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118-402: The studio's origins can be traced back to Sega AM11 in 1998, which was renamed to R&D4 or AM4 in 1999. It was headed by Toshihiro Nagoshi who joined Sega AM2 in 1989 and has been credited as the creator of the arcade titles Daytona USA and Virtua Striker . Although Virtua Striker is attributed to another developer, Satoshi Mifune. Nagoshi requested his own development division during

236-415: A floor , and the ball rolls accordingly. If the ball falls off a floor (an event dubbed a fall out ) or the in-game timer reaches zero, the player loses one of their three lives. The speed, in miles per hour , at which the ball is moving is displayed in the corner of the screen. Pausing the game and selecting the "View Stage" option allows one to rotate the camera around and examine the floor. A replay

354-618: A "platform-agnostic" third-party publisher. As a result, an enhanced version of Monkey Ball dubbed Super Monkey Ball was released for the GameCube as a launch game in Japan on September 14, 2001 and North America on November 18. The GameCube version was demonstrated to the public at E3 in May and at Nintendo 's Space World show in August; Sega confirmed that it would arrive in time for

472-570: A Diamond Award from the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) that year; it again received a Diamond Award the following year for being one of America's top three best-selling arcade games of 1995. In the United Kingdom, it topped the dedicated arcade charts for six months in 1994, from May to October. Retro Gamer 's Nick Thorpe said that though Daytona USA is considered anecdotally one of

590-486: A September 2021 interview that Banana Blitz HD did actually receive a lot of support from the fans. The RGG Studio branding was not used in Asian regions of the game. CS1 moved on to mobile games with Ryu Ga Gotoku Mobile released for GREE and Kingdom Conquest for iOS. The team that handled these mobile games formed a new team and left CS1 to establish a new division exclusively dedicated to these mobile games, due to

708-468: A checkpoint before time runs out. To keep players involved in multiplayer battles, rubber-banding is in place, ensuring all players stay involved in the race. The Sega Saturn version does not include multiplayer, but includes an additional "Saturn" mode, which turns off the game's timer and adds more cars for the player to choose from. Additional "Endurance" and "Grand Prix" modes are also included, both of which require pit stops. Sustaining damage in

826-441: A chimp hits a wall or falls off a ledge" as well as the "eclectic mix of instrumental tunes". Turner "thought the music ... set the mood perfectly, but some may find it annoying". Kent named Super Monkey Ball "the best party game of all time." Torres opined that the game "makes a strong case for the power of simple yet incredibly addictive gameplay." Knowles stated it represented "Sega at its pure best." Famitsu "liked

944-432: A concrete idea of how the game was supposed to end up. However, some staff did not like the uncertain nature and overall pressure of the project, and ended up quitting. When the game grew into a franchise, the staff gained more freedom and independence in regards to which elements to put into the game, due to established rules by Nagoshi. Therefore, the games became more varied as the series went on. The initial target audience

1062-519: A different approach; he recorded his own vocals as the fastest way to get the music into the game. Each course has a corresponding song. "Let's Go Away", the Daytona theme, uses a mixture of rock and funk instrumentals, while "Sky High" leaned on Mitsuyoshi's background in jazz fusion . A hidden track, "Pounding Pavement", was inspired by " Hotel California " by the Eagles and is accessible by holding

1180-770: A different arcade game to the Saturn: Virtua Fighter 2 , Virtua Cop , and Daytona USA . Due to slow progress on the Daytona USA conversion, several members of the Virtua Fighter 2 team were reassigned to Daytona USA . AM2 completed the conversion in April 1995. It was a Western launch game for Saturn, and was also released for Windows via SegaSoft . In Japan, two separate Windows releases were done in September and December 1996, with

1298-539: A dinosaur fossil and a clipper ship , at various locations within the game. Katagiri said there was no need to develop software for rendering because the Model 2 hardware handled this. For camera control and lighting effects, the team drew on its experience developing Virtua Racing . Daytona USA shares some features with Ridge Racer , including a drifting mechanic. Nagoshi initially planned not to include drifting as NASCAR stock cars do not drift, but changed his mind when

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1416-453: A fast, thrilling racing game you're after, the Saturn conversion has a great deal to recommend". The Windows version was a port of the Saturn's, and was not as well-received for inheriting the Saturn version's graphical issues despite being released a year later. Several reviewers compared the Saturn version to Ridge Racer 's PlayStation conversion. Computer and Video Games considered

1534-427: A full lap to get a feel for the banking in the corners. The team considered both Daytona International Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway for the game's beginner course. According to Nagoshi, because Daytona USA was not intended to be a simulation game, and because it would be sold in Japan and Europe in addition to North America, the oval and tri-oval designs were rejected as too repetitive. The final design for

1652-413: A high "ceiling of mastery" enhanced the game's longevity through a "simple but well conceived" scoring system and the ability to test strategies in practice mode. Edge and Casamassina thought similarly, with the latter stating "there are shortcuts that can be carved out by the crafty player, physics to be considered when navigating and more." Tim Knowles ( N-Sider ) pointed out that "the latter levels in

1770-526: A highly positive reception from Play Meter and RePlay , which both considered it the game of the show while praising the graphics and gameplay, but with Play Meter criticizing the expensive cabinet price. Rik Skews of Computer and Video Games considered Daytona USA the best arcade game he had played in years, and praised its " state-of-the-art " graphics, sound, and damage physics. Also highly regarding Daytona USA 's graphics were Electronic Gaming Monthly ( EGM ), which asserted that "the stakes in

1888-400: A long time with just one credit, though profits for arcade operators suffered. Nagoshi requested his own development division during the development of Shenmue . In what has been called "a brief moment of remarkable creativity", in 2000, Sega restructured its arcade and console development teams into nine semi-autonomous studios headed by the company's top creators. In 2000, Toshihiro Nagoshi

2006-456: A maze on your 15th try, on the last life of your last continue, it's all worth it. If that experience could be distilled into a single word, it would be euphoria; reducing Super Monkey Ball to one word is simpler. It's genius. On the party and mini games, Kent asserted "All of the activities ... were designed with an unerring eye for quality", Edge contended "none are half-assed throwaway rewards", and Nintendo Power remarked "each one

2124-441: A modified version of the game engine used for Sega Rally Championship . An enhanced arcade remake, called Sega Racing Classic , was released in 2010 and is the first title in the series not branded with the Daytona name as Sega no longer owned the rights at the time. It operates on Sega's RingWide arcade system board and features high definition graphics and an arranged instrumental soundtrack. Another enhanced version

2242-475: A personal favorite, while Nintendo Power considered Monkey Bowling "as good as tenpin gets" and Kent wrote it "is one of the most robust bowling simulations I have ever played." Finally, Four-Eyed Dragon conveyed that Monkey Golf provided "a humongous challenge" with "crazy, lopsided miniature golf course[s]", while Kent called it an "absolutely infuriating ... test [of] your aim and your logic." Although "not extremely complex or technically impressive in

2360-554: A prequel, made it an easy jumping-in point for new fans as well as the expertise of recently merged Atlus USA , were factors in its success. This also led to the previous games getting remasters and remakes in the form of the two remakes Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 and remasters of Yakuza 3 , Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5 . Producer Daisuke Sato wanted to continue to do titles that are well accepted globally, not only limited to Japan and niche consumers. In October 2021, Sega announced that Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato were leaving

2478-450: A race in these modes will adversely affect the car's performance. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions included online multiplayer with up to eight players. In September 1992, Sega partnered with the engineering division GE Aerospace to create its new arcade system board , the Model 2 . They were connected via a cold call from GE's Bob Hichborn, who met with Sega executives at

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2596-441: A selection of floors. In practice mode, any floor already played in normal mode can be repeated indefinitely with no penalties for failure. In normal mode, the player experiences a game over when they have lost all of their lives, but is allowed five opportunities to continue; eventually, unlimited "continues" can be unlocked. Beginner Extra, Advanced Extra and Expert Extra floors are unlocked when each respective difficulty level

2714-447: A thrilling feeling to be winding down a paper-thin path with ten seconds on the clock, hoping against hope that you can keep your balance for just a few more seconds and make it to the goal before time expires." Edge opined that the game is "defined" by "unrefined and angular" emotions: Every second brings another jagged spike of highrise elation or freefall despair, and that's what makes the game so superb ... when you finally beat

2832-661: Is a 1994 arcade racing game developed by Japanese studio Sega AM2 . Inspired by the popularity of the NASCAR motor racing series in the US, the game has players race stock cars on one of three courses. It was the first game to be released on the Sega Model 2 arcade system board . Released by Sega in March of 1994, Daytona USA is one of the highest-grossing arcade games of all time. Sega partnered with GE Aerospace to develop

2950-462: Is a 2001 platform party video game developed by Amusement Vision and published by Sega . The game debuted in Japan at the 2001 Amusement Operators Union trade show as Monkey Ball , an arcade cabinet running on Sega's NAOMI hardware and controlled with a distinctive banana-shaped analog stick. Due to the discontinuation of Sega's Dreamcast home console and the company's subsequent restructuring , an enhanced port dubbed Super Monkey Ball

3068-591: Is a fully realized activity that you could play for hours." Ricardo Torres ( GameSpot ) called Monkey Race "a solid little racer", and Casamassina recounted it felt "polished and finely tuned." Stevenson "loved Monkey Fight", while Casamassina and Kent highlighted the use of a crown to identify the player currently in the lead as encouraging "players to gang up on each other." Casamassina hailed Monkey Fight as "a thing of beauty", but Turner dismissed it as "a dud, as it's too much frantic button smacking and not enough skill or thought." Monkey Target, lauded by Kent as

3186-512: Is completed without losing a single life (or without using a continue in Expert)—and a hidden set of Master floors can be unlocked through playing the Extra floors without using a continue. The following party games are available: The mini-games are based on real sporting activities, but with the player's ball containing their monkey. The following mini-games are available, once unlocked through

3304-460: Is performed with an H-type shifter . Daytona USA 's arcade version on the Model 2 is capable of displaying up to 300,000 texture-mapped polygons per second, nearly double that of the previous Model 1. Visually, the game uses texture filtering , giving the visuals a smooth appearance. As in Virtua Racing , the game's camera system presents four different view perspectives from which

3422-414: Is presented after a floor's goal has been reached; replays can be saved to a memory card and viewed at whim. Every second remaining on the timer when a floor is completed adds 100 points to the player's score . Collectible bananas found throughout the game are also worth 100 points, while multipliers increasing the player's score by a factor of two or four are activated when a floor is finished in under half

3540-457: Is still hard work for the team, but the fanbase keeps Nagoshi motivated. Nagoshi explains that the fast release schedule of one game per year with a massive amount of content is based on the team's desire to constantly keep delivering the fans with not just what they want, but also to surprise them. Yakuza 0 increased the fanbase internationally. Previous localized installments did not always meet expectations in terms of sales. Yakuza 0 , being

3658-506: The New Entertainment R&;D Dept. The first Like a Dragon game had a difficult development cycle, as the first pitch was rejected by the higher-ups, due to expecting something different out of Nagoshi. The CEO of Sega Sammy, Hajime Satomi saw footage of Like a Dragon that was forcibly sneaked in a preview of upcoming Sega games, in spite of that it wasn't officially a project yet. Satomi took an interest in it, though

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3776-551: The Super Monkey Ball IP with remasters were happening as the IP has remained important to the studio, but nothing came into fruition, due to struggling to get the right team of people. Masao Shirosaki was pondering what to work on next after finishing development as chief planner on Judgment , and as Shirosaki and some staff became available, the project officially began. Shirosaki revealed that Banana Blitz specifically

3894-702: The Xbox Series X/S . Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge , an arcade-exclusive sequel using the Sega Model 3 hardware, was released in 1998. It is the only Daytona game that uses no courses or music from the original. Daytona USA 2001 , a remake of Daytona USA and Championship Circuit Edition , was released in 2001 for the Dreamcast , with graphical upgrades, online multiplayer, and new courses. Daytona Championship USA , also referred to as Daytona USA 3 , debuted in late 2016 as an arcade exclusive; it

4012-402: The "most addictive interactive activity of 2001" and considered "the most complex" of the party games by Turner, was complimented by Casamassina for its "simple and brilliantly intuitive" control scheme and "careful science of when to use an item and when to forgo it." Nintendo Power and Medina, respectively, described Monkey Billiards as "a full-blown pool game" and "a very fun alternative to

4130-516: The 38th best game available on Nintendo platforms, commenting "who knew that such cute characters with cinnamon roll ears could be the source of so much tension (when the clock is ticking) and so much relief (when they finally break the ribbon)?" In February 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine placed the game 90th on a list of the best Nintendo games, noting that "Along with the bum-clenchingly tricky puzzle stages, you get some great mini-games in this brilliant arcade game." In March 2009, Edge ranked

4248-650: The GameCube an even more fitting console for the title. According to Nagoshi, Amusement Vision staff felt more comfortable with the GameCube than Sega's own hardware and this ease of development contributed to their decision to focus on the system over the PlayStation 2 or Xbox ; he also joked that Nintendo was the only hardware manufacturer the staff did not "hate". Out of a team composed of ten to twenty individuals, it took four Amusement Vision employees between several weeks and two months to port Monkey Ball to

4366-556: The GameCube's launch at the June 2001 World Hobby Fair. As the first game Sega published for a Nintendo home console, Super Monkey Ball was considered a milestone for the company. Although Monkey Ball had been developed for Sega's NAOMI arcade board , which shared technology with the Dreamcast and was optimized to ensure games could be easily ported between the two platforms, Nagoshi commented that Nintendo's young demographic made

4484-469: The GameCube. Its graphics were enhanced with new background details as well as reflections and particle effects. Moreover, the developers spent an additional six months incorporating six extra modes into the game, with an emphasis on multiplayer competition and the introduction of GonGon as a fourth playable character. The bananas in the game display the Dole Food Company logo, but this

4602-499: The Model 2's capabilities. Sega's previous board, the Model 1 , had debuted in 1992 with Virtua Racing , which was popular in Japan and Europe. Tom Petit, president of Sega's American arcade division Sega Enterprises USA, suggested that NASCAR would be an attractive brand to use for a Model 2 game in the US. Though Sega Europe's Vic Leslie had reservations due to the greater popularity of Formula One in Europe, Sega executives approved

4720-686: The Model 2, which renders 3D graphics capable of texture filtering and texture mapping . Daytona USA was developed by AM2 after a meeting of the heads of Sega's regional offices to decide on a game to debut the Model 2 hardware. The concept was suggested by Tom Petit, president of Sega's American arcade division, with input from AM2 director Toshihiro Nagoshi , who became the game's director and producer. Sega aimed to outperform Namco 's Ridge Racer (1993). The developers researched motorsports extensively; they mapped Daytona International Speedway , and their experience developing Virtua Racing (1992) helped with lighting and camera control. Daytona USA

4838-566: The North American version of the game compared to the Japanese version, two sports game reviewers for EGM found problems with the frame rate and animation. By contrast, a reviewer for Sega Saturn Magazine found the game graphically impressive aside from the pop-up and asserted it had strong arcade-style gameplay, and one from Next Generation argued that, while " Daytona USA suffers from an accumulation of weaknesses, if it's

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4956-491: The Saturn's Daytona USA better than the PlayStation's Ridge Racer , with Mark Patterson claiming that, while "nowhere near as polished as Ridge Racer , it does play better, mainly because you can ram the other cars off the track and smash your own car up". While Air Hendrix of GamePro concluded Daytona USA ' s "intense gameplay and breathtaking graphics will exhilarate any racing fan" and had positive feedback for

5074-468: The Sega executives were unhappy about this move. Through perseverance however, Nagoshi managed to get the project started. The project was risky as there was no estimate on how the market would accept a game aimed at only adult Japanese males, based in the Japanese underworld. The highest estimate was only 70,000 copies in Japan. However, over time, the game sold over 1 million copies. Nagoshi said that it gave

5192-464: The United States through much of 2002. The game's North American sales were strong in 2001, in addition to a further 105,000 units sold through August 2002. While it sold well in all major territories, Nagoshi was disappointed by the game's performance in Japan, where he had expected it would be most successful; weak GameCube launch sales were cited as negatively impacting its performance in

