Nazca Corporation was a Japanese video
game company that developed video games
for the Neo Geo. The company was formed
in 1994 by a group of employees from
Irem who were tired of the company's
inactivity. In 1996, the company was
acquired by SNK.
R-Type II's graphical style bears great
similarity to what this team is known
for. However, it is generally thought
their first game was Air Duel; they
would later make games such as Armed
Police Unit Gallop, Undercover Cops,
Pound For Pound, Ken-Go, and Kaitei
Daisensou. Their final game for Irem was
Geostorm, after which they left and
created Nazca, creating Neo Turf Masters
and Metal Slug; the latter shares many
stylistic similarities to the previous
Irem works. They were seemingly absorbed
by SNK thereafter, and would make the
second and third Metal Slug games and
possibly Neo Geo Pocket Metal Slug and
The King of Fighters R games. It is
believed the team disbanded after SNK
filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
Nine of the original Nazca staff
answered questions from an undated text
interview that was translated and
included in Metal Slug Anthology.
Because the common use of pseudonyms in
arcade titles to avoid rivalry between
corporations, details of its staff
remains scarce. One known key member is
composer Takushi Hiyamuta, responsible
for composing nearly every game listed
here, in whole or part. He was
considered part of SNK's in-house band,
the "Shinsekai Gakkyoku Zatsugidan". He
was interviewed for the Metal Slug
Complete Sound Box released in 2008. It
is likely that he went freelance, though
the only work he is credited for since
Metal Slug 3 is Yuusha 30.
Kazuma Kujo, credited as KOZO, went on
to form Granzella Games after leaving
both Irem and SNK, but has refused to
comment on the status and identity of
key staff members including lead
designer Meeher and graphic artists Akio
and Susumu.
Atsushi Inaba, formerly of Capcom and
producer at Platinum Games, was a member
of Nazca doing income management then
SNK after its acquisition, rekindling
his interest in video game development.
Although details were never delved,
Inaba stated he did programming work on
a Samurai Shodown title and was unhappy
with his experience at SNK.
External links 
Nazca Corporation profile on MobyGames
Nazca Corporation profile on
Arcade-History
