Koei

Background
Koei Co, Ltd. was formed in July 1978 by husband and wife Yoichi Erikawa and Keiko Erikawa. The company is best known for the Dynasty Warriors series and its historical strategy games. The company formed its international subsidiaries in North America in 1988, in Canada in 2001 and in Europe in 2003. On April 1, 2009, Koei and Tecmo merged to form Tecmo Koei Holdings (now Koei Tecmo Games), though both companies still use their own respective names for game development.

1st Logo (October 31, 1989-April 1991)
Logo: On a black background is the word "KOEI PRESENTS" in white.

Variant:
 * On the American release of Genghis Khan for the NES, TBA.
 * On Nobunaga's Ambition II, the text is in a bolded computerized font.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on a Famicom/NES game of Mahjong Taikai, Genghis Khan (NES version only) and Nobunaga's Ambition II.

2nd Logo (June 25, 1990-December 21, 1991)
Logo: On a black background is "KOEI" in red and below that a thick red line with a black diamond inside it stretching to the centers of the top, bottom left and right respectively. After a second, "KOEI PRESENTS" in white italicized font appears below.

Variant: An early variant where "KOEI PRESENTS" is in a bolded computerized font.

Technique: A simple fade effect.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Famicom/NES and Super Famicom/SNES games of the time, such as Ishin no Arashi, Romance of the Three Kingdoms II on both formats, Brandish II and Angelique.

3rd Logo (October 10, 1990-October 2, 1998)
Logo: On a white background is the Koei logo from before, this time in black, fading in. As the logo fades in, the word "Lucida Console" appears below the logo.

Technique: Fading effects.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on games released on Game Boy of the time, such as Nobunaga's Ambition and Monster ★ Race.

4th Logo (March 19, 1992-November 1995)


Logo: On a gray background is the Koei logo from the previous two, this time it is a gradient silver color. The logo shines and a blue shadow underneath flashes in and out. The background then turns black and below "KOEI PRESENTS" in white fades in below.

Variant: Sometimes, as the logo and "KOEI PRESENTS" fades out, the words "A KOU SHIBUSAWA PRODUCTION" appears.

Technique: Sprite-based 3D animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Appears on games on the SNES and Genesis such as Aerobiz, Rise of the Phoenix, Operation Europe: Path to Victory, Liberty or Death and Romance of the Three Kingdoms III and IV.

5th Logo (March 24, 1995-December 3, 1998)
Logo: A spot of light passes from the right side, showing plain blue "KOEI" with the figure below, rising from the horizontal position. As it rises, the logo changes color from blue to bright green and yellow-gray. A shine occurs behind, making the logo 3D and red. Then another light passes by and brings up "KOEI PRESENTS".

Variants: An earlier variant of the logo exists with a less bold logo and no "KOEI PRESENTS" wordmark.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: A drum beat segueing into a four-note synth entry, which sounds similar to a 90s ITV ident.

Availability: Appears on on a variety of PlayStation and Saturn games, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV and V (Genesis version has it still), Angelique and Destrega.

6th Logo (December 17, 1998-February 7, 2013)
Logo: We see four letters of the name moving inside the spherical circle, which promptly turns into a figure with the name "KOei" inside. A red light dot flies around and poses as a dot above "i". Then "KOEI PRESENTS" appears below.

Variants:
 * There is a later version with the figure already formed with some silver effect, and the dot, made as a red ball, jumping above to its place. A 60fps version exists.
 * In recent games the completely formed, still logo appears.
 * Some games feature the animated variant with the registered mark; others don't have that.
 * The logo was originally at 15fps with motion blur added to fit with 32-bit video compression standards.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: A crystallized chime. None in later games.

Availability: Common. The animated variant is seen on a lot of games made before Koei Tecmo's merger, including Saiyuki - Journey West, and games from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (known in Japan as San Goku Shi), Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series. The still logo appears on newer games by the company including Warriors Orochi 2 and 3; the Ultimate Definitive Edition on PC doesn't feature the logo.