HIROKAZU TANAKA ALSO APPEARED AS AN ENEMY CHARACTER!

The game Kid Icarus was different from Mario's horizontal scrolling, as it changes to vertical scrolling. Furthermore, you died if you fell, so it was an amazing system.

Osawa: This game has been called many things by many different people! (Laughs)

Sakamoto: He called it a "falling game"! (Laughs)

That's because falling to your death is the number one impression left behind, saying on the Game Over screen, "I'm finished!"

Sakamoto: The text appears and everyone everyone's jaws drop in disbelief.*

*Literally: "Goes ‘ka-ching!'"

Regarding that, it doesn't seem like a Nintendo game, as there is a little bit of "black essence".

Osawa: Sakamoto and myself put something together, or we when patch up a game, when it came out, it has relatively dark humor. For example, we also made the game For the Frog the Bell Tolls (1992) together, and the senses of Sakamoto and myself happen to coincide, so I think it seems dark humor comes out easily. Kid Icarus, however, uses an eggplant; there is this guy who throws eggplants. I thought about him at just the right time! (Laughs)

All: (Laughs)

Osawa: Kid Icarus was developed in the winter bonus season, and I thought about this character at the time when the summer bonus came out. When I thought, "The bonus is coming out very soon--!" I made a rod that uses eggplants to hit you with eggplants, so bonus! (Laughs)

Everyone: (Laughs heartily)

Osawa: However, because that alone didn't make any sense, it places a curse, and throws it with a flash when that enemy hits you. So that was why the protagonist turns into an eggplant. However, because there was no storage to put in a character turned into an eggplant, I attached the eggplant on top, and attached the legs to this, and what I did was absurd.

Sakamoto: Those days, in one part of the development staff, everyone was strange! (Laughs) These were people who honestly said, "If we made a wizard, and it would also use eggplants, that wouldn't be weird?" And these people would mysteriously agree, "Yeah. That's not strange!" (Laughs)

All: (Laughs)

Sakamoto: They'd say, "Using eggplants isn't strange at all. Well, shall we put it in?"

Osawa: Before that, didn't Mr. Sakamoto make Wrecking Crew? At that time, there was an eggplant mask, called Eggplant Man. Because I liked it, although I didn't know it, I had a passion for eggplants! (Laughs) Well, I said, "Icarus should have this," and I drew a guy who uses eggplants.

Sakamoto: However, that happened naturally.

Osawa: And then there's Specknose.*

*The Japanese name is ‘Meganehanaan', or ‘Glasses-Nose'.

Sakamoto: Ouch, Specknose. That was also an inside story.

Osawa: It is Mr. Hirokazu Tanaka.

Sakamoto: Ah, that's who it was! (Laughs)

Osawa: Mr. Hirokazu Tanaka was in charge of sound for Kid Icarus. That guy, isn't his nose rather enormous?

It really is enormous!

Osawa: Well, there are party goods called "nose glasses."* They have glasses attached to a nose. If someone brought them to the company, and those were hanging [on his face], they would playfully say, "It's Hirokazu Tanaka!"

*AKA Groucho Marx glasses.

Everyone: (Laughs heartily)

Osawa: Everyone is very excited! (Laughs)

Sakamoto: That's because you decided, "I'm going to introduce him as an enemy!" (Laughs)

Osawa: I drew round eyes, drew a nose, and also drew whiskers, and although it came leaping out [of the page] with a whistle, I thought I had drawn an irresponsible character. (Laughs)

Sakamoto: You said, "What should I call it?" and it became...

Osawa and Sakamoto: (In Chorus) Specknose!

Osawa: I decided immediately. (Laughs)

Sakamoto: (Seriously) I admire everything you come up with.

All: Laughs

So, Kid Icarus was made with a really good mood.

Sakamoto: It's also like a credit card.

Osawa: Somehow there are credit cards in Greek myths. If a person in debt bought something, he was considerably irresponsible.

But how were Greek myths used as a firm base from the start?

Osawa: Basically, I tackled it with due seriousness. However, soon I was interrupted by people who were around me, and then I stopped worrying about seriousness, so in the end I thought "Maybe...I should just enjoy it, right?"

Sakamoto: However, I also make things with a serious taste! (Laughs)

Osawa: But gradually it also becomes a joke.

Ah, yes. How come with the last [level] it becomes a shooting stage?

Osawa: Ah, that. The truth is I combined even greater variety of options. (Smiles Bitterly) Anyhow, because I was working until three days before release, there wasn't enough time. Therefore, I decided in the end to give the heavy work a go. Since I couldn't do it, it wasn't finished.

Sakamoto: So you did it like a serialized manga that is about to end in the next issue.

Ah ha ha ha! That's an amazing comparison! (Laughs)

Sakamoto: Or something where it feels like you're forcing it to die.

Osawa: Still, I wanted to make just the last state unusual. Like, "How can I make this unexpected?" Therefore, I said "Let's go with horizontal scroll shooting!"

Still, that's truly astonishing! (Laughs)

Sakamoto: I was surprised we even made it! (Laughs) It's sort of like, "Who are those guys?"

Osawa: In those days, it was always, "What's that?" With the Famicom Mini, when you play it, I hope you'll find it enjoyable.

There are multiple endings, even one where you turned into Specknose.*

*Note: This was an extra bad ending that was removed from the US version of the game. Instead, the US version got a better ending where angels fly over Pit and Palutena.

Osawa: Although I already told that story some time ago, there wasn't much storage, and it was useless to polish up ideas within that. Although it was good to forgive the user, I had to avoid angering him.

Sakamoto: In those days, you had to be careful not to make the user angry! (Laughs)

Osawa: This time with the Famicom Mini, although I can say it wasn't put into the port of the domestic version, a part that wasn't put into the Japanese version was put into the overseas version. The ending became more gorgeous.

Sakamoto: A staff roll was also put in. Because it wasn't put in the Japanese version, Osawa was considerably disappointed.

Osawa: I said, "I thought it took great pains to produce..." However I finished it three days before [it was released]! (Laughs) Even though I said, "I want to put in a staff roll," they responded, "What are you talking about?"

CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE!