A beloved Nintendo icon is stepping down.
Takashi Tezuka, the mastermind behind Nintendo classics like Super Mario Bros. 3 and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, is set to retire this summer, as confirmed by the company. Tezuka joined Nintendo in 1984 and quickly climbed the ranks from graphics designer to game director, eventually becoming an executive officer. His retirement is scheduled for June 26.
Tezuka kicked off his career at Nintendo by designing sprites for the original Punch-Out!! and soon became an assistant director on some of the company’s most iconic titles. He collaborated with Shigeru Miyamoto on games like Excitebike, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda, earning early credits under the nickname “Ten Ten.”
After his stint as an assistant director, Tezuka took the helm as the main director for Super Mario Bros. 2, known in the West as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. He later directed and designed for major titles such as Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Yoshi’s Island. Tezuka co-created Yoshi alongside Shigefumi Hino, and his last design credit was for the groundbreaking Super Mario 64 in 1996.
In the years since, Tezuka has produced and overseen numerous entries in the Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Pikmin franchises. His early contributions to game design and storytelling have played a significant role in shaping Nintendo’s beloved franchises into the hits they are today.
In a 2014 interview, Tezuka shared how the concept for Super Mario Maker emerged when game designers approached him, excited about the fun they had creating Super Mario courses with an internal tool. “They brought the idea to me thinking it would be a great game idea because they had so much fun with [it],” he recalled. “There are lots of drawing utilities in the world, but does everybody like drawing? Not necessarily. In order to make a [Mario] course, all you have to do is put different parts together. It’s not as difficult or out of reach as drawing is.”
Tezuka was also known for his global perspective in game design. “In the earlier Mario games, we weren’t really considering worldwide culture or international culture when we created them,” he noted in a 2015 interview about Super Mario Maker. “But that has been something that we have had to consider more recently. We want our games to be enjoyed and understood worldwide by as many people as possible.”
Leslie Swan, a former localization department head at Nintendo, recalled Tezuka’s insistence on adapting games for international markets, stating, “If we’re going to [sell the game outside of Japan], you guys have to change everything,” highlighting how specific the original designs were to the Japanese audience.
Tezuka also played a key role in clarifying Mario lore, famously settling an internal debate within the Mario Kart World team by confirming that Mario does indeed consume the mushrooms that grant him his powers.
His retirement comes on the heels of other notable departures from Nintendo, including Hideki Konno and Kensuke Tanabe, who also stepped down over the past year.
