• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

How to revisit Iwata's legacy?

O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Hopefully making this thread is alright, because I was struck by the news of Iwata-san's death, and would like to spend some time revisiting and learning more about Iwata's legacy.

So with that, I have two questions:

First, what are your favorite Virtual Console games are that were worked in by Iwata? I know Earthbound would be on there, but what else?

Second, what is your favorite game Iwata worked on overall, Virtual Console or not? If for some reason it's a lesser known game, let us know what we're missing out on.
 
D

DICKS AHOY

Banned
Other than Earthbound Kirby Super Star immediately comes to mind for the first question.

Overall it'd probably be a close call between Earthbound or any of the Smash games really.
 
Y

yami4ct

Member
Pick your favorite game and just enjoy it. It doesn't matter if Iwata had a hand in it, people enjoying games was the thing he always put first and foremost out there in his interviews and media.

Also admire how impressive Pokemon Gold and Silver's size is for the time and technology, because that was awesome. What a badass thing he pulled off getting all that on a small cart.
 
I

Imperfected

Member
Kirby's a great choice, given that it very much fits in with the philosophy that defined his career, "Make fun games, have fun playing them." Practically a thesis for that take on the industry.
 
C

Cody_D165

Banned
I plan on playing a lot of Balloon Fight in the coming weeks. An absolute timeless classic of a game and one I instantly think of when I hear the name Satoru Iwata.
 
K

Kriken

Member
In terms of Kirby games, Kirby 64 is not only my favorite Kirby game, but also one of my favorite games of all times. It's on the Wii VC, and I'm planning on getting it tomorrow
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Balloon Fight is my favorite NES game. Plays like a dream even in the modern era with our new standards of smoothness. And the premise, art and sound design are all timeless. Iwata really worked magic getting the game to feel so right.
 
J

jackal27

Banned
Arcana is a little-known SNES HAL JRPG that Iwata definitely had a hand in programming. I'd be interested in learning more about how much he did on it. I love this game. It's a first-person dungeon crawler by the way.

22502_front.jpg
Click to expand...

arcana-04.png


I've also been playing Earthbound, Balloon Fight, and Smash Bros. 64.
 
Fredrik

Fredrik

Member
I'll just keep enjoying Nintendo's games and consoles, maybe now a little bit more than before just to show my deepest respect, I really shared his vision, didn't like N64 or GC all that much but loved Wii and WiiU, hopefully his plans for NX doesn't change with new leadership but I'm sure I'll be there day 1 no matter what. Earthbound do seem like a good start though since he was so deeply involved in that one and many seem to love it.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Afrocious said:
Yeah, it's about time I sat down and gave Earthbound the time of day.
Click to expand...
I've never gotten more than 1/2 through it, and yeah, I think it's time to rectify that.
jackal27 said:
Arcana is a little-known SNES HAL JRPG that Iwata definitely had a hand in programming. I'd be interested in learning more about how much he did on it. I love this game. It's a first-person dungeon crawler by the way.
.
Click to expand...
Very unique suggestion, I'd love to learn more about this as well! It being a first-person dungeon crawler would merit my interest even without Iwata's involvement.
 
X

XenoRaven

Member
I started replaying Kirby's Adventure. It was one of my favorite childhood games and it will always have a special place in my heart. Even more so now.
 
JetBlackPanda

JetBlackPanda

Gold Member
yami4ct said:
Pick your favorite game and just enjoy it. It doesn't matter if Iwata had a hand in it, people enjoying games was the thing he always put first and foremost out there in his interviews and media.
Click to expand...


RIP Iwata.

Reposting from the main thread. This happened today.

Weird cooncidence, My wife asked me to setup my Snes today around noon. I did it and I played Super Mario World today with my daughter for the first time. I showed her how to run forward and jump, her response "this is AWESOME" we shared a good hour of Super Mario world. Little did I know what news I would be getting a few hours later. Not sure I could think of any other way I would want to Honor him.

Thanks for everything Nintendo and Iwata.
 
H

Hugstable

Banned
I'm gonna be switching between Kirby Adventure and Earthbound for the next day or so.

It's crazy that in the week leading up to his death, I played all the Gameboy Kirby games as well as some of the newer ones. Kirby Dreamland 3 was just amazing, it's a bit slower than your average Kirby game, but it's just filled with so much joy. Plus Animal Friends are the best. I'm not exactly sure what Iwata's role was with the game, but considering it was HAL it's definitely something he had a part in.
 
C

Choomp

Banned
antitrop said:
I played EarthBound from the beginning up to Threed, this evening.
Click to expand...

Sweet, revisited my play through tonight as well and trying to get past Moonside still.

Yeah, I guess Balloon Fight is the obvious one, EarthBound being one too. Kirby games, read the Iwata asks and watch the Directs even.
 
K

kelik

Member
Kirby super star is my absolute favorite video game.

But from a technical standpoint Pokémon Gold/Silver. Freakin genius for compressing enough to put the Kanto region in it.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Honestly, I'm going to play Mario Kart 8 tonight. I know that's from his "executive producer" era, and some might think it's less personal, but I think it's fitting, since for me, MK8 is one of the shining stars of the current generation, and embodies the spirit of fun that is, well, so Iwata.
 
X

Xpike

Unconfirmed Member
It's definitely Earthbound for both, it's a game with such an amazing charm and style that it'll be hard to ever surpass
 
M

Matty77

Member
I don't really have a favorite, and have not really cared for nintendos direction under him, but beyond the tragedy of cancer at 55, I think he just needs to be remembered as someone who helped mold the industry, and even when I disagreed with his business decisions I admit he was at least trying to keep that wonder we all had with our first games alive, and never seemed jaded like most of us gamers get.

