Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power

Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power, known in Japan as Touhou Suimusou (東方萃夢想), is a 1994 versus fighting game developed by Drillimation Studios and published by Namco. A special deal with Microsoft had them promote Windows 95 in the game, as if the game ran on the Windows 95 operating system. The game can also run on Windows 3.1 as long as Win32s and the appropriate DirectX version is installed, but the battlefields will only be rendered in 2D in those cases. The game was released in the arcades on December 9, 1994, followed by a home console released in May 1995 for the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and even Microsoft Windows. The game was also ported to the Sony PlayStation as a launch title and the arcade version is also available in the 2016 compilation Namco Museum: Drillimation Replay.

This is also the first Touhou game to feature the main Drillimation characters and the second game to have the soundtrack in MO3 format. According to GamePro, the soundtrack would take up 30MB of space if left in the standard Impulse Tracker format, as the MO3 version takes up only 3MB of space.

Arcade version
"Microsoft welcomes you to the next generation in fighting game technology!"

- Official attention grabber

Ever hear of Alice Margatroid or Cirno? You won't know until you see them in their first fighting game along with Mr. Driller, the Lucky Stars, and heck, even the Angry Video Game Nerd! Making this the first Microsoft Windows-powered arcade game by Namco and Drillimation, over 20+ fighters join the fray with half of them from The Drillimation Series and the other half being robots from the award-winning Touhou Project designed by Team Shanghai Alice, all of which have their own powers and secret means of destruction.

Running on the Windows 95 operating system, all the characters have an awesome arsenal of attacks, combos, and even spell cards that can give your opponents hidden danger. You're in the glory in 3D battlefields, 32-bit technology, and even the DCS sound system delivers a rockin' soundtrack, realistic animations, and even the most memorable lines from the popular TV series.

So be it. Play Killer Minecraft today and see how you can be impressed by everything we have. You're important to us, so jump in.

Home Console version
"The arcade killer is coming to charge and fight!"

- Official attention grabber

Don't want to wait in endless lines to play the smash hit fighting game? Not anymore, because Killer Minecraft is now here for your Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis/PlayStation with all the great graphics, sound effects, and music from the arcade original.

Mr. Driller, the Lucky Stars, and the Gensokyo robots contend in the LJN Killer Minecraft tournament. Over 20+ fighters have epic combo moves and destructive fatalities to crush their opponents. With incredible rising punches, barrage curtains, and laser blades, you'll be proving your battle prowess. And remember, only one can win - this tournament is not fail-safe and losing will make you hero-to-zero!
 * All your favorite characters, moves, and quotes are right here - no need to have to have a big sound system!
 * Fun, addictive gameplay features mind-crushing special moves and back-breaking finishers that will keep you up all night long.
 * The soundtrack is right at your fingertips with the awesome Killer Minecraft Music Room CD inside. Works on any computer with MIDI and Impulse Tracker outputs. Perfect for arrangements or other derived works!

Gameplay
The game is a 2.5D fighting game that combines the gameplay elements from Super Smash Keyboards and Touhou Project. Players controlling The Drillimation Series characters are more physical and magic-based, while Touhou Project characters are more projectile-based. Players punch, kick, and use a series of supernatural attacks to defeat a cast of humanoid-like characters from The Drillimation Series and Touhou Project. Unlike Super Smash Keyboards, players have double life bars. When a player's first life bar is depleted, the match temporarily pauses and resumes like a normal round. The main gimmick is the combos, where players can perform a string of attacks just by pushing a certain button combination. Players being hit by opponent's combos can break out of them, called a "combo breaker". At the end of a match, players can perform one of these two finishing moves: an "ultra combo" move that surpasses 20 hits, and a destructive fatality "spell card", where the player uses a spell card as a fatality move. Like Super Smash Keyboards, all matches are timed and if the player does not defeat their opponent within the time limit, the game will go into a "sudden death" mode, where the player must perform a "quick draw" with one of their spell cards.

Characters
Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power features a total of 23 playable characters, with half of them being from The Drillimation Series and the other half from Touhou Project.

