Megasoft

Santos redirects here. For the Santos that made The Flintstones and Bust-A-Move, see Santos (later).

Megasoft
Founded: 1980s Merged into: Sega (1993)

The company Megasoft started as Whiteboard and was established sometime in the latter part of the 1980s. It produced arcade and home mahjong games such Mahjong Cop Ryuu, primarily for SEGA. By 1989, the company's name had changed to Santos and it produced a handful more arcade and Mega Drive titles, most notably Battle Golfer Yui. The company was acquired by SEGA in December 1991, and renamed once more to Megasoft.

As a division of SEGA, Megasoft produced two titles, Aa Harimanada and Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, but the staff was soon after merged into SEGA's own internal R&D departments. After the buyout by SEGA, Santos president Takeshi Tozu left the company to establish another development studio also called Santos, which would eventually be merged into Yumekobo.

Another group of former Santos staff led by Tomohiro Ishigai established Gaibrain in the early '90s.

Softography

System 2

• Dakko-chan House (1987, as Whiteboard)

System 16

• Sukeban Jansi Ryuko (1988, as Whiteboard)

Mega Drive

• Mahjong Cop Ryuu (1989, as Whiteboard)
• Toki: Going Ape Spit (1991, as Santos)
• Battle Golfer Yui (1991, as Santos)
• Aa Harimanada (1993)
• Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (1993)