(also credited as Carol Yas) is a Japanese

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

. He is best known for designing the gameplay and stages of the initial '' Sonic the Hedgehog''

s for Sega Genesis in the 1990s, based on technical demos and engines programmed by

Yuji Naka , credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game programmer, designer and producer. He is the former head of the Sega studio Sonic Team, where he was the lead programmer of the original '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series on the Sega Mega ...

. Yasuhara stayed with Sega until the late 1990s. He then joined

Naughty Dog Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. Gav ...

, working on the ''

Jak and Daxter ''Jak and Daxter'' is an action-adventure video game franchise created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was originally developed by Naughty Dog with a number of installments being outsourc ...

'' series and '' Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'', collaborating again with former Sega employee

Mark Cerny Mark Evan Cerny (born August 24, 1964) is an American video game designer, programmer, producer and media proprietor. Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Cerny attended UC Berkeley before dropping out to pursue a career in video games. In hi ...

. He was the senior design director at Namco Bandai Games America. In April 2012, Yasuhara joined Nintendo where he accepted a position at the

Nintendo Software Technology Nintendo Software Technology Corporation, doing business as Nintendo Software Technology (NST), is an American video game developer. NST was created by Nintendo as a first-party developer to create games for the North American market, though the ...

division. He has since worked for

Unity Technologies Unity Software Inc. ( doing business as Unity Technologies) is a video game software development company based in San Francisco. It was founded in Denmark in 2004 as Over the Edge Entertainment (OTEE) and changed its name in 2007. Unity Technol ...

Production history

* ''

Altered Beast ''Altered Beast'' is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade video game developed and manufactured by Sega. The game is set in Ancient Greece and follows a player character chosen by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the demonic ruler of the underworl ...

'' (1988) – Game planner * '' Fatal Labyrinth'' (1990) – Game planner * ''Pyramid Magic'' (1991) – Special thanks * ''Pyramid Magic Special'' (1991) – Special thanks * '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' (1991) – Lead game designer, Game planner * ''

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 1992 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute (STI) for the Sega Genesis. It follows Sonic as he attempts to stop Doctor Eggman from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power his space stationnamed The Death Egg. Like the first ''S ...

'' (1992) – Lead game designer, Game planner * ''

Sonic Spinball ''Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball'' is a 1993 pinball video game developed by Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega. It is a Spin-off (media), spinoff of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series set in the continuity of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog ...

'' (1993) – Special thanks * ''

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. Like previous ''Sonic'' games, players traverse side-scrolling levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. They control Sonic and Tails, who attempt to retrieve ...

'' (1994) – Director, lead game designer * ''

Sonic & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega. Players control Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna in their quests to save Angel Island; Sonic tries to prevent Doctor Robotnik from relaunching his orbital weapon, the Death Egg ...

'' (1994) – Director, lead game designer * ''

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. Like previous '' Sonic'' games, players traverse side-scrolling levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. They control Sonic and Tails, who attempt to retr ...

'' (1994) – Director, lead game designer * ''

Sonic 3D Blast known in Europe and Japan as is a 1996 platform game in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series for the Sega Genesis and Sega Saturn. As Sonic the Hedgehog, the player embarks on a journey to save the Flickies, birds enslaved by Doctor Robotnik ...

'' (1996) – Playfield design, Special thanks * ''

Sonic R is a 1997 racing game developed by Traveller's Tales and Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. It is the third racing game in the '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, and the first to feature 3D computer graphics. The player race ...

'' (1997) – Map design director * '' Sega Smash Pack 2'' (2000) – Special thanks * '' Floigan Bros.'' (2001) – Game designer * ''

Jak II ''Jak II'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. It is the second game of the ''Jak and Daxter'' series and it is both a sequel and a prequel to ...

'' (2003) – Game designer * ''

Jak 3 ''Jak 3'' is a 2004 action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game is the sequel to '' Jak II'', the third game in the series and serves as the conclusion of the ...

'' (2004) – Game designer * '' Jak X: Combat Racing'' (2005) – Game designer * '' Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'' (2007) – Game designer * '' Afro Samurai'' (2009) – Special thanks * '' Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move'' (2013) – Game designer * ''

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and (colloquially and collectively referred to as ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' or ''Smash 4'') is a group of two 2014 crossover fighting video games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS ...

'' (2014) – Special thanks * '' Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars'' (2015) – Special thanks * '' Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge'' (2016) – Special thanks * ''

Sonic Mania ''Sonic Mania'' is a 2017 platform game published by Sega for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. Produced in commemoration of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series' 25th anniversary, ''Sonic Mania'' pays homage to the original S ...

'' (2017) – Special thanks * ''

Sonic Forces is a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It was produced in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. The story sees Sonic the Hedgehog joining a resistance force to stop Docto ...

'' (2017) – Special thanks * '' Team Sonic Racing'' (2019) – Special thanks * ''

Sonic Frontiers is a 2022 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. As Sonic, the player explores the Starfall Islands to collect the Chaos Emeralds, after Sonic and his friends are separated when falling through a wormhole. ''Frontiers'' i ...

'' (2022) – Special thanks

References

Living people Japanese video game designers 1965 births Nintendo people Sega people Naughty Dog people {{japan-bio-stub