Try our affiliated browser extension - redirect to BreezeWiki automatically!

Patariro

Kurokawa, Masahiko
黒川雅彦

Masahiko Kurokawa during 1995's V-Jump Festival

Occupation:

Game designer

Years Active:

1986–2008

"Patariro" was the pseudonym often used by Masahiko Kurokawa (黒川雅彦)[1] while working on the NES version of Strider. He also worked under the pseudonyms "Kuro"[2][3] and "MX-5" (a reference to Ken's code number in Street Fighter 2010).[2][4] His work is often credited to Masayoshi Kurokawa (黒川真圭)[2], which was a "stage name" Kurokawa used extensively during and after his video game career[5]. He was best known for his work on Capcom's Mega Man and Resident Evil series and his frequent collaborations with Tokuro Fujiwara.

Early Life

Masahiko Kurokawa was born in Osaka in 1963[2]. He went to the same university as Kouichi Yotsui and like him followed a career in film.[6]

Career

Capcom

Kurokawa went to work for Capcom in 1985[2]. His earliest known work for them was the Famicom port of their coin-op Commando. This project was his first with Tokuro Fujiwara, whom he would collaborate with for the duration of his career. Masahiko Kurakawa also planned Capcom's 1987 release, Higemaru Makaijima[7], itself a sequel to another Capcom coin-op, Pirate Ship Higemaru. These minor additions to Capcom's library led to his working on the Moto Kikaku Strider project with Kouichi Yotsui and Tatsumi Wada. Kurokawa's experience with the Famicom informed his decision to develop the "consumer version" of Strider for that system, which irked Yotsui. Taking advantage of their background in film, Yotsui and Kurokawa developed a detailed setting for the project together[6], and eventually each one wrote their own script for it[8]. Kurokawa and Wada, however, worked more together than with Yotsui for the duration of their work on Strider, tying their individual projects more closely to each other than to his[1]. For unknown reasons, Kurokawa's Strider was released only in the West, not in Japan.

After completing Strider, Kurokawa worked on Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers alongside Keiji Inafune[9]. When Akira Kitamura left Capcom in 1990 to start Takeru[10], Kurokawa took over Kitamura's planning duties on the Mega Man franchise[11]. He and Inafune did not see eye-to-eye during the development of Mega Man 3. Inafune had "a lot of preset notions about how things should be"[12] and claimed that Kurokawa "didn't really understand Mega Man the way his predecessor did". Kurokawa quit the production before the game was finished, leaving the remaining planning responsibilities for Inafune.[13]

Kurokawa returned to the Disney license for Capcom's 1992 SNES release, Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse[4]. He also served in an advisory capacity on the production of Mega Man 5[14] and Mega Man 6[15], and worked as producer in the 1996 joint Capcom/Toho live-action series Shichisei Tōshin Guyferd[16]. However, the capstone to his Capcom career was the 1996 PlayStation smash hit, Resident Evil.[17]

Freelance Years

Tokuro Fujiwara left Capcom after the release of Resident Evil and started his own company, Whoopee Camp. Masahiko Kurokawa followed him. There they created the Tomba! series. Kurokawa wrote the scenarios for both it[18] and its eventual sequel, Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return[19]. Tomba! was critically acclaimed and widely anticipated but suffered from poor distribution. Whoopee Camp went under after Tomba! 2.

Undeterred, Fujiwara started another company, Deep Space. Kurokawa followed him to the new company, where he revisited many of the themes from Resident Evil in Deep Space's 2001 PlayStation 2 game, Extermination[20]. Kurokawa also contributed to Deep Space's 2003 PlayStation 2 release, Hungry Ghosts[21], a first-person horror game geared more towards exploration and "virtual experience" than survival[22]. Deep Space ended up folding as well. Many of its staff went on to form Access Games.

After Deep Space, Kurokawa worked as a professor for several Japanese vocational schools. He taught in the gaming career departments of ECC Computer College and Human Academy Co.[2], and was also a contributing member of the "Neko No Mori" drama troupe[23]. He passed away on July 2008 at the age of 45.[24]

