Celeste I

Super KES and Gameboy video games gradually gained popularity among the masses, whether it was titles like 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past' and 'Super Metroid.' However, it was the sales of 'Super Mario World' that truly skyrocketed.

Simultaneously, 'Sonic the Hedgehog' was also on the rise in terms of popularity. Tora and Suzuki could only watch as their video game consoles and video games gradually declined in significance.

Meanwhile, at Suzuki Finance headquarters, in their office, Shiko and Seki discussed their strategy with Nikko Tabata. While idly playing with a Gameboy, Shiko remarked, "We should consider adding this product to our inventory."

Seki agreed with a nod and said, "Although it's not easy to admit, our younger brother has shown remarkable innovation with Gameboy."

Nikko Tabata concurred, saying, "KiShin has truly surprised us this time..." He paused, a smile playing on his lips, and continued, "But, as we've done before, we can follow in KiShin's footsteps."

Hearing Nikko Tabata's words, Shiko and Seki couldn't help but feel a sense of resignation as they prepared to once again follow KiShin's path in the world of video game consoles and innovations.

Tora and Suzuki had their own strategies and plans in place before KiShin's release of SKES and Gameboy. The transition from 8-bit to 16-bit video games was already underway, and Tora and Suzuki were leading in this transition. However, when KiShin introduced their own 16-bit console, SKES, and Gameboy, Tora and Suzuki found themselves compelled to follow in KiShin's footsteps once again.

Suzuki was devising their own handheld video game console, and Tora wasn't about to be left behind. They too began planning to create a handheld device inspired by KiShin's innovation. While Tora and Suzuki intended to make their handheld video game consoles similar to KiShin's, they were careful not to infringe on copyrights, ensuring their unique touch.

This strategy wasn't new to Tora and Suzuki. They had previously introduced their own brick toy to both Japan and the USA. Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming popularity of SKES and Gameboy, their brick toys didn't gain much attention in the market.

In a discussion among fans of Tora, Suzuki, and KiShin, a Tora fan pointed out, "While 'Sonic the Hedgehog' is a recent hit from KiShin, the true popularity still lies in their early classics like 'Super Mario World,' 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past,' and 'Super Metroid,' among others. KiShin's newer games are yet to reach the same level of acclaim."

"That's natural! They're still new, after all..." a KiShin fan remarked.

Then a Suzuki fan chimed in, saying, "Haha, it's because only their original, early video game titles gain popularity. Besides 'Sonic the Hedgehog,' the rest hardly garner any attention."

Another KiShin fan added, "At the very least, KiShin's new video games will be more popular than those from Tora and Suzuki."

When KiShin fans heard this, they burst into laughter, while Tora and Suzuki fans blushed and attempted to counter.

The notion that KiShin's video games with well-known titles would become popular became widely acknowledged. However, in the process, they overlooked the video game that CEO Shin held the highest expectations for, which was 'Celeste.'

Shin, along with his team of video game developers, had been working on 'Celeste' for several months. Even when they only had the prototype of SKES at that time, Shin and the developers were already creating games for SKES, with 'Celeste' receiving the most attention.

This particular video game was inspired by Shin's previous life, and it posed a significant challenge to adapt it to a 16-bit console due to the system's limitations and limited resources. Despite SKES being optimized and superior to Tora and Suzuki's consoles, recreating 'Celeste' for a 16-bit platform proved to be a formidable task, even though its gameplay was 2D and pixelated.

As a result, Shin replaced the 3D stage selection of 'Celeste' with a simpler 2D pixelated version. Even though KiShin's SKES had its limitations for running 'Celeste,' Shin dedicated himself to optimizing SKES. Through rigorous testing and finalization, Shin became confident that his SKES outperformed even the Nintendo SNES from his previous life.

With these SKES optimizations, Shin successfully ran his revamped 'Celeste' on the platform by maximizing the potential of KiShin's SKES.

---

Ruki Suzuki purchased SKES and Gameboy, along with their video games. In all honesty, she could have asked her brother, Shinro, for SKES and Gameboy at any time, but she still wanted to support her brother's business.

As a few days passed, the lines at various stores and malls significantly shortened.

She purchased a selection of video games that piqued her interest, including 'Sonic the Hedgehog,' 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past,' 'Super Mario World,' and 'Celeste.' Additionally, she acquired a few Gameboy games.

Ruki's decision to buy 'Celeste' was primarily influenced by the game's red-haired female character, which intrigued her. Moreover, she found the game's storyline captivating just by reading the manual.

Upon her return to the Suzuki Mansion, she went straight to her room, turned on her Suzuki television, placed the SKES in front of the screen, and connected it. She inserted 'Super Mario World,' and as the SKES and the game booted up, she saw the title 'Super Mario World' and pressed start, immersing herself in the game.

Ruki was immediately drawn in by the new video game style of 'Super Mario World' and noticed the significant graphics improvement that KiShin had made in both SKES and the video games.

After playing for a while, she decided to switch 'Super Mario World' with 'Celeste.' Her curiosity about this new KiShin video game had piqued her interest. While she was familiar with titles like 'Sonic the Hedgehog' and 'The Legend of Zelda,' 'Celeste' remained an unknown.

Ruki inserted 'Celeste' into the SKES cartridge slot, and the screen displayed the KiShin and SKES logos as the game booted up. Ruki smiled and remarked, "I have a feeling this video game is going to be good."