Retro Gaming Australia

Hirokazu Yasuhara, designer of gameplay and stages for early Sonic the Hedgehog titles, has joined Nintendo.

Both Yasuhara and Nintendo have confirmed his new position at Nintendo Software Technology in the U.S., Gamasutra reports. Nintendo Software Technology has developed many games for Nintendo consoles including Metroid Prime Hunters, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem and various DSiWare titles. However, the Sonic co-creator’s new role at Nintendo currently remains a mystery.

Yasuhara worked on the Sonic franchise on and off up until 2002, he then moved to Naughty Dog as a senior game designer working on both the Jak and Daxter and Uncharted series.  Before his recent shift to Nintendo, Yasuhara was senior design director at Namco Bandai Games America.