• Interview

Takaya Imamura talks Omega 6, F-Zero, Star Fox & more

The former Nintendo art director recently adapted his original manga, Omega 6, to a 16-bit adventure game.

TJ Denzer

March 12, 2025 8:00 AM

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Former Nintendo developer and artist Takaya Imamura is behind some of the most iconic characters and art in the company’s games, but even though he’s not at Nintendo anymore, he continues to pour effort into his creative pursuits elsewhere. Recently, that culminated in the release of the Omega 6 game, which was adapted from his manga comic of the same name. We had a chance to sit down with Imamura and ask about Omega 6, as well as his long line of contributions from his days at Nintendo and beyond.

Our questions focus mostly on Omega 6, how Imamura began it as a passion project, the inspirations that formed Omega 6 and its 16-bit style, and how the team adjusted the game’s narrative from the manga to try to appeal to a wider audience. We also talk a bit about the difference in game design and processes from the days that Imamura worked at Nintendo to his work on Omega 6 now.

For as storied a history as Imamura has, with major hands in things like Star Fox and F-Zero, we couldn’t possibly let him go without questions about those franchises and his feelings on them today. We talked about how Star Fox has suffered since Star Fox 64 (which we all agreed is pretty much perfect). We also talked about how F-Zero has expanded to allow for things like the impeccable F-Zero 99 and what Imamura’s considers his favorite F-Zero game.

Omega 6: The Triangle Stars is out on Steam and Nintendo Switch now, and you can learn more about it on its official website. For more videos, be sure to check out our YouTube channels at Shacknews, Shacknews Interviews, and Shacknews VODs for the latest on toys, games, and technology.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.