Altron
| Altron | |
 | |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Current State | Dormant |
| Headquarters | Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan 🇯🇵 |
| Type | Developer Publisher |
| Worked On | 
|
| Website | Current Site |
Altron (株式会社アルトロン) is a Japanese video game developer and publisher, best known for various licensed games. They worked closely with THQ during the DS-era, including three SpongeBob-themed platformer games. One of these is the only licensed Drawn to Life spin-off title, 2008's Drawn to Life: Spongebob Squarepants Edition.
History[edit]
Altron was founded in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan sometime in 1983. They began as a Japanese localizer and publisher for American and European games in the country, starting in 1991 with Tengen's NES version of Paperboy. They eventually started devleoping their own games internally with Missland, a strategy game for the PlayStation released in 1995. Throughout the 2000s, they brought a new name for themselves as a reliable developer of licensed games, particularly games themed around Disney and Nickelodeon properties, and maintained strong partnerships with publishers, particularly THQ.
Following Drawn to Life's success, THQ and Nickelodeon brainstormed an idea of 5th Cell developing a licensed SpongeBob title. Aware of the company's past with licensed titles and noticing the similarities with the episode "Frankendoodle", THQ approached the team with the proposed idea. They weren't interested in a SpongeBob title, instead prompting to develop an original title, Lock's Quest, in it's place. As a result, Altron was tasked with crossing the franchises over.
Having just developed the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance versions of SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis, Altron ended up re-using various assets from that game, whilst also incorporating the Draw Mode. The game featured the most unique attributes out of any game in the series as a result, featuring Coloring Book Mode, Draw SpongeBob and Multi-Card Play modes. Not much is known about the game's production beyond this, with no information on it's total development time or whether the initial plan for the game was different to the final product.
Altron would go on to develop more licensed games following SpongeBob SquarePants Edition throughout the late 2000s/early 2010s, but have since gone on hiatus following a few mobile releases towards the end of the latter decade.
Notable Games[edit]
- Paperboy (Tengen Famicom version) (1991)
- Missland (1995)
- Hey Arnold!: The Movie (2002)
- The Simpsons: Road Rage (2003)
- Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy (2004)
- SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis (2007)
- Drawn to Life: Spongebob Squarepants Edition (2008)
- SpongeBob's Truth or Square (2009)
- Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (2011)
- Next Gen Solitaire (2017)
- Twin Card (2019)
Trivia[edit]
- Despite developing Drawn to Life: Spongebob Squarepants Edition, the game was never mentioned anywhere on their website.
- Strangely, even though Altron is a Japanese developer, the game also never saw a Japanese release.
Media[edit]
Altron and THQ's in-credit logos for Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition
The front page of their website.
| Nintendo DS | 5th Cell • THQ • Agatsuma Entertainment |
|---|---|
| iOS | 505 Games • WayForward |
|
| |
| Altron • Nickelodeon • THQ | |
|
| |
| Planet Moon Studios • THQ | |
| 5th Cell • THQ | |
| Most Regions | 505 Games • Digital Continue |
| South Korean Release | H2 Interactive |
Directory: Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition → Altron | |
