#TanabeQuote
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hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Kensuke Tanabe announced that he is retiring in an interview today!

He was a script writer who worked on A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, so let's talk a little bit about him and his career.

#Zelda
#TanabeQuote

LTTP team (via @glitterberri.bsky.social's site!):
A black and white photo of the core dev tream for A Link to the Past, with Kensuke Tanabe circled in read. The photo is from the Shogakukan guide to Trifoce of the Gods. This scan is courtesy of GlitterBerri, who runs a game translation website.
January 22, 2026 at 4:41 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Including, sadly, an even WEIRDER-sounding Tingle game we never got

#Tingle
#TanabeQuote
#TingleHorrorGameQuote
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 55. Writer for A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening. Producer of Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland. QUOTE: Tanabe: Looking back eight years ago, we were developing a horror game with Vanpool that starred Tingle as the main character, but that project was canceled due to a variety of reasons.
January 22, 2026 at 4:41 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
His NEXT role was as a Script Writer for A Link to the Past.

#TanabeQuote
#ALinkToThePastQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/Luigi-s-Mans...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 57. A Link to the Past Script Writer. QUOTE: Tanabe: There are many instances in game development where at first, things don’t turn out the way you speculate. When that happens, I try not to cling to that initial idea too much. For example, this is when I was working on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. At first, we were thinking about structuring the game with numerous parallel worlds. However, in order to establish the gameplay in the end, we decided that it would be better to narrow it down to two worlds: Light and Dark. I think game development involves much work where you never know unless you actually test it out.
January 22, 2026 at 4:41 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Tanabe on his favorite movies set in a post-apocalyptic world, 2018.

Source: Kotaku

#DillonsDeadHeatBreakersQuote
#TanabeQuote

www.notion.so/10941fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 55. Producer of Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers. Writer for A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening. QUOTE: Tsuda: The post-apocalyptic world [of Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers] is definitely harsh, but what I want players to see is not really how merciless the world can be, but instead how bright and full of life the characters are who inhabit it. I think the cute and fun animals provide a good counter-balance to the look of the world. … The Mad Max movies are my favorites set in this kind of world. My goal was to set up Dillon and Russ as a shining beacon of hope to everyone with their strength to keep on living in a ruined world.
May 29, 2025 at 10:53 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Tanabe and Tsuda on the inspiration for Dillon the armadillo, 2018.

Source: Kotaku

#DillonsDeadHeatBreakersQuote
#TanabeQuote, #TsudaQuote

www.notion.so/10941fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 55. Producer of Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers. Writer for A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening. - Jun Tsuda. Director of Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers, Freshly-PIcked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland, and Ripened Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Love. QUOTE: "Tanabe: We had some discussion and came up with the setting and the main character [of Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers] through the association of Rolling → Armadillo → Texas → Western, and Vanpool also liked that idea. And so a new IP, ‘Dillon’, was born. Tsuda: We don’t have armadillos in Japan, so the staff and I did some research about their habitat and were a little disappointed when we found out that they just dig holes and eat grubs and worms. Still, the thought of making an animal like that seem cool sounded fun, and that motivated us to put some polish on Dillon’s claws and shell."
December 10, 2024 at 6:36 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
After that was Link's Awakening. The Windfish's egg and his concept, and though he left the script of the main quest to Yoshiaki Koizumi, he himself wrote most of the odd side characters' dialog.

#LinksAwakeningQuote
#TanabeQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/Link-s-Awake...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 35. Link’s Awakening Writer. - Takashi Tezuka, age 38. Link’s Awakening Game Director. - Yoshiaki Koizumi, age 30. Link’s Awakening Writer. QUOTE: Tanabe: When I started [on Link’s Awakening] I was given a list of requirements by the director, Mr. Tezuka, such as no Triforce, no Princess Zelda, no Hyrule, and a closed field. ... Mr. Tezuka requested a world full of strange characters like in Twin Peaks, which was a popular show back then. I then wrote a script that fit my vision of an egg hatching on a mountaintop ending the world with Koizumi’s “Your dream? Or someone else’s dream?” Koizumi worked on the main thread of the story and I did the odd characters.
January 22, 2026 at 4:41 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
It SOUNDS like he may have been burnt out and struggling around that time, as he relates here, so his career took a new turn (after some more Kirby and Mario work)

#TanabeQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/How-a-Slacke...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 48. Script writer for A Link to the Past & Link’s Awakening, Producer of the Metroid Prime series & many other Nintendo-published titles. QUOTE: Tanabe: To be honest, I wasn't going to work very often. It had kind of worn me out. And I was drinking too much. For someone who wasn't going to work all the time, when I did have to deal with people outside the company, I seemed to shape up, so they kept sending me out to do these jobs [oversee the work of external and overseas studios like Retro Studios and Next Level Games].
January 22, 2026 at 4:41 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
And that... is how he ended up as an uncredited localization producer for Donkey Kong Country

