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Shinya Kumazaki (born May 21, 1979) is an employee of HAL Laboratory, and the current general director of the Kirby series.
History[]
Kumazaki joined HAL in 2001 and originally worked on course design on Kirby Air Ride and the Drawcia story and battles on Kirby Canvas Curse. He became the main director of the Kirby series with Kirby Super Star Ultra, succeeding Masahiro Sakurai and Shinichi Shimomura.
Kumazaki considers "devices, maps, and tough boss battles" the essential components of quality action games. His favorite main series and spin-off Kirby games are Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Air Ride, respectively.
He also voices King Dedede in all Kirby games since Kirby's Return to Dream Land, filling in as the voice actor for Masahiro Sakurai, who voiced the character on previous titles.
Kumazaki's Kirby games are notable for incorporating elements that call back to past installments, as well as having engaging and scholarly stories that allude to deep lore in the franchise.
In addition, Kumazaki voiced the first and third forms of Void Termina in Kirby Star Allies because the sound team decided to record Kumazaki's frustration from the heavy work of the game's development.[1]
Game Works[]
- Kirby Air Ride (2003) - Design
- Kirby Canvas Curse (2005) - Design
- Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008) - Director
- Kirby's Return to Dream Land (2011) - Director
- Kirby's Dream Collection (2012) - Director
- Kirby: Triple Deluxe (2014) - Director
- Kirby Fighters Deluxe (2014) - Director
- Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe (2014) - Director
- BOXBOXBOY! (2016) - Box Comic - Drafts
- Kirby: Planet Robobot (2016) - General Director
- Bye-Bye! BOXBOY! (2017) - Box Comic - Drafts
- Team Kirby Clash Deluxe (2017) - General Director
- Kirby's Blowout Blast (2017) - General Director
- Kirby Battle Royale (2017) - General Director
- Kirby Star Allies (2018) - General Director
- Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn (2019) - Character Supervisor
- BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! (2019) - Box Comic - Drafts
- Super Kirby Clash (2019) - General Director, Lyrics
- Kirby Fighters 2 (2020) - General Director
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022) - General Director, Lyrics
- Kirby's Dream Buffet (2022) - General Director
- Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe (2023) - General Director
Special Thanks[]
- Otona no Joshiki Ryoku Training DS (2006)
- Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (2015)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) - Original Game Supervisor
References[]
Interviews[]
- N.O.M.: Kirby Super Star Ultra
- Iwata Asks: Kirby's Return to Dream Land
- Nintendo Dream: Kirby Star Allies
- Ask the Developer Vol. 4: Kirby and the Forgotten Land
- Nintendo Dream: Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe