Topic: Run the Developer 1: Shin'en Multimedia

[M.K.Ultra]

Run the Developer - is where we look at a specific game development studio's work on Nintendo systems and discuss our experiences with their games. But Mr. B, isn't this more shameless mimicry of Khushrenada's posting? Well, perhaps, but perhaps I am just posting this as an homage to the subtle genius of the Run the Series posts. Perhaps Khushrenada has perfected the art of posting and there is no way to innovate without losing quality. Perhaps I am just a dupe account for Khush  Either way beggars cannot be choosers as we must shovel out more free content to keep those Patron dollars rolling in.

Shin'en Multimedia - the first developer to get the spotlight is Shin'en multimedia. Despite their Japanese sounding name, which translates literally to "abyss" but also means "deep" or "profound", this is a German based studio. In fact, their first game, Kapt'n Blaubar was only released in German speaking countries. Since 2001 they have been releasing a variety of games, mostly on Nintendo handhelds. They are known for pushing the limits on the capabilities of the hardware to produce great looking games.

Games by Shin'en

Iridion
 
The first worldwide release for Shin'en was Iridion 3D for GBC in 2001. The sequel Iridion II released in 2003 on GBA. These shooters laid the groundwork for the Nano series that would follow.

Nanostray/Nano Assault

Nanostray (2005) and Nanostray 2 (2007) both released for DS. Nano Assault came out in 2011 for 3DS. An updated version Nano Assault EX was released in 2013. It was also ported to Wii U as Nano Assualt Neo 2013. A PS4 release marked the first time Shin'en published on a non-tendo console.

Fun! Fun! Minigolf

Originally appearing as Wiiware in 2008, there is also a sequel Fun! Fun! Minigolf Touch! on 3DS (2012).

Jett Rocket

Speaking of Wiiware to get a 3DS sequel, Jett Rocketed into our hearts in 2010 and came back in 2013 with The Wrath of Taikai.

Art of Balance

The Art of Balance started on Wii (2010) and since been ported to 3DS (2012), Wii U (2014), and Switch (2018).

Fast Racing

Perhaps the most prestigous series by Shin'en are the F-Zero like Fast games. Fast Racing League pushed the Wii to its limits in 2011, with sequels for Wii U in 2015, and Switch in 2017.

The Touryst

Enjoy your vacation in the latest from Shin'en, available on Switch. I really need to pick this one up.

Zenses

There are rainforest and Ocean editions of this DS game from 2008.

Licensed Games

In the early years of Shin'en they developed quite a few licensed games. Mostly licensed characters from cartoon shows like Maya the Bee and Garfield. Are they hidden gems like some of WayForward's licensed games or weaker entries like some of Platinum Games'? I left them out of the poll but sound off in the comments if you have some love for Miss Spider or Strawberry Shortcake.

[Adrock]

I have none of these games. I’m familiar with the developer. I’ll see if I can track down Iridion II.

[NWR_insanolord]

I've played the FAST and Nano Assualt games. They've been among the launch lineups or close after for the last couple consoles which made them appealing on the eShop, and they're pretty good.

[Order.RSS]

Huh, they've made more games than I knew. Never realized they came from a licensed games background either, good on them for escaping that cycle and striking out with multiple franchises of their own. I like Shin'en a lot, they squeeze so much performance out of hardware, and their games look lightyears beyond the efforts of similarly small teams.

The only ones I've played:
- FAST Racing Neo: As a big F-Zero (G)X fan, this is an absolute no-brainer. Looks great, sounds decent, and it nails the sense of speed. Even has the announcer voice from F-Zero GX. The one thing holding this entry back is the brutal A.I. difficulty on higher levels, which I believe was fixed in the sequel FAST RMX.
I've been meaning to look into the differences between NEO and RMX, to see if it's worth grabbing such a fairly iterative sequel. As someone who dislikes the floaty feel of the most recent WipEout, I'm pretty sure the FAST series is the best anti-gravity racer in town nowadays. Wish the ships looked a bit sleeker and had more personality.

- Nano Assault Neo: Good, but not great twin-stick shooter. Was a tad disappointed by the bossfights in this. Again it looks really slick and controls are tight, so the whole aesthetic of shooting viruses on cell organisms really shin'es.

- Art of Balance: Looks gorgeous in HD, and the zen garden theming fits the block stacking gameplay quite well. I would get the Switch or Wii U version for the better graphics and touch controls.

- Nanostray: The first Shin'en game I played, since it went for dirt cheap at the time. It's a competent vertical shooter, with some touch screen shenanigans to activate special lasers. Not an enduring classic, and it's a lot harder than Nano Assault, but it's all right.

[BeautifulShy]

Lets see...  I played Iridion 3D back in the day.  Very challenging.

NanoStray I played a little bit not really to completion.

I want to pick up Fast Racing Neo for the Switch. Probably digital version. I love futuristic racers.


Also good idea for a thread Mr. Bungle.

[M.K.Ultra]

I’ll see if I can track down Iridion II.

According to pricecharting.com the loose copies have gone from $10 to $30 in the past 6 years. Is that happening with most GBA games?

As someone who just got around to starting Nano Assult the other day because of my Lindemann-esque 3DS backlog, I'll say that any future entry in the series should support the Circle Pad Pro.

I found this old post from Insanolord when searching the forums. A full sequel was never released but Nano Assault Ex did end up supporting the circle pad pro.

Never realized they came from a licensed games background either, good on them for escaping that cycle and striking out with multiple franchises of their own.

Here is the full list of licensed games:

• Maya the Bee: The Great Adventure (GBA, 2002)
• Maya the Bee: Sweet Gold (GBA, 2005)
• Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends (DS, 2006)
• Garfield's Nightmare (DS, 2007)
• Pet Alien: An Intergalactic Puzzlepalooza (DS, 2007)
• Strawberry Shortcake: The Four Seasons Cake (DS, 2007)

and a link to the full list of Shin'en games that I meant to put in the initial post.

I've been meaning to look into the differences between NEO and RMX, to see if it's worth grabbing such a fairly iterative sequel.

I imagine one difference would be that it is much easier to find random matches for online play in RMX. If there are a bunch of new tracks or new modes let me know because I would double dip for that.

Nanostray: The first Shin'en game I played, since it went for dirt cheap at the time. It's a competent vertical shooter, with some touch screen shenanigans to activate special lasers. Not an enduring classic, and it's a lot harder than Nano Assault, but it's all right.

I lumped Nanostray in with Nano Assault since they were both shooters and had the Nano prefix. It doesn't sound like they are the same series. 

I want to pick up Fast Racing Neo for the Switch. Probably digital version. I love futuristic racers.

Strangely enough Neo did get a retail disc in Europe and Australia that included all the DLC. It was part of the eShop selects line. North America did get the Steamworld Collection though.

I also found it interesting that Shin'en started self-publishing as soon as the digital storefronts appeared on Nintendo systems. Prior to that they were published by some company like Majesco. This might have allowed them to steer away from licensed games as well.

[Adrock]

According to pricecharting.com the loose copies have gone from $10 to $30 in the past 6 years. Is that happening with most GBA games?

Common games like Mario Kart: Super Circuit can be found for ~$15 and free shipping. Sellers will still try to inflate the value. Just have to be patient.

Rarer games like Pokémon Emerald, for example, will cost you one kidney, 13 months of hard labor, your house, and first born child. If you do not have children, you must steal one in order to complete the transaction. May seem steep, but do you want to catch Rayquaza before facing the Elite Four or not?

[Order.RSS]

I lumped Nanostray in with Nano Assault since they were both shooters and had the Nano prefix. It doesn't sound like they are the same series. 

I think it's fair to lump them together, but they are quite different in terms of gameplay, and even setting. The core idea (there's a nano-virus, we hate it) is a constant presence throughout the NanoStray and Nano Assault games.

NanoStray is set in space, you travel to I believe the center of a solar system, stopping by planets to blast enemies. I feel like the setting was very mechanical: space ships, robots, machines, steel & concrete buildings. The gameplay is vertically scrolling, similar to Xevious, Raiden, Star Soldier and such. Levels auto-scroll, end in bosses, movement and aiming are paired, and there's an emphasis on score multipliers and such. Frankly, it's hard to see what the enemies have to do with a virus, since they might as well be aliens.

Nano Assault executes better on the nano-virus presence imo, by changing the setting to individual cells. Enemies are now mostly biological, looking like microbes, tardigrades, viruses, coral/anemone derivatives. Rather than a space setting they're trying to suggest you're in a bloodstream.
In terms of gameplay this hews a lot closer to Robotron, Assault Android Cactus, or Geometry Wars. You control the pace, move in all directions, shoot separately from movement and have free aim. Unlike most twin-stick shooters, the environments are 3D, rather than flat terrains at an isometric angle. You can move along all sides of the cells, reminiscent of the tiny planetoids in Mario Galaxy.

I'd see them as an iteration on a premise, just different branches of arcade shooters. I believe the 3DS game, Nano Assault EX, also incorporates rail shooter stages in the vein of Space Harrier, Starfox, and Panzer Dragoon. Kinda odd no version of Nano Assault is on Switch yet, wonder if they'll make that happen.

[Evan_B]

I don’t believe Nano Assault NEO is a port of Nano Assault- the games are very different.

Dipping in to this thread to say I’ve played quite a few of Shin’en’s games- Jett Rocket was my first, which I thought was a brief, but serviceable 3D Platformer. Graduated to Nano Assault NEO, which was also short and not very satisfying as a twin-stick shooter. I missed out on the original Fast Racing and I feel kind of bad about it, because it’s one of their stronger WiiWare titles, and now that platform is dead and buried. I did play Fast Racing NEO, however, and I loved it to bits, which made me an avid supporter of the developer and definitely heightened my awareness of their releases in the future. I’ve never played the Art of Balance series, as it doesn’t thrill me, but I have picked up and am chipping through the Touryst, which to me feels like their most ambitious title in terms of game design, to date.

[Khushrenada]

This is another goose egg for me. Haven't played anything from this developer though I was interested in Fast Racing NEO for awhile. The Touryst is likely the first thing I'll play from them. It's been on my eShop wishlist for awhile. I've just been hoping for a possible sale beyond the 30% off they've done a couple times because I'm such a cheapwad! (And I've got so many games to play that I don't need to buy more but will do so if the price is low enough.)