Team Driller Characters:
 * Susumu Hori: A middleweight fighter who is known to be the king of all drillers. With aliases such as Mr. Driller and Prince Susumu, he has been famous for punishing Keel Sark and Fred Fuchs in the Super Smash Keyboards tournaments. This time, he has been chosen to defeat Fuchs again.
 * Wataru Hoshi: A middleweight boxing champion who has held the title for almost three years. At one point, he was found cheating using a series of long-distance punches. Now broke, he enters the tournament for the love of money.
 * Konata Izumi: A fantastic ballroom dancer who was hugely famous for being "the girl who lived" when Dr. Manhole attempted to kill her when she was an infant after her mother, Queen Kanata, was murdered by a Killing Curse. With her mother now reincarnated, she enters her in the tournament to avenge Kanata's death.
 * Akira Kogami: A television producer who wanted to host the tournament but lost it to Fred Fuchs after he forced her to enter. She is out looking for extraterrestrial information in an attempt to shut down LJN for good.
 * Hiyori Tamura: An author who is suffering from kidney stones due to a hornet attack when she was in junior high school. Now a brave student in senior high, the Minecraftia Health Network will reward her with a cure if she is successful.
 * James Rolfe: A computer programmer who is filled with mental aggression from LJN's products. Using the aggression, he has set up plans to defeat Fuchs to hit back for refusing to make a great piece of software from their large library of mediocre-to-poorly-coded programs.
 * Kagami Hiiragi: A shrine maiden who has been drafted into the tournament from her fire aptitude. The outfit she wore at Queen Kanata's coronation at the Lucky Star Kingdom caused her to gain this power, despite all the efforts she has taken from the use of her signature weapon, the Flame Gohei.
 * Tsukasa Hiiragi: A shrine maiden who is the twin sister to Kagami Hiiragi and trying to infiltrate LJN to learn more about her past, which involved her getting a few of Dr. Manhole's genes and temporarily turning herself into Team Ankoku's side. She learned many of Team Ankoku hackers' moves, which she will use during the tournament.
 * Ataru Hori: A driller from Susumu's side who ran away from the Hori clan's home at a young age. He mainly resides in forests. After seeing some success in the Super Smash Keyboards tournament, he uppercuts his way into the tournament to see if anyone can meet his skill.
 * Miyuki Takara: A youkai-born driller who is said to be one of the descendants of Yukari Yakumo. While hiking on Mt. Tsukuba, she had triggered a massive avalanche. As she was injured by the avalanche, LJN forces Miyuki into the tournament to melt the damage caused by the massive avalanche.
 * Holinger-Z: The one and the only robot from Team Driller that is currently being tested with his new leg implants. If he succeeds, the Drill Institute will begin mass-producing these legs for robots.
 * Fred Fuchs: The headmaster of LJN, and the host of the Killer Minecraft tournament. He has won many Super Smash Keyboards tournaments in the past, with him being knocked out once or twice. Many drillers are assuming he will likely be knocked out by one of the Team Driller members or Gensokyo Robots.

Touhou Project Characters:
 * Reimu Hakurei: The miko of the Hakurei Shrine and perennial protagonist of the series. She is troubled by the constant feasts in the shrine that she has to host, and goes to attack whoever she thinks is making her host all the feast.
 * Marisa Kirisame: A magician who is another long-time protagonist of the series. She acts as the secretary in charge of the feasts, though she has no idea why Gensokyo's having so many feasts.
 * Sakuya Izayoi: The maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion introduced in Touhou 6: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Sensing a mysterious qi in the feasts, she sets out to investigate.
 * Alice Margatroid: Another magician whose specialty is puppets. This is her first try at exorcism. She was originally from the Driller Engine 1000 game Touhou 5: Mystic Square but her current design and characterization are from Touhou 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom.
 * Patchouli Knowledge: A witch of the Scarlet Devil Mansion (from Touhou 6: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil) who does not usually go out of her library. This time, however, she took responsibility in investigating the mist that has been blanketing Gensokyo.
 * Youmu Konpaku: A half-human half-ghost introduced in Touhou 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom. Like Reimu, she goes slashing the suspects with her sword.
 * Remilia Scarlet: A vampire who is thought to be one of the prime suspects in creating the strange mist, because she did it once before in Touhou 6: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.
 * Yuyuko Saigyouji: The ghost princess of the Netherworld from Touhou 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom. She is another one of the prime suspects.
 * Yukari Yakumo: A wandering youkai who was introduced in Touhou 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom who was never invited to the feasts but comes anyway.
 * Suika Ibuki: The new character of Killer Minecraft, she is an oni who loves drinks, feasts, and competition like the rest of her race. Despite her small size, she is strong in strength, speed, and mystic powers; she is also several hundred years old. Using her ability to control density, she can gather people to form a banquet, or she can scatter herself to become mist. In the game, she made the residents of Gensokyo have feasts one night after another, intending to draw the joyous oni from hiding.
 * Hong Meiling: A Chinese-like youkai returning from Touhou 6: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil that was included in one of the later revisions of the game. She has no story mode.

Spell Cards
Spell Cards are the main gimmick of Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power. The Drillimation characters have their own spell cards as their fatality moves, while the Touhou Project characters have spell cards for special moves as well as fatality moves.

Arcade Ladder

 * 1) If they are playing as that character, then they will face Susumu Hori instead in the same stage.
 * 2) If they are playing as that character, then they will face Hong Meiling instead in the same stage.

Plot
Set after the events of Angry Video Game Nerd: The Arcade, LJN headmaster Fred Fuchs declares revenge on James Rolfe, the person who defeated Fuchs, for destroying his Touhou game. He orders his staff from LJN to design robots and to attack Japan to stop the main Drillimation heroes. However, Rolfe denies Fuchs' orders and challenges him to a martial arts tournament to stop this from happening. Fuchs realizes that the robots needed to be tested before being used, and enters them in the tournament so their strength can be determined.

