Treasure Co., Ltd. is a video game company founded from former Konami employees in 1992. They started out with a bang — quite literally, as their first title, Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis, pushed the system to its limits with outstanding graphics, music, and sound effects, on top of amazing gameplay. Since then, Treasure has built up a reputation for their action games, which are unique, distinctive, and often very, very challenging.
Their repertoire is as vast as it is outstanding — side-scrolling shooters like Gunstar Heroes, fighting games like Rakugaki Showtime, and a lot of extremely weird and experimental games, like Dynamite Headdy, Stretch Panic and Wario World.
Often cited as the Gainax of video games due to having similarly bizarrely themed works and fanservice of the gameplay kind, or the Rare of Japan due to being able to pull off many different game genres as well as good licensed games. Expect their games to have lots of explosions, Unexpected Gameplay Changes, and tons of big guys to fight.
A common recurring element in Treasure's platforming games is a late game level featuring their other bread-and-butter genre, Space Shooters.
As an idea of what the staff is like, when the director of Sin and Punishment stated the game was too alienatingly difficult, he was told, "Our director doesn't suit us," "Those who can't play it aren't a part of our team." The working title of the game before they accepted to tone it down was Glass Soldier — even Treasure was considering naming it after how easily it killed you. In other words, they're the video game developer equivalent of Blood Knights.
Games developed by Treasure:
- Gunstar Heroes (1993)
- McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure (1993)
- Dynamite Headdy (1994)
- Yu Yu Hakusho Makyō Tōitsusen (1994)
- Alien Soldier (1995)
- Light Crusader (1995)
- Guardian Heroes (1996)
- Mischief Makers (1997)
- Silhouette Mirage (1997)
- Radiant Silvergun (1998)
- Rakugaki Showtime (1999)
- Bangai-O (1999)
- Sin and Punishment (2000) (co-developed with Nintendo R&D1)
- Silpheed: The Lost Planet (2000) (co-developed with Game Arts)
- Stretch Panic (2001)
- Ikaruga (2001)
- Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Bad Dream (2002)
- Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! (2003)
- Dragon Drive: D-Masters Shot (2003)
- Wario World (2003)
- Astro Boy: Omega Factor (2003) (co-developed with Hitmaker)
- Gradius V (2004)
- Advance Guardian Heroes (2004)
- Gunstar Super Heroes (2005)
- Bleach: The Blade of Fate (2006)
- Bleach: Dark Souls (2007)
- Bangai-O Spirits (2008)
- Sin and Punishment: Star Successor (2009) (co-developed with Nintendo SPD)
- Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury (2011)
- Gaist Crusher (2013)
- Gaist Crusher God (2014)
- Tiny Toon Adventures: Defenders of the Universe (cancelled)
