Hirokazu Yasuhara

Hirokazu Yasuhara (also credited as Carol Yas) (born October 12, 1965) is a Japanese video game designer. He designed the gameplay and stages of the majority of the initial Sonic the Hedgehog video games for Sega Mega Drive based on technical demos and engines coded under the lead of Yuji Naka and characters designed by Naoto Ōshima. In spite of Yasuhara and Oshima's key creative roles, programmer and producer Naka has since become identified as the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog by the mainstream gaming press. Yasuhara stayed with the franchise until 1994 though he worked on Sonic 3D Blast in 1995, Sonic Xtreme in 1996 and Sonic R in 1997. He then joined Naughty Dog, working on the Jak and Daxter series and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, collaborating again with former Sega employee Mark Cerny. He was the senior design director at Namco Bandai Games America. In April 2012, Yasuhara joined Nintendo where he accepted a position at Nintendo Software Technology.^[1]

Sonic is surrounded by series creators Yuji Naka (left), Naoto Ōshima (center), and Hirokazu Yasuhara (Right) at Sonic's 20th Anniversary party

Production history

Altered Beast (1988) — Game Planner
Fatal Labyrinth (1990) — Game Planner
Pyramid Magic (1991) — Special Thanks
Pyramid Magic Special (1991) — Special Thanks
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) — Game Planner
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) — Game Planner, Object Placement
Sonic Spinball (1993) — Special Thanks
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) — Director, Lead Game Designer
Sonic & Knuckles (1994) — Director, Lead Game Designer
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994) — Director, Lead Game Designer
Sonic 3D Blast (1996) — Playfield Design, Saturn Enhancements
Sonic Xtreme (1996) — Head Designer
Sonic R (1997) — Map Design Director
Sega Smash Pack 2 (2000) — Special Thanks
Floigan Bros. (2001) — Game Designer
Jak II (2003) — Game Designer
Jak 3 (2004) — Game Designer
Jak X: Combat Racing (2005) — Game Designer
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007) — Game Designer
Afro Samurai (2009) — Special Thanks
Pac-Man Party (2010) — Senior Game Designer
Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (2013) — Game Designer
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (2015) — Special Thanks

References

↑ Curtis, Tom (April 4, 2012). "Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Hirokazu Yasuhara joins Nintendo". Gamasutra. Retrieved April 4, 2012.

External links

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