AlphaDream

(formerly known as ) was a video game development company founded in 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno in Tokyo, Japan. In partnership with Nintendo, it produced software for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch, including the Mario & Luigi series. The company's staff included prominent former developers from Square, such as Chihiro Fujioka. On October 1, 2019, AlphaDream was shut down after declaring bankruptcy.

History
AlphaDream was founded on January 12, 2000. They were then known as Alpha Star. Several members of their staff were notable staff from Square. They are known for their role-playing games, most notably the Mario & Luigi series for the Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo 3DS.

The company was founded in 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno, the past president of Square. Their first game, Koto Battle, was a Pokémon-style role-playing game, wherein the player battles three of their twenty character cards against AI opponents. It was released in March 2001 for the Game Boy Color. While it remains a Japan-only game, it was later re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.

AlphaDream's next game was Tomato Adventure, released in January 2002. The player, as DeMille, a tomato-hater in the Ketchup Kingdom, fights his way from his outcast village to rescue his girlfriend. The in-game weapons are toy-like and the battles against opponents involve minigames.

Tomato Adventure was co-developed with Graphic Research and directed by Chihiro Fujioka of Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy Legend III. It was expected for release on the Game Boy Color as Gimmick Land, but was pushed to the new Game Boy Advance and renamed for better marketing. Tomato Adventure has not been released outside Japan.

AlphaDream became the developer of the Mario & Luigi series of games shortly after, with the first entry in the series, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, releasing in 2003.

On October 1, 2019, AlphaDream declared bankruptcy, citing sluggish revenues and high development costs, and being unable to keep up with growing debt (which as of March 2018 was over ¥465 million).

Developed games

Notes

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Category:Video game companies of Japan
Category:Defunct video game companies
Category:Video game companies established in 2000
Category:Video game companies disestablished in 2019
Category:Japanese companies established in 2000
Category:Japanese companies disestablished in 2019
Category:Video game development companies
Category:Software companies based in Tokyo
Category:Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Japan