Kensuke Tanabe

Kensuke Tanabe (田邊賢輔) is a Nintendo employee and one of the producers of Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development. He joined the company in 1986 as a designer. He made his directorial debut with Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic. He is currently a Senior Officer in EPD, and manages EPD Group No. 6. He is in charge of a large portion of Nintendo's western output as well as the Paper Mario and WarioWare series.

History

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Kensuke Tanabe joined Nintendo in 1986 after graduating from Osaka University of Arts. He originally joined as a designer, working on taking Super Mario Bros. 2 from a simple tech demo for vertical scrolling to the final release. In the 1990s, he felt burnt out and took less significant roles like helping editing scripts for games. His role shifted from a designer to coordinator working with companies outside Nintendo starting with Donkey Kong Country. His superiors noticed he started taking work more seriously when he was sent overseas so, he was placed in charge of most Western games. In 2003, he was made the group manager of Nintendo SPD Group 3, which mainly managed Nintendo's Western developers. In 2010s, Tanabe was promoted to an Executive Officer with Keisuke Terasaki directly managing the group. In 2015, Nintendo SPD became a part of [[Nintendo EPD] and Tanabe became a Senior Officer and group manager of Nintendo EPD Group No. 6.

Game Works

• Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic (1987) - Director, Course Design
• Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988) - Director, Course Design
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) - Course Design
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991) - Script Writer
• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993) - Script Writer
• Stunt Race FX (1994) - Map Designer
• Kirby's Dream Course (1994) - Map Designer
• Donkey Kong Country (1994) - Additional Support
• Kirby's Avalanche (1995) - Nintendo Staff
• Kirby's Dream Land 2 (1995) - Map Designer
• Kirby's Block Ball (1995) - Supervisor
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) - Screenplay Advisor
• Super Mario USA Power Challenge (1996) - Original Game Design
• Kirby Super Star (1996) - Adviser
• Special Tee Shot (1996) - Map Designer
• Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (1996) - Japanese Text Translation
• Pocket Monsters Stadium (1998) - Battle Director
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) - Script Support
• Pokemon Snap (1999) - Supervisor
• Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (2000) - Assistant Manager
• Super Mario Advance (2001) - Supervisor
• Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite! (2001) - Advisor
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001) - Mobile Support (Japanese Version)
• Magical Vacation (2001) - Advisor
• Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest (2002) - Supervisor
• Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak (2002) - Advisor
• Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (2002) - Supervisor
• Metroid Prime (2002) - Coproducer
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (GBA) (2002) - Script
• GiFTPiA (2003) - Supervisor
• Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue (2003) - Advisor
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) - Supervisor
• Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) - Producer
• Star Fox: Assault (2005) - Project Management
• Kirby: Canvas Curse (2005) - Producer
• Chibi-Robo!: Plug Into Adventure! (2005) - Producer
• Geist (2005) - Producer
• Battalion Wars (2005) - Producer
• Metroid Prime Pinball (2005) - Producer
• Donkey Kong Country 3 (GBA) (2005) - Producer
• Super Mario Strikers (2005) - Producer
• Tottoko Hamtaro Nazonazo Q: Kumonoue no? Shiro (2005) - Producer
• Metroid Prime Hunters (2006) - Producer
• Mother 3 (2006) - Producer
• Magical Starsign (2006) - Producer
• bit Generations series (2006) - Producer
• Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland (2006) - Producer
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (2006) - Producer
• Custom Robo Arena (2006) - Producer
• Kirby: Squeak Squad (2006) - Producer
• Excite Truck (2006) - Producer
• Super Paper Mario (2007) - Producer
• Mario Strikers Charged (2007) - Producer
• Chibi-Robo!: Park Patrol (2007) - Producer
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007) - Producer
• Theta (2007) - Producer
• Battalion Wars 2 (2007) - Producer
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) - Producer
• Captain Rainbow (2008) - Producer
• Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir (2008) - Producer
• Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008) - Producer
• Art Style series (2008) - Producer
• New Play Control! Metroid Prime (2009) - Producer
• Picross 3D (2009) - Producer
• PictureBook Games: Pop-Up Pursuit (2009) - Producer
• Bonsai Barber (2009) - Producer
• Excitebots: Trick Racing (2009) - Producer
• Punch-Out!! (Wii)(2009) - Producer
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (2009) - Producer
• New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2009) - Producer
• New Play Control! Chibi-Robo! (2009) - Producer
• Okaeri! Chibi Robo! Happy Richie Dai Souji (2009) - Producer
• Color Changing Tingle's Love Balloon Trip (2009) - Producer
• Rock N' Roll Climber (2009) - Producer
• Metroid Prime Trilogy (2009) - Producer
• Art Academy (2009) - Producer
• Picturebook Games: The Royal Bluff (2009) - Producer
• Excitebike: World Rally (2009) - Producer
• Eco Shooter: Plant 530 (2009) - Producer
• A Kappa's Trail (2009) - Producer
• Aura-Aura Climber (2010) - Producer
• Face Pilot: Fly With Your Nintendo DSi Camera! (2010) - Producer
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (2010) - Producer
• Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) - Producer
• Fluidity (2010) - Producer
• Pilotwings Resort (2011) - Producer
• Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident (2011) - Producer
• Kirby Mass Attack (2011) - Senior Producer
• Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive! (2011) - Producer
• Pushmo (2011) - Producer
• Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword (2011) - Producer
• Dillon's Rolling Western (2012) - Producer
• Kirby's Dream Collection (2012) - Producer
• Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! (2012) - Producer
• Crashmo (2012) - Producer
• Paper Mario: Sticker Star (2012) - Producer
• SiNG Party (2012) - Producer
• Fluidity: Spin Cycle (2012) - Producer
• Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (2013) - Special Advisor
• Game & Wario (2013) - Directing Support, Game Design
• Nintendoji (2013) - Producer
• Dillon's Rolling Western: The Last Ranger (2013) - Producer
• Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (2013) - Producer
• Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (2013) - Producer
• Chibi-Robo!: Photo Finder (2013) - Producer
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014) - Producer
• Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (2015) - Producer
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (2015) - Supervisor
• Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash (2015) - Producer
• Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (2015) - Supervisor
• Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge (2016) - Producer
• Metroid Prime: Federation Force (2016) - Producer
• Paper Mario: Color Splash (2016) - Producer
• Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers (2018) - Producer
• WarioWare Gold (2018) - Producer
• Luigi's Mansion (3DS) (2018) - Producer
• Luigi's Mansion 3 (2019) - Producer
• Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020) - Producer
• WarioWare: Get It Together! (2021) - Producer
• Mario Strikers: Battle League (2022) - Producer
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (2025) - Producer

Special Thanks

• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
• Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995)
• Pilotwings 64 (1996)
• Super Smash Bros. (1999) (Diplomacy)
• Pokémon Stadium (1999)
• Pokémon Stadium 2 (2000) - Pokémon Stadium: Staff
• Pikmin (2001)
• Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) (Nintendo Support Staff)
• NBA Courtside 2002 (2002)
• Kirby's Return to Dream Land (2011)
• Mario Kart 7 (2011)
• Mario Party 9 (2012)
• Lego City Undercover (2013)
• Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins (2013)
• Kirby: Triple Deluxe (2014)
• Pushmo World (2014)
• Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U (2014) - Supervisor (Original Games)
• Stretchmo (2015)
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch) (2018)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) - Original Game Supervisor
• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo Switch) (2019)