描いて・作って・遊べる デザエオン © 1994 Athena Co. Ltd.
(Kaite Tsukutte Asoberu Dezaemon)
Kaite Tsukutte Asoberu: Dezaemon is a revolutionary "shoot 'em up" construction kit. It effectively turned the Super Famicom into a game development workstation, allowing players to design their own vertical scrolling shooters from the ground up—including sprite creation, level design, enemy behavior scripting, and music composition. The package includes a fully functional, built-in sample game titled Daioh Gale, which serves as both a playable showcase and a template for budding developers to deconstruct and modify.
GAME ID: SHVC-66
Released on September 20, 1994 (Tuesday) in Japan at a retail price of 12,900 JPY.
Pioneering Creative Suite: Dezaemon was ahead of its time, empowering users to manipulate raw game assets long before the widespread availability of modern level editors. Its icon-driven interface, designed to minimize language barriers, allowed it to transcend regional boundaries despite being a Japanese-only release.
The Daioh Gale Connection: The bundled sample game, Daioh Gale, is a spiritual successor to Athena’s 1993 arcade shooter Daioh. While they share visual similarities in their space-fighter designs, Daioh Gale was tailored to be more accessible, providing a stable, conventional foundation that users could safely experiment upon without breaking the game's core logic.
Deep Customization Engine: The editor allowed for surprisingly advanced technical manipulation, including the ability to define complex enemy attack patterns and multi-phase boss encounters. It remains a legendary piece of software among retro developers and shmup enthusiasts who enjoy exploring the limits of 16-bit hardware.