| Kensuke Tanabe | |
| Native Name: | 田邊 賢輔 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Birth Date: | 26 January 1963 |
| Birth Place: | Ikeda, Osaka, Japan[1] |
| Notable Works: | Super Mario The Legend of Zelda Metroid Prime Chibi-Robo! |
| Alma Mater: | Osaka University of Arts |
| Occupation: | Video game producer, designer |
| Years Active: | 1986–present |
| Manager at Nintendo SPD Production Group No. 3 (2004–2015) Manager at Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 6 (2015–2019) Senior Officer at Nintendo EPD (2019–present) | |
[2] is a Japanese video game producer and designer working for Nintendo, where he currently is Senior Officer at Nintendo EPD.
After he had graduated from the Visual Concept Planning Department of Osaka University of Arts, he decided to enter the video game industry, and joined Nintendo in April 1986.[3]
At first, Tanabe was part of the Entertainment Analysis and Development division. He directed the platform games and Super Mario Bros. 2, and worked on the scripts for the action-adventures and . In 2003, Tanabe moved to the Software Planning and Development division, where he became the manager of Production Group No. 3.[4] Since then, he has become a producer, and has managed and overseen the development of externally developed first party Nintendo video games, such as Metroid Prime, Donkey Kong Country, Paper Mario, Chibi-Robo and other series.
| Year | Game | Credit(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Director, course design | |
| 1988 | Super Mario Bros. 2 | |
| Super Mario Bros. 3 | Course design | |
| 1991 | Scenario writer | |
| 1993 | ||
| 1994 | Stunt Race FX | Map design |
| Kirby's Dream Course | ||
| Donkey Kong Country | Additional support | |
| 1995 | Kirby's Avalanche | Nintendo staff |
| Kirby's Dream Land 2 | Map design | |
| Kirby's Block Ball | Supervisor | |
| 1996 | Super Mario RPG | Screenplay advisor |
| Kirby Super Star | Advisor | |
| Japanese text translation | ||
| BS Super Mario USA Power Challenge | Original design | |
| 1998 | Script Support | |
| 1999 | Pokémon Snap | Supervisor |
| 2000 | Assistant manager | |
| 2001 | Advisor | |
| Super Mario Advance | Supervisor | |
| Magical Vacation | Advisor | |
| 2002 | Supervisor | |
| Advisor | ||
| Supervisor | ||
| Metroid Prime | Co-producer | |
| 2003 | GiFTPiA | Supervisor |
| Advisor | ||
| 2004 | Supervisor | |
| Producer | ||
| 2005 | Project management | |
| Producer | ||
| Chibi-Robo! | ||
| Geist | ||
| Battalion Wars | ||
| Metroid Prime Pinball | ||
| Super Mario Strikers | ||
| Tottoko Hamtaro Nazo Nazo Q Kumonoue no ? Jou | ||
| 2006 | Mother 3 | |
| Magical Starsign | ||
| Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland | ||
| Custom Robo Arena | ||
| Excite Truck | ||
| Metroid Prime Hunters | ||
| 2007 | Super Paper Mario | |
| Mario Strikers Charged | ||
| Theta | ||
| Battalion Wars 2 | ||
| 2008 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | |
| Captain Rainbow | ||
| Kirby Super Star Ultra | ||
| 2009 | Picross 3D | |
| Picturebook Games: Pop-Up Pursuit | ||
| Bonsai Barber | ||
| Punch-Out!! | ||
| Okaeri! Chibi Robo! Happy Richie Dai Souji | ||
| Irodzuki Tingle no Koi no Balloon Trip | ||
| Rock N' Roll Climber | ||
| Art Academy | ||
| Picturebook Games: The Royal Bluff | ||
| A Kappa's Trail | ||
| 2010 | Aura-Aura Climber | Associate producer |
| Producer | ||
| Donkey Kong Country Returns | ||
| 2011 | Pilotwings Resort | |
| Kirby Mass Attack | Senior producer | |
| Producer | ||
| Pushmo | ||
| 2012 | Kirby's Dream Collection | |
| Crashmo | ||
| Dillon's Rolling Western | ||
| Sing Party | ||
| 2013 | Special advisor | |
| Game & Wario | Directing support, game design | |
| Producer | ||
| Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D | ||
| Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder | ||
| 2014 | Producer | |
| 2015 | Kirby and the Rainbow Curse | |
| Supervisor | ||
| Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash | Producer | |
| Supervisor | ||
| 2016 | Producer | |
| 2018 | Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers | |
| WarioWare Gold | ||
| Luigi's Mansion | ||
| 2019 | Luigi's Mansion 3 | |
| 2020 | ||
| 2021 | ||
| Super Nintendo World | Creative director | |
| 2022 | Producer | |
| 2023 | Metroid Prime Remastered | |
| 2024 | Luigi's Mansion 2 HD | |
| 2025 |