The creative director behind River City Ransom, Mitsuhiro Yoshida, passed away from unknown causes towards the end of last month on August 30, 2022. Yoshida was actively working in the games industry as the president of Miracle Kidz, a studio that he built from the ground up following the bankruptcy of his previous company, Technos.The news comes directly from Miracle Kidz which described Yoshida as the “father” of the Downtown Nekketsu franchise, best known for River City Ransom. The game was released by Technos on April 25, 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The studio noted that Yoshida had been working on a series of projects right up until his time of death.“We're announcing this with consent from the family of the deceased,” Miracle Kidz announced. “Mitsuhiro Yoshida suddenly passed away on August 30. He was the father of the Downtown Nekketsu franchise and a person that was working hard to bring everybody some wonderful new creations. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to everyone for their passionate support on behalf of the deceased.”Yoshida served as creative director on several different games for the Nintendo Entertainment System while at Technos including Super Dodge Ball and River City Ransom, both widely considered to be cult classics. Yoshida worked on Crash ‘n the Boys, Double Dragon, and Nintendo World Cup during his time at the company as well. Technos went on to produce a series of subsequent titles before finally declaring bankruptcy and ceasing operations in 1996. Arc System Works announced the acquisition of all intellectual properties formerly owned by Technos on June 11, 2015.
Several former employees of Technos including Yoshida came together in 2008 to found Miracle Kidz. The studio released several notable games including River City Dodge Ball All Stars, Downtown Smash Dodgeball, and Downtown Nekketsu Dodgeball for the Nintendo Wii. The studio is currently working on further entries in the Downtown Series.