It does not matter what your history with Iwata or Nintendo is, or even if you have one. Just if you are a gamer you need to realize a little bit of our collective soul died tonight.

I will pay tribute by trying to see my games with fresh eyes, to play every game like its my first, and get less caught up in the cynicism and negativity that pervades our culture.
 
H

H2intensity

Member
jackal27 said:
Arcana is a little-known SNES HAL JRPG that Iwata definitely had a hand in programming. I'd be interested in learning more about how much he did on it. I love this game. It's a first-person dungeon crawler by the way.


I've also been playing Earthbound, Balloon Fight, and Smash Bros. 64.
Click to expand...

wow, never knew this made by HAL, i finished it when i was junior high school and enjoy it.
 
Z

Zalman

Member
I know this isn't exactly answering your questions, but literally yesterday I was watching his GDC keynote from 2011. He has had a lot of excellent speeches that really show his passion for games.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Zalman said:
I know this isn't exactly answering your questions, but literally yesterday I was watching his GDC keynote from 2011. He has had a lot of excellent speeches that really show his passion for games.
Click to expand...
I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to Nintendo during the Wii era, only before and after, so I might go revisit those keynotes to learn something.
 
K

Kastrioti

Persecution Complex
I've beaten both Splatoon and Super Mario 3D World the last few weeks and both end with Executive Producer Satoru Iwata. He's been Executive Producer on most big Nintendo titles since he became CEO, I believe.
 
R

Rushersauce

Banned
Play Pokémon Silver/Gold. Iwata made it possible for us to explore 2 regions. Yeah, thanks Iwata's programing skills, Gamefreak was able to put Kanto and Johto.
 
K

KHlover

Banned
Play some of the greatest games of all times: Earthbound, Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal and Super Smash Bros Melee. Melee only released on time due to him pulling off insane coding hours iirc and Earthbound/Pokemon wouldn't even have existed in their current for without him. He basically rewrote the entire game in both cases, vastly surpassing the currently existing version all by himself.

He also ported the entire fighting system of the handheld Pokemon games to Pokemon Stadium without any kind of reference documents. He was just that good.
 
G

GregLombardi

Member
Balloon Fight was among the first 5 or 10 videogames I ever played. Metroid being the first I believe. Was elated to hear years later that its creator became the Pres of Nintendo.

Was a great game, and a great man. Pure fun even if it was impossible.
 
T

Teknoman

Member
jackal27 said:
Arcana is a little-known SNES HAL JRPG that Iwata definitely had a hand in programming. I'd be interested in learning more about how much he did on it. I love this game. It's a first-person dungeon crawler by the way.



arcana-04.png


I've also been playing Earthbound, Balloon Fight, and Smash Bros. 64.
Click to expand...

Arcana has an amazing soundtrack too.
 
E

EvoMaldonado

Banned
Kriken said:
In terms of Kirby games, Kirby 64 is not only my favorite Kirby game, but also one of my favorite games of all times. It's on the Wii VC, and I'm planning on getting it tomorrow
Click to expand...

Crystal Shards is also my favorite Kirby and I definitely say you should track down the N64 for your collection.
 
T

takoyaki

Member
This excerpt from an USgamer article gives a good summary of Iwata's contribution as a programmer:

He joined HAL Laboratory right out of university, working as a programmer on titles like Balloon Fight and the Kirby series. During his time as president of HAL, Iwata stepped in and helped Shigesato Itoi's team with the development of Mother 2 (Earthbound), to the point that Itoi said the team "relied on Iwata-san." He helped with the localization of Pokemon Red/Green, got the Pokemon Stadium battle system up-and-running on Nintendo 64, and coded tools to compress Pokemon Gold/Silver enough that the team at GameFreak was able to fit in the entire Kanto region.
Click to expand...

link

Personally, I'll be playing a game on 3DS. Iwata was the biggest proponent of Nintendo staying in the dedicated handheld/console business instead of focusing on mobile/making only software. It's too soon to know how things will change going forward (NX, QoL, etc.), but right now, just using a 3DS/WiiU feels like the right thing to do. The fact that we still have current Nintendo hardware feels like Iwata's legacy to me.
 
C

Colombo

Member
I will play some Balloon Fight to remember him. I still can't believe he's gone and this has surprisingly made me feel even sadder than when Hiroshi Yamauchi passed away.
 
H

Het_Nkik

Member
Kastrioti said:
I've beaten both Splatoon and Super Mario 3D World the last few weeks and both end with Executive Producer Satoru Iwata. He's been Executive Producer on most big Nintendo titles since he became CEO, I believe.
Click to expand...

Company presidents are the Executive Producers. Before Iwata was president, every Nintendo game had Hiroshi Yamauchi listed as Executive Producer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

New 'Legacy of Kain' Game In The Works?
25
2K
adamsapple replied
Warner Bros. Wants To Shift Away From "Volatile" AAA Console Games, Lean Into Free-To-Play And Mobile
Business Game Dev 2 3 4 5 6
265
10K
LarsQMorient replied
LTTP Clock Tower 3 and Haunting Ground
37
2K
Mr Hyde replied
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection | Review Thread
Analysis Review
21
3K
Krathoon replied
I'm having a second honeymoon with Cyberpunk 2077 after revisiting it for the first time since the disastrous launch
2 3
145
6K
DeaDPo0L84 replied
Top Bottom