5310-402: The additions of Saturn mode and mirror mode, he argued it "pales in comparison" to the PlayStation version of Ridge Racer in terms of "features, gameplay, and graphics". Daytona USA was named one of the best games of all time by Next Generation in 1996, GamesMaster in 1996, Computer and Video Games in 2000, EGM in 1997 and 2001, Yahoo! in 2005, and Empire in 2009. It

5428-482: The allotted time or via a warp gate. The player receives an extra life for every 100 bananas collected. The main game features three difficulty levels—Beginner, Advanced, and Expert, consisting of 10, 30, and 50 floors each—as well as three modes—Normal, Practice, and Competition. Normal mode allows one to four players to take turns progressing through the arcade Monkey Ball , whereas competition mode involves two to four player simultaneous split screen races across

5546-485: The arcade wars have been raised again", and GamePro ' s Manny LaMancha, who argued that Daytona USA is a combination of Virtua Racing 's action with Ridge Racer 's realism. In contrast, Bob Strauss of Entertainment Weekly compared the game to watching a movie, and said, "Picture yourself watching a sci-fi movie, set in a futuristic arcade, that involves a dizzying car race. 'Wow!' you can imagine saying to yourself, 'How did they do those special effects?' You'll have

5664-446: The ball, with their appearance being altered to include their "distinctive" ears. Intended to feature a "cute" aesthetic and accurate physics engine, the game debuted at the 2001 Amusement Operator Union trade show as Monkey Ball , a single-player arcade cabinet controlled with a distinctive banana-shaped analog stick. In early 2001, Sega announced that it was discontinuing its Dreamcast home console and restructuring itself into

5782-474: The beginner circuit, Three Seven Speedway, uses the tri-oval layout with a sharper final turn that requires strong braking. Unlike Virtua Racing 's Model 1 hardware, the Model 2 is capable of displaying surface detail on its 3D graphics with texture mapping. As this was new for the developers, trial and error was used to find the most effective approach. Suzuki also reached out to Sega designer Jeffery Buchanan, who suggested placing interesting features, such as

5900-489: The company after decades working in it. Due to this, series producer and writer Masayoshi Yokoyama would become the new studio head in place of Nagoshi who was in the position since the beginning. With the shift in leadership, the studio confirmed they were working on a sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon . The main writer behind the stories and scenarios of most of the Like a Dragon series has been Masayoshi Yokoyama, who previously

6018-501: The concept of rolling spheres through mazes based on his desire to create a game that was instantly possible to understand and play, as a contrast to increasingly complex games at Japanese arcades at the time. Prototypes involving a plain ball or a ball with an illustration were considered visually unappealing due to difficulties in perceiving its movement, so after a series of revisions monkey characters previously created by an Amusement Vision designer named Mika Kojima were placed inside

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6136-528: The concept. Petit and Sega Enterprises USA chief of finance Masahiro Nakagawa began negotiations with representatives of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway for a license to develop a game based on the race. To lower costs, Sega decided not to negotiate with NASCAR for a license, and so the game does not contain real sponsors, drivers, or cars. Sega mandated that Daytona USA had to be better than Namco 's 1993 racing game Ridge Racer and it had to achieve higher sales. Ridge Racer had reached

6254-417: The consistent frame rate , with Casamassina emphasizing "it truly, always runs at a full 60 frames per second." However, Four-Eyed Dragon noted the visuals were "not greatly detailed" and Casamassina observed "there isn't much geometry being drawn at any single point in the title and the backgrounds are often barren, whether it be for power or stylistic purposes." Moreover, Casamassina was disappointed that

6372-470: The country. The game sold 72,631 units in Japan. Super Monkey Ball received "generally favorable" reviews, with aggregated scores of 87/100 on Metacritic and 88.7% on GameRankings , some journalists considered Super Monkey Ball the highlight of the GameCube's launch lineup. Edge praised the main game as "absorb[ing]" due to its high level of difficulty, noting that the trial and error required to complete challenging levels forces one to learn

6490-478: The dances performed by the monkeys after winning a match and cited the water effects as "particularly incredible". The game was described by Turner as "colorful" and "crisp" and by Torres as "cartoony" and "clean". Edge likened the game's aesthetic to Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series: "Every surface is bright and solid and shiny, every aspect impeccably presented." Casamassina, Turner, and Torres all praised

6608-449: The development of Shenmue . In 2000, AM4 was reestablished as Amusement Vision, where it was best known for Super Monkey Ball and F-Zero GX . Several structural changes occurred in the years that followed. During a reorganization in 2003, the non-sports staff of Smilebit merged with Amusement Vision, and a year later Sega merged with Sammy to form Sega Sammy Holdings . Amusement Vision became New Entertainment R&D Dept . and

6726-694: The division's Daytona Beach, Florida headquarters in 1990, and later at Sega's headquarters in Tokyo in November of the same year. At the second meeting, GE Aerospace executives brought a tape demonstrating the hardware's 3D graphics simulating the Daytona International Speedway . GE estimated that their sale of the Model 2’s graphics technology accelerated Sega's arcade hardware development by 14 months. The heads of Sega's regional offices began discussing ideas for games to demonstrate

6844-412: The earning of play points: Super Monkey Ball was developed by Amusement Vision , a branch of the Japanese video game publisher Sega that was created in 2000 and composed of about fifty people. Amusement Vision president Toshihiro Nagoshi , who had previously worked under Sega AM2 's Yu Suzuki and been credited as the creator of the arcade titles Daytona USA and Virtua Striker , devised

6962-460: The emotions of the sport to his staff in Japan. Game planner Makoto Osaki said he purchased a sports car and watched the NASCAR film Days of Thunder more than 100 times. Programmer Daichi Katagiri was an avid player of arcade racing games at the time and leaned on that experience. The developers used satellite imagery and sent staff to photograph Daytona International Speedway; Nagoshi walked

