiden (developed by WinkySoft)
- Endless Frontier (co-developed with Monolith Soft)
- Shin Super Robot Wars (developed by WinkySoft)
- Super Robot Wars 64 (developed by Monegi and AI Co.)
- Super Robot Wars Alpha series
- Super Robot Wars Compact (developed by TOSE)
- Super Robot Wars Compact 2 (developed by TOSE)
- Super Robot Wars Compact 3 (developed by TOSE)
- Super Robot Wars Advance (original developed by AI Co., remake developed by TOSE)
- Super Robot Wars MX (co-developed with TOSE)
- Super Robot Wars GC (developed by AI Co. and Atelier-Sai)
- Super Robot Wars XO (developed by AI Co. and Sazanami)
- Super Robot Wars Z series
- Super Robot Wars Reversal (co-developed with AI Co.)
- Super Robot Wars: Original Generation
- Super Robot Wars Destiny (developed by AI Co.)
- Super Robot Wars Judgment (developed by AI Co.)
- Super Robot Wars W (developed by AI Co.)
- Super Robot Wars K (developed by AI Co.)
- Supa Robo Gakuen (developed by AI Co.)
- Super Robot Wars NEO (developed by Sazanami)
- Super Robot Wars L (developed by AI Co.)
- Super Robot Wars UX (developed by AI Co.)
- Super Robot Wars BX (developed by AI Co.)
- Super Robot Wars OE (developed by Sazanami)
- Super Robot Wars X-Ω (co-developed with Sega)
- Super Tokusatsu Taisen 2001
- Zeiram series (Hyper Iria and Zeiram Zone)
- Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars
1 - made under the name of Coreland
2 - made under the name of Hoei
Banpresto, its games and the company itself, provided examples of:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Since the company is known for its video games and toys, it's strange to know Banpresto actually made an anime instead of licensing it for games and toys, which is the case of Kyousogiga, co-produced with Toei Animation.
- Beat 'em Up: They made few games in this genre, but they're very famous, like the Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Arcade Game and the Denjin Makai series.
- Coca-Pepsi, Inc.: Banpresto was partially owned by Bandai at the end of The '80s, but eventually was absorbed when Bandai and Namco merged to create Bandai Namco Holdings during the Turn of the Millennium, being completely merged and made defunct during The New '10s.
- I Have Many Names: First as Hoei, later as Coreland and finally as Banpresto.
- The Kiddie Ride: Banpresto made various kiddie rides for series like Doraemon, Dr. Slump, Gundam, Super Mario Bros., Godzilla, Ultra Series and even Thomas & Friends.
- Licensed Game: Most of the games from this company were adaptations from famous anime series, most of them are RPG and Visual Novels, but also made diverse type of game genres like Shoot 'Em Up (Super Dimension Fortress Macross), Basketball Games (Slam Dunk) and Fighting Games (Dragon Ball Z Arcade series and YuYu Hakusho Forever).
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover: The Super Robot Wars series is probably the most known case of this, but also has other games as this like Compati Hero series (a Super-Deformed Crossover between Gundam, Ultra Series and Kamen Rider), and Heroes Phantasia.
- Merchandise-Driven:
- The SD Gundam, which became more famous by the toys than the video games, especially in The '80s and The '90s.
- Apart of all the franchises they already got from anime, also made figures for a lot more of them, and even foreign franchises as DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Harry Potter and Despicable Me.
- Mascot: Elite Banana
was its mascot, a normal banana with a human face◊ who got his own line of toys, plushes and personal massagers. - No Celebrities Were Harmed: One of its first games as Coreland was I'm Sorry. This action game stars a caricature of a former Prime Minister of Japan, Kakuei Tanaka. The game satirizes Tanaka's greed by making the goal of the game acquiring gold bars. And if that wasn't enough, some of the enemies of every level are Michael Jackson, Madonna, American track and field athlete Carl Lewis, Japanese comedian Tamori and Japanese wrestler Shohei "Giant" Baba.
- Original Generation: The Trope Maker. Almost as an implicit rule in its games, there should be original characters in their games, especially in the licenced ones, mostly seen in the Super Robot Wars series, which have original characters since the second game and they get enough to make their own games in the franchise.
- Prequel: The two games made for Zeiram count as prequels of The Movie just as the OVA Iria: Zeiram the Animation (also seen as Spin-Off of the anime).
- Super-Deformed: Banpresto is known for making games and toys as this, but it's thanks to them that SD Gundam became a success during The '80s with its toys.
