Downstairs at the Mitsui Building, Kobayashi Tetsu arrived in a Jeep and invited Iwata Satoru, Kitagawa Tsuyoshi, and Tsukasa Masuko to get in.
Iwata Satoru stared at the Jeep in front of him, then looked up at Kobayashi Tetsu.
"President, this Jeep isn't going to run me over, is it?"
"Don't worry about that. Your last name is Iwata, not Seto. Who would be bored enough to drive a Jeep to run you over?"
Kobayashi Tetsu slid into the driver's seat and casually patted the seat beside him.
"Get in! Let's go for a drive! Experience what a real Jeep is like!"
The Jeep was open-top, had a windshield, and was painted green. The paint was mottled and chipped, and the entire vehicle shook as it rumbled to life.
On the surface, it looked like a wreck. But in reality, every component from the engine to the transmission had been replaced. The battle-scarred exterior still faintly hinted at its past life on the battlefield.
This wasn't the prototype for the Red Fortress, but a Willys Jeep that Kobayashi Tetsu had bought from a collector in Tokyo. According to the collector, the vehicle had once traversed the Western Front, but was now merely a collector's item.
Iwata Satoru shifted slightly, finding the cushion beneath him rather uncomfortable.
"It's war, after all. What do you expect?" Kobayashi Tetsu gave the Jeep a jolt and drove off with a lurch.
Though it had seemed on the verge of falling apart just moments before, the vehicle gradually steadied as they drove. Iwata Satoru grew more at ease, began observing the vehicle, and found himself developing a new appreciation for the Jeep as a mode of transport.
"What's that slot up front? Could it be for an antenna?"
Iwata Satoru leaned forward and spotted an empty slot on the hood. He wondered what it was used for back in the day.
"Something like that," Kobayashi Tetsu replied. "It's to prevent throat-slitting. You'd stand a blade upright in it, so if you encountered a wire barrier while driving, it would prevent your throat from being cut. When Americans first arrived on the Western Front, many passengers were killed by wires. So they invented this device—a throat-guard—mounted on the hood. It prevents you from being garroted by wires at high speeds."
Iwata Satoru understood perfectly.
These were all minor details that might not be noticeable in the game itself, but they were crucial for the original artwork.
As for the game, if they wanted to add upgrade features, this was the area to focus on.
For example, the initial Jeep might only have a machine gun. After an upgrade, missiles could be installed, and subsequent upgrades could add external sandbags, anti-garroting devices, reinforced doors, and so on.
Tsukasa Masuko, holding Kobayashi Tetsu's camera, meticulously photographed the Jeep from every angle, inside and out.
Every detail was captured!
In February, Kobayashi Tetsu had snuck out to celebrate Valentine's Day, and someone in the know muttered "CS" under their breath.
Spending the day with one person and the night with another, and even stopping by Takamine Community Hospital for half an hour in between—that was a living CS!
Kobayashi Tetsu naturally paid no mind.
As Emperor Sakikawa famously said, "Never care about rumors and slander!"
Time gradually passed into March.
The progress on Red Fortress was roughly on track. The basic level structure was fully built, but it still needed—
Further refinement was needed.
Jeeps, rescuing people, the final boss—these were the core elements.
Kobayashi Tetsu had considered adding more detailed plot elements, but after much thought, he decided to stick with the original's simple, PowerPoint-style cutscenes.
Who plays Red Fortress for the story anyway? Just drive the jeep and save people, that's all!
Fortunately, he'd secured Nintendo's cartridge compression technology and the new MMC3 enhancement chip. This allowed for better graphics and more detailed visuals than direct development would have allowed, highlighting finer details.
After each stage, he'd done his best to create pixel art.
Until today.
"President."
Naka Yuji and Takashi Nishiyama approached Kobayashi Tetsu with a secretive air.
"Want to try Street Fighter?"
Kobayashi Tetsu looked up sharply.
What is Naka Yuji babbling about? Street Fighter?
"It's done already?"
"Not quite. We've only got the combat mechanics roughly working. Of course, it needs refinement. But we've also got the basic models for Ryu and his friend Ken."
Kobayashi Tetsu's interest was immediately piqued.
Street Fighter! Yes! I have to play Street Fighter!
Even Iwata Satoru looked up.
He knew Capcom was collaborating on a Street Fighter project with them, but he hadn't expected a playable demo this soon. The progress there seemed more advanced than Red Fortress's.
Kobayashi Tetsu followed Naka Yuji and soon came face-to-face with the prototype of Street Fighter. The main circuit board was completely exposed, with no casing or enclosure—just a crude blob of cow dung holding it together.
Takashi Nishiyama introduced the controls: "We're using Capcom's proprietary eight-way joystick and six buttons, corresponding to punches and kicks. Each attack type has three variations: light, medium, and heavy."
Naka Yuji added, "To capture the essence of fighting games, we've put a lot of effort into the hit detection. We're striving for as precise character hitboxes as possible, so what you see is what you get."
Kobayashi Tetsu nodded.
This was one of Street Fighter's signature features: "what you see is what you get." The character hitboxes were more precise than in most other games.
Anyone who has played emulated arcade games knows that emulators can display hitboxes. Among fighting games, Street Fighter boasts the most precise hitboxes, allowing even the most detailed maneuvers—like crouching to dodge a character's high sweep kick.
This was something SNK failed to achieve with King of Fighters.
Not that King of Fighters couldn't do it, but the series was designed to be more accessible, so the hit detection wasn't as refined.
Naka Yuji looked expectantly at Kobayashi Tetsu. "President, would you like to try it out?"
"Sure."
Kobayashi Tetsu had already decided. He chose Ryu from the only two available characters and began his match against Naka Yuji.
Not that Kobayashi Tetsu was exaggerating!
If his parents hadn't dragged him out of the arcade when he was six, he would have been the undisputed champion of domestic fighting games!
From that moment on, Kobayashi Tetsu knew no one could stop the "Kid" from becoming a fighting game master.
The "Kid" was a top-tier fighting game player, and Kobayashi Tetsu had even heard he'd won a major prize at the Saudi Petroleum Cup before arriving.
Snapping back to reality, the fight began. Naka Yuji leaped forward with a flying kick. Kobayashi Tetsu instinctively tried to counter, but his punch met no resistance, and he was still sent flying by the kick. Though Naka Yuji lost some health, Kobayashi Tetsu was slammed against the edge of the screen.
"Huh?! What the—?!"
Before Kobayashi Tetsu could finish his sentence, he was cornered and pummeled to death in a brutal combo.
Kobayashi Tetsu jolted upright.
He leaned on the arcade cabinet, hesitating.
This is even more ridiculous than Zangief's win condition! No hit feedback at all—he just infinite comboed me to death!
Even the "Kid" would have died here!
Kobayashi Tetsu stood up.
Naka Yuji, you're working overtime tonight!
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