| Leading Company | |
|---|---|
Super Famicom cover art |
|
| Publisher(s) | Koei[1] |
| Composer(s) | Yoshihisa Tomabechi Mark Soskin Kazumasa Mitsui |
| Series | Koei Executive Series |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom[1] |
| Release date(s) | Super Famicom: |
| Genre(s) | Strategy game involving construction[1] |
| Mode(s) | Single-player Multiplayer (up to 4 players) |
Leading Company (リーディングカンパニー)[2] is a construction-oriented strategy video game that was released for both the Super Famicom and the NEC PC-9801.
The traditional definition of a leading company is a corporation that currently dominates the "corporate wars" against their competitors. Its employees are considered by most people to be winning the "rat race."
Both versions of this game were released to an exclusively Japanese market. However, the NEC PC-9801 version has sharper graphics and the ability to use a mouse. Instead of abstract colors (to depict control of each square of the board), buildings are used to depict a typical Japanese residential neighborhood. A theme park is visibily shown on an island in the PC-9801 version to depict recreational opportunities.
The game challenges young people to create their own business empire by researching and marketing better VHS machines for the Japanese consumers. In both version of the game, the player is introduced to jazzy instrumental song being played in the background while neon pictures of various people fly across the screen. As of 2011, there has been no attempt to produce an English language version for this game either through official channels or through unofficial emulator translator groups. This game is considered to be in Japanese for the full duration of the game, making literacy skills in Japanese mandatory. Only the brand names themselves use the Latin alphabet; all other words use the Japanese alphabet. There are only two time periods in the game and jazz music plays throughout the entire game.
The player can either start in the 1970s when VCRs were beginning to be researched in Japan or in the 1980s when VHS (and video cassette recorders) were beginning to come of age.[3] Up to eight buildings can be constructed on the corporation's property to build and research new technology. However, three buildings are already established at the start of the game. Each product that he or she manufactures has a separate profit chart. When an older model goes down in profits, research and manufacture a newer one (don't forget to discontinue the older one first) and make more money from willing Japanese customers.[3]
It is considered to be the job of the player to try to keep his chosen corporation profitable by creating new VHS machines while making sure that people still spend money on the ones being made.[3] If they go down to zero or less, then his or her company goes bankrupt. At this point, he or she loses the game. When a company goes bankrupt, a television news screen appears with the English word "DISSOLVED" right on the picture caption.