My Fascination With Treasure

Treasure is a video game company that operates solely on the Rule Of Cool. Their number one priority is doing whatever the hell they want, and cramming in as many ideas into their games as possible, console capabilities be damned. What resulted was one of the most eclectic and unique libraries any developer has ever had, filled to the brim with hidden gems and cult classics. Treasure doesn't always hit a home run, their design philosophy is the definition of throwing darts at a board to see what sticks, but they've become one of my favorite game studios through just how consistently they knock it out of the park. So, in all their madness, I wanted to talk about some of the things that make Treasure's games stand out so well.

Gameplay Freedom

One thing I've quickly noticed about Treasure is that their movesets are absolutely wild. Many of the core gimmicks in Treasure games involve giving you a choice between a variety of weapons. Gunstar Heroes has the gun combinations, Dynamite Headdy has the heads, Silhouette Mirage has weapons you can buy at the shop and upgrade, and of course, Radiant Silvergun gives you a whopping six different shot types you can use all at the same time. This gives the player the freedom to use the weapons and strategies that suit their playstyle, and it increases replayability too.

But that's not even it, because while Treasure is usually known for their vast weapon selections, their base movesets are also super robust. Games like Gunstar Heroes and Silhouette Mirage like to give the player a whole bunch of grapples and physical attacks, and most notably, Mischief Makers gives you a slew of different dashes, dash combos, dash jumps, dash cancels, basically making for a speedrunner's dream of a moveset. Treasure didn't need to go this hard, most run-and-guns really just need a jump and shoot button, but it's all these extra moves and gameplay options that make Treasure games feel so great to play.

World-Building

You might not expect a company known for their balls-to-the-walls action games to have great stories, and you'd be kinda right. Treasure's stories are rarely anything amazing, but they are creative, memorable, and always charming. Silhouette Mirage is the easy highlight here with its unique character designs and vibrant worlds (not to mention all the biblical theming that I simply have zero context for), but the majority of Treasure's games have a surprising amount of story elements to dig into. Guardian Heroes' cast is so likable and fun to watch that they elevate what's otherwise a MacGuffin chase, Mischief Makers is literally a story about a professor getting kidnapped like four times yet it's set on a war backdrop, and Radiant Silvergun is just flat-out told non-linearly. Once again, Treasure didn't need to put this much thought into their worlds and the way they tell their stories, but the fact that they did shows a world of passion.

That One Show-Stopping Stage

Many of Treasure's games have a wide variety of stages, the majority of which task you with doing something entirely different from the rest of the game. This leads to a pretty wide range in quality within these games, at their worst it can feel like Treasure is demanding a bit too much from the player. But just as frequently, there is a stage where Treasure hits a bullseye, a stage where everything the game was trying to accomplish clicks into place, a stage so show-stopping and memorable that it makes the entire game more than worth it.

For example, Gunstar Heroes' boss rush board game sounds like an awful idea at first, but the bosses in that game are so much fun that I tried to go out of my way to land on each of the spaces just to see what was there. Silhouette Mirage's city stage is dynamic and jaw-droppingly gorgeous, with a wide variety of bosses and stage gimmicks that make the most of Shyla's moveset. Sin & Punishment's 2-2 is a lengthy and exhausting shmup-esque gauntlet that feels super rewarding to fell every single time. Wonky Circus in Wario World isn't just an absolute blast in terms of gameplay but its creepy circus vibe suits Wario World's tone perfectly. And as divisive as it is, I love how charmingly the olympics in Mischief Makers tests you on each of the game's main mechanics. At their best, Treasure games almost always have at least one level that will stick in your mind long after you're done with them.

Replayability

Treasure games are built to be replayed over and over again. Part of the reasoning for that is in the aforementioned gameplay freedom. Gunstar Heroes gives you a wide array of weapons to use and Mischief Makers encourages you to speedrun, and on top of that, Guardian Heroes and Silhouette Mirage have a bunch of different paths and endings, and Radiant Silvergun's Saturn Mode is literally built around you replaying it. But there's also just the length element of it all, Treasure games are short, even when the company moved past the fairly arcade-y Genesis. Many of their games are really just a hour-long adrenaline rush, but that's part of what makes them so easy to come back to. They're all killer, no filler experiences that never waste your time, and Sin & Punishment in particular was so much of a blast that I immediately replayed in on a higher difficulty after I finished it for the first time.

And Of Course, The Bosses

I can't talk about Treasure without getting into their typically insane boss fights. Like with their level design, Treasure's boss fights may cross the line into too overwhelming at times, but when they're good, they're really fricking good. Balls to the walls, multi phases, utterly bombastic bits of spectacle that really need to be played to be believed. Treasure's repertoire of bosses boasts some of the best and most iconic in all of gaming, like Seven Force in Gunstar Heroes, Migen and Cerberus Alpha from Mischief Makers, Spinarella and Baby Face in Dynamite Headdy, Penta and Xiga from Radiant Silvergun, Dynamis from Silhouette Mirage, and Dinomighty from Wario World. And if you happen to be on a moving vehicle during that fight? Expect one of the most exhilirating gaming experiences of your life.

I respect Treasure. Years before the indie gaming scene was even a thing, these guys were making the games that they wanted to make, with zero target audience in mind whatsoever. Nothing was too weird for them, no idea too ambitious. The majority of their games are maximalist as hell, and yet, super accessible in their short length and variety of gameplay options. And while Treasure at their worst may frustrate me quite a bit, Treasure at their best managed to create moments that I'll never forget. That's why, even if other developers may have had a more consistent output, Treasure will always be one of my personal favorites. Because they try.