Yamasan Tank Battle was different from the original Tank Battle.
"Yamasan" was just a nickname. The actual name of the Yamasan version was "90 Tank Battle." The name "Yamasan Tank Battle" came from the company that made it—Yamasan Software Company. That was how the nickname spread.
The original Tank Battle suffered from a flaw of its era: in the pursuit of balance, it became overly conservative.
Later, a modified domestic version appeared, known widely as "Yamasan Tank Battle." Many of the original settings—such as bullets canceling each other out—were altered. Both enemy and player tanks received adjustments, buffs and nerfs alike, greatly improving the overall gameplay.
Many people never played the original Tank Battle,
but they almost certainly played Yamasan Tank Battle.
Yamasan Tank Battle was a project improved by a computer instructor named Fu Zan—one of the earliest MOD creators in the country.
Compared to the original, the Yamasan version added new items. Some items could instantly level up your tank to max. Some allowed you to cross rivers.
But the biggest change was the game tempo.
Enemy tanks no longer spawned in fixed order—they appeared randomly. Bullets no longer followed rigid frame timings. When two tanks shot at each other, there was now danger and unpredictability. Enemy tanks could even pick up items and affect the player.
Overall, the Yamasan version had much higher playability.
If you had the Yamasan version, there was almost no reason to play the original.
Naturally, Kobayashi Tetsu was making the Yamasan version.
Unlike Tetris, which relied almost entirely on simple case statements, Tank Battle—with only 20KB of storage available—required a certain level of indexing since it had multiple stages.
Kobayashi Tetsu first needed to build a framework containing all the core game logic: up/down/left/right movement, attack speed, movement speed, armor value… all numbers that applied equally to both ally and enemy.
This framework could not be touched.
If a single mistake occurred, the entire game would break.
Everything outside this framework—such as item effects—had to be defined individually, each producing different results in-game.
Even though Kobayashi Tetsu felt confident, he still stopped occasionally to think, to recall.
He had self-studied the coding styles of many ancient games, purely for fun. Some of those old consoles' manufacturers had long gone bankrupt; if you wanted to repair them, you had to rely on yourself.
Thanks to those memories, he didn't waste too much time now.
When you're busy, you can't tell day from night.
Only when Kobayashi Tetsu finally felt starving did he look up and notice—it was already evening.
"It's this late already?"
He stood up and fumbled through the dim garage until he found the desk lamp.
He purposely walked around to check the whiteboard side. Yuji Naka was still working on electronic synth music, wearing headphones, completely absorbed. The monitor cast a faint glow; the only other light came from the streetlamp outside the window.
"Huh? So you dare ignore the lamp?"
Kobayashi Tetsu walked over and turned on the desk lamp. Only then did Yuji Naka snap out of his trance.
"You're not turning on the light even at this hour? Trying to ruin your eyes?"
"My apologies! I must've lost track of time."
Yuji Naka pressed the bridge of his nose and looked at Kobayashi Tetsu.
The look in his eyes made Kobayashi Tetsu feel a little odd.
"What's with that face?"
"Sorry, sorry! I'm just… a bit surprised." Yuji Naka forced a smile and waved. "I think maybe I misunderstood some things before. The sound effects are fine, but the music I imagine—I just can't create it. It feels like something's missing."
Kobayashi Tetsu picked up the headphones nearby and listened.
It was different from the Tank Battle soundtrack in his memory—fast and punchy dun-dun-dun.
This one was more relaxed, with a bit of a drum-beat feel.
But it didn't have that spark—nothing that made his ears pop.
"Yeah… still missing something. But it's late already. Go home and rest."
Any later and Yuji wouldn't catch the last train home.
There was still plenty of time to finish the programming, so Kobayashi Tetsu wasn't rushing the soundtrack.
Yuji Naka bowed before leaving the garage.
Difficult—truly difficult.
But this kind of fulfilling struggle felt good.
Not only did he know why he was working hard…
He was earning money.
SEGA was cold, but Atlus's 500,000 yen was warm!
After seeing Yuji out, Kobayashi Tetsu wiped the table and tidied the garage a bit.
He earned more than 5 million yen this month, but he spent quickly as well. The full equipment set cost nearly 2 million. SEGA wired another 1 million today as advance payment, and he gave Yuji 500,000.
Holding his old back, Kobayashi Tetsu sighed from the heart.
Letting someone work here and providing their equipment—
he really was a peerless, god-tier boss!
…
…
After that day, Kobayashi Tetsu worked nonstop for almost a week. The game framework had taken shape perfectly, but Yuji Naka still hadn't produced a satisfying soundtrack.
Kobayashi suspected Yuji was simply being too strict with himself.
Some of the tracks actually sounded pretty decent to him, but Yuji insisted they were unsatisfactory.
"If it really doesn't work, try this instead."
Kobayashi Tetsu cleared his throat and performed the classic dun-dun-dun by mouth.
Yuji Naka instantly shook his head.
"No, no! What is THAT? That's not tense at all!"
"Uh…"
Kobayashi scratched his head.
But… that was the original soundtrack!
Yuji was incredible—dismissing even the original.
But when he thought of the energetic Sonic soundtracks, Kobayashi found it understandable.
"All right, keep working. I'm going to buy food."
He casually comforted Yuji, then left.
It was rare to have free time. With millions of yen in his pocket, not spending anything felt wasteful.
While waiting for the train, Kobayashi couldn't help thinking that transportation in this era was still inconvenient. He missed his little electric scooter.
Go anywhere anytime.
And when you weren't going anywhere—just park it at the shop door to charge.
"Come to think of it, did electric scooters exist in 1983? They should… right?"
Kobayashi wasn't completely sure.
No scooter, no car… he couldn't exactly ride a bicycle everywhere.
He headed for the same Dixies family restaurant he'd visited before. After a few visits, he'd decided the taste suited him and planned to make it his future meetup spot.
Walking under the blazing sun drained him. He picked an empty table and sat down, missing the future more than ever.
Air conditioning!
This place only had those window-mounted units—the kind that looked like a big fan stuffed into the window. The cooling power was weak, and the noise was awful compared to later air-conditioners.
Kobayashi wiped his sweat and returned to his usual posture.
"Excuse me—could someone take my order?"
A part-time student-like waitress approached, lifting her skirt hem lightly as she walked, humming some tune under her breath.
Kobayashi rested his chin on his hand, suddenly interested.
"That's a pretty nice melody. Is it a folk song?"
"Eh? N-no, not at all."
The waitress peeked shyly at his face beneath the cap brim. "It's not a folk song. A senior who used to work here taught it to us."
"I see."
Kobayashi nodded casually.
It sounded nice enough.
But still…
it had nothing to do with the Tank Battle music he wanted.
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