Irem

Japan · Founded 1974 · Developer / Publisher / Arcade Hardware

Irem invented the beat-em-up template with Kung-Fu Master, created the parallax scrolling side-scrolling shooter with Moon Patrol, and produced R-Type — widely regarded as the finest horizontal shoot-em-up ever made.

Founded in 1974 in Osaka, Irem (International Rental Electronics Machines) was one of the original wave of Japanese arcade developers, building both hardware and software through the late 1970s and 1980s. Moon Patrol (1982) introduced parallax scrolling — multiple background layers moving at different speeds — to give the illusion of depth in a side-scrolling game, a technique that became ubiquitous in 2D games for the next decade. Kung-Fu Master (1984), distributed by Data East in North America, created the side-scrolling beat-em-up genre that would produce Renegade, Double Dragon, Final Fight, and Streets of Rage. R-Type (1987) is the studio's masterpiece: a horizontal shoot-em-up of extraordinary density and precision, featuring a Force Pod weapon that could be attached to the front or rear of the ship, memorisation-heavy level design, and a biomechanical visual aesthetic inspired by H.R. Giger. Spelunker (1984), originally a US Broderbund title that Irem published in Japan, became notorious for its protagonist's extreme fragility — dying from falls of a few pixels. Irem exited the video game business in 2010, though key staff formed Granzella to continue development.