Yasuhisa Yamamura
山村 康久
Born (1964-12-10) December 10, 1964 (age 59)[1]
Hyōgo Prefecture[1]
NationalityJapanese
Other namesYamahem, Yamahen[1]
OccupationVideo game designer
EmployerNintendo

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]

Works

Year Title Role
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

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "「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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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.

External links

Nintendo
Mario
The Legend of Zelda
Categories