Takaya Imamura on Omega 6 and how to craft a memorable character

Takaya Imamura is a video game designer, artist, and educator, whose most famous works at Nintendo include designs for games like Star Fox, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and F-Zero.

After leaving Nintendo, Imamura worked as a teacher at the International Professional University of Technology in Osaka. During that time, he created the manga Omega 6, which he has now adapted into a game.

I met with Imamura briefly at Gamescom to talk about his career, the influences of Omega 6, and what makes for a unique character design.

This interview was conducted through a translator and is edited for clarity.

What was the biggest hurdle in translating your own manga into a game?

The manga is the manga, and the game is the game, that was really the difference. I didn't have a problem with separating them.

The visuals in Omega 6, the game, feel familiar with things like Star Fox and Starzinger, both of which are classics in their own right. Was the style intentionally retro or a happy accident?

There wasn't anything I was particularly looking for as an inspiration. But everything I see becomes inspiration nonetheless! There are so many things I've experienced, and they come out in the mix in the end.

You've been a part of numerous iconic games and have had a hand at creating some of the most recognizable characters in the process. What makes for a good character design?

In a word, simplicity. Something that is easy to understand. I think recently there's so much detail to new characters, that it's difficult to remember what they look like. Simplicity is the best.

It's been a while since you left Nintendo, was the plan always to come back and return to character design, or did the hiatus end by accidentally?

Quite the opposite, I left Nintendo because I had this desire to create more and more. When you think about it, Nintendo is a company. Nobody does what they like, and I wanted more freedom, so it was natural that I left.

Basically, with Omega 6, what goes into the game is down to me. With a company, you could spend ages working on something and be told it can't make it into the game. Omega 6 is my baby, so I can do whatever I like. That was important to me.

What's something that you look forward to in seeing how people react to Omega 6?

I hope the first thing they think is: "I see he's up to his old tricks again!"

[Imamura laughs devilishly]