Hirokazu Yasuhara (安原 広和, Yasuhara Hirokazu, born October 12, 1965) (also credited as Carol Yas) is a Japanese video game designer. He is best known for designing the gameplay and stages of the initial Sonic the Hedgehog video games for Sega Genesis in the 1990s, based on technical demos and engines programmed by Yuji Naka.[1] Yasuhara stayed with Sega until 1999.[2] He then worked for Naughty Dog from 2002 to 2008, 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 from 2008 to 2012.[2] In April 2012, Yasuhara joined Nintendo where he accepted a position at the Nintendo Software Technology division.[3] He left Nintendo in 2016 and has since worked for Unity Technologies.[4]
Hirokazu Yasuhara | |
|---|---|
安原 広和 | |
 Yasuhara at the 2018 Game Developers Conference | |
| Born | October 12, 1965 Japan |
| Other names | Carol Yas |
| Alma mater | Tokyo University of Science |
| Occupation | Game designer |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Notable work | Sonic the Hedgehog series Jak and Daxter series |
Works edit
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Altered Beast | Game planner |
| 1990 | Fatal Labyrinth | |
| 1991 | Sonic the Hedgehog | |
| 1992 | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | |
| 1994 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Director, lead game designer |
| Sonic & Knuckles | ||
| 1996 | Sonic 3D Blast | Playfield designer |
| 1997 | Sonic R | Map design director |
| 2001 | Floigan Bros. | Game designer |
| 2003 | Jak II | |
| 2004 | Jak 3 | |
| 2005 | Jak X: Combat Racing | |
| 2007 | Uncharted: Drake's Fortune | |
| 2010 | Pac-Man Party | Senior game designer |
| 2013 | Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move | Game designer |
References edit
- ^ "75 Power Players". Next Generation (11). Imagine Media: 54. November 1995.
- ^ a b "Experience - Hirokazu Yasuhara". Linkedin.
- ^ Curtis, Tom (April 4, 2012). "Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Hirokazu Yasuhara joins Nintendo". Gamasutra. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
- ^ Gilbert, Ben (2021-06-23). "Sonic boom: Sega designer tells the origin story of a gaming legend". TechRadar. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
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