Yasuhisa Yamamura

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Yasuhisa Yamamura
山村 康久
Born (1964-12-10) December 10, 1964 (age 59) [1]
Nationality Japanese
Other namesYamahem, Yamahen [1]
Occupation Video game designer
Employer Nintendo

Yasuhisa Yamamura (Japanese: 山村 康久, Hepburn: Yamamura Yasuhisa, born December 10, 1964 in Hyōgo Prefecture) is a Japanese video game designer working for Nintendo. He was involved as a level designer in the development of numerous games in the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series. [1] [2] [3] Speaking about his work on the action-adventure The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening , he specified his contributions as the conception of routes, the placement of enemies and the creation of environments. Yamamura's level design philosophy takes into account experienced players skipping areas, with him stressing "the importance of omission and its effects". [4] A regular visitor of amusement arcades, he collects used circuit boards. He is also referred to by the nickname "Yamahem" or "Yamahen" (やまへむ, Yamahemu). [1] In 2006, his work on the map and level design of New Super Mario Bros. was nominated for the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Award in the category "Game Design". [5] The pigeon character Yamamura that debuted in the platform game Super Mario Maker is named after Yasuhisa Yamamura. [3]

Contents

Works

YearTitleRole
1985 Soccer [2]
1987 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Director [1]
Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic Course design [1]
1988 Super Mario Bros. 2
1991 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Assistant director
1993 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Dungeon design
1995 Yoshi's Island Course design
1996 Super Mario 64 Course director
1997 Star Fox 64 Course design
2001 Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 Map director
2002 Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
2003 Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
2005 Yoshi Touch & Go Map & level design [6]
2006 Yoshi's Island DS Supervisor
New Super Mario Bros. Map & level design
2009 New Super Mario Bros. Wii
2012 New Super Mario Bros. U Level design
2013 New Super Luigi U
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Field planning
2015 Super Mario Maker Artbook design
2016 Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS Level design lead
2019 Super Mario Maker 2 Game design
2023 Super Mario Bros. Wonder Course level design

Related Research Articles

<i>The Legend of Zelda</i> Video game series

The Legend of Zelda is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flagship, Vanpool, and Grezzo. Its gameplay incorporates action-adventure and elements of action RPG games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shigeru Miyamoto</span> Japanese video game designer (born 1952)

Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors as an executive since 2002. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in video games, he is the creator of some of the most acclaimed and best-selling game franchises of all time, including Mario,The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox and Pikmin. More than 1 billion copies of games featuring franchises created by Miyamoto have been sold.

<i>The Legend of Zelda</i> (video game) 1986 video game

The Legend of Zelda, originally released in Japan as The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu, is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo. The first game of The Legend of Zelda series, it is set in the fantasy land of Hyrule and centers on an elf-like boy named Link, who aims to collect the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom in order to rescue Princess Zelda from Ganon. The player controls Link from a top-down perspective and navigates throughout the overworld and dungeons, collecting weapons, defeating enemies and uncovering secrets along the way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koji Kondo</span> Japanese composer and pianist (born 1961)

Koji Kondo is a Japanese music composer, pianist, and sound director for the video game company Nintendo. He is best known for his many contributions to the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series of video games, among others produced by the company. Kondo was hired by Nintendo in 1984, becoming the first person hired by them to specialize in video game music. His work in the Mario and Zelda series have been cited as the most memorable in video games, such as the Super Mario Bros. overworld theme.

<i>Zelda II: The Adventure of Link</i> 1987 video game

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is an action role-playing game developed and published by Nintendo. It is the second installment in the Legend of Zelda series and was released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System on January 14, 1987—less than one year after the Japanese release and seven months before the North American release of the original The Legend of Zelda. Zelda II was released in North America and the PAL region for the Nintendo Entertainment System in late 1988, almost two years after its initial release in Japan.

Shigefumi Hino is a Japanese graphics designer, game director and planner from Nintendo. He is the creator of Yoshi from the Yoshi franchise. Hino later served as the director of the Pikmin series, alongside Masamichi Abe.

<i>The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening</i> 1993 video game

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a 1993 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is the first installment in The Legend of Zelda series for a handheld game console. Link's Awakening is one of the few Zelda games not to take place in the land of Hyrule, and it does not feature Princess Zelda or the Triforce relic. Instead, the protagonist Link begins the game stranded on Koholint Island, a place guarded by a whale-like deity called the Wind Fish. Assuming the role of Link, the player fights monsters and solves puzzles while searching for eight musical instruments that will awaken the sleeping Wind Fish and allow him to escape from the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Zelda</span> Video game character

Princess Zelda is a character in Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda video game series. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto for the original 1986 game The Legend of Zelda. As one of the central characters in the series, she has appeared in the majority of the games in various incarnations. Zelda is the elf-like Hylian princess of the kingdom of Hyrule, an associate of the series protagonist Link, and bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom.