Gameography

Year Title Developer Publisher System Role
1986 Commando
戦場の狼 		Capcom Capcom NES Planner
1987 Higemaru Makaijima
魔界島 七つの島大冒険 		Capcom Capcom NES Game Design
1988 Titan Warriors
(Cancelled) 		Capcom Capcom NES Designer
1989 Strider Capcom Capcom NES Designer
1990 Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
チップとデールの大作戦 		Capcom Capcom NES
1990 Mega Man 3
ロックマン３Dr.ワイリーの最期！？ 		Capcom Capcom NES Planner
1992 Disney's Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse
ミッキーのマジカルアドベンチャー 		Capcom Capcom SNES
1992 Mega Man 5
ロックマン５ブルースの罠！？ 		Capcom Capcom NES Advisor
1993 Mega Man 6
ロックマン６史上最大の戦い！！ 		Capcom Capcom NES Advisor
1993 Mega Man 7
ロックマン7 宿命の対決! 		Capcom Capcom SNES Planner
1995 Mega Man X
ロックマンX 		Capcom Capcom SNES Planner
1996 Resident Evil
バイオハザード 		Capcom Capcom PlayStation Supervisor
1998 Tomba!
オレっ!トンバ 		Whoopee Camp Sony Computer Entertainment PlayStation Writer
1999 Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
トンバ! ザ・ワイルドアドベンチャー 		Whoopee Camp Sony Computer Entertainment PlayStation Writer
2001 Extermination
エクスターミネーション 		Deep Space Sony Computer Entertainment PlayStation 2 Game Design
2003 Hungry Ghosts
ハングリィ ゴースト 		Deep Space Sony Computer Entertainment PlayStation 2 Planner

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Scion; Dire 51 (24 April 2010). "Interview with Kouichi "Isuke" Yotsui". LSCM 4.0. Translated by Gaijin Punch. Accessed October 24, 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "黒川 真圭 (Masayoshi Kurokawa)" (in Japanese). GSLA Japan. Accessed May 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ Commando. (Capcom). NES. Level/area: End credits. (September 27, 1986).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Disney's Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse. (Capcom). SNES. Level/area: End credits. (November 20, 1992).
  5. ↑ Pane, Salvatore (September 27, 2016). "Kurokawa" (English). Mega Man 3: Boss Fight Books #14. Pg. 171. ISBN 1-94-053514-X.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Robson, Daniel (October 2014). "The Making of...Strider". Edge (271). Pg. 96-99.
  7. ↑ Higemaru Makajima. (Capcom). Famicom. Level/area: End credits. (April 14, 1987).
  8. ↑ Szczepaniak, John (January 10, 2016) "Interview with Roy Ozaki and Kouichi Yotsui". Hardcore Gaming 101 official YouTube page. Accessed May 23, 2016.
  9. ↑ Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers. (Capcom). NES. Level/area: End credits. (June 8, 1990).
  10. ↑ CRV (August 21, 2009). "Company:Takeru". Game Developer Research Institute. Accessed 17 Dec 2010.
  11. ↑ Mega Man 3. (Capcom). NES. Level/area: End credits. (September 28, 1990).
  12. ↑ Mega Man: Official Complete Works. Udon Entertainment. January 6, 2010. pp. 16–21. ISBN 978-1-89737-679-9.
  13. ↑ "Power Profiles: Keiji Inafune". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) (220): pp. 79–81. October 2007.
  14. ↑ Mega Man 5. (Capcom). NES. Level/area: End credits. (December 4, 1992).
  15. ↑ Mega Man 6. (Capcom). NES. Level/area: End credits. (November 5, 1993).
  16. ↑ "Shichisei Tōshin Guyferd (1996)" (Japanese). allcinema.net. Accessed May 23, 2016
  17. ↑ Resident Evil. (Capcom). PlayStation. Level/area: End credits. (March 22, 1996).
  18. ↑ Whoopee Camp. Tomba!. (Sony Computer Entertainment). PlayStation. Level/area: End credits. (December 25, 1997).
  19. ↑ Whoopee Camp. Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return. (Sony Computer Entertainment). PlayStation. Level/area: End credits. (October 28, 1998).
  20. ↑ Deep Space. Extermination. (Sony Computer Entertainment). PlayStation. Level/area: End credits. (March 8, 2001).
  21. ↑ Deep Space. Hungry Ghosts. (Sony Computer Entertainment). PlayStation. Level/area: End credits. (July 31, 2003).
  22. ↑ Hamamura, Hirozaku (2 July 2003). "The Lair of Hungry Ghosts". Famitsu. Translated by Fox, Fennec. Accessed 25 Feb 2011.
  23. ↑ "メンバー紹介" (in Japanese). "劇団猫の森　HP". Accessed 23 Nov 2012.
  24. ↑ Takase, Kazuhiro (July 22, 2008). "Memorial, Masayoshi Kurokawa-san" (Japanese). Suteru nya Oshī Sute Zerifu!!! livedoorBlog. Archived. Accessed May 31, 2019