Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (3DS/NSW)

CAPTAIN TOAD: TREASURE TRACKER 進め! キノピオ隊長 ©2014-2018 Nintendo Version: Nintendo Switch (NSW), Nintendo 3DS (3DS) Publisher: NINTENDO CO., LTD. Production: Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Division (EPD) - Production Group No.8 Development: NINTENDO CO., LTD. NINTENDO SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY CORP. Additional Work: 1-UP STUDIO INC.

Producer: Koichi Hayashida Director: Shinya Hiratake Planning / Game Design Yuka Kitahara Toshihiko Okamoto Yusaku Yamanaka Chris Polsney (NST) Graphic Design: Daisuke Watanabe Naoki Mineta Mayako Sugimoto Kazunori Hashimoto Daisuke Ito Chiaki Uchida Yuki Nakamura Takafumi Moro (1UP) Takayuki Yaeno (1UP) Koji Aoyama (1UP) Asami Inoue (1UP) Jun Ishioka (1UP) Mio Kikuchi (1UP) Hirotaka Tanikawa (1UP) Annabelle Bowie (NST) Philip Brodsky (NST) Kevin Chung (NST) Jeremiah Gallardo (NST) Marcos Gomes (NST) Francisco Guerrero López (NST) Erica Hanson (NST) Arturo Jáuregui Osante (NST) John Lim (NST) Brian McNeely (NST) Steven Petofalvi (NST) Jami Moravetz (NST) Fei Quek (NST) Edward Sherman (NST) Mark Trono (NST) Jessica Zamora (NST) Program: Katsuyasu Ando Masakaze Sato Jonathan Bryant (NST) Austin Harper (NST) Jonathan Johnson (NST) Rory Johnston (NST) Yoonjoon Lee (NST) Deana McCarthy (NST) Dean Russell (NST) Edgars Stúrmanis (NST), Timothy Minalia (NST) Zachary Wilson (NST) Sound: Naoto Kubo Hiroki Araya (1UP) James Phillipsen (NST) Illustration: Keisuke Okubo Localization: Rich Amtower Ana Celeste Ascanio Nate Bihldorff Dutch Hixenbaugh Anne-Marie Laperrière Yoriko Marusich Reiko Ninomiya Tim O'Leary Ayaka Osakabe Scot Ritchey Kindra Timmerwilke Testing: Tsuyoshi Komura (MC) Brian Carlson Ryan Dean Jelena Dzamonja Kathy Huguenard Daijiro Imoto Mel Marselle Gary Meads Special Thanks: Hiroshi Arai (1UP) David Carlson Lyn Fox Mizuki Fujisawa Shigetoshi Gohara Takeshi Hayakawa Youichi Hirota Karen Ishikawa (NST) Kiyomi Itani Nobuyo Johnston (NST) Gen Kadoi (1UP) Toki Kando Sayo Kato Takeshi Kawasaki Makiko Kitazaki Yoshiaki Koizumi Sean Lutterman Keisuke Matsui Vivek Melwani (NST) Jeff Miller (NOA) Yuki Mitsui Satoshi Miyama Shigeru Miyamoto Yosuke Mori (1UP) Kenta Motokura Nicholas Mulkey Saki Murayama Geoff Phoenix Matthew Potter Kaoru Sato Akiyo Shigeyama Hirokazu Shimaoka Kazimir Strzepek Makiko Takada Lauren Wells Shigeki Yamahiro (NST) All General Support Group Nintendo Tokyo Office All EPD Project Manager / Coordinator: Mika Kurosawa (NST) General Producer: Shinya Takahashi Executive Producer: Tatsumi Kimishima Shuntaro Furukawa

Development Notes: Show More Early in the development of Super Mario 3D World, Nintendo created prototypes of various gameplay ideas, including what IGN described as small "diorama-like levels the player could twist and turn." However, when the team added a character who could jump, they realized the levels would have to increase in size. They decided to keep the small-scale course design by eliminating jumping entirely, which also forced them to choose a player character other than Mario or Luigi. Director Shinya Hiratake suggested Shigeru Miyamoto to make Link from The Legend of Zelda as a playable character, but Miyamoto instructed him to choose a different one. The developers then realized that Captain Toad, a background character from the Super Mario Galaxy games, would fit the role due to his heavy backpack, which they reasoned would weigh too much and keep him from jumping. Originally, the team thought the levels could form their own game, but instead a few were included in Super Mario 3D World. After 3D World was finished in late 2013, Miyamoto found that the Captain Toad levels reminded him of one of his earlier gameplay ideas inspired by the Rubik's Cube, so he suggested they create a separate Captain Toad game. This 2018 version was a co-development effort with the members of original team and Nintendo Software Technology (NST) developing the Nintendo Switch and 3DS adaptations. Interview Excerpts: Show More Interview Excerpt# 1 Polygon "Where Captain Toad Came From, And Why Nintendo Brought It Back" - August 2018 An official interview conducted by Polyon with Nintendo's Koichi Hayashida and Shinya Hiratake. We always think about how we can introduce 3D games to more people. (Hiratake) We thought that Captain Toad in Super Mario 3D World was perfect because it brought in the element of searching to [Mario’s] world. (Hiratake) We thought about how we could have players that are beginners control the camera and control the game. We thought that putting the whole stage in one screen and changing the camera angle could be a fun experience. (Hayashida) We wanted to explore that as a core mechanic of Captain Toad, and that’s how we ended up with those miniature worlds. (Hayashida) Some elements of the original Zelda concept remain in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, like boss battles against the flame-spewing dragon Draggadon and giant bird Wingo. (Hayashida/Hiratake) The designers envisioned Link hiding behind walls to avoid taking damage in big boss fights. (Hayashida/Hiratake) While we were porting the game to 3DS, we were also making Super Mario Odyssey. (Hayashida) When the Switch launched we thought perhaps there’s a way to share a controller and play with two people, and that’s how things started. (Hayashida)

INFOBOX Version: Nintendo Switch (WW) Source: Game Credits. Nintendo JP. ← Back to Production Archive ← Back to Personnel Database ← Back to Developer Listing ← Back to Home