Sunsoft (Sun Corporation)

Japan · Founded 1971 · 1978 – present (games)

An electronics maker from Aichi that became one of the most admired NES publishers — Blaster Master, Batman, Journey to Silius, Gimmick! — famed for its punchy, bass-heavy music.

Sun Corporation, also known as Sun Electronics or Sun Denshi, was founded in April 1971 in Kōnan, Aichi, as a manufacturer and vendor of electronic equipment. It entered video games in October 1978 and made arcade games in the early 1980s, including Arabian, Ikki and Kangaroo, before releasing home games under the Sunsoft name. The Famicom and NES made its reputation. In the late 1980s and early 1990s Sunsoft released a series of technically polished, well-designed games — Blaster Master, Batman, Journey to Silius and, in 1992, the Japan-only Gimmick! — and was well regarded enough to secure major film licences of the era. Its sound team became particularly celebrated: Sunsoft's NES soundtracks are known for unusually strong bass lines, achieved partly by using the console's sample channel for bass, which gave them a fuller sound than most of their contemporaries. The company's American arm ran into serious trouble in the mid-1990s. In 1995 Sun Corporation of America restructured in the face of bankruptcy, and its pending projects were sold or cancelled; a former producer later attributed the losses in part to an unsuccessful golf-course investment in Palm Springs. Sun Corporation itself continues to operate in Japan, producing role-playing, pachinko and mobile games.