7080-503: The executive departments merged. Prior to the acquisition by Sammy, Sega began the process of re-integrating its subsidiaries into the main company, which was completed by October 2004. Sega would also restructure the development studios again, consolidating the divisions further into the Global Entertainment, Amusement Software, and New Entertainment R&D divisions. By 2005, most Amusement Vision members were located at

7198-665: The first Like a Dragon game was released. Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! was the last Like a Dragon game to be developed under the New Entertainment R&;D name. Since Yakuza 3 , they were referred to as Sega's CS1 team, all the way up to Yakuza: Dead Souls . The first game to use the RGG logo was Binary Domain in Japan, released in February 2012. Eventually, the RGG Studio's logo became used consistently and

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7316-473: The first lap of each race measures the skill of the player and adjusts the difficulty of opponents accordingly. For less skilled players, opposing cars open lanes for the player, while higher-skilled players have to deal with opponents that block their path. The game's physics include realistic driving mechanics, including drifting and power sliding . The steering wheel in the arcade cabinet uses force feedback so players feel collisions and bumps. Shifting

7434-529: The first released version supporting specific graphics cards such as Leadtek 's WinFast GD400. A Windows version was released in Europe on November 14, 1996, and in North America in December of the same year. Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition , a reworked and expanded version of Daytona USA , was released in 1996 for the Saturn. Developed by Sega's consumer software division, it uses

7552-500: The first two Like a Dragon games, crime novelist Hase Seishu was an editor of Yokoyama's scripts. He heavily critiqued the first draft, suggesting that it lacks realism, so Yokoyama did further research and adjusted the script in his own way. For the second game, Yokoyama only needed one round of editing from Seishu. Nagoshi is very involved in the creation of the scripts, and advocated for the various elements found in Yakuza 3 , such as

7670-403: The fourth view perspective button while selecting the beginner track in the arcade version. For the arcade version, the songs were sampled onto a Yamaha sound chip, including the drums and Mitsuyoshi's voice, then reconstructed by varying when the tracks would play and loop. This was the only way to include vocals, due to technical limitations of the Model 2. For the Saturn version, the music

7788-429: The game can be played, and also includes the ability to view behind the car. The arcade version allows up to eight players to compete with each other, depending on the number of cabinets linked together. Linked deluxe cabinets may also include a camera pointing towards the drivers seat, linked to a closed-circuit television to show the player on a separate screen. In multiplayer , only the lead driver needs to reach

7906-520: The game for 20 minutes prior to performing a surgical drill finished slightly faster and made fewer mistakes. Super Monkey Ball inspired Neverball , a free and open source game for Microsoft Windows , OS X , Linux , Dreamcast, and iOS . The 2020 battle royale game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has been described as " Super Monkey Ball for the Fortnite generation" by Tom Wiggins of Stuff magazine. In 2006, Nintendo Power ranked it

8024-488: The game get extremely difficult and you will often get frustrated", while Casamassina felt "it may be a little too difficult for the casual gamer." However, Mark Medina ( N-Sider ) called the learning curve "perfectly spot on": "Any falling off the platforms feels entirely your fault and at the same time, you always get the sense that you're just that little bit closer to that elusive goal." Edge and Jason Nuyens and Will Stevenson ( N-Sider ) agreed with this sentiment, with

8142-420: The game" and "every single level played adds to your skill." Matt Casamassina ( IGN ) commended the "great level variation", with "well created mazes and puzzles that must be completed using a combination of physics calculations, careful planning and a huge helping of patience." Turner complimented the frequent introduction of incentives to keep playing such as additional continues and hidden levels, adding that

8260-461: The goal without falling off or letting the timer reach zero to advance to the next stage. There are also several multiplayer modes: independent minigames as well as extensions of the main single-player game. Super Monkey Ball received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised the simplicity and subtle depth of its control scheme as well as the new multiplayer modes not present in its arcade counterpart, although some felt its presentation

8378-410: The growth of mobile games and the release of internet enabled PlayStation Vita . It is headed by Like a Dragon producer Masayoshi Kikuchi, thus effectively leaving the studio with his last credit being Yakuza 5 . The RGG Studio logo was established in late August 2011, and was first used to promote Binary Domain in Japan back in February 2012. Daytona USA (video game) Daytona USA

8496-494: The latter two emphasizing the addictive quality of the gameplay. On a technical note, Four-Eyed Dragon ( GamePro ) faulted the camera system, which "can get out of position, making it hard to maneuver in tight spots." Steven L. Kent ( The Japan Times ) described the game as "a test of nerve" requiring "advanced eye–hand coordination ." Turner reflected on the game's ability to evoke feelings of "nervous excitement", "intensity", and "electrifying, stomach-wrenching fear": "It's

8614-547: The likes of Turbo , Out Run , Super Monaco GP and Sega Rally as part of a proud arcade racing heritage, but perhaps defines it". According to aggregator Metacritic , the Xbox 360 version received "generally favorable reviews" and the PlayStation 3 version received "mixed" reviews. Justin Towell of GamesRadar+ regarded Daytona USA as "a joyous, jubilant celebration of everything that made arcade games so exciting" and

8732-472: The list for five years, with 16 months at number one. Daytona USA was rereleased in 1996 in arcades as Daytona USA: Special Edition , designed as a smaller, more affordable cabinet. Around the time of the worldwide release, Sega announced releases for its Saturn and 32X consoles, but a year later, Sega announced their intention to focus solely on the Saturn. In early 1995, Sega AM2's Saturn division split into three departments, each charged with converting

8850-415: The logo has been used consistently. Toshihiro Nagoshi joined Sega in 1989 as a designer. As Sega began developing 3D games such as Virtua Racing , he was able to apply his knowledge of film in choosing the right camera angles in three dimensional spaces, something that the other team members had no experience with. Nagoshi became producer, director and chief designer of Daytona USA , which became one of

8968-400: The main game in single-player mode. Reminiscent of Marble Madness and Labyrinth , the objective of the main game is to guide one of four playable monkeys (AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, and GonGon) encased in a transparent ball across a suspended series of platforms and through a goal. By moving the analog stick , the player tilts the entire set of platforms that make up a level, called

9086-515: The mini-games in addition to the regular modes." Nintendo Power hailed the game as "one of the ultimate party games" and "the best in serious gaming, too." Turner declared it "that rarity of rarities: a perfectly-realized launch title", with a "bounty of extras" that set "a new standard for arcade to home conversions". According to Medina, "probably the greatest thing about this game is that it's so unassuming, in that you are genuinely very surprised at its extremely high quality." Super Monkey Ball

9204-440: The more heartwarming atmosphere with the kids at the orphanage, the return of Joji Kazama, as well as suggesting the keywords "base" and "defense" for the story. For Yakuza 2 , the golden Osaka Castle , was also Nagoshi's idea. For Yakuza: Like a Dragon , Nagoshi wanted to write all the lines for Saeko. As far as endings are concerned, Nagoshi insisted that they should be uplifting which is similar to Hollywood productions, while

9322-524: The most successful arcade games for its multiplayer and longevity, exact figures were difficult to find. In 2015, IGN 's Luke Reilly said that the game is "perhaps the most recognisable arcade racing game of all time and the highest-grossing sit-down cabinet ever" and noted the continued presence of Daytona USA cabinets in arcades and bowling alleys . The original arcade game was critically acclaimed by video game and arcade industry publications alike. Upon its North American debut at ACME 1994, it received

9440-416: The most successful arcade games of all time. Next he worked on another racing game, Scud Race , which, while successful, did not make as much money as Daytona USA . Nagoshi felt pressure to constantly deliver racing games as he became known for the genre in the company. He developed SpikeOut , which he described as a "personal rebellion" as it was a character based action game where players could play for

9558-518: The new survival mode "a brilliant test of memory, logic and dexterity". 1Up.com 's Ray Barnholt praised this version but expressed disappointment at the lack of new features. By contrast, Eurogamer ' s Martin Robinson asserted that "age doesn't seem to have ravaged Daytona USA 's core" and wrote that the game serves as "fitting tribute to one of arcade racing's enduring icons". Super Monkey Ball (video game) Super Monkey Ball

9676-494: The nuances of its "reductive control system" and eventually enables the player to perform seemingly impossible tasks with increasing ease: "Once a level falls, the mysticism around it vanishes. It's beatable; it's an afterthought on the route to your next impossible hurdle." Ben Turner ( GameSpy ) commented on the "excellent progression of difficulty" engendered by three distinct difficulty modes and thoughtful stage design, expounding "most levels introduce some new idea or concept to

9794-399: The race before time runs out, passing checkpoints to collect more time. Players begin in last place and compete against a field of up to 39 computer-controlled cars, dependent on the course selected. Three courses are available for play: Beginner, Advanced, and Expert, also known respectively as Three Seven Speedway, Dinosaur Canyon, and Seaside Street Galaxy. Adaptive difficulty is used;

9912-502: The real game"; Casamassina applauded its "ultra-realistic physics engine that perfectly mimics how pool balls would react ... it all works just as good if not better than any pool simulation available to home consoles." Casamassina was further impressed by the physics of Monkey Bowling, elaborating that "when the pins break apart one would swear it's the real deal", but Turner criticized its physics as "slightly wonky". Medina singled out Monkey Bowling's "nailbiting" challenge mode as

10030-508: The rest adheres to different rules than western cinema. A different writer includes Tsuyoshi Furuta, who wrote the scripts of Judgment and Lost Judgment . Before those games, Furuta was one of the writers of the well received Yakuza 0 and he was thought of Nagoshi to be the best choice to make a script that differentiates from the Like a Dragon series. Furuta did not start his game development career at Sega, but at Spike Chunsoft and worked on 428: Shibuya Scramble . One detour for

10148-461: The same reaction while enjoying Daytona USA ". The Saturn version received a positive reception, with high scores from most critics, though a number of them criticized it for graphical issues. Maximum highly regarded the challenging course design and realistic game mechanics, particularly the impact of wind resistance , but criticized the low-resolution graphic texture mapping, clipping , and lack of multiplayer. While identifying improvements on

10266-532: The success of the first Super Monkey Ball , it spawned a direct sequel on the GameCube. Following that, a collaboration with Nintendo happened. AV would develop F-Zero GX in a contracted development, while Nintendo would be responsible for the supervision, production and publishing of their IP. In the end, Nintendo was impressed with the product, considering it a step forward for the F-Zero franchise. Amusement Vision consistently produced high selling titles and

10384-434: The team confidence to press on and continue to evolve it into a series. The staff from Amusement Vision and Smilebit worked on many different console and arcade games, and they had confidence in their genres and careers. However, Like a Dragon did not match any of their past experiences, which Nagoshi saw as them all playing on a level playing field. Every element of the game had to go through Nagoshi first, because only he had

