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When it comes to Nintendo Developers, the most recognizable face for many is Shigeru Miyamoto. The whimsical visionary was known for creative and family-friendly titles such as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pikmin. He's one of Nintendo's most important assets, and is the reason the company has so many hit franchises under their belt.

But another longstanding Nintendo developer has also been quietly in the shadows, making hit titles, but not many big franchises. A rebellious figure who would take the risks other Nintendo developers wouldn't. That man is Yoshio Sakamoto. Known primarily for Metroid, Sakamoto can be seen as sort of the "Anti-Miyamoto" at Nintendo. Spending most of his carrer working outside of Miyamoto and his EAD divsion, at other departments of Nintendo such as R&D1 and later SPD.

Even his appearance give the impression of a scruffier, more rebellious counterpart to Miyamoto's clean and calm presence. Many of the games he's directed and produced were often weird, edgy, and sometimes dark, while still retaining Nintendo's trademark polish. Of course, he co-created Metroid, but he also worked on Kid Icarus, Famicom Tentai series, Gumshoe, etc. He played a key role in the production of the WarioWare series, which has always been weird and wacky, even by Nintendo standards. And when he was sick of making Game Boy games, he fought tooth and nail to develop Super Metroid for the SNES. That said, Sakamoto never saw himself as competing with Miyamoto, rather he sought to "always come up with something very different from what Mr. Miyamoto is likely to do".

However, there is massive blemish on his resume. When Sakamoto finally got the chance to make a console Metroid again, he jumped at that chance with open arms. Bringing in Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja, and some Veteran Metroid staff, to co-develop Metroid: Other M. Despite the initial hype, it quickly became one of Nintendo's most infamous games. The problem lied in the company giving Sakamoto too much creative free reign over the project. This is where his punk-rocker persona didn't work in his favor, as he had a totalitarian grip on every aspect of the game's development, even threatening Team Ninja that he'd cancel the game if they didn't make it work with the Sideways Wii Remote.

Despite this though, Sakamoto has shown he's willing to learn from his mistakes as 7 years later, He and his team worked with Mercury Steam to develop Metroid: Samus Returns, which was a much better received game. Even with the Elephant in the room that was Other M, Sakamoto has routinely shown to be Nintendo's most creatively rebellious figure, and has more power within the company's software department now more than ever as Executive Officer of EPD, allowing him to help pass down his more rebellious attitude to even those who previously worked under Miyamoto.