Yoshiaki Koizumi joue sur une Nintendo Switch en extérieur, un collègue penché derrière lui

Yoshiaki Koizumi: The Soul of 3D Mario

1467 words | Reading time : 7 minute(s)

CharacterYoshiaki KoizumiSuper Mario Galaxy

Trained in filmmaking, he gave the 3D Mario games a camera and a soul. Born on April 29, 1968 and a film graduate of the Osaka University of Arts, Yoshiaki Koizumi cut his teeth on Zelda before stepping up as director on Sunshine and then Galaxy. This portrait details his work on the camera and the targeting system, Rosalina's storybook and his move into production on Odyssey.

Some creators remain in the shadow of their heroes. Yoshiaki Koizumi (小泉 歓晃) is one of them: you know Mario by heart, far less so the man who, from behind the scenes, shaped his adventures in three dimensions. Director, then producer, then senior executive, he is one of the most discreet and most decisive craftsmen at Nintendo.

Trained in filmmaking and a veteran of the Zelda saga before joining the mustachioed plumber, Koizumi has one obsession: making you feel something. He is the one who, from Super Mario 64 to Super Mario Galaxy, gave the 3D Mario games a genuine soul.

Contents

From Osaka film school to video games

Yoshiaki Koizumi was born on April 29, 1968 in Japan. Before video games, he trained in the visual design department of the Osaka University of Arts, where he studied film, dramatic writing, animation and storyboarding. His first dream was not video games at all but the big screen: he was set on becoming a film director.

When he joined Nintendo, he carried that ambition for staging into a young medium, one capable, in his view, of delivering a drama only a game can offer. That double culture — telling a story while making the player feel it through their own actions — would become his signature. It explains why his 3D Mario games feel, more than others, inhabited by an emotion.

Cutting his teeth on Zelda: the camera and targeting

Before Mario, Koizumi cut his teeth on The Legend of Zelda. He was first handed the writing of Link's Awakening (1993), whose dreamlike story he shaped. Then came the great leap into 3D, where he played a decisive technical role:

  • Ocarina of Time (1998): he worked on Link's 3D models, on the camera and above all on the targeting system (the “Z-targeting”), which lets you lock onto an enemy. The idea would go on to become a standard of 3D action games.
  • Majora's Mask (2000): co-director alongside Eiji Aonuma, he came up with the principle of the three-day cycle and the poignant fate of townsfolk threatened by the falling moon.

Those years taught him to tame the camera and three-dimensional space, two challenges he would run into again straight away over in the Mushroom Kingdom.

From Super Mario 64 to Sunshine: becoming a director

On Super Mario 64 (1996), the pioneer of 3D platforming, Koizumi was assistant director and head of 3D animation for the plumber. He helped give Mario that supple, readable, expressive movement that makes 3D a pleasure to play — animation work in an almost cinematic sense.

Six years later, he stepped up as director for the first time with Super Mario Sunshine (2002) on GameCube. The game sends Mario off on holiday to Isle Delfino and builds its entire gameplay around water and a curious jet-powered backpack. A summery, daring proposition that already asserts his taste for worlds with a strong identity and mechanics that stray off the beaten track.

Super Mario Galaxy: the peak and Rosalina's storybook

It was with Super Mario Galaxy (2007) on Wii that Koizumi reached his peak as a director. The game sends Mario from planet to planet and reinvents platforming through spherical gravity: you run all the way around tiny worlds, sometimes upside down, without ever falling off. The vertigo never stops, and neither does the magic.

But Koizumi's most personal contribution lies elsewhere. In secret, in the evenings, he wrote Rosalina's storybook (Rosalina in English), the melancholy princess who watches over the observatory and the Lumas. This small illustrated book, doled out chapter by chapter across the adventure, invents the character's entire past and gives her an emotional gravity that is rare in a Mario game. It is the perfect example of his method: slipping drama and tenderness in where nobody expects them.

Yoshiaki Koizumi at a Super Mario Galaxy press presentation
Galaxy marks his high point: he directed its design from end to end.

Producer: from Galaxy 2 to Odyssey

From Super Mario Galaxy 2 onwards, Koizumi took a step back to a wider view and became a producer. He then oversaw a long line of 3D platforming milestones:

  • Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010, Wii);
  • Super Mario 3D Land (2011, Nintendo 3DS), which weds 3D to more linear levels;
  • Super Mario 3D World (2013, Wii U), designed for playing together;
  • Super Mario Odyssey (2017, Nintendo Switch), a return to sandbox exploration and a huge critical and commercial success.

Behind the scenes, he passes on to a new generation of directors the grammar of 3D Mario that he himself helped write.

The man behind the Switch and Nintendo EPD

Koizumi's role today reaches far beyond Mario alone. He is general producer of the Nintendo Switch, the console that made the idea of one and the same game “at home or on the go” stick, and that has become one of the best-selling in Nintendo's history.

Now a senior executive at Nintendo and an executive of Nintendo EPD (Entertainment Planning & Development, the company's large in-house development division), he appears regularly in Nintendo Direct, where he stages the announcements with plenty of humour. From the trainee filmmaker in Osaka to the executive who orchestrates the brand's biggest moments, the circle is complete: Koizumi has never stopped telling stories.

Yoshiaki Koizumi at a glance

Name Yoshiaki Koizumi
Japanese name 小泉 歓晃
Born April 29, 1968 (Japan)
Education Osaka University of Arts (film)
Role Director, producer, executive
Key games Mario 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, Odyssey
Also known for General producer of the Nintendo Switch
Current role Senior executive at Nintendo EPD

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FAQ

  • Who is Yoshiaki Koizumi?
    A Japanese creator born in 1968, first a director and then a producer at Nintendo. He is one of the major figures behind the 3D Mario games and the general producer of the Nintendo Switch.
  • Which Mario games did Yoshiaki Koizumi direct?
    He directed Super Mario Sunshine (2002) and Super Mario Galaxy (2007). Before that, he had been assistant director and head of 3D animation on Super Mario 64 (1996).
  • Did Koizumi really invent Rosalina's past?
    Yes. In secret, in the evenings, he wrote the Rosalina storybook built into Super Mario Galaxy, a book that reveals the character's history chapter by chapter.
  • Which Zelda games did he work on?
    He wrote Link's Awakening, contributed to Ocarina of Time (camera and targeting system) and co-directed Majora's Mask, for which he devised the three-day cycle.
  • What is Koizumi's role at Nintendo today?
    He is general producer of the Nintendo Switch and a senior executive at Nintendo EPD. He appears regularly in Nintendo Direct presentations.
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