Assault Suits series
Encyclopedia
The Assault Suits series is a series of futuristic robotic war video games developed by NCS featuring soldiers manning gigantic humanoid machines dubbed Assault Suits. Spanning the course of 15 years and beyond, the games would be cross-distributed, cross-published and developed between the U.S.
and Japan
. It would be known as one of the most challenging series to follow due to the drastic changes from game to game. The original Assault Suit Leynos and the direct sequel used the term "Assault Suit" while the Valken series used the plural "Assault Suits".
and Gundam
, but without any of their licenses. Most fans who played them considered them great games, but US sales were lukewarm.
would spawn another game on the Super Famicom
. The artwork style, assault armor concepts, as well as the dialogue engine would remain similar to that of Target Earth/Assault Suits Leynos, but with major graphical improvements. The US name Cybernator
added confusion to American
gamers and disconnected many of the fans from the Target Earth roots. This game was actually a prequel to Assault Suit Leynos, taking place nearly a decade before. An enhanced remake was released for the PS2 in 2004.
as the true sequel to Assault Suits Leynos, but was released only in Japan.
. It differed from the rest of the series, as it was a Strategy/RPG, unlike the rest, all being Action/Shooter/Platform titles. After the release in 1999, the same game would be reprinted by the company Four Winds on August 30, 2001. This game was never released outside Japan either.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It would be known as one of the most challenging series to follow due to the drastic changes from game to game. The original Assault Suit Leynos and the direct sequel used the term "Assault Suit" while the Valken series used the plural "Assault Suits".
Timeline
| Japan Name | US Name | EU Name | Release Dates | Game system | Developer | JP Publisher | US Publisher | EU Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assault Suit Leynos | Target Earth Target Earth (video game) Target Earth is a video game developed by NCS Corp in 1990 for the Sega Genesis and the Sega Mega Drive. It has since been re-released on the Wii as a Virtual Console product in Japan. Target Earth is the English translation of the original Japanese version, Assault Suit Leynos... |
N/A | JP March 16, 1990 / US 1990 / No EU release | Sega Genesis | NCS | Masaya Masaya Masaya, culturally known as the City of Flowers, is the capital city of Masaya department. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada and 31 km southeast from Managua. The town of Masaya is situated just East of Masaya Volcano , an active volcano from which the city takes its name... |
Dreamworks | N/A |
| Assault Suits Valken | Cybernator Cybernator Cybernator - known in Japan as - is a run and gun game released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the indirect prequel to Target Earth as part of the Assault Suits series by NCS Corp. The game was localized and published overseas by Konami. A remake of Cybernator was... |
Cybernator Cybernator Cybernator - known in Japan as - is a run and gun game released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the indirect prequel to Target Earth as part of the Assault Suits series by NCS Corp. The game was localized and published overseas by Konami. A remake of Cybernator was... |
JP Dec 18, 1992 / US April 1993 / EU 1993 | SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short... |
NCS | Masaya Masaya Masaya, culturally known as the City of Flowers, is the capital city of Masaya department. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada and 31 km southeast from Managua. The town of Masaya is situated just East of Masaya Volcano , an active volcano from which the city takes its name... |
Konami Konami is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games... |
Palcom |
| Assault Suits Leynos II Assault Suits Leynos II Assault Suit Leynos 2 is a video game developed by NCS in 1997 for the Sega Saturn. It is the third game in the Assault Suits series.... |
N/A | N/A | JP February 17, 1997 / No US release / No EU release | Sega Saturn Sega Saturn The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe... |
NCS | Masaya Masaya Masaya, culturally known as the City of Flowers, is the capital city of Masaya department. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada and 31 km southeast from Managua. The town of Masaya is situated just East of Masaya Volcano , an active volcano from which the city takes its name... |
N/A | N/A |
| Assault Suits Valken II | N/A | N/A | JP July 26, 1999 / No US release / No EU Release | PlayStation PlayStation The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000... |
NCS | Masaya Masaya Masaya, culturally known as the City of Flowers, is the capital city of Masaya department. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada and 31 km southeast from Managua. The town of Masaya is situated just East of Masaya Volcano , an active volcano from which the city takes its name... |
N/A | N/A |
| Assault Suits Valken | N/A | Assault Suits Valken | JP August 26, 2004 / No US Release / EU June 2005 | PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
NCS | Masaya Masaya Masaya, culturally known as the City of Flowers, is the capital city of Masaya department. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada and 31 km southeast from Managua. The town of Masaya is situated just East of Masaya Volcano , an active volcano from which the city takes its name... |
N/A | 505 Game Street |
Target Earth / Assault Suit Leynos
The first known game of the series. On their debut, fans considered these games a combination of MacrossMacross
is a series of science fiction mecha anime, directed by Shōji Kawamori of Studio Nue in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth/Humanity after the year 1999. It consists of three TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West...
and Gundam
Gundam
The is a metaseries of anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Mobile Suits" ; usually the protagonist's MS will carry the name Gundam....
, but without any of their licenses. Most fans who played them considered them great games, but US sales were lukewarm.
Cybernator / Assault Suits Valken
The success of the first Assault Suits game in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
would spawn another game on the Super Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
. The artwork style, assault armor concepts, as well as the dialogue engine would remain similar to that of Target Earth/Assault Suits Leynos, but with major graphical improvements. The US name Cybernator
Cybernator
Cybernator - known in Japan as - is a run and gun game released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the indirect prequel to Target Earth as part of the Assault Suits series by NCS Corp. The game was localized and published overseas by Konami. A remake of Cybernator was...
added confusion to American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gamers and disconnected many of the fans from the Target Earth roots. This game was actually a prequel to Assault Suit Leynos, taking place nearly a decade before. An enhanced remake was released for the PS2 in 2004.
Assault Suit Leynos II
This game would arrive on the Sega SaturnSega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
as the true sequel to Assault Suits Leynos, but was released only in Japan.
Assault Suits Valken II
The sequel to the SNES title in the series released on the PlayStationPlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
. It differed from the rest of the series, as it was a Strategy/RPG, unlike the rest, all being Action/Shooter/Platform titles. After the release in 1999, the same game would be reprinted by the company Four Winds on August 30, 2001. This game was never released outside Japan either.
Trivia
- Cybernator was the subject of censorshipCensorshipthumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
during its localizationInternationalization and localizationIn computing, internationalization and localization are means of adapting computer software to different languages, regional differences and technical requirements of a target market...
. The Japanese version features written dialog accompanied by a portrait of the speaker, but for some reason, these portraits were removed during localization. There is also a scene absent in which the president of the enemy forces, after realizing that his nation has been defeated, commits suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. It is unknown whether KonamiKonamiis a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
or NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
took action on these censorships.
- Target Earth wasn't left untouched either—the scene where a comrade who doesn't make it back to the ship burns up in the atmosphere, was removed.
- The violent scene of a comrade dying in the atmosphere may be a homage of a similar scene in the animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Mobile Suit GundamMobile Suit Gundamis a televised anime series, created by Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network on April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes...
where a comrade of the antagonists chases the protagonists' ship in hope of destroying it, only to get caught in Earth's gravity well and burned up in the atmosphere.
External links
- NCS NCS Website
- Starship Modeler