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 (April 25, 1989-May 18, 1990)

Visuals: 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.

Technique: A still, sprite-based graphic.

Audio:

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: 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.

2nd Logo (August 7, 1990-July 21, 1995)

Visuals: On a white or black background, there is 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 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 Super NES/Super Famicom, the logo is seen with a gradient. The gradient looks shinier on the former.
On Nekketsu Kouko Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen MD for Sega Mega Drive, the logo is above the Pals logo.
On Kunio-kun no Dodge Ball Dayo Zenin Shuugo! for Super Famicom, there is a white border and fill on the star.
On Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun for 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 Super NES, the logo rises in and spins on a gray background.
On Return of Double Dragon for Super NES, the star zooms out while spinning, then a shine passes through the logo and reveals the wordmark.
On Taiyou no Tenshi Marlow for 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 Super Famicom, the star zooms in while spinning. The wordmark then fades in.
On Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer for 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.

Technique: A still, sprite-based graphic, excluding the variants.

Audio: Mostly none.

Audio Variants:

On Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku for 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 (April 23, 1993-1996)

Visuals: On a myrtle green background is 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 Super NES, 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 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 the game.

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

Technique: Sprite-based animation.

Audio: A punching sound.

Audio Variants:

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

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

4th Logo (December 17, 1993-October 21, 1994)

Visuals: 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.

Technique: Sprite-based animation.

Audio:

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 the aforementioned games, all of which are only for Super Famicom.

5th Logo (December 22, 1994-September 1, 1996)

Visuals: 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.

Technique: Sprite-based 3D animation.

Audio: A sword clashing sound when the company's text slides in.

Availability: Seen only on Geom Cube, Double Dragon, and Strike Point, all for PlayStation.