#TanabeQuote
#IwataQuote
#DonkeyKongCountryQuote,#DonkeyKongCountryReturnsQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/Iwata-Asks-D...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 47. Writer for A Link to the Past & Link’s Awakening. Japanese Localization for Donkey Kong Country.. - Satoru Iwata, age 50. President of Nintendo. QUOTE: Tanabe: When I was working on the localization of the Super NES version, I went to Rare in England. Rare, which made Donkey Kong Country, was in... Iwata: Twycross. Tanabe: Yes. … It was a long ride and I found the scenery peaceful, with rolling hills and lots of sheep and wooden fences along the road. And that went on for hours. Iwata: You spent the whole time watching sheep. [laughs] Tanabe: Yeah. [laughs] Rare is headquartered in a refurbished horse stable in a country town with an old church. When I got there, they handed me a huge key like you might see in a fantasy game and gave me a room, where I worked. In my mind, the music [of Donkey Kong Country] overlaps with scenes like that. Tanabe: One new ability for Donkey Kong [in Donkey Kong Country Returns] is the ability to blow out his breath. For example, if he blows on dandelion puffs, an item can appear. Iwata: Whose idea was that? Tanabe: Miyamoto-san's. He told us early on in development that he definitely wanted us to put that in. He also said he didn't want us to change the music. And you said that, too. Iwata: Right. [laughs] I remember telling you during the first meeting to treat the music with care. The music for Donkey Kong Country is in my iPod and I often listen to it even today. I don't often do that, but Donkey Kong Country had so many memorable tracks that I bought the soundtrack CD.
January 22, 2026 at 4:41 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Iwata on the Donkey Kong Country soundtrack, 2010.
Source: Iwata Asks

#DonkeyKongCountryQuote,#DonkeyKongCountryReturnsQuote

#TanabeQuote,#IwataQuote,#MiyamotoQuote

www.notion.so/856da2da8c5d...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 47. Writer for A Link to the Past & Link’s Awakening. Japanese localizer for Donkey Kong Country. - Satoru Iwata, age 50. President of Nintendo. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 58. Creator of Zelda & Donkey Kong. Supervisor for Donkey Kong Country & Donkey Kong Country Returns. QUOTE: "Tanabe: One new ability for Donkey Kong [in Donkey Kong Country Returns] is the ability to blow out his breath. For example, if he blows on dandelion puffs, an item can appear. Iwata: Whose idea was that? Tanabe: Miyamoto-san's. He told us early on in development that he definitely wanted us to put that in. He also said he didn't want us to change the music. And you said that, too. Iwata: Right. [laughs] I remember telling you during the first meeting to treat the music with care. The music for Donkey Kong Country is in my iPod and I often listen to it even today. I don't often do that, but Donkey Kong Country had so many memorable tracks that I bought the soundtrack CD."
July 19, 2024 at 4:02 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Tanabe on what the Donkey Kong Country soundtrack brings to mind, 2010.

Source: Iwata Asks

#DonkeyKongCountryQuote
#TanabeQuote,#IwataQuote

www.notion.so/856da2da8c5d...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 47. Writer for A Link to the Past & Link’s Awakening. Japanese Localization for Donkey Kong Country.. - Satoru Iwata, age 50. President of Nintendo. QUOTE: "Tanabe: When I was working on the localization of the Super NES version, I went to Rare in England. Rare, which made Donkey Kong Country, was in... Iwata: Twycross. Tanabe: Yes. … It was a long ride and I found the scenery peaceful, with rolling hills and lots of sheep and wooden fences along the road. And that went on for hours. Iwata: You spent the whole time watching sheep. [laughs] Tanabe: Yeah. [laughs] Rare is headquartered in a refurbished horse stable in a country town with an old church. When I got there, they handed me a huge key like you might see in a fantasy game and gave me a room, where I worked. In my mind, the music [of Donkey Kong Country] overlaps with scenes like that."
September 22, 2024 at 6:12 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Tanabe on a surprising cancelled Tingle game, 2018.

Source: Kotaku

#Zelda
#TingleHorrorGameQuote
#TanabeQuote

www.notion.so/10941fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 55. Writer for A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening. Producer of Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland. QUOTE: "Tanabe: Looking back eight years ago, we were developing a horror game with Vanpool that starred Tingle as the main character, but that project was canceled due to a variety of reasons."
September 23, 2024 at 4:45 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Tanabe on the decision to have just two worlds in A Link to the Past, 2020.

Via Kotaku.

#Zelda
#ALinktothePastQuote
#TanabeQuote

www.notion.so/f7df147a388a...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 57. A Link to the Past Script Writer. QUOTE: "Tanabe: There are many instances in game development where at first, things don’t turn out the way you speculate. When that happens, I try not to cling to that initial idea too much. For example, this is when I was working on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. At first, we were thinking about structuring the game with numerous parallel worlds. However, in order to establish the gameplay in the end, we decided that it would be better to narrow it down to two worlds: Light and Dark. I think game development involves much work where you never know unless you actually test it out."
February 12, 2024 at 8:14 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Tanabe on how he became Nintendo's supervisor over external studios, 2011.

Source: Wired

#TanabeQuote

www.notion.so/e42574aa59f1...
PEOPLE: - Kensuke Tanabe, age 48. Script writer for A Link to the Past & Link’s Awakening, Producer of the Metroid Prime series & many other Nintendo-published titles. QUOTE: "Tanabe: To be honest, I wasn't going to work very often. It had kind of worn me out. And I was drinking too much. For someone who wasn't going to work all the time, when I did have to deal with people outside the company, I seemed to shape up, so they kept sending me out to do these jobs [oversee the work of external and overseas studios like Retro Studios and Next Level Games]."
June 21, 2024 at 4:04 PM