What is your favorite studio's best "era"?

[UnDubious]

I feel like it's more fair to focus on which team, rather than generation? Team Andromeda never missed for me, but this was the same period where Sega was pushing stuff like Bug and Mr. Bones

Sega didn't make Bug and Mr. Bones, though. If you take Sega (of Japan) as a developer, IMO they're great. Sure I'd say they peaked from the late '80s to the early '00s, but even in their post-console era, they have Yakuza and Valkyria Chronicles. Random stuff Sega of America published is often pretty bad.

 

[Gorse]

But they also made Perfect Dark Zero which is by far one of the worst games I've ever played, I think that game is complete dogshit, it's just a disgrace compared to Perfect Dark on the N64.

The "real" Perfect Dark sequel is called Timesplitters, and it's available for the PS2.

 

[RageBurner]

Sega didn't make Bug and Mr. Bones, though. If you take Sega (of Japan) as a developer, IMO they're great. Sure I'd say they peaked from the late '80s to the early '00s, but even in their post-console era, they have Yakuza and Valkyria Chronicles. Random stuff Sega of America published is often pretty bad.

If anything, Bug and Mr. Bones were sad portents of how the Saturn would mostly end up, save in the heart of fans that could truly appreciate it; squashed like a bug, left to bleach as a pile of bones.

 

[bonbonprince]

Squaresoft and Enix (Before they merged together) released bop after bop during the 5th generation of consoles... We had Parasite Eve, FF9, Valkyrie Profile and others like holy moly

 

[RageBurner]

Squaresoft and Enix (Before they merged together) released bop after bop during the 5th generation of consoles... We had Parasite Eve, FF9, Valkyrie Profile and others like holy moly

Yeah, definitely.
The merger was totally one sided (then again, most are).

 

[Viviana Santos]

In my opinion, the biggest problem that Rare suffered after being bought by Microsoft was the fact that Microsoft didn't use Rare to its full potential and also rejected several pitches that Rare made to Microsoft. A good example of this was Sabreman Stampede, a game that started life as Donkey Kong Racing, which was originally going to be released for Gamecube but was canceled after Rare was bought by Microsoft. The game ended up undergoing a transmutation and became part of the Sabre Wulf series, but unfortunately the game ended up being canceled.

Post automatically merged: Feb 24, 2025

Here's the video of the canceled game I mentioned

If you want to see how many of Rare's pitches have been rejected by Microsoft go to the Unseen64 website and search for canceled Rare games and you'll see that they have rejected and canceled several Rare projects, seriously it's very ridiculous in general how Microsoft has treated Rare, it's really sad in general.

 

[bjork]

Sega didn't make Bug and Mr. Bones, though. If you take Sega (of Japan) as a developer, IMO they're great. Sure I'd say they peaked from the late '80s to the early '00s, but even in their post-console era, they have Yakuza and Valkyria Chronicles. Random stuff Sega of America published is often pretty bad.

Okay, but the thread title says studio, then in the OP it says company. So I guess I'm just not understanding in the way I need to, and that's okay.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

Squaresoft’s run from the mid-90s to the mid-00s. So many gems on the psx alone. They petered out eventually but Final Fantasy XII was a good swan song and they remained relatively strong on handhelds for a few years longer.

The entire existence of Sony‘s Japan studio. The sheer amount of great and unusual titles on their resume is flabbergasting. Be sure to check out the list, you’ll be surprised to find what they’ve developed or co-developed since 1993. It’s a shame they got shut down eventually.

 

[Yousef]

The "real" Perfect Dark sequel is called Timesplitters, and it's available for the PS2.

This is true. TimeSplitters appreciation let’s go!

 

[Zyla Nation]

Grasshopper Manufacture from their inception to 2008 produced some of my favourite games of all time. Flower, Sun, and Rain, killer7, No More Heroes, The Silver Case, and Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse are all breathtaking in their own way; some have phenomenal writing, some redefine what a video game is, some are just incredibly fun! Their early output is outstanding, and it all takes a drastic drop in quality after No More Heroes 2. I know people love Shadows of the Damned and the like, but I couldn't get into Grasshopper's newer stuff at all, with the slight exception of Killer is Dead. Love their early work, can't do it with their newer stuff.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

The Zero/Fatal Frame one is not actually made by Grasshopper Manufacture (it's all Koei Tecmo), Shibata Makoto as the Director and Scenario Writer just invited Suda51 to guestwrite for one of the main playable chars really. And in fact, that character is actually the weakest link for the whole plot.

 

[UnDubious]

Any source for that? Because Suda was credited as co-director and co-writer, and Grasshopper was also in charge of "character motion and other unspecified aspects of development" from what I can find, suggesting a bit more involvement than just "guest-writing for a character". No doubt it was still primarily a Tecmo game (Koei and Tecmo were still two separate companies), but it was presented as a joint development with Grasshopper, at least.

The Zero/Fatal Frame one is not actually made by Grasshopper Manufacture (it's all Koei Tecmo), Shibata Makoto as the Director and Scenario Writer just invited Suda51 to guestwrite for one of the main playable chars really. And in fact, that character is actually the weakest link for the whole plot.

 

[cjl8336]

Capcom were at their absolute peak during the 6th gen.
I don't think we will see a Company release so many genre defining classics in such a short span of time ever again.

I was saying earlier that I noticed Capcom released a whole gang of games for PS2

 

[J.F.C]

Grasshopper Manufacture from their inception to 2008 produced some of my favourite games of all time. Flower, Sun, and Rain, killer7, No More Heroes, The Silver Case, and Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse are all breathtaking in their own way; some have phenomenal writing, some redefine what a video game is, some are just incredibly fun! Their early output is outstanding, and it all takes a drastic drop in quality after No More Heroes 2. I know people love Shadows of the Damned and the like, but I couldn't get into Grasshopper's newer stuff at all, with the slight exception of Killer is Dead. Love their early work, can't do it with their newer stuff.

My fucking brother.

 

[Nidoking's iconNidoking]

Probably Hudson's N64 era.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

Any source for that? Because Suda was credited as co-director and co-writer, and Grasshopper was also in charge of "character motion and other unspecified aspects of development" from what I can find, suggesting a bit more involvement than just "guest-writing for a character". No doubt it was still primarily a Tecmo game (Koei and Tecmo were still two separate companies), but it was presented as a joint development with Grasshopper, at least.

The interview.
They did ask Grasshopper to make the game, but ultimately it ended up being another Shibata's horror-scare with the only thing new being 3rd person view ala RE4 onwards instead of fixed camera view like older RE/SH games.

 

[UnDubious]

The interview.
They did ask Grasshopper to make the game, but ultimately it ended up being another Shibata's horror-scare with the only thing new being 3rd person view ala RE4 onwards instead of fixed camera view like older RE/SH games.

The interview doesn't support what you said. It says both Suda and Shibata were directing the game, along with even the Nintendo producer, and it ended up causing delays. Also mentions Suda taking part in the game planning meetings. So while Shibata was the main writer, Suda really did co-direct the game, in addition to the part he wrote (which was changed by Shibata, btw... so you can't hold Suda fully responsible for whatever annoyed you). And Misaki's chapters were written by someone else from Grasshopper.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I think few could stand up to Infogrames during the early nineties: Alone In The Dark (all three of them), Lucky Luke, Prisoner of Ice...

 

[Nidstang]

Almost every company was at their best in the 2000s PS2/Gamecube/Xbox and PS3/360/Wii era.

Id was best between 1993 and 1999 with the releases of Doom 1 and 2, and Quake 1, 2, and 3.