Development
Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power began development as another Super Smash Keyboards game called Ultra Super Smash Keyboards 2 in early 1994. According to programmer Kenjirou Nasaya, he stated that it was going to be an update to Super Smash Keyboards 2. However, he wanted to add characters from Touhou Project to have the theme stand out. While coming up with plot ideas for the game, Takajima asked designer Yasuhiro Takemoto to take charge.

Drillimation engineer Jun'ya "ZUN" Ohta had been experimenting with the 3D modeling software PowerAnimator. During development, Drillimation presented a tech demo of the models in action to Namco. However, Namco wanted Drillimation to use the anime art style from Super Smash Keyboards and therefore changed the style. However, Ohta had shown the characters he has been modeling, and Namco gave Drillimation the support they needed to develop Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power.

Drillimation used Holinger-Z from Mr. Driller G, Wataru Hoshi came from the prototype that Drillimation created, who would later star in the 1993 danmaku shooter game Star Trigon: The Arcade, which Ohta also modeled. The character models for Kagami Hiiragi and Miyuki Takara were specifically modeled after Ohta began experimenting with special effects. As Karen Strassman, the actress who plays Miyuki starred in an anime short film that Drillimation gave Hanna-Barbera the rights called Miyuki's Avalanche, which was originally titled Killer Minecraft. In an interview with Susumu Takajima, the current president of Drillimation Studios, stated that Kagami was originally supposed to be lava-based rather than fire-based.

Before Magical Girl Team Lucky Star made the Japanese debut in 1981, Akira Kogami, one of Lucky Channel's hosts, went through a lot of changes before the final version. Akira was originally supposed to have blonde hair and was one time named Kiratchi. Puchi was one time named Toxin, Wataru was named Mr. Fist, and Tsukasa was one time named Akari.

The Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power arcade cabinet was a one-of-a-kind. Like most of Drillimation's games, it required an entire CD-ROM to store the full motion video sequences and CD-quality music. There was even a marketing employ saying if it ran on the Windows 95 operating system. However, the arcade boards were co-designed by Namco and Microsoft. The cutscene animation was produced by Drillimation Studios' animation development studio with production assisted by Kyoto Animation. The fighting system used in the Driller Engine 2000-based game caused the game to become a smash hit. The machine was highly expensive, but arcades across the world would make $1,000 per week.

The bugs and glitches were tedious for the fans to discover. One notable glitch was with Kagami Hiiragi - a game breaking bug where an infinite combo can be performed without it breaking. The glitch had gotten so out of hand that Drillimation had to issue a ROM update that would correct the issue. Namco and Microsoft sent a team of engineers to manually install the update to all 17,000 Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power machines across Japan, the United States, and Europe.

Rating Summary
From the ESRB:


 * This is a fighting game where players engage in one-on-one matches featuring popular heroes and villains from The Drillimation Series and magical maidens from the fantasy-based Touhou Project universe. Players punch, kick, block, and use a series of supernatural and magical attacks to deplete opponents' life bars and defeat their opponents. Several characters often use swords, knives, and claws, and fireballs in combat. Combat is frenetic and is highlighted by colorful light effects and cries of pain, combat is often bloody, with blood splashes briefly appearing from every successive hit. After an opponent is defeated twice, players can perform one of several finishing moves called "Ultra Combos" and "Fatality" moves. Fatalities depict acts of violence: characters getting stabbed/impaled, shot, having their neck snapped, being thrown off buildings, or melting into a pool of lava, although they are depicted as comical and minimal (mid '90s renderings). Alcohol is referenced in the game's dialogue, including specific lines (i.e. "Let's not drink the leftover sake today...", "90% alcohol, just like a right angle.", "These feasts starting, Youmu getting drunk and starting to dance..."). The word "hell" is occasionally heard in the dialogue.

Reception
Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power received critical acclaim for its visuals, fighting style, and sense of humor. The game currently holds an 81% based on 46 reviews on Metacritic. The game was a critical success, selling more than 1.5 million copies in 1995 alone. Famitsu gave the game a 33 out of 40 (8/8/9/8), and Nintendo Power gave the game a 6 out of 10. The game faced criticism for its loading times for the arcade, PC, and PlayStation versions, and the low framerate on the SNES and Genesis versions.

Controversy
Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power was attacked by some critics, stating it had allegedly promoted violence against women with its almost all-female cast with the exception of a few male characters. Alongside Super Smash Keyboards it was one of the games featured in the 1994 US Senate Hearings on video game violence.

Immaterial and Missing Power also faced criticism for Suika Ibuki being a racist stereotype for her lined eyes. The next two sequels would also be attacked for the same thing. This problem was corrected in the 2014 game Killer Minecraft: Anniversary Edition.

References to other games

 * Super Smash Keyboards 2: Some character sprites are reused in this game, as well as a couple of sound effects.

Behind the Scenes

 * This is the first Touhou Project game to:
 * Be a launch title for a console
 * Receive a Teen rating from the ESRB due to the use of violence.
 * Utilize 3D graphics.
 * The sound effects from this game can be heard in the Miami Spanish dub of Baby Alive: The Movie whenever Alive, Dead, Bit slow or Bibs fall.