In a conference room with the curtains drawn tight, Sega's software porting manager, Hiroo Watarai, was introducing a game to everyone.
Of course, Tetsu Kobayashi didn't sit at the table; he sat on a folding chair, watching the big screen with interest.
The game Watarai was presenting was called Hunting Journey, a port of a highly popular Sega arcade game from 1980. At the time, it was one of the five games considered emblematic of Sega.
However…
The gameplay was not particularly complicated. It supported up to two players, with each controlling either a male or female hunter. The male hunter was a little yellow character, the female hunter had red hair. Both navigated a maze-like jungle. Players couldn't easily enter the jungle, but animals could move through it. Hunters could shoot tranquilizer darts to catch animals and load them onto the hunting jeep.
Overall, the game carried a flavor unique to early 1980s Japan, reflecting their fascination with big-game hunting. Wealthy Japanese often went to Africa to hunt, sometimes even getting lost there.
After a moment, Tetsu Kobayashi judged the game to be standard and conventional.
By 1983, games from 1980 that had sustained Sega were obviously outdated. This game couldn't compete with the likes of Super Mario Bros.
Watarai finished his introduction and bowed deeply to the group.
Hideki Sato led the applause, and the others followed suit.
"Good, the porting work was done well. This game was a pillar of Sega in 1980. Now, urgently ported to the SG system, it should succeed again! Nintendo merely ported an arcade game—so what? Haven't we ported arcade games too? I don't see why anyone should be nervous."
Sato glanced toward Tetsu Kobayashi sitting on the folding chair at the side of the table.
"Mr. Kobayashi, please start your presentation."
"Me? I thought you were planning to watch this forever," Tetsu said, stretching lazily, ignoring everyone's eyes, as he connected his cartridge to the SG1200.
Tetsu still wanted to be friendly.
But as Kentaro had said, if you don't attack, others will attack you first.
He casually tapped the still-active screen of Hunting Journey.
"I don't understand. The SG1200 has 30% more performance, but you're just porting a three-year-old game? And you didn't even consider improving graphics or sound? Honestly, you mentioned audio issues—yet the ported version cuts half the sound effects? Is this a proper port or a crude, lazy port?"
Hiroo Watarai clenched his fists instantly.
He couldn't comprehend it.
When did he ever offend this boy in front of him?
Tetsu Kobayashi ignored him, inserted another cartridge, and projected the screen of Smoke Mountain Tank Battle.
"This is the work of our 'Atlas Studio'—Smoke Mountain Tank Battle. Like Hunting Journey, it has single-player and two-player modes. If anyone doesn't mind, who wants to join me for a demo in two-player mode?"
Watarai rolled up his sleeves.
"I'll go!"
The two picked up joysticks and began playing.
Tetsu Kobayashi calmly demonstrated the game's elements.
"At the start, players spawn in the bottom-right corner. Notice this strange object below."
He fired several shots, destroying his own base. Japanese text popped up on the screen:
『Target to Protect』
He shrugged. "This is the objective we need to protect. If it's destroyed, the game fails."
"Restarting the game now."
"There are four types of enemies—fast, high-damage, high-health, and standard tanks. When creating the game, we included descriptions of these enemies in the cartridge manual, corresponding to armored vehicles, tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns in real life."
"There are six items in the game, each serving a different function and influencing gameplay."
Watarai maneuvered his small tank, dodging left and right, gradually feeling a shift in attitude.
He started to enjoy the game!
Even though it was a 2D game, it felt oddly more fun than Hunting Journey.
Hideki Sato remained expressionless.
Tetsu passed a level and continued:
"The game has casual and normal modes. Normal mode follows standard settings, but casual mode favors the players—difficulty is slightly reduced, enemy spawn rates are faster, creating a more exciting and satisfying experience."
Minoru Tanaka leaned forward, arms crossed.
"Yes, exactly! This is what I wanted!"
"As for music, we made a soundtrack along with sounds for movement, explosions, and item pickups. The soundtrack has two variations, adapting to battlefield conditions. When enemies decrease, the faster-paced version plays; in casual mode, a slower-paced version is used."
Tetsu finished and gave a slight bow.
"The game has forty levels, all generated from uniform assets. The maps are defined by scripts. Oh, by the way…"
He looked at Watarai with a seemingly friendly, slightly mocking smile.
"Since we don't have a skilled 2D artist, we requested outsourcing support from Sega. For 200,000 yen, we got a team to assist with simple assets. I think everyone can see that our graphics are better than Hunting Journey's. But it's not because we're better—the art team is from Sega."
"In the end… the porting lacked care. Times have evolved, yet the art didn't—it's still using older assets. Did nobody consider adapting it to SG1200's faster performance?"
Watarai's neck reddened, but he stopped himself from speaking further.
Of course he knew—but how could he dare make arbitrary changes?
Hunting Journey was a premium 1980 Sega title, and he was just a rookie producer. Altering it recklessly could bring criticism.
He understood: the safest approach was to leave it unchanged.
Moreover, the project was directly overseen by Hideki Sato.
Sato furrowed his brows, unable to express a thousand thoughts.
Deep down, he admitted the game looked excellent.
But precisely because it looked excellent, Sato felt irritated.
This wasn't his project!
Minoru Tanaka leaned in and quietly reminded him:
"Director Sato, since Smoke Mountain Tank Battle outsourced to Sega, it can be considered a deep collaboration. Promoting the game also contributes to the home console division's performance—much better than simply porting an arcade game. You wouldn't want poor performance to bring the president's wrath, would you?"
Sato let out a low hum.
"Of course I understand! Atlas did well on this game. Since there's already a release agreement with the home division, I hereby declare the inspection passed!"
The first batch of cartridges was scheduled to be printed by mid-September for official release.
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