Ukiyotei

Ukiyotei Company, Ltd. (Japanese: 有限会社　浮世亭, Hepburn: Yūgengaisha Ukiyo-tei) was a Japanese video game developer based in Yodogawa-ku. The company was founded on 15 March 1991 by Kenshi Naruse, who served as its representative director. The company is believed to have shut down in 2002 and most of the staff (including Naruse) went on to join SNK.^[1][2][3]

The company's first game they developed is Hook for the Super Famicom, which received critical acclaim from gaming press, like Famitsu, became a hit, and had a development deal with Sony Music Entertainment Japan.^[4]

The success led the company to develop a second game with the same engine, Skyblazer, also for Sony Music Entertainment Japan, and received critical acclaim.^[5] The company made another game under a contract with Sony, called Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game, which was sold to Acclaim Entertainment due to company restructuring, and it received mediocre reviews.^[6]

After producing mediocre Japanese-only games, the company shifted its attention to work for SNK, often producing PlayStation and Neo Geo Pocket ports. The company also developed the game concept of Cooly Skunk for Bullet-Proof Software, but shifted to PlayStation before release.^[7]

Two of its games for the PlayStation got Western releases, those being Samurai Showdown III: Blades of Blood^[8] and Punky Skunk.^[9] The company also developed the critically acclaimed portable Metal Slug games for the Neo Geo Pocket Color.^[10][11] The company also developed Bust-a-Move Pocket for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, which also had critical acclaim.^[12]