The following interview is taken from the Shogakukan Link’s Awakening guide. The guide also features a brief prologue to Link’s Awakening, revealing Link’s whereabouts and activities prior to his Koholint adventures.

The staff who worked on The Legend of Zelda – Link’s Awakening are largely the same group of people who did the previous title. This game, comparable in volume, gives a nod to the fun story of A Link to the Past. 1 and a half years ago, these ladies and gentlemen gathered together in the spirit of an after school club to create a Zelda game for the Game Boy. Here we introduce each member of the development team as well as present to you a special supplement; a drill from the staff themselves.

1. Role in Making Zelda
2. Birthday
3. Height
4. Weight
5. Hometown
6. Married or Unmarried
7. What’s Your Type?
8. Hobbies
9. Who I Respect
10. What I Did Before Zelda
11. Nickname
12. Check this out!
13. I Just Want to Say…

Shigeru Miyamoto

1. On top of producing the game, I was allowed to participate as a tester whose opinions carried a lot of weight for the latter half of the game’s development.
2. November 16th, 1952
3. 167 cm (5’5)
4. 64 kg (141 lbs)
5. Kyoto
6. Married
7.
8. Made games.
9. A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Starfox, etc.
10.
11. I’m past the age for nicknames. *laughing*
12. The mellow places, I think.
13. Shall we play at sea?

Translator’s Note: The original interview contains an error. Miyamoto’s answer to number 9 should go in the spot for number 10.

Kensuke Tanabe

1. Script writer. Right-hander.
2. January 26th, 1963
3. 166.6 cm (5’5)
4. 59 kg (130 lbs)
5. Osaka
6. Unmarried. Currently seeking eligible candidates.
7. B-Grade Idols
8. Moviegoing. Reading. Rock ‘n’ roll.
9. Osamu Tezuka
10. A Link to the Past
11. Ken chan
12. For this game, I really tried to create characters with personality, so that’s what I’d like you to see. I also think that the boss characters were excellent, even from the perspective of a staff member.
13. Gwawawa.

Takashi Tezuka

1. Director
2. November 17th, 1960
3. 168 cm (5’5)
4. 65 kg (143 lbs)
5. Osaka
6. Married
7. My wife (her name’s Sumi).
8. Looking for and collecting strange things.
9. Shigesato Itoi (I’ve admired him since I was a student). Lao-tzu (I’ve admired him since I was a student).
10. A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, etc.
11. TENTEN
12. The layouts inside the houses. For example, Grandpa Ulrira and Grandma Yahoo’s house. You can tell by how near the beds are and how many dressers they have that the two are close and that Grandma is probably a fashionable lady. One might think that because they’re close, Grandpa gets his information from everything Grandma learns while doing her cleaning around the island…
13. You’ve gotta show a little more passion.

Yoshiaki Koizumi

1. Script Writer
2. April 29th, 1968
3. 168 cm (5’5)
4. 60 kg (132 lbs)
5. Shizuoka Prefecture
6. Unmarried
7. Half-cooked types (especially ones as soft as earlobes).
8. Appreciating the little things.
9. People who are known as geniuses. Why? Because they’re geniuses.
10. The first game I had a hand in. (I helped with the story and did character design for A Link to the Past.)
11. Nothing
12. The ending.
13. I want you to play this game till the end.

Masanao Arimoto

1. Primarily character design.
2. October 27th, 1966
3. A little over 178 cm (5’8).
4. About 64 kg (141 lbs)
5. Wakayama Prefecture
6. Unmarried
7. (As for celebrities?) Yuko Tanaka.
8. Sightseeing in Tokyo (I’m planning on it).
9. Mr. Miyamoto. (Flattery.) Mr. Tezuka. (Flattery.)
10. A Link to the Past
11. Ario
12. The ending, it was drawn by people more talented than I.
13. Are you watching, everyone? Let’s do this! (Said to a gaggle of onlookers staring into the TV camera.)

Yasuhisa Yamamura

1. Underground Construction (Dungeon Design)
2. December 10th, 1964
3. 180 cm (5’9)
4. 69 kg (152 lbs)
5. Hyogo Prefecture
6. Unmarried (Sob..)
7. Kikuko Kusanagi is pretty swell.
8. Going to arcades. Collecting used circuit boards. (Should I run away after admitting that?)
9. Parents the world over. You can say that they gave their blood, they’re completely responsible for another person (their children), and not only that, they even bear their childrens’ lives on their shoulders. (It’s okay if I answer seriously, right?)
10. A Link to the Past
11. Yamahemu
12. Everything. Especially for the people who paid full price. I don’t care about the ones who bought it for cheap. *laughing*
13. Do you think Tarin and Marin are father and daughter? It never says that in the game. Most importantly, Marin calls Tarin by name. Could she actually be a little gold digger…?

Kazuaki Morita

1. Programmer (Main System)
2. November 27th, 1965
3. 175 cm (5’7)
4. 68 kg (150 lbs)
5. Fukuoka Prefecture
6. Unmarried
7. Good people.
8. Top water plucking. Motorbikes. Martial arts.
9. All the staff members (they really did their best).
10. A Link to the Past. Super Mario World. Adventure of Link. Dream Factory: Doki Doki Panic.
11. Nothing.
12. Everything’s made with a lot of precision.
13. In this age where everyone’s focused on hardware performance, creators have to change the way they think about what they ought to be doing. You can even get this impression by watching famous black and white movies.

Takamitsu Kuzuhara

1. Programmer (Terrain System)
2. May 25th, 1970
3. 173 cm (5’7)
4. 65 kg (143 lbs)
5. Osaka
6. Unmarried
7. Grandmothers.
8. Fishing. Games. Karaoke. Pachinko.
9. All the staff with way more experience than me. I’ve learned so much from them. (I’m wearing a power bracelet.)
10. Hyper-debugging on A Link to the Past.
11. Shibahara
12. The Trendy Game.
13. My name isn’t really Shibahara. I’m not always saying Ulrira. Don’t get powder on me…

Kazumi Totaka

1. All the sound programming and sound effects.
2. August 23rd, 1967
3. 168 cm (5’5)
4. 57 kg (126 lbs)
5. Tokyo
6. Unmarried
7. People who make delicious curry.
8. Eating curry.
9. Shin-chan. He was the proprietor of an okonomiyaki shop in Fussa, Tokyo who quit his job and now does paintings. It’s thanks to his words that I’ve been able to continue in this line of work.
10. The Game Boy game Super Mario Land 2. Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru. X. The SNES game Mario Paint.
11. Totakeke
12. The sword level-up event. I kinda did my best on the sound there. Aside from that, I really like the event with Mr. Write and the sheep, even though it has nothing to do with the sound. It makes me really happy.
13. Curry. Also, I’ve recently become enamored with Brazil.

Translator’s Note: The sheep he mentions is the goat, Christine. Mr. Write’s name should probably have been romanized to better reflect the character he’s based on, Dr. Wright from Sim City (though Write and Wright are spelled the same in Japanese).

Kozue Ishikawa

1. BGM Composition
2. May 7th, 196?
3. 160 cm (5’2)
4. Around 46 kg (I’m not lying, it’s true). (101 lbs)
5. Osaka
6. Unmarried
7. Eloquent young men!
8. Taking epic naps on days off, especially when I don’t have any plans. Papercraft. Walking.
9. My parents. Also, some of the staff who worked on the Game Boy’s development. And the people who worked on The Legend of Zelda (not including myself).
10. This is my first game.
11. When I started at the company I was called Kozue-chan, but now there are people who call me Isshin or Isshan.
12. It’s just a small event, but it’s one of my personal favorites, so please pay close attention. (I especially like the event with Tarin and the bees’ nest. I really had fun with it and wrote the music to match Tarin’s mood…)
13. Some parts are difficult, but even I was able to clear it and I’m terrible at games, so please play till the end without giving up in the middle. The characters are cute, so I really want the girls to play!

Minako Hamano

1. BGM Composition
2. June 28th, 1969
3. 163 cm (5’3)
4. Average
5. Tokyo
6. Unmarried
7. I like cakes with a chocolate base that have banana in them.
8. Loitering. The Weekly Asahi.
9. Takashi Matsuo. I think he’s interesting. (I answered this one seriously…)
10. This is my first game.
11. I’m Mina-chan to my friends. At the company I’m Hama-chan (generally the accent is on the “ma”. Only Mr. Totaka puts it on the “ha”.
12. I like the big ghost in the graveyard.
13. Please don’t rush to finish the beach date with Marin.

Click here for the solution!