Link (<i>The Legend of Zelda</i>) Protagonist in The Legend of Zelda

Link is a character and the protagonist of Nintendo's video game franchise The Legend of Zelda. He was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Link was introduced as the hero of the original The Legend of Zelda video game in 1986 and has appeared in a total of 20 entries in the series, as well as a number of spin-offs. Common elements in the series include Link travelling through Hyrule whilst exploring dungeons, battling creatures, and solving puzzles until he eventually defeats the series' primary antagonist, Ganon, and saves Princess Zelda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monolith Soft</span> Japanese video game developer

Monolith Software Inc., trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese video game development studio originally owned by Namco until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007, best known for the Xenoblade Chronicles series of games. The company was founded in 1999 by Tetsuya Takahashi with the support and cooperation of Masaya Nakamura, the founder of Namco. Their first project was the Xenosaga series, a spiritual successor to the Square-developed Xenogears. Multiple Square staff would join Takahashi at Monolith Soft including Hirohide Sugiura and Yasuyuki Honne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development</span> Former division of Nintendo

Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development Division, commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department, was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was preceded by the Creative Department, a team of designers with backgrounds in art responsible for many different tasks, to which Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka originally belonged. Both served as managers of the EARD studios and were credited in every game developed by the division, with varying degrees of involvement. Nintendo EAD was best known for its work on games in the Donkey Kong, Mario, The Legend of Zelda, F-Zero, Star Fox, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, and Wii series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eiji Aonuma</span> Japanese video game designer and producer (born 1963)

Eiji Aonuma is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer at Nintendo. He is a senior officer within their Nintendo EPD division and serves as the producer of The Legend of Zelda franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tingle (character)</span> Fictional character

Tingle is a recurring character in The Legend of Zelda series, designed by Takaya Imamura. He first appeared in Majora's Mask, where he is a map salesman who wants to become a fairy. He has since appeared in several installments, including The Wind Waker, where he provides maps to help Link find pieces of the Triforce. He has gone on to be the star of Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, where his origin as Tingle is shown as him tasked with collecting as many Rupees as possible. He also appears in its sequel Irozuki Tingle no Koi no Balloon Trip, where he is transported into a storybook and has to enter into relationships with women in order to escape.

Kazumi Totaka is a Japanese video game composer and sound director who is best known for his various compositions in many Nintendo games. He occasionally does voice acting as well, most notably voicing Yoshi from the Mario series. He also directed the development of Wii Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takashi Tezuka</span> Japanese video game designer and producer (born 1960)

Takashi Tezuka is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer. He is a senior officer in Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development division and is an Executive Officer at Nintendo itself.

<i>The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past</i> and <i>Four Swords</i> 2002 video game

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords is a compilation of two action-adventure games co-developed by Nintendo R&D2 and Capcom and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. The game was released in December 2002 in North America and in March 2003 in Japan and Europe. The cartridge contains a modified port of A Link to the Past, originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, and an original multiplayer-only game titled Four Swords, which serves as the 9th installment in The Legend of Zelda series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoshiaki Koizumi</span> Japanese video game designer (born 1968)

Yoshiaki Koizumi is a Japanese video game designer, director, producer, and business executive. He is a senior executive officer at Nintendo and a deputy general manager at Nintendo EPD, where he is known for his work within their Mario and The Legend of Zelda series, and as the General Producer of the Nintendo Switch. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kensuke Tanabe</span> Japanese video game designer, producer and director

Kensuke Tanabe is a Japanese video game producer and designer working for Nintendo, where he currently is Senior Officer at Nintendo EPD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hidemaro Fujibayashi</span> Japanese video game designer (born 1972)

Hidemaro Fujibayashi is a Japanese video game designer at Nintendo. He has directed several games in the Legend of Zelda series.

<i>The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening</i> (2019 video game) 2019 video game

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a 2019 action-adventure game developed by Grezzo and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Released worldwide on September 20, 2019, Link's Awakening is a remake of the 1993 game of the same name for the Game Boy. It retains the original's top-down perspective and gameplay, along with elements from the 1998 re-release Link's Awakening DX.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "「ゼルダの伝説 夢をみる島」開発スタッフ名鑑". Nintendo Official Guide Book – The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (in Japanese). Shogakukan. July 1993. pp.  120, 123. ISBN   978-4-09-102448-0.
  2. 1 2 Ronaghan, Neal (2013-11-07). "Linking to the Past: Where Are A Link to the Past Developers Now?". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  3. 1 2 Riendeau, Danielle (2016-11-30). "Yamamura the Edamame-Eating Pigeon is Nintendo's Best New Character". Vice . Archived from the original on 2019-08-14. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  4. 開発スタッフアンケート (in Japanese). Shogakukan. 1999-02-20. pp. 108, 110. ISBN   978-4-09-102679-8.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. Allen, Thomas (2015-01-06). "Honors: NAVGTR Awards". International Game Developers Association. Archived from the original on 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  6. "Yoshi Touch & Go Instruction Booklet" (PDF). Nintendo. 2005. p. 30. Retrieved 2019-10-03.