Arsys Software

Arsys Software (アルシスソフトウェア), later known as Cyberhead (サイバーヘッド), was a Japanese video game software development company active from 1985 to 2001. It was founded by former employees of Technosoft.

Overview
The company was founded as Arsys Software by former Technosoft staff members Osamu Nagano and Katsunori Yoshimura on 11 November 1985. They were primarily involved in PC game development, having previously created the original Thunder Force (a 1983 free-scrolling shooter game) and Plazma Line (a 1984 space racing game considered the first computer game with 3D polygon graphics) at Technosoft. In 1986, Arsys debuted with the 3D role-playing shooter Wibarm, followed by the free-roaming adventure game Reviver: The Real-Time Adventure in 1987 and the 3D first-person shooter role-playing game Star Cruiser in 1988. When Star Cruiser was released in 1988, the company only had two employees, which grew to a dozen employees by 1991, when development began on Star Cruiser 2; by 2001, the company had reduced to three employees.

In addition to its own products, they also ported games to Japanese computer platforms, such as Prince of Persia and several SystemSoft games. They also contributed to the development of several games from other companies, such as the 1992 combat flight simulator arcade game Air Combat and Sony Computer Entertainment's 1997 racing simulator Gran Turismo. They also released the chiptune video game music soundtrack album Arsys Best Selection (アルシス・ベストセレクション) in 1990. The company eventually closed down in 2001.

Wibarm
Wibarm (1986), stylized as WiBArM (ウィバーン), was an early role-playing shooter released by Arsys Software for the NEC PC-88 computer in Japan and ported to MS-DOS for Western release by Brøderbund. It combined run and gun shooter gameplay with role-playing video game elements, and was also the first action role-playing game to feature 3D polygonal graphics. In Wibarm, the player controls a transformable mecha robot that can shift between walking mode, a tank, and a flying jet. The viewpoint switches between several different perspectives: a 2D top-down perspective while flying, a side-scrolling view during on-foot outdoor exploration, a fully 3D polygonal third-person perspective inside buildings, and arena-style 2D shoot 'em up battles during boss encounters.

The game features a variety of weapons and equipment as well as an automap, and the player could upgrade equipment and earn experience to raise stats. In contrast to first-person RPGs at the time that were restricted to 90-degree movements, Wibarm's use of 3D polygons allowed full 360-degree movement.

The plot revolves around the player character Eizel Cloud, an intergalactic investigator, who is attempting to recapture an orbiting power plant before it explodes and destroys the planet. Using the Wibarm, a mech which transforms between a robot, land cruiser, and star jet, the player must search through 32 maze-filled buildings, and fight over 30 different enemy types with 10 different weapons along the way, in order to piece together clues to solve the mission.

Wibarm won the 1986 Game of the Year award from the Japanese computer game magazine Oh!MZ, later known as Oh!X. Later, Computer Gaming World, in its October 1989 issue, described Wibarm as an "action/role-playing game" that has "Sharp graphics" and "smooth 360 degree scrolling." Retrospectively, Oh!FM7 stated the game appears to have borrowed ideas from shooter Thexder, 1985 action role-playing game Xanadu, and the polygonal 3D action game SeeNa, also known as See･Na, released by SystemSoft for the PC-88 in February.

Reviver
Reviver: The Real-Time Adventure, also known as Reviver (リバイバ), is an adventure game designed by Katsunori Yoshimura and released by Arsys Software in July 1987, for the NEC PC-88, FM-7, Sharp X1, Sharp MZ and MSX2 platforms. The sub-title, The Real-Time Adventure, is a reference to the game's introduction of a real-time persistent world, where time continues to elapse, day-night cycles adjust the brightness of the screen to indicate the time of day, and certain stores and non-player characters would only be available at certain times of the day. The game also gives players direct control over the player character. The game also features a fantasy story, full-colour 2D overhead scrolling graphics, and role-playing video game elements. It won the 1987 Game of the Year award from Japanese gaming magazine Oh!X.

Star Cruiser


Star Cruiser (スタークルーザー) was a first-person role-playing shooter released for the PC-88 in 1988. The game is considered innovative and ahead of its time, for being an early example of an action role-playing game with fully 3D polygonal graphics, combined with early first-person shooter gameplay, which would occasionally switch to space flight simulator gameplay when exploring the open-ended outer space with six degrees of freedom. All the backgrounds, objects and opponents in the game were rendered in 3D polygons, many years before they were widely adopted by the video game industry. The game also emphasized storytelling, with plot twists and extensive character dialogues, taking place in a futuristic science fiction setting. The game had a large open-ended game universe, allowing the player to explore over 30 planets across four star systems.

The original computer versions, the Sharp X68000 version in particular, used a unique dual control scheme that anticipated the standard keyboard & mouse controls of the first-person shooter genre, with the direction keys used to move and strafe, while the numpad keys are used to turn around and aim (much like the function of the mouse in later FPS games). However, it is not possible to aim up or down while on foot (much like Doom), but in the outer space segments, the player can aim in all directions with the numpad keys.

It won the 1988 Game of the Year awards from the Japanese computer game magazines POPCOM and Oh!X. The game was later ported to the Sharp X68000 computer platform in 1989, and the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) video game console in 1990. Import copies of the game were available in the United Kingdom by early 1991, for the price of £39.95 ($64.31 at the time,  or $108.41 in 2012 dollars). The June 1994 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (page 190) previewed a fully translated English localization by Namco, stating that it was set to be released in North America in July 1994. A European release was also planned for 1994. However, its release in the Western world was later cancelled.

The game's sequel, Star Cruiser 2, was released in 1992, for the PC-9821 and FM Towns computers. Seven chiptune video game music soundtrack albums of both Star Cruiser games, composed by Toshiya Yamanaka, have been released from 1992 to 2008.

Star Cruiser was also an influence on the famous game designer Hideki Kamiya (known for Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101, etc.). In his blog, Kamiya mentioned Star Cruiser as one of his favourite games. 

Air Combat and Gran Turismo
The company contributed to the development of several games from other companies. These include Namco's 1992 combat flight simulator arcade game Air Combat and Sony Computer Entertainment's 1997 racing simulator Gran Turismo.

List of video games
The following games were developed by the company: