I remember Irem

Do you?
This is my video about the history of Irem, which is a company that has gone through several iterations. From IPM to Irem Corporation with two different abbreviation meanings, to Irem Software Engineering, to Granzella(although Irem still exists they only do Pachinko now). Several important figures passed through Irem including its founder Kenzo Tsujimoto who later founded Capcom, future Platinum Games chief Atsushi Inaba, Takashi Nishiyama who created Street Fighter and King of Fighters, and Kazuma Kujo who made Metal Slug along with others like AKIO and who is also responsible for Disaster Report and Steambot Chronicles.
Irem made both some great platformers and shooters, and some interesting 3D games too.

[@DarthEquus]

Thanks for making this. Irem earned my admiration when I played their Hook beat 'em up at the arcade. Incredibly solid and fun. And the pixelated but full of detail art style only added to the charm.

[@joniivee]

I'd honestly never heard of this company before but this ended up being super interesting! Shame about them doing mostly pachinko stuff but it's cool that some of their franchises still carry on.

[@tylerthunder2001]

I want a Steambot Chronicles remaster/remake and Steambot Chronicles 2 so much!

[@roberthanthonymartinezrive7383]

Irem really needs to re-release more of their later arcade games. More people needs to experiences the likes of Ninja Baseball Bat Man, Hook, GunForce II, R-Type Leo and more!

[@Protoman85]

Agreed!

[@cicadahuman]

Glad to see someone give iRem some love, they made some of my favorite games. I even made a short 15 min 2d game inspired by disaster report.

[@GundamMate07]

Great detailed video, didn’t know the high profile people that worked in irem until now. Really surprised me that Kujo also worked on Metal Slug and then came back to irem after it was released. I got into Steambot Chronicles by chance as a child when Atlus released it on the West and it marked the beginning of my journey as a Game Developer, it wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was interesting both from a story and game mechanic aspect. The fact that it was cheesy and probably got somewhat lost in translation helped to get child me into the game. Thanks for the video and keep up the great work man!

[@jonice3216]

カプコンの会長さんがアイレムの創業者だったことは初耳でびっくりですね。バンピートロット２の発売がキャンセルされたことは今にも胸がいたいほど残念ですね。 絶体絶命都市４みたいにきっと復活してほしいですね。色々興味深い内容面白く見ました

[@kasio22B]

Wow, you my friend, is probably the most knowledgeable human being on Japanes video gaming industry, and you detail them in proper professionally English form too! I just found you on Natsume musical collection cd video; it made me feel like I've found a gold mine and my childhood memories back lol~ I know this Kanji word suits you the best from watching NHK TV - 匠人 who's truely dedicated to your works! Thank you... ^^

[@Protoman85]

I hope you've also seen my video about Human Entertainment :)

[@sxbrielle]

perfect timing, as I just finished Disaster Report 4 this week. Love your content on niche Japanese games/companies, keep it up!

[@Protoman85]

I have two more Irem videos coming up, so stay tuned :D

[@cgyh68748]

Yup bigger than I thinked. I only knew Ninja Spirit / Saigo no nindou

[@dxqx3794]

Thank you for this detailed history of one of my favorite gaming companies! I wish their games got more love. As a strategy game fan, I really think R-Type Tactics (Command in the West/Europe) is one of the best I've ever played. The story is surprisingly deep and the variety of ships/forces is astonishing. Even the smallest detail like the title/rank you are given after each mission is genius. It denotes exactly how you play and how far through the story you are. So if you just match with a random player you know 1. how they play and 2. which ships/forces they have access to. I could go on but you get the point. They really put a lot of heart and soul into that game. Steambot Chronicles for PSP is a great game although it's very short. It took me about 9 hours. It feels unfinished at times but it kept me engaged my entire playthrough.

[@Protoman85]

Thank you! Since I made this video I have played Steambot Chronicles, and while I had some trouble I did beat it and I did like it. I feel like I'd miss the dual analog control a bit though. I'm not really into strategy games but it's not outside the realm of possiblity that I will get into it one day. For now though I just love the Disaster Report series and I hope to do a let's play series of them in the future.

[@guysafari]

Hammerin Harry is supposed to get a US release by retro-bit in the near(ish) future so your hopes in an arcade port seem possible. Dont stop dreaming!

[@yank3656]

thanks for sharing Johan Oberg

[@edwinkirkland8856]

Irem was awesome

[@grigoreflorin7]

Hi! You can search Google Gamefools Irem Arcade Hits. There is the hammer boy game and the other Irem arcade.

[@narayanbandodker5482]

The very first Irem game I remember playing is "Gekitotsu Yonku Battle" (4 wheel-drive battle clash)

[@HartoTarto]

Love me some more talk about Holy Diver \m/

[@melasauce9943]

Anyone remember Rocky Rodent?

[@TraumfresserBMofficial]

Yes

[@WhoElseButZane]

Oh wait no i dont!

[@Protoman85]

JonTron!

[@astral-p1823]

Irem-ember why no one remembers IREM. 'Cause they can't program higher than NINE!

[@selver1386]

My name is Irem and im a turkish gyal

[@sys5907]

Steambot Chronicles.need remake