Mitchell Corp might not be a household name with most gamers, but the more astute among you will recognise the name from such hits as Pang, Puzz Loop and Polarium. Founded by former Data East staffer Roy Ozaki, the firm has enjoyed a very close relationship with Nintendo in recent years, with its last title — Tokyo Crash Mobs — coming exclusively to the 3DS eShop.
Speaking to John Szczepaniak in his book The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers, Ozaki has revealed that while Mitchell is still technically in business, the company has no longer has an R&D division and is currently looking for partners to license its back catalogue of arcade releases.
This list sadly doesn't include the aforementioned Pang, Puzz Loop and Polarium, but it does include some notable releases — including the unofficial sequel to Capcom's Strider, Cannon Dancer (AKA Osman). Strider creator Kouichi "Isuke" Yotsui produced the game in 1996, and while it was critically well-received and has since become a cult classic, it was not a commercial success and it lost Mitchell a considerable sum of money.
Yotsui has had no input in any other Strider title since leaving Capcom, and although he has produced games for other firms, his connection with Mitchell is still strong today — he was one of the main programmers on Tokyo Crash Mobs.
The complete list of games available for licensing can be found below, and contains some amusing titles:
- Funky Jet (1992)
- The Karate Tournament (1992)
- Double Wings (1993)
- Lady Killer (1993)
- Demon Mirage Mahjong (1994)
- Party Time: Gonta the Diver II (1995)
- Diploma (1995)
- Charlie Ninja (1995)
- Osman / Cannon Dancer (1996)
- Three Engraved Intentions (1996)
- Gamshara (2002)
- This Good Octopus (2003)
While Ozaki mentions "mobile phones, computers and other devices" as potential platforms for ports, we'd personally love to see the likes of Cannon Dancer and Charlie Ninja on either the 3DS or Wii U eShops. Would you be willing to lay down some cash for conversions of old arcade titles such as these? Let us know by posting a comment below.
Comments 24
id pick up cannon dancer was a huge fan of strider back in the day
yup. release all of 'em as a retail pack.
I looked up all the games on the list on YouTube before reading the article, and Cannon Dancer and Charlie Ninja were the ones I noted to test in an emu. There rest were rather meh...
Would love to have them on WiiU as nothing beats playing classics on Nintendo consoles.
And by "home formats" of course he doesn't mean Wii U
This Good Octopus sounds like an essential for any self respecting gamer
Looks pretty cool.
Makes me think of modern PlatinumGames Inc titles.
I'd definitely buy conversions for arcade titles on WiiU, Cannon Dancer looks great. The same goes for other arcade games, like X-Men Arcade, The Simpsons side-scroller, Gauntlet Legends, and CrazyTaxi (with the original soundtrack).
This isn't going to happen. (As much I would like it to).
Nothing ever happens like this when MAME doesn't already support it.
(Raiden Legacy skips Raiden 2 and Raiden DX for that reason and they are probably the best two).
D4 Enterprise is the only one who I know of who has ever done something not already supported perfectly by MAME.
If you look at what people buy on the eshop charts there is no way this is going to make money.
Might have had a chance if they had put Joe & Mac Returns on Data East Arcade classics. (Same board).
@unrandomsam MAME already supports Cannon Dancer, though?
well id definitely pick up one of these if the reviews are good
Man I want Cannon Dancer!!! On Wii U, 3DS, or both.
The Karate Tournament (incomplete emulation), Cannon Dancer (perfectly emulated) and Gamshara (not currently emulated) for me.
Though I might be biased. I was the guy who funded Mitchell Corp's inclusion in this book.
I just want to see Osman on something - anything. It did not deserve to die in obscurity as an arcade-only title...
ewwww...mobile phones.
Id buy that for a dollar
@Damo Does it look right to you ? Doesn't to me.
@unrandomsam Looks fine to me, what issues have you noticed?
i loved strider on my sega genesis when i was a kid
dear god please bring Osman/Cannon Dancer to Wii U/3DS!!!
if you loved the original strider you would love this game to death.
cannon dancer looks nice
@Damo The way the explosions completely cover the character nearly all the time.
i also made a topic for this a while back as well:
https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/retro/mitchell_corporation_arcade_games_available_to_license_cannon_dancerosman
ive already mentioned to them getting osman on wii u vc. its a smart way to resurrect the vc arcade
Let it happen please.
Would I lay down cash for this? Yes!
I'd also lay down cash for a bunch of other arcade games that came out in and around that time.
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