It’s safe to say that without Nintendo, video games would not be nearly as popular as they are today. They essentially created the industry as we know it today, and saved gaming from the North American video game crash of 1983. Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Donkey Kong – they’ve created so many influential, memorable, and legendary series it's hard to fathom.
While we probably all have heard the name “Miyamoto,” the rest of the people behind these franchises are as well known. Behind all of these great franchises, there’s at least one equally greater creator at Nintendo, and they deserve all the credit in the world.
10 Shigeru Miyamoto – Mario, Zelda, And Plenty More
One of the most famous names in gaming, Shigeru Miyamoto has earned his reputation. The creator of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and other great Nintendo games, he’s also one of the key figures behind Nintendo’s business and creative operations. Having been with the company since 1977, he’s also mentored several incredible creators at Nintendo and in the industry. Miyamoto is easily one of the most important figures not only at Nintendo but in gaming.
It’s hard to imagine what the gaming landscape would look like without Mario or Zelda – there’s a good chance Nintendo might not even have still been around, a small toy company unable to keep up with tech giants Sony and Microsoft.
9 Satoshi Tajiri – Pokemon
One of the founders of Game Freak, Satoshi Tajiri is widely credited as the creator of Pokemon. Beginning his career writing a fan-made magazine called Game Freak (which was literally handwritten on several pieces of paper and stapled together), Tajiri quickly made a name for himself in the games industry, eventually making his own games after learning the BASIC programming language in his spare time.
Tajiri came up with the idea for what would become Pokemon in 1990, after seeing two people play linked together Game Boys. He pitched the game to Nintendo and was mentored by Miyamoto as he and his small team struggled to complete Pokemon Red & Blue.
8 Masahiro Sakurai – Kirby And Smash Bros.
Masahiro Sakurai has had an incredible career in gaming. He joined Hal Laboratory at the age of 18, created Kirby, and directed his first game, Kirby’s Dream Land, at just 19. From there, he’d direct two more Kirby games before coming up with a new idea – a Nintendo-themed fighting game.
Sakurai led the development of Super Smash Bros. in 1999, creating one of the most beloved fighting game series ever. While he’s no longer involved in the development of the Kirby series, he’s continued to direct every mainline game in the Super Smash Bros. series.
7 Tim And Chris Stamper – Donkey Kong Country
Brothers Tim and Chris Stamper have their own remarkable story with Nintendo. Being the first westerners to work with Nintendo, they co-founded Rare in 1985 after reverse-engineering an NES. After impressing Nintendo, the company bought a quarter stake in them in 1993 and offered the brothers their choice of characters to create their own game with.
The Stampers chose Donkey Kong, and the result was Donkey Kong Country. It was the first game to cast Donkey Kong as the hero of a game, rather than a Bowser-esque menace that wanted to kidnap princesses. It also created an expanded cast of characters and worlds for Donkey Kong and was a technological marvel for its time.
6 Katsuya Eguchi – Animal Crossing
Katsuya Eguchi started work on Animal Crossing in 1998, inspired by his own journey of leaving home at a young age to take a risk by applying to Nintendo. He got the job but was far from home in an unfamiliar area. He decided to make a game that was about family, friendship, and community.
Development was difficult, as the game was originally designed for the Nintendo 64DD add-on, which flopped upon release. Nintendo moved the game over to the Game Pak system for more memory and a real-time clock that would control a day/night cycle in-game. Animal Crossing was a hit though, spawning countless sequels and spin-offs over the years.
5 Shigefumi Hino – Yoshi’s Island And Pikmin
While Shigeru Miyamoto had the original idea for Yoshi and came up with a basic sketch for the dinosaur, it was actually Shigefumi Hino who created the now-iconic design. But perhaps more importantly, he also created Yoshi’s Island, widely regarded as one of the best 2D platformers ever made.
The Yoshi's Island franchise never took off, sadly, and while he worked on several projects after that as an artist and designer, his biggest hit came in 2001. Hino created the concept of and directed Pikmin for the Gamecube, Nintendo’s most unique idea yet. The franchise has gone on to spawn several sequels and spin-offs.
4 Yoshio Sakamoto – Metroid
Yoshio Sakamoto might be one of the most overlooked Nintendo employees. As well as writing the highly influential Japanese visual novel Famicom Detective Club series, he was a character designer on Donkey Kong and WarioWare.
His most famous work, however, is Metroid. He created the designs for all the characters in the original NES release in 1986 and went on to direct Super Metroid – a masterclass in 2D game design that served as the basis for the “Metroidvania” genre. He has since directed and written several games in the series, including producing the upcoming Metroid Dread.
3 Shouzou Kaga – Fire Emblem
Shouzou Kaga is the creator of Fire Emblem, though even dedicated fans of the series may not know his name. The first six games in the series – the only six he worked on before leaving Nintendo – were never released outside of Japan. It was only after his departure with the release of 2002’s Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade that the series saw intentional releases.
After Kaga left Nintendo, he founded his own studio - Tirnanog - to create the Tear Ring Saga series. Tirnanog was sued by Nintendo in 1999 for copyright infringement of, you guessed it, Fire Emblem. When the dust settled, Kaga retired from video game development for 16 years before returning in 2016 with Vestaria Saga.
2 Hiroji Kiyotake – Wario
After working as a designer on the first three Metroid games, Hiroji Kiyotake forever changed Mario by creating his rival Wario for the Game Boy game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Rings. From there on, he’d design and produce every game in the spin-off Wario Land series - except Wario Land: Shake It.
Kiyotake has played a part in almost every game involving Wario as a designer, producer, or advisor. From the Wario Land series to WarioWare, and even Wario World and the character’s many appearances in Mario sports games. He seemingly left game development altogether in 2010, which might be the reason we never saw another Wario Land game.
1 Kazunobu Shimizu – F-Zero
It’s hard to say exactly who created F-Zero, though Kazunobu Shimizu is credited as director and lead artist on the project. Shimizu (also sometimes credited as Isshin or Yonque Isshin) previously served as a designer Zelda 2, Famicom Golf, and Famicom Grand Prix.
He was given directing duties on a new sci-fi-themed racing game that would become F-Zero. He would only ever work on two F-Zero games, however – the original and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity in 2001. It’s unknown what Shimizu’s status is today, as his last video game credit was 2007’s Slide Adventure MAGKID, and Nintendo abandoned the F-Zero series after 2004.