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Ultra Software Corporation was a
shell corporation A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...
and publishing label created in 1988 as a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
of Konami of America, in an effort to get around Nintendo of America's strict licensing rules in place at the time for the
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
n market. One of these rules was that a third-party company could only publish up to five games per year for the
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
in the US. This was hardly convenient for Konami, which had begun releasing more than ten games a year for both the Famicom and its Disk System add-on in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. With a greater library than it was allowed to localize, Konami formed the Ultra Games brand to extend its annual library to ten games a year.


History

Ultra's first NES game was ''
Metal Gear is a Media franchise, franchise of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear (video game), Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX, MSX home computers. The player often takes con ...
''. At first, Ultra was dedicated to localizing Konami's pre-existing software from Japan, but later it began publishing works from other companies as well. Some of Konami's most notable games released under the Ultra label include '' Operation C'', '' Snake's Revenge'' and the first few ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' games for the NES and Game Boy. The
IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the List of IBM Personal Computer models, IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on ...
and Commodore 64 conversions of ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' and ''
Metal Gear is a Media franchise, franchise of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear (video game), Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX, MSX home computers. The player often takes con ...
'' were also published under the Ultra branding. After the North American launch of the Super NES in 1991, Nintendo started relaxing the restriction on the number of games third parties could publish each year. As a result, Ultra Games began losing its purpose and Konami dropped the label in 1992. The last games released by Ultra Games were '' Ultra Golf'' and '' World Circuit Series'', both released in March 1992. In
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, Konami established the Palcom Software Limited subsidiary for similar purposes. Its library was relatively similar to Ultra's but the company also published games that were not released in North America, notably '' Road Fighter'', '' Parodius'' and '' Crackout''. Palcom also released Super NES games that were published in America by Konami itself. In contrast, some games that were released under the Ultra name in North America, such as ''Metal Gear'' and ''Snake's Revenge'', were published under the regular Konami brand in Europe. The European subsidiary lasted longer than Ultra Games, until it was closed down in early 1994.


Games published


Ultra Games


NES

* ''
Metal Gear is a Media franchise, franchise of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear (video game), Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX, MSX home computers. The player often takes con ...
'' (June 1988) * ''
Skate or Die! ''Skate or Die!'' is a skateboarding video game released by Electronic Arts (EA) in 1987 for the Commodore 64. It is EA's first internally developed game. Versions for the Apple II, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum followed. It was por ...
'' (December 1988) * '' Gyruss'' (February 1989) * ''
Q*bert ''Q*bert'' () is a 1982 Action game, action video game developed and published by Gottlieb for Arcade video game, arcades. It is a Video game graphics, 2D action game with Puzzle video game, puzzle elements that uses Isometric video game gr ...
'' (February 1989) * ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' (June 1989) * '' Defender of the Crown'' (July 1989; developed by Beam Software) * '' Silent Service'' (December 1989; developed by Rare) * '' Kings of the Beach'' (January 1990) * '' Snake's Revenge'' (April 1990) * '' Mission: Impossible'' (September 1990) * '' RollerGames'' (September 1990) * '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game'' (December 1990) * '' Ski or Die'' (February 1991) * '' Base Wars'' (June 1991) * '' Pirates!'' (October 1991; developed by Rare) * '' Nightshade'' (January 1992; developed by Beam Software) * '' Star Trek: 25th Anniversary'' (February 1992; developed by Interplay)


Game Boy

* '' Motocross Maniacs'' (January 1990) * '' Nemesis'' (April 1990) * '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan'' (August 1990) * '' Quarth'' (December 1990) * '' Operation C'' (February 1991) * '' Blades of Steel'' (August 1991) * '' Star Trek: 25th Anniversary'' (February 1992; developed by Visual Concepts) * '' Ultra Golf'' (March 1992) * '' World Circuit Series'' (March 1992)


IBM PC (DOS)

* ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' (1989; developed by Unlimited Software) * ''
Metal Gear is a Media franchise, franchise of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear (video game), Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX, MSX home computers. The player often takes con ...
'' (August 1990; developed by Banana Development)


Commodore 64

* ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' (1990; developed by Unlimited Software) * ''
Metal Gear is a Media franchise, franchise of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear (video game), Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX, MSX home computers. The player often takes con ...
'' (1990; developed by Unlimited Software)


Palcom Software


NES

* ''
Skate or Die! ''Skate or Die!'' is a skateboarding video game released by Electronic Arts (EA) in 1987 for the Commodore 64. It is EA's first internally developed game. Versions for the Apple II, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum followed. It was por ...
'' (August 1990) * '' Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles'' (August 1990) * '' Crackout'' (1991) * '' Defender of the Crown'' (July 1991; developed by Beam Software) * '' Pirates!'' (October 1991; developed by Rare) * '' Ski or Die'' (October 1991) * '' Mission: Impossible'' (November 1991) * '' Monster in My Pocket'' (1992) * '' Parodius'' (1992) * '' Road Fighter'' (1992) * '' Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse'' (December 1992) * '' Formula 1 Sensation'' (1993) * '' Rackets & Rivals'' (1993) * ''
Bucky O'Hare Bucky O'Hare is a fictional character and the hero of an eponymous comic book series and spin-off (media), spin-off media, including an Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars, animated TV series and various toys and video games. He was created by comic bo ...
'' (December 1993)


Game Boy

* '' Blades of Steel'' (1991) * '' Skate or Die: Bad 'N Rad'' (1991) * '' Probotector'' (May 1992) * '' Parodius'' (1992) * '' Star Trek: 25th Anniversary'' (1992; developed by Visual Concepts) * '' Zen: Intergalactic Ninja'' (1993)


Super NES

* '' Cybernator'' (1993; developed by NCS Corporation) * '' Pop'n TwinBee'' (1993) * '' Sunset Riders'' (December 1993)


See also

*
Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Ultra Games
profile on
MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

Palcom
profile on
MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...
{{Konami Konami Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies established in 1988 Video game companies disestablished in 1992 1988 establishments in Illinois 1992 disestablishments in Illinois Defunct companies based in Illinois Video game publishers American companies established in 1988 American companies disestablished in 1992