Takaya Imamura is best known for his time at Nintendo, where he worked, most notably, as the graphic designer for F-Zero and Star Fox and the art director for The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Specifically, he came up with the designs for both Captain Falcon and Fox McCloud and invented the character Tingle – a recurring figure in the Zelda franchise. In 2021, Imamura announced that he had left Nintendo after 32 years at the company.
In the years since, he has been working as a professor at the International Professional University of Technology in Osaka and as a freelance artist and designer. Imamura’s first game since leaving Nintendo, OMEGA 6: The Triangle Stars, was released in Japan on July 25, with a Western release to follow sometime in 2025. The game is a visual novel-like adaptation of his debut manga of the same name, which follows the adventures of two space bounty hunters, Thunder and Kyle. Outside of Japan, OMEGA 6 (the manga) has already been made available in French, while Dark Horse Comics is currently working on an English localization.
At gamescom 2024, we got the chance, through an interpreter, to ask Imamura-san about what he thinks about MachineGames’ Indiana Jones, his days at Nintendo, and everything OMEGA 6:
Hello, and thank you for having me today! You’ve mentioned in past interviews that Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of your favourite movies. As an icebreaker, I wanted to ask: what did you think about the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle?
Takaya Imamura: I’ve only seen the trailer on YouTube but, yeah, it looks good! I passed the booth but I haven’t actually seen more of it yet. But it’s a first-person game, right? It’s only my opinion, but, since it’s an Indiana Jones game, wouldn’t you want to see Indy? So maybe a third-person perspective would have been a better approach?
So, the most recent entry in the F-Zero franchise is F-Zero 99—what did you think of it? Is it something you ever imagined would be possible when designing the original game in 1990?
Takaya Imamura: First off, F-Zero 99 is a really good remix of that first title. But, back in 1990, there wasn’t such a thing such as online play, right? So, the way you would have simultaneous multiplayer for racing games would be split screen, like with Super Mario Kart. At that time, we didn’t even think in our wildest dreams that there would be a racing game with that many people.
Speaking of Mario Kart, now that we have the two Nintendo theme parks, have you ever imagined what an F-Zero roller coaster ride would look like?
Takaya Imamura: I don’t really think you can recreate that sensation of speed from F-Zero on a roller coaster. I think you can probably end up doing it in VR, with a seat that moves. Actually…come to think of it, SEGAhad something similar: an upgraded R360 arcade machine. It was never in use for that long, but I had a go on it and that was amazing.
Moving on, while F-Zero has seen a recent entry, another franchise you’ve worked on, Star Fox, has not. Have you ever had any ideas for a potential Star Fox game?
Takaya Imamura: It’s not something I want to do or wanted to do, but given the success of F-Zero 99, it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re doing or have done something similar with Star Fox.
You’ve also worked on The Legend of Zelda, particularly on Majora’s Mask. At a different convention this year, some of the English voice cast of the more recent Zelda games mentioned that if Tingle were to have voice lines in a future Zelda project, they’d like Keanu Reeves to play him. Have you ever thought about who you’d like to voice Tingle in a game or play him in a movie?
Takaya Imamura: I’d also like Keanu Reeves! [laughs] I’m joking, but, you know, since they’re making a Zelda movie…I’ve got no idea whether Tingle is going to be in it or not. But, if he were in it, I would really like him to be played by Masi Oka, who played Hiro Nakamura on Heroes. If Tingle would exist in real life, that would be him!
More recently, you’ve created a manga series called OMEGA 6, which was released in both Japan and France. Given that France has a significant manga scene, what are some of the differences you’ve noticed in fan reception there compared to in Japan?
Takaya Imamura: I don’t know about the difference of reception between the Japanese and French fans, but, the story was inspired from my time living in Kyoto. At the time, there was a huge influx of tourists and it almost seemed like there was nowhere for Japanese people to live. As a complete coincidence, they also have migration issues in France, so, maybe, that is one of the reasons that the story resonated so well over there.
OMEGA 6 also received a video game adaptation titled OMEGA 6: The Triangle Stars. What were some of the challenges in translating the story from manga to video game?
Takaya Imamura: It was pretty easy, actually. I drew everything in the manga and produced the game as well so I wasn’t giving it to somebody for them to take a second look. I wasn’t getting requests to, you know, redraw this, change that…it was all pretty easy. It was just myself, basically.
What are some of the common themes or gameplay elements that fans of your previous work can expect when playing OMEGA 6: The Triangle Stars?
Takaya Imamura: Story-wise, there’s nothing I’ve been consciously aware of putting in. However, the one thing that I have been very conscious of is making the game as easy to play, or as easy to get into, as a Nintendo title.
Finally, is there anything you’d like to add? Is there anything we haven’t covered yet that you’d like readers to know?
Takaya Imamura: OMEGA 6 is the first creative product I’ve put out since I left Nintendo. There’s no producer telling me what to do and I also don’t have to think about the commercial viability and whether or not the game is going to sell well or not…it’s purely something that I wanted to make. I think that’s probably why I was able to complete the 200-page manga and the game in less than three years. Opinion might be divided on OMEGA 6, but I’d love for people to experience this unbridled passion of mine.
Thank you so much for meeting with me, Imamura-san!
OMEGA 6: The Triangle Stars is set to release on Steam in 2025.
