Technos

Background
Technos was a Japanese video game company, which was best known for Double Dragon and the Kunio-kun, Downtown and Nekketsu series of video games. The company also had an American subsidiary, which encarged of publishing half of the company's games. The company is now defunct since 1996 and Arc System Works currently owns the intellectual properties of the company.

1st Logo (1989-1990)


Nicknames: "Star-Less Technos", "Technos Japan Corp. Presents"

Logo: On a black background, there is the text "TECHNOS JAPAN" in a futuristic font. "CORP.", in a smaller font, is seen next to these words. "PRESENTS." is seen below.

FX/SFX: None, as it's a still logo.

Music/Sounds:

Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari/River City Ransom: None.

Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu Soccer-hen: A bell rendition of Westminster Quarters, best known as the bell sound of Big Ben, and the sound of the school bells in Japan, South Korea, and a few other Asian countries.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu Soccer-hen (the Japanese version of Nintendo World Cup). It also appears on River City Ransom as well as its Japanese version, Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari. Don't expect to find this logo on Nintendo World Cup or Street Gangs (the European version of River City Ransom), as the former doesn't have a Technos logo and the latter just says "INFOGRAMES PRESENTS A TECHNOS JAPAN CORP. PRODUCTION" upon startup.

Editor's Note: This logo will be familiar to fans of River City Ransom, as this logo is seen in the game.

2nd Logo (1990-1995)
Nicknames: "Technos Star"

Logo: On a white or black background, we see a 5-pointed star with radial lines encraved on it. Next to it there's "TECHNOS", with an accent on the O. Below, there's "TECHNOS JAPAN CORP" on Japanese games, or "AMERICAN TECHNOS INC." on American games.

Variants:
 * Very few games like Ike Ike! Nekketsu Hockey-bu lacked the accent.
 * Sugoro Quest for the Famicom has just the wordmark.
 * On Double Dragon III, the logo is seen above the text "PRODUCE".
 * On The Combatribes and Shin Nekketsu Kouha for the SNES/Super Famicom, the logo's seen with a gradient. The gradient looks shinier in the former.
 * On Nekketsu Kouko Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen MD for the Mega Drive, the logo is above the Pals logo.
 * On Kunio-kun no Dodge Ball Dayo Zenin Shuugo! for the Super Famicom, there is a white border and fill on the star.
 * On Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun for the Super Famicom, the logo is transparent on a gray background. A shine passes through the logo, and the whole thing fades in to the normal logo on a white background. The star is more green than usual.
 * On Super Bowling for the SNES, the logo rises in and spins on a gray background.
 * On Return of Double Dragon for the SNES, the star zooms out while spinning, then a shine passes through the logo and reveals the wordmark.
 * On Taiyou no Tenshi Marlow for the Game Boy, slices of the logo move in from both sides and form the logo, which is in black and white.
 * On Game Boy games, the logo is in black and white.
 * On DunQuest for the Super Famicom, the star zooms in while spinning. The wordmark then fades in.
 * On Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer for the Neo Geo, the white and blue pieces of the star are spinning on the left, and "TECHNOS" is on the right with an accent on the O. The text flips upside down and turns gray, and then it flips back up and turns metallic. "TECHNOS JAPAN CORP." slides under the "TECHNOS" text in the same metallic font, and the screen flashes. The star stops spinning and turns metallic as well.

FX/SFX: None, except for the animated variants.

Music/Sounds: Mostly none.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku for the Famicom, it used a triumphant 8-bit fanfare.

On some Kunio-kun games, it used the Westminster Quarters rendition of the previous logo.

Taiyou no Tenshi Morlow used a ringing sound.

Availability: Seen on the aforementioned games as well as WWF WrestleFest. The logo's not seen on the Japanese version of Super Bowling, as it was distributed by another company.

3rd Logo (1993-1996)
Nicknames: "Kunio-kun", "Technos Star II", "Technos Star & Kunio-kun"

Logo: On a myrtle green background, we see the Technos logo, and the company's mascot, Kunio, above it. Kunio prepares to make a punch pose as the logo shines. Once he shows his fist, the background changes to white.

Variants:

Because of the limitations of the Game Boy, the logo is black and white on Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku.

On Kunio no Oden for the SNES, the radial streaks of the star shine in, instead of the whole logo being shown at the beginning. Also, due to the capabilities of 16-bit, Kunio looks more detailed. The radial streaks of the star shine in on a black background.

Super Dodge Ball for the Neo Geo uses a similar variant to Kunio no Oden, except after the star is formed it zooms in and the text shines blue, then the background fades to white, making the text fully visible in black. Kunio-kun does not appear until the star starts zooming in, whereas he is completely visible on the Kunio no Oden variant. Kunio-kun is also the most detailed in this variant.

On the Japanese version of Shadow Force, a 3D version of the logo can be seen above the Japanese text "くにお君の熱血宣言 いじめっ子よ、反省したまえ いじめをする奴は、ヒーローになれないよ！". This is a Japanese anti-bullying announcement, which translates to "Kunio-kun's Hot-Blooded Announcement: Bullies, please reconsider! Bullies are never heroes!". This message does not appear in any other version of Shadow Force.

Trivia: This logo can be seen on a neon sign in the first level of Shadow Force.

FX/SFX: The logo shining, Kunio posing, the background changing color.

Music/Sounds: A punching sound.

Music/Sounds Variants:

The logo's first video game, Kunio-kun no Nekketsu Soccer League, had it silent. Nekketsu! Street Basket for the Famicom had a fast-paced theme. Sugoro Quest++ Dicenics for the Super Famicom used the opening theme of the game after a few seconds of silence.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on all the games mentioned above. The logo's last appearance was on Super Dodge Ball for the Neo Geo, which was also Technos Japan's last game and it was only released in the USA.

4th Logo (1993-1994)


Nicknames: "Technos Star III"

Logo: On a black background, the Technos logo appears from a blinding transition. The star is seen with a gradient blue, so does the text. Once the logo fades to white, the logo goes back again, but with the text black.

FX/SFX: The blinding transition, the fade to white.

Music/Sounds:

Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Monogatari: A triumphant fanfare, in a similar style to the one from the Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku variant of the 2nd logo. Popeye: Ijiwaru Majo Sea Hag no Maki: None. Funaki Masakatsu Hybrid Wrestler: The opening theme of the game.

Availability: Seen on all 3 games mentioned on the Music/Sounds section, all of which are only for the Super Famicom.

5th Logo (1994-1996)
Nicknames: "Technos Star IV", "3D Technos Star"

Logo: On a black background the Technos star spins in while faced vertically and places itself into the left side of the screen, as the background changes into a blue/black/blue gradient. Once it is placed, the letters of "TECHNOS" move to the left, one-by-one, while spinning vertically. "TECHNOS JAPAN CORP." (on Japanese games) or "AMERICAN TECHNOS INC." (on American games) would slide in below "TECHNOS". The gradient background fades out, and the logo flies out.

Variant: Strike Point used a brighter star.

FX/SFX: The parts of the logo spinning, moving, and flying. The background changing.

Music/Sounds: A sword clashing sound when the company's text slides in.

Availability: Seen only on 3 games for the Playstation before the company's demise: Geom Cube, Double Dragon and Strike Point. Don't expect to find this logo on the European version of Strike Point, since it uses the Elite Systems logo instead. Double Dragon is a lot more expensive than Geom Cube and Strike Point as it was only released in Japan.

Editor's Note: A pretty good logo with some nice CGI animation.