Street Fighter 6's director recalls working with Shigeru Miyamoto on The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and says the experience still affects him to this day.
Fans have known Takayuki Nakayama as one of Capcom's all-stars ever since he directed Street Fighter 6, but as a developer, he'd already been with the company for over 20 years by that point – debuting with the Japanese-exclusive Jojo no Kimyo na Boken: Ogon no Kaze (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind's PS2 adaptation) back in 2002.
That's around when Nakayama had one of the most formative experiences of his career, while working with Nintendo on The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. It was Capcom's second entry in the series after working on the Oracle duology (which I suppose would technically make it Capcom's third?).
Speaking to GameInformer to celebrate The Legend of Zelda's 40th anniversary, Nakayama says, "I gained invaluable experience while working on The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap." He explains, "The advice I received from Shigeru Miyamoto-san left a lasting impression on me, which has greatly shaped the way I approach game development even today. He is, and will always be, a North Star guiding all game creators." He congratulates Nintendo on the "incredible milestone" of Zelda's 40th.
It's amazing. In the decades Shigeru Miyamoto has been involved in games, he's never developed a fighting game, yet his approach to design still managed to inspire the director of one contender for the best fighting game ever.
Plus, it's always good to see people shout out The Minish Cap, the first Zelda game I ever bought with my own (well, my parents') money, and the first game I ever got paid to write about. So, by the way, if you're reading this and haven't played it, go play one of the best 2D Zelda games ever made.
