was a Japanese

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

based in

Kōka was a after ''Tenpō'' and before '' Kaei.'' This period spanned the years from December 1844 through February 1848. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * December 2, 1844 (): The new era name of ''Kōka'', meaning "Becoming Wid ...

Shiga is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to t ...

. Founded in May 1984, it had worked on approximately 40 titles for

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

and

home console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...

s, a large number of which went uncredited. It is best known for developing ''

Mega Man ''Mega Man'' (known as in Japan) is a video game franchise developed and published by Capcom, featuring the Mega Man (character), protagonist of the same name. The Mega Man (1987 video game), original game was released for the Nintendo Enter ...

'' games for

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

, namely all of the

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

''Mega Man'' games (except '' II'') and ''

Mega Man X3 ''Mega Man X3'' (stylized as ''MEGA MAN X³''), known as in Japan, is a 1995 action game, action-platformer, platform game released by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The game was originally released in Japan on Decem ...

''. Its exact fate is unknown, but its website was taken down in 2002.

History

Minakuchi Engineering was established in May 1984, basing its headquarter on Kōka District of

, and named their company after one of the towns in the area, Minakuchi. According to its now defunct website, Minakuchi Engineering had worked on about 40 different games for a variety of publishers, but due to the anonymous nature of the video game credits at the time, it's difficult to identify exactly which it's responsible for. One of its better known footnotes is the partnership with

, having developed the ''

'' games including '' Mega Man: The Wily Wars'' for Sega Genesis, ''

'' for

SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania an ...

, and four of the Game Boy ''Mega Man'' titles (from '' Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge'' to ''

Mega Man V ''Mega Man V'' is an action- platform video game developed by Minakuchi Engineering and published by Capcom for the Game Boy. It is the fifth game in the handheld series of the '' Mega Man'' franchise. The game follows the adventures of the ...

'', with exception of '' II''). One of its employees was ''Mega Man'' series composer Kouji Murata, who worked on the Game Boy ''Mega Man'' games starting from '' Mega Man III''.

Games developed

Arcade

* ''Power Spikes'' (1991) * ''Turbo Force'' (1991)

Game Boy

* ''

Bionic Commando ''Bionic Commando'' is a series of Platformer, platform video games developed and owned by Capcom. Unique from other platformers, the player character is unable to jump, instead using a bionic arm to cross gaps and climb ledges. The player char ...

'' (1992) * '' Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge'' (1991) * '' Mega Man III'' (1992) * '' Mega Man IV'' (1993) * ''

'' (1994) * ''

Qix ( ) is a 1981 puzzle video game developed by husband and wife team Randy and Sandy Pfeiffer and published in arcades by Taito, Taito America. ''Qix'' is one of a handful of games made by Taito's American division (another is ''Zoo Keeper (1983 v ...

'' (1990) * ''

Solar Striker ''Solar Striker'' is a vertically scrolling shooter video game developed by Nintendo and Minakuchi Engineering and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It was first published in Japan in January 1990, then released later in North America in Fe ...

'' (1990)

Genesis

* '' Mega Man: The Wily Wars'' (1994)

MSX2

* ''Kimagure Orange Road: Natsu no Mirage'' (1988) * ''Maison Ikkoku: Kanketsuhen: Sayonara, Soshite...'' (1988) * ''

What's Michael? is a Japanese manga series created by Makoto Kobayashi. In 1984, it began its serialization in the ''Weekly Morning'' magazine. The manga shows Michael, an orange American Shorthair tabby cat, his feline friends, and other domesticated pets ...

'' (1989)

SNES

* ''

Magic Sword In mythology, legend or fiction, a magic sword is a sword with magical powers or other supernatural qualities. Renowned swords appear in the folklore of every nation that used swords.Josepha Sherman, ''Once upon a Galaxy'' p 113 In some tra ...

'' (1992) * '' Knights of the Round'' (1994) * ''

'' (1995)

References

Links

* (Wayback Machine) Companies based in Shiga Prefecture Companies disestablished in 2002 Video game companies established in 1984 Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies {{Japan-videogame-company-stub