| Hirokazu Yasuhara | |
| Native Name: | 安原 広和 |
| Native Name Lang: | h |
| Birth Date: | 12 October 1965 |
| Birth Place: | Japan |
| Years Active: | 1988-2013 |
| Alma Mater: | Tokyo University of Science |
| Other Names: | Carol Yas |
| Occupation: | Game designer |
| Notable Works: | Sonic the Hedgehog series Jak and Daxter series |
(also credited as Carol Yas) is a Japanese video game designer. He is best known for designing the gameplay and stages of the initial Sonic the Hedgehog video games for Sega Genesis in the 1990s, based on technical demos and engines programmed by Yuji Naka.[1] Yasuhara stayed with Sega until 1999.[2] He then worked for Naughty Dog from 2002 to 2008, working on the Jak and Daxter series and , collaborating again with former Sega employee Mark Cerny. He was the senior design director at Namco Bandai Games America from 2008 to 2012. In April 2012, Yasuhara joined Nintendo where he accepted a position at the Nintendo Software Technology division.[3] He left Nintendo in 2016 and has since worked for Unity Technologies.[4]
| Year | Title | Role | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=rowgroup | 1988 | Altered Beast | Game design | |
| scope=rowgroup | 1990 | Fatal Labyrinth | Game design | |
| scope=rowgroup | 1991 | Sonic the Hedgehog | Game design | |
| scope=rowgroup | 1992 | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Game design | |
| scope=rowgroup rowspan="2" | 1994 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Director, game design | |
| Sonic & Knuckles | Game design | |||
| scope=rowgroup | 1996 | Sonic 3D Blast | Game design | |
| scope=rowgroup | 1997 | Sonic R | Map design director | |
| scope=rowgroup | 2001 | Floigan Bros. | Game design | |
| scope=rowgroup | 2003 | Jak II | Game design | |
| scope=rowgroup | 2004 | Jak 3 | Game design | |
| scope=rowgroup | 2005 | Game design | ||
| scope=rowgroup | 2007 | Game design | ||
| scope=rowgroup | 2010 | Pac-Man Party | Senior game design | |
| scope=rowgroup | 2013 | Game design |