10502-466: The team decided not to focus on simulation. He did not believe in fortune telling , but chose the number 41 for the Hornet player car because he was told by someone close to him that the number would be lucky. The soundtrack was composed by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi , who had no familiarity with stock car racing. He chose to include vocals after hearing Ridge Racer 's techno soundtrack and deciding to try

10620-484: The team was the game Binary Domain , which unlike the Like a Dragon series, was an attempt to make something for the worldwide audience. However, it was a commercial failure , only selling 20,000 copies in North America by April 2012. It made the team reflect on preferring to keep making authentic Japanese games rather than pretending to be something else. The new Dragon Engine developed for Yakuza 6 and used in subsequent games used technology from Binary Domain and

10738-409: The three difficulty modes reused level themes and by the absence of progressive scan support. Torres regarded the game's sound as "good" but "probably [its] weakest aspect", calling the music "catchy" but finding the monkey noises repetitive and the remaining sound effects "unspectacular." Conversely, Blue-Eyed Dragon was favorable to the "boisterously entertaining monkey sounds that can be heard once

10856-418: The time. Another desire for developing the game was to prove that games can be successful without a huge budget, which was a particular complaint from Sega's CEO at the time. AV developed it initially as an arcade title, Monkey Ball . Monkey Ball was first released in Japanese arcades in June 2001, and then received an upgraded version — Super Monkey Ball — as a GameCube launch title in all regions. After

10974-407: The top of arcade sales charts at the end of 1993 and beginning of 1994, and it had received highly favorable reviews of its graphics, especially in comparison to Virtua Racing . Development was handed to Sega AM2 , a development division headed by Yu Suzuki , who had led development on popular racing games including Hang-On , Out Run , and Virtua Racing . AM2 director Toshihiro Nagoshi

11092-408: The various characters were related to each other. As a whole, Yokoyama focuses on entertaining characters and scenes, and only decides the culprit at the very end in the writing process, with a focus on who would be the most interesting to fight as a final boss. Yokoyama himself doesn't read novels and has no training in script writing, and is mostly inspired by visual mediums like film and TV shows. For

11210-492: The way that many other launch titles strive to be" Turner believed the graphics were "extremely well-realized and perfectly suited to the game." According to Torres, "while the four selectable monkey models and the various levels are simple in design, they are generously modeled with well-textured and shaded polygons and have a very rich look." Four-Eyed Dragon spoke highly of the "hilarious" monkey animations, "sharp reflections and cool water effects". Likewise, Casamassina enjoyed

11328-428: The way they brand themselves and give themselves an identity of their own. The current iteration of the logo was introduced during the announcement of the western release of Yakuza Kiwami 2 in 2018. According to studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama, the studio is not a company organization but refers to a production team within Sega. Nevertheless, the studio's logo and name have become more recognizable internationally, and

11446-489: Was a critical and commercial success, praised for its graphics, soundtrack and gameplay. A conversion was made for the Sega Saturn in 1995. It was followed by sequels and enhancements for consoles and arcades. It has been frequently named one of the best video games of all time . In Daytona USA , the player drives a stock car known as the Hornet. The player's objectives are to outrun the competing cars and complete

11564-426: Was a new experience for him because it was not a known style of racing in Japan. He chose to design his game to be "funky entertainment", in contrast to the simulation -based style of Ridge Racer . AM2 split into two teams: one focused on Daytona USA while the other developed Virtua Fighter . As research for the project, Nagoshi read books and watched videos on NASCAR, although he found it difficult to convey

11682-526: Was a runner-up for GameSpot ' s annual "Best GameCube Game" award, which went to Super Smash Bros. Melee . The success of the game spawned a franchise, with 16 sequels or spin-offs released to date. Due to its complex physics engine and abundance of possible shortcuts, Super Monkey Ball has been popular with professional speedrunners . A 2006 study conducted by the Beth Israel Medical Center found that surgeons who played

11800-414: Was a senior planner for Jet Set Radio and director of Ollie King . When developing the first game, the tagline was "The maddog Yakuza and the 10 billion yen girl" and various members of the team were able to pitch a story. Yokoyama's proposal stood out where instead of focusing on a big plot twist that concerned the girl and the 10 billion yen, he drew up a character correlation chart, and explained how

11918-399: Was adult Japanese males but overtime, the series audience expanded into females and also overseas players, though the primary target audience still remains the adult Japanese males. Nagoshi says that the development team of the Like a Dragon series always needs to have a sense of challenge. For Yakuza 2 , they first thought about having a two-year development cycle, but after discussion, it

12036-493: Was chosen for a remaster, because with the limited time and budget they had, it was the most reasonable choice. However, he stated that if successful, remakes of 1 and 2, as well as a new game would be possible. While there was initially no official word from Sega on how Banana Blitz HD performed, a remake of the first 3 Super Monkey Ball games, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania that takes the series back to its origins, had ultimately come into fruition. Shirosaki later revealed in

12154-488: Was considered to be less commercially successful than AV and also focused more on the console market, but had high technical skills. Nagoshi had to think about how to use everyone's skill to the best of their ability. When the idea of a game portraying the Japanese underworld came about from Nagoshi, Masayoshi Kikuchi who previously worked on the Jet Set Radio series at Smilebit, agreed to the concept. Coincidentally he

12272-680: Was evolved further. The Dragon Engine was also lent to Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown , which was co-developed with Sega AM2. Nagoshi said that for the Super Monkey Ball series , he put the wheels in motion at the very beginning, but eventually, other staff continued where he left off when subsequent games got made. Jun Tokuhara who joined 1999 as a programmer, directed series entries Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll , Super Monkey Ball 3D and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz . Between those, he worked on minigames of Ryu Ga Gotoku: Kenzan and Yakuza 3 . Talks of bringing back

