Let’s look back at extinct publisher Renovation Products.
Founded in 1986, Telenet Japan quickly became a notable publisher and developer of computer games in its home country. Within a few years, they set their sights into console games and Western markets. Renovation Products was established as a publishing wing in 1989 and it released 26 games in the United States and Canada between 1990 and 1993 for the Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and Super Nintendo. Telenet also licensed some of its games to other publishers such as NEC, Working Designs, and Atlus.
Between purchases, rentals, and borrowing, I managed to play most of Renovation’s games when they were current. The quality was all over the map, varying from shitty to awesome but I always found their content intriguing.
Here are the games Renovation released:
Arcus Odyssey
System: Genesis
Developer: Wolf Team
While the debut Arcus game in 1988 was a first-person RPG for various Japanese computers, Odyssey was an action spin off developed by Telenet’s in-house game maker Wolf Team simultaneously for Mega Drive and X68000 using a 3/4 isometric view. Like Gauntlet before it, one or two players could choose from four warriors of different fantasy archetypes and traverse through maze-like levels. It’s not amazing but the little details like bouncing projectiles off walls and the Motoi Sakuraba soundtrack give it some personality. There were plans for Renovation to localize the 1993 Super Famicom port but that never happened before the company closed down.
Arrow Flash
System: Genesis
Developer: ITL
In 1986, amidst the Transformers/Go Bots toy craze, Sega released a scrolling shooter on the Mark III/Master System called Astro Flash (Transbot in the West) along with Transformer, a similar arcade game. Since Sega is also the owner of Arrow Flash, I’m guessing that it was meant to be a sequel of sorts to Astro Flash or at least an homage. Both games are in the same genre and involve a robot that can transform into a ship.
Arrow Flash doesn’t re-invent the horizontal shooter or anything but it’s a solid title. I appreciate its visual touches like a giant spaceship crashing into the background with lights glowing, the cloud scrolling effects, and its trippy wavy line stage.
Beast Wrestler
System: Genesis
Developer: Telenet
From what I recall, this is a shitty wrestling game where the attacks feel kind of flat. It’s a shame because the character designs have some nice design and detail.
Dino Land
System: Genesis
Developer: Wolf Team
Wolf Team’s take on the pinball genre and was more light hearted than their typical dark anime stuff. Like other video pinball games of the era (Naxat’s ‘Crush’ series), it doesn’t try to replicate the real experience and opts for a more fantasy approach. Enemies roam on the board and sometimes you are taken to another screen for a boss battle. It’s a decent game but it lacks the intensity, variety, and atmosphere of something like Devil’s Crush. The physics and frame rate aren’t as polished and that detracts a lot from the fun. Stick to Revenge of the Gator on Game Boy if you want a reptilian pinball game of that era.
Doomsday Warrior
System: Super Nintendo
Developer: Laser Soft
This was the only SNES game released under the Renovation label (Neugier and Dream Probe/Psycho Dream were another planned game that didn’t make it out). While many Japanese fighters followed Street Fighter conventions of using the d-pad to jump and block, Doomsday Warrior uses buttons instead. The game also deviates from the norm by having a skill tree between matches to upgrade character attributes such as defense and arm/leg power. By 1993 standards, it’s a pretty mediocre fighting game with dull character designs and I would only recommend it as a curiosity.
Earnest Evans
System: Genesis
Developer: Wolf Team
This was originally released on CD in Japan but ported to cartridge minus some cutscenes. It’s a bit of an experimental take on action-platformers. Instead of a typical drawn sprite, Earnest is animated from multiple joined sprites and has erratic whip attack. It just looks extremely awkward in motion and the jumping physics don’t feel right. Still, the way the multi-sprite enemies explode makes the attacks enjoyable. It’s a polarizing game, and I wouldn’t call it good but if you want something goofy, then check it out.
El Viento
System: Genesis
Developer: Wolf Team
She’s like the wind. El Viento takes place in the same universe as Earnest Evans (he has a cameo) except the location is 1920s NYC with mobsters as enemies. As you would expect from such a setting, magic and boomerangs play major roles. Like with Earnest, the explosions are satisfying but this is much more well received game thanks to its tight, responsive controls. It’s at its best with the more open levels given how fast your character moves. The more cramped stages can be a bit tedious. Overall though, I recommend it (although legit copies from any region are expensive now).
Elemental Master
System: Genesis
Developer: Technosoft
Technosoft was known for their impressive Thunder Force series but for some reason their 1990 fantasy-themed horizontal shooter Elemental Master wasn’t released in North America until Renovation brought it over in 1993. It’s too bad it wasn’t localized earlier as it deserves more attention. Late 1990 was jam packed for the genre on Genesis but this would have still stood out thematically from all the common spaceship titles.
Exile
System: Genesis
Developer: Telenet
Exile isn’t one of those games that excels at any individual gameplay element but I loved it back then and think it’s one of those “more than the sum of its parts” situations. The underused Middle Eastern protagonist/setting, the mix of fast paced hack 'n slash platforming and overhead RPG genres, catchy soundtrack, and relatively short and non-padded quest make it worth checking out even though the enemy placement can be a bit annoying. The other party members don’t do anything other than tag along so don’t expect any deep party customization.
Final Zone
System: Genesis
Developer: Wolf Team
Originally released on the Sharp X68000 computer in Japan, this isometric mech shooter was a bit repetitive but a worthy rental at least.
Gaiares
System: Genesis
Developer: Telenet
Gaiares was probably the most critically praised of all the Renovation releases. Based on magazine reviews it was high on my radar before release, and I bought it as soon as I found it in early 1991 (at Save On Foods, of all places). It’s the Renovation game I have the most attachment to. The visuals were cutting edge (both in-game and the cutscenes), and the bosses were large and intimidating (dragon, grim reaper, giant clam, etc.), takingup half the screen. Most other shooters seemed generic by comparison.
Gain Ground
System: Genesis
Developer: Sanritsu/Sega
I love most of Sega’s arcade games but I still don’t really get the appeal of Gain Ground despite its cult following. Playing the M2 Switch version recently reminded me how good the soundtrack is, though.
Granada
System: Genesis
Developer: Wolf Team
Granada is a multi-directional shoot 'em up that originated on X68000. The Genesis graphics aren’t quite as nice but it’s not far off. It’s similar to Final Zone but having a mini-map to track down what stuff you need to destroy is a welcome feature. I think Granada’s the more polished and enjoyable of the two.
Jennifer Capriati Tennis
System: Genesis
Developer: System Sacom
I’m no expert on tennis games but this one seems well made to me with pleasing graphics and physics that feel on point. In Japan and PAL countries it’s called Grand Slam: The Tennis Tournament but Renovation decided to go the celebrity endorsement route for North America.
Master of Monsters
System: Genesis
Developer: ISCO/Opera House/System Soft
Back when Nintendo was still denying the English speaking world from having Fire Emblem, and Shining Force wasn’t finished being made yet, Japanese Strategy RPGs were in short supply in the West. Master of Monsters did get a North American release in 1991 but it was still slightly overshadowed By Treco’s Warsong, another Genesis game in the genre that was localized around the same time. I’m not really into SRPGs so I don’t feel I can judge it properly but fans seem to consider it to be a solid one even though Warsong received higher review scores.
Revenge of the Ninja
System: Sega CD
Developer: Wolf Team/Taito
With CD technology came the ability to port '80s Laserdisc arcade games to traditional game consoles. Revenge of the Ninja was first released in Japanese arcades in 1984 as Ninja Hayate, and like the popular Dragon’s Lair, it was a type of interactive cartoon where animated scenes would play and the player would tap a direction when prompted to lead to a new scene.
What’s interesting about the Sega CD version is that it was not just the first home port of the game but it also never even came out in Japan. It wasn’t until a few years later on Playstation and Saturn that Japan saw console versions.
Road Avenger
System: Sega CD
Developer: Wolf Team/Data East
This was the second Data East Laserdisc FMV arcade game to get ported to Sega CD by Wolf Team (Sega published the first one in NA, Cobra Command). In Japan it was called Road Blaster FX but the name was changed for the West presumably due to Atari Games already having a title called Roadblasters. It’s a fairly short and easy game to beat but it’s a wild ride of '80s anime driving mayhem and I would recommend it to those who find that appealing. I go back to it now and then.
Sol-Deace
System: Genesis
Developer: Wolf Team]
The naming conventions are weird with this one. The original X68000 game and all other Japanese versions are called Sol-Feace. Renovation changed it to Sol-Deace for the Genesis version, and then Sega released the Sega CD port in North America as a pack-in title with the original Sol-Feace name. Maybe Renovation felt the “Feace” was too close to “feces”. While lacking the more advanced redbook audio of the CD game and some cinemas, the cartridge version actually has a longer ending sequence. The cart version also polished up the gameplay a little as it has less slowdown and flicker.
It isn’t a game on most people’s top shooters lists but I always enjoyed it. Those weird Earnest Evans-like appendages work well when on insect-like bosses. Plus, I just like the Defender-ish laser.
Syd of Valis
System: Genesis
Developer: Telenet/ISC
It wasn’t uncommon for Japanese-made games to get cute-ified or SD (Super Deformed) versions. That’s what Syd of Valis is, and I don’t think it turned out that well. It’s based on the second game of the series (Valis II on TurboGrafx CD was the first Valis game to be released outside of Japan) except its controls are far more slippery than the regular version.
Time Gal
System: Sega CD
Developer: Wolf Team/Taito
Unlike Road Avenger and Revenge of the Ninja on Sega CD, Time Gal is not very grainy. Which cartoon FMV game on the system is best comes down to personal preference but Time Gal is certainly the sharpest and cleanest conversion. If you like Dragon’s Lair, then you should play this, too.
Todd’s Adventures in Slime World
System: Genesis
Developer: Micro World/Epyx
Slime World originated as an Atari Lynx game, and what made it stand out was that it had 8 person multiplayer (that’s like every Lynx owner!) via link cables. The Genesis port wasn’t received as well critically. This was probably due to it only being two-player, being on a format with much more competition for quality platformers, and just generally being a worse version.
Traysia
System: Genesis
Developer: Telenet
I don’t have much to say about this RPG. I rented it back in 1992 and found it completely drab to play and look at. The visuals are weak by the standards of the time, both in detail and its general brown appearance.
Valis
System: Genesis
Developer: Telenet
This was a 1991 remake of the 1986 computer game and it came out on Genesis after Valis III. I was lucky to find this at a thrift store for cheap back in the 16-bit era but still came away a little underwhelmed. I knew it was based on an older game but I figured they would up it closer to Valis III quality.
Valis III
System: Genesis
Developer: Telenet
Of the three Valis games on Genesis, I definitely recommend this one the most. You play as three different warriors throughout this vaguely Castlevania-ish action platformer: Yuko (the sword slasher from the original game), Cham (the whip wielder), and Valna (the magic user). The characters add some variety to the gameplay. The anime cutscenes were a major draw at the time, and they’re surprisingly comparable to the TurboGrafx CD version despite being on a cartridge format. The Valis series often gets criticized for being style over substance but I think III (and IV on PC Engine CD) do play quite smoothly as well.
Vapor Trail
System: Genesis
Developer: Telenet/Data East
Genesis/Mega Drive had the only home port of Data East’s arcade game, and it’s a great conversion. I think the slight loss of colour and detail is made up for by the music. These tracks just sound more bad ass through Genesis synth.
Whip Rush
System: Genesis
Developer: VIC Tokai
Not a stand out shooter like Gaiares but certainly worth playing if you 16-bit games in the genre. The music and parallax scrolling are well done.
Ys III
System: Genesis
Developer: Telenet/Falcom
While I’m a big fan of Ys I and II now, back in the Sega Master System and TurboGrafx CD days, I couldn’t get over the bump attack design. Ys III brought the series into the platform/adventure realm and had a more traditional attack method so that prompted me to buy it. I don’t think the domestic SNES and TurboGrafx CD versions were out yet. The Genesis port lacks some of the colour of those but I think it makes up for it with more responsive controls.
Game Sack made a great two part video series on Renovation a few years ago:
Renovation Products part 1 - Game Sack
Episode 163 - We take a look at publisher Renovation Products and ALL of the games they ever released… including a couple they were planning to but never d…
- Renovation Products ceased to be a publisher in 1993 when it was acquired by Sega of America.
- The parent company of Telenet Japan continued to exist until 2007. In 2009, Sunsoft bought the rights to Telenet’s games.
- Wolf Team continued on to create the popular ‘Tales of’ RPG series and later became Namco Tales Studio. Some of their talent had left in 1992 to form Gau Entertainment (developer of Ranger-X). They were soon merged into Nextech.
- Sega’s purchase of the rights to Technosoft’s library in 2016 gave them the rights to Elemental Master in addition to already owning Arrow Flash, Whip Rush, and Gain Ground.
What do you think about Renovation Products? Even if you’re not in North America, maybe you played some of these games with a different publisher so feel free to talk about anything related.
