Company Submission: Taito Corporation
Ladies and gentlemen; the company, the myth, the legend. Founded in 1953,
Taito Corporation had a long-time history and high reputation among the video game industry thanks to their large, revolutional impact ever since the golden age of arcades (even holding a huge chain of game centers in Japan). While under Square Enix's ownership these years, the company has operated independently to the point that they're completely in charge of their own projects, branding and licensing, having plenty of IPs to choose from their library for Infinite Beyond, even if representation similar to Pac-Man (classic/arcade Namco) and Terry's (SNK) wouldn't hurt with Zuntata-remixed music tracks, spirits (especially for those that are not fighter material like Arkanoid, Darius, Time Gal's Reika and Cleopatra Fortune's Patrako) and all, with a few handful examples
down there.
Space Invaders:
Undoubtedly the company's most iconic title which still keeps going after about 46 years, these aliens are their flagship mascots (most particularly
a crab one) who we already included as Assist Trophies from the base Infinite. If they were to be promoted, the player should control
a floating UFO (Get Even's player character) as three aliens orbit around it, attacking with their antennas/tentacles, firing electric beams, summoning bunkers to protect themselves, grabbing with a tractor beam, and likely summon bigger aliens (from Extreme) in the sky as they bombard opponents as a Final Smash. You could maybe even give them a passive ability where they'll move gradually faster depending on how much they're damaged per stock, reverting back to their normal speed once defeated.
Bub and Bob (Bubble Bobble):
Also one of Taito's most famous franchises that had seen multiple releases in Nintendo's consoles (latest having been released on Nintendo Switch in 2019), many kinds of sequels and a whole spin-off series (Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move), which is also long-standing itself as of Everybubble! in May 2023. I did write
a whole case around them back on Infinite's base heydays, but I'll try to give all necessary information there for these frequently pushed mascots by Taito itself. These two cute dragons can fight together akin to Ice Climbers, shooting bubbles from their mouths that they can charge into bigger ones which traps opponents, headbutting with spikes, swiping tails, using elemental bubbles (of fire, lightning and water), summoning rainbow bridges, grabbing with a parasol, floating inside a bubble themselves and firing explosive kinds with an angleable catapult. They overall would have fun potential for miscellaneous content such as music tracks and stages, with
other Bubble Dragons acting as alternate palettes (and maybe human forms with Symphony's bubble flutes and parasols instead of a tail as special aesthetic costumes?).
Elevator Action Rep:
Ported to a few consoles, having multiple sequels and appearing on Taito's compilations, Elevator Action involves a secret agent entering a skyscraper as they collect documents while going down to the basement (with sequels moving to other locations such as airports and sewers). The agent's moveset could actually function differently from Snake's, besides using their trusty handgun/pistol, sub-machine guns, incendiary grenades that
leave a pool of flames on the ground, rocket launchers
which flies faster, a small elevator to move vertically upwards a set distance before it disappears,
kicking down explosive oil drums as they roll forward and shooting an aerial lamp as it paralyzes an opponent below it. The series has different heroes who may work as costumes like Agent 17 (Otto), Returns' Kart Bradfield, Edie Burret & Jad the Taff, EX's Mike, Guy & Sarah, and Old & New's Robin, Berry & Fan.
Pocky/Sayo-chan (Pocky & Rocky/KiKi KaiKai):
Coming from a scrolling shooter series that happened to get a new installment (Pocky & Rocky Reshrined) in 2022, Pocky, or Sayo-chan in Japan, is one of Taito's most recurring characters with
her cameo appearances and a young Shinto shrine maiden, who is accompanied with Rocky (a tanuki companion) as they fight against mythology-based monsters. She can swing/wave her gohei rod to strike her opponents, throw ofuda talismans as projectiles, spin around while holding out her gohei (Oharai Spin), unleash a energy blast that move outwards in waves (Bomber) and summon a magic barrier to take one hit (Magic Shield). She can also summon partners next to Rocky (who can perform tail smacks and turn into a statue to crush opponents), like Bomber Bob (throwing spiked balls/boulders), Little Ninja (who creates fire pillars), Tengy (launching leaves), Scarecrow (boomerang sickles) and Mad Dog (riding on as he charges at high speed to damage enemies).
Kage (The Legend of Kage):
A cult classic upon it's release in the arcades on 1985, a PlayStation Portable remake and a Nintendo DS sequel in 2008, the series focuses on a young Iga ninja, Kage, as he ventures to rescue Princess Kirihime from the demonic warlord Yoshiro. Given his training, Kage is rather agile and makes use of his nodachi, flaming katana in The Legend of Kage 2 and throwable shurikens, able to use ninjutsu skills like creating a clone of himself (Body Split), sending projectiles back with a parry, performing a rising kick attack (Mistblade), summoning flame pillars (Inferno), lightning bolts (Strike) and spinning ice crystals as a shield.
Sonic Blast Man:
Debuting from a 1990 "test-your-strength" arcade game which involves the player punching a mechanical pad with the glove to hit enemy targets before moving to a beat 'em up in the SNES and appearing in other games such as Puzzle Bobble 3, Sonic Blast Man is an alien superhero who protects the Earth from oncoming threats such as robbing criminals and meteors despite his clumsiness. He
is trained in a large variety of fighting techniques, can perform leaping sideflips, throw opponents by spinning them around (Airplane Throw) and do powerful special attacks like Dynamite Punch/Blast Bomber (punching the ground hard enough to send enemies flying), Screw Attack (drilling forward while surrounded in energy), Comet Blaster (shooting energy balls) and Screw Bomb (leaping upwards, spinning and knocking away).