12390-399: Was given direct responsibility for the project, with Nagoshi and Suzuki serving as producers. The game was Nagoshi's first project as a director. Nagoshi was aware of the racing arcade games already on the market and decided he wanted to take his game in a different direction. While in the US for a meeting on the Model 2, Nagoshi was given tickets to a NASCAR race, and later recalled that it

12508-542: Was lacking. The game was commercially successful and remained one of Sega's best-sellers in the United States for much of 2002, eventually spawning a direct sequel, Super Monkey Ball 2 (2002), and a broader Super Monkey Ball franchise. Super Monkey Ball ' s stages were remade as a part of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania (2021) . Super Monkey Ball has three game modes: main game, party games, and mini-games. The mini-games are unavailable at first, and must be unlocked by earning 2,500 "play points" through playing

12626-443: Was named one of the best coin-op games by EGM in 1997 and by Killer List of Videogames , and one of the best retro games by NowGamer in 2010 and EGM in 2006. Edge named it the 70th "best game to play today" in 2009. In 2015, IGN named it the sixth-most influential racing game, asserting that it "remains a shining example of arcade racing done oh so right". Thorpe wrote that Daytona USA "doesn't just stand alongside

12744-459: Was not fond of doing ports of arcade titles, believing console and arcade titles should be developed separately and in mind for their target market. Of the nine studios that Sega established, AV was the smallest, with about 50 employees. Nagoshi devised the concept of rolling spheres through mazes based on his desire to create a game that was instantly possible to understand and play, as a contrast to increasingly complex games at Japanese arcades at

12862-530: Was profitable every year. Nagoshi was promoted within Sega along with Yuji Naka and Hisao Oguchi who also ran profitable studios in the form of Naka's Sonic Team and Oguchi's Hitmaker . When Oguchi became company president in 2003, he announced his intention to consolidate Sega's studios into "four or five core operations". As part of the consolidation, the non-sports staff of Smilebit , developers of games like Jet Set Radio Future and Panzer Dragoon Orta on Xbox , were absorbed by Amusement Vision. Smilebit

12980-416: Was released as a launch title for the GameCube in late 2001, garnering interest as Sega's first game published for a Nintendo home console . Conceived by Amusement Vision head Toshihiro Nagoshi , Super Monkey Ball involves guiding a transparent ball through many levels, the ball containing one of four monkeys—AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, and GonGon—across a series of maze-like platforms. The player must reach

13098-463: Was released digitally for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012, as Daytona USA . It includes both the original arcade soundtrack and the arranged soundtrack from Sega Racing Classic with vocals by Mitsuyoshi, along with added features including eight player online multiplayer, challenge, and karaoke modes. The Xbox 360 version was later made backward compatible on the Xbox One and extended to

13216-595: Was remixed. Prior to release, a prototype had debuted at the Amusement Machine Show in Tokyo in August 1993, and it was tested in select Japanese arcades the same month; Petit states this was done to measure how the games would be received by the public. The complete version of Daytona USA was released in Japan in March 1994, and made its North American debut the same month at Chicago's American Coin Machine Exposition (ACME); it

13334-553: Was removed in Super Monkey Ball Deluxe due to a licensing dispute. A theme song called "Ei Ei Puh!", which was arranged by Cheru Watanabe and featured vocals by Yu Abiru, was created for the Japanese version of Super Monkey Ball but removed from its U.S. release. Tokyo -based voice actor Brian Matt provided the game's narration, albeit uncredited . Super Monkey Ball was commercially successful upon release and remained one of Sega's best-selling titles in

13452-538: Was subsequently released worldwide in April 1994. According to Petit, Sega delayed the worldwide launch to measure reception before investing in other territories. The standard game was released in a twin-seat cabinet and a deluxe cabinet fitted with detailed seats on top of subwoofers ; Sega originally planned to use actual car seats, but management determined the seats were too difficult to enter and exit. Daytona USA debuted at number two on arcade operator publication RePlay ' s "Player's Choice" chart and stayed on

13570-399: Was the first Daytona -branded arcade game in 18 years. Daytona USA was popular in arcades. In Japan, it was the ninth highest-grossing arcade game of 1994 , and the highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1995 . In North America, it was listed by arcade industry magazine Play Meter as one of the top two highest-grossing arcade video games of 1994, with the twin cabinet receiving

13688-440: Was the president of AV ( Amusement Vision ). Nagoshi chose the name because he was fond of the term "vision", and amusement was the core market of the studio. AV refers to Adult Video in Japan, however Nagoshi thinks with all adult videos being streamed in the future, people will instead think of amusement video when they see AV. Speaking about initial plans for AV, Nagoshi wanted to make original titles in addition to sequels. He also

13806-558: Was thought that releasing and developing the game just one year later would be better to keep audiences attention, though it meant more work for them. For the first spin-off Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! , the team initially made fun of their goal of making the game for the new PlayStation 3 while also moving to a different setting. However, they managed to make it in just a year and a bit, and the staff felt refreshed. The team held seminars in Japan explaining how to develop an HD game in 10 months. While certain things have become routine, each game

13924-424: Was watching yakuza type movies and also had a desire to turn that type of atmosphere into a game. By 2004, AV had about 124 employees. During 2004, Sammy Corporation bought a controlling share in Sega and created the new company Sega Sammy Holdings , an entertainment conglomerate. Since then, Sega and Sammy became subsidiaries of the aforementioned holding company, with both companies operating independently, while

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