THE MAKING OF ALESTE
WITH AMAZING ART DESIGN, IMPRESSIVE PROGRAMMING AND A SPECTACULAR SPEED-METAL SOUNDTRACK, MUSHA ALESTE ON SEGA’S MEGA DRIVE IS A TIMELESS CLASSIC. WE TALKED TO ART DIRECTOR KAZUYUKI NAKASHIMA ABOUT ITS CREATION AND THE VARIOUS STRUGGLES THE TEAM FACED IN THE PROCESS
WORDS BY THOMAS NICKEL
IN THE KNOW
» PUBLISHER: TOAPLAN
» DEVELOPER: COMPILE
» PLATFORM: MEGA DRIVE
» RELEASED: 1990
» GENRE: SHMUP
F
rom the early Eighties onwards, Japan’s Game Centers were the breeding ground for some of the best, most influential and – most importantly – fun shooting games of all time.
Space Invaders, Xevious, Gradius, Darius, R-Type… the list goes on and on. Still, not every company at the time chose the arcade format for its games; Compile, founded as Programmers-3 Inc in 1982, focussed on Japanese home computers like the NEC PC-88, the older MSX and, surprisingly enough, Sega’s SG-1000, the predecessor to the more successful Mark III/ Master System. While games like Gulkave (1986) and Zanac (1987) were graphically outmatched by their technically more advanced game-center-competition, Compile still made a name for itself with smartly designed, well playing shooters and often managed to punch far above its weight.
One game proved especially popular: Aleste, released in 1988 for the MSX and Sega Mark III, brought to the West as Power Strike, impressed with fantastic graphics, fun weapons and long, challenging stages. It shouldn’t come as a big surprise to learn that Compile also produced the spin-off Aleste Gaiden and a full-blown sequel called Aleste 2 for the MSX in 1989, shortly after Sega’s powerful 16-bit Mega Drive was released in Japan.
Needless to say, while the Mega Drive couldn’t really dent the dominance of Nintendo’s Famicom and also struggled against the slightly older PC Engine, Sega’s powerful, yet affordable machine was an enticing prospect for ambitious programmers and artists. One of those is Kazuyuki Nakashima, who recalls the origins of Compile’s first steps on Sega’s new console. “Initially, the programmer, Mr (Yuichi) Toyama, and I started developing a game named Aleste MD, a sequel to the very first Aleste. But we were still young and lacked the skills to really take on the project.