IGN recently interviewed designer, story writer, and artist Takaya Imamura, delving into his 32-year career with Nintendo. Imamura’s career with Nintendo began in 1989, during which he worked on and contributed to the Zelda, Star Fox, F-Zero, and Super Smash Bros. franchises, among many others. He announced his retirement via Twitter earlier this year.
After his first design project for F-Zero, Imamura was tasked with creating boss designs for A Link to the Past, which meant also working with programmers on developing the bosses’ mechanics. “For some bosses, we came up with the mechanics just with the two of us, while for others we first received instructions from planners on what kind of enemy they wanted,” he told IGN. Imamura also designed the game’s dungeon maps and title logo.
Imamura’s talents carried into the Nintendo 64 era, where he became the art director for Majora’s Mask. “When I saw a prototype of the game,” he said in the interview, “I thought it looked too similar to Ocarina of Time, so it became my task to change the look of the game over a short period.” The moon, Majora’s Mask itself, and even the name Majora were all products of Imamura’s talent. Tingle was also one of Imamura’s original creations.
The extensive interview also delves into Imamura’s time spent on Star Fox and F-Zero, his experiences working with Zelda series creator Shigeru Miyamoto, and the collaborative work he did for The Wind Waker and other Nintendo franchises. Imamura also received special thanks for work done on each of the Super Smash Bros. titles.
Imamura is now spending his retirement teaching CG animation and video game development at the International Professional University of Technology in Osaka, and according to IGN, is considering pursuing freelance development options for smaller independent companies.
