1-Up Studio Inc., formerly Brownie Brown Inc., is a Japanese video game developer founded on June 30, 2000, in Tokyo, Japan by Shinichi Kameoka and Kouji Tsuda, who worked on the Mana series. The studio developed games for both Nintendo and Square Enix, including Magical Vacation and Sword of Mana.
Logo as Brownie Brown.
The Mana series, known in Japan as Seiken Densetsu , is a high fantasy action role-playing game series created by Koichi Ishii, with development formerly from Square, and is currently owned by Square Enix. The series began in 1991 as Final Fantasy Adventure, a Game Boy handheld side story to Square's flagship franchise Final Fantasy. The Final Fantasy elements were subsequently dropped starting with the second installment, Secret of Mana, in order to become its own series. It has grown to include games of various genres within the fictional world of Mana, with recurring stories involving a world tree, its associated holy sword, and the fight against forces that would steal their power. Several character designs, creatures, and musical themes reappear frequently.
Artwork of the Mana Tree, from Children of Mana