Nintendo legend didn't want to work on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Takaya Imamura worked at Nintendo between 1989 and 2021. In that storied career, he developed iconic characters such as those included in F-Zero, as well as most of the supporting characters in the Star Fox games. While some may think of it as a dream to work on any Nintendo title, Imamura wasn't best pleased about having to work on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

"To tell the truth, when I was asked to help out on the Zelda team, I wasn't too pleased about it," Imamura told EDGE (via NintendoEverything). "I didn't really want to, and the reason was because I wanted to enjoy the game when it was finished, as a player. I can remember that feeling even now. I also remember that the debugging, the QA, was really tough, having to do the same thing over and over again."

"I still really don't want to play that game - the testing was that difficult," he continued. "Even now, if I just jump into the game for a minute or so, the feeling comes back. It's like PTSD or something."

Imamura also worked on Majora's Mask, a title that again he'd rather have experienced as a player than a developer. Still, he stuck around with Nintendo for many years afterwards, only leaving more recently in 2021. So, perhaps it wasn't all as bad as it seemed.