Gazelle (software company)

Gazelle Co., Ltd.[lower-alpha 1] was a Japanese video game developer founded in 1994 by former Toaplan employees after the latter company declared bankruptcy on the same year.

Gazelle Co., Ltd.
Native name
式会社ガゼル株
Kabushiki-gaisha Gazeru
TypeKabushiki gaisha
IndustryVideo games
FateDisbanded
PredecessorToaplan
Founded1994 (1994)
Defunct2002 (2002)
Headquarters
Japan
ProductsSoftware

History

Gazelle was founded by Tatsuya Uemura, Junya Inoue,[1] Mikio Yamaguchi, Kaneyo Ōhira and Yoshitatsu Sakai, former Toaplan members after the latter company declared bankrupt and originally focused on printed circuit boards exportation prior to game development.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Cave co-founder Tsuneki Ikeda refused to join the company. According to Uemura, his former Toaplan CEO sold the company's IPs to both Gazelle and Raizing but doubted about the procedure's overall legality.[4] During its existence, Gazelle developed three games for Banpresto on the CAVE 68000 hardware: Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, Air Gallet and Quiz Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon: Chiryoku Tairyoku Toki no Un.[3][8][9] The company also ported three Toaplan titles to fifth generation game consoles, among other projects.[4][6] Prior to ceasing game development and closure, many of the company's staff later joined Cave and Raizing.[3][4]

Games developed
Title Details
Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon

Original release date:
22 March 1995		 Release years by system:
1995 – Arcade game
Notes:
Air Gallet

Original release date:
February 1996		 Release years by system:
1996 – Arcade game
Notes:
Toaplan Shooting Battle 1

Original release date:
30 August 1996		 Release years by system:
1996 – PlayStation
Notes:
Batsugun

Original release date:
25 October 1996		 Release years by system:
1996 – Sega Saturn
Notes:
  • Vertically scrolling bullet hell
  • Published by Banpresto
  • 2-in-1 package conversion of the 1993 arcade original and its unreleased 1994 special version[4]
Quiz Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon: Chiryoku Tairyoku Toki no Un

Original release date:
February 1997		 Release years by system:
1997 – Arcade game
Notes:
  • Quiz game[10]
  • Published by Banpresto
  • Based upon Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon shōjo manga and anime series

Notes
  1. Japanese: 式会社ガゼル株, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Gazeru

References
  1. Kemps, Heidi (September 13, 2010). "The Art of Shooting with Junya Inoue". Otaku USA. Sovereign Media. Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  2. Ciolek, Todd (November 12, 2008). "Paint a Vulgar Picture – The X Button". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  3. Neal, David (10 December 2008). "A History of Toaplan - Post-Toaplan". Insomnia.
  4. Iona; VHS; K-HEX (June 2009). "東亜プラン FOREVER". Floor 25 (in Japanese). Vol. 9. (Translation by Gamengai. Archived 2020-10-10 at the Wayback Machine).
  5. CRV (November 1, 2011). "Gazelle". gdri.smspower.org. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  6. Kiyoshi, Tane; hally (VORC); Yūsaku, Yamamoto (3 February 2012). "東亜プラン特集 - 元・東亜プラン　開発者インタビュー: 上村建也". Shooting Gameside (in Japanese). Vol. 4. Micro Magazine. pp. 33–40. ISBN 978-4896373844. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-09-06 at the Wayback Machine).
  7. Freeman, Will (8 December 2013). "DoDonPachi retrospective - The full extent of the Jam". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  8. "Interface - Developer Profile / Toaplan". Wireframe. No. 13. Raspberry Pi Foundation. May 9, 2019. pp. 50–51.
  9. Lambie, Ryan (21 June 2018). "Toaplan: the rise and fall of Japan's greatest shooting game company". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  10. Eisenbeis, Richard (January 30, 2015). "The Sailor Scouts Don't Look Half Bad as Retro Game Sprites". Kotaku. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
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