Rieko Kodama

Rieko Kodama
Born Rieko Kodama
May 23, 1963
Kanagawa, Japan
Known for Video game designer
Notable work Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia

Rieko Kodama (小玉 理恵子 Kodama Rieko, born May 23, 1963 in Kanagawa, Kanagawa Prefecture) (Also credited as Phoenix Rie, Phenix Rie or Phoenix)[1] is a video game designer. She has been involved with some of Sega's high profile projects such as Alex Kidd, the Phantasy Star series, Sonic The Hedgehog, Shinobi, Skies of Arcadia, and several other A-list games.

Education

Born in Kanagawa, Japan, she began her education undecided between art and archeology. She opted for art and enrolled in a trade school for advertising design. In 1984, a fellow student brought her to work at Sega.

Influence of archeology can be seen in several games that she has worked on, including Phantasy Star and Skies Of Arcadia, where the player often has to travel and discover past civilizations.

Career

Kodama started in character design, for arcade titles such as Champion Boxing (1984) and Ninja Princess (1984), as well as Master System games like Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1986) and Quartet (1987).

As one of the few designers at the company, she found herself working on multiple titles at once, being credited on as many as five or six games a year. Kodama built up a reputation as an artist and was soon given a chance to work on larger projects, such as Phantasy Star. As the main designer, Kodama was responsible for creating all the character designs, the 2D maps, battle-scene backgrounds, and townspeople, among other things.

In 2008 it was announced that Kodama would be producing a new RPG entitled 7th Dragon, in collaboration with Kazuya Niinou (Trauma Center, Etrian Odyssey) and legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro. It received positive reviews and sold 80,000 copies on its Japanese launch.[2][3]

Gameography

Title Year Platform Role
Champion Boxing 1984 Arcade Designer
Sega Ninja 1984 Arcade Designer
Alex Kidd in Miracle World 1986 Master System Character designer
The Black Onyx 1987 SG1000 Enemy designer
Quartet 1987 Arcade, Master System Designer
Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa 1987 Arcade, Master System Exact role unknown
Phantasy Star 1987 Master System Creator (writer), executive designer
Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord 1988 Master System Dragon enemy designer[4]
SpellCaster 1989 Master System Designer
Altered Beast 1989 Mega Drive Designer
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle 1989 Mega Drive Assistant director, animator (designer)
Mystic Defender 1989 Mega Drive Character and enemy designer
Phantasy Star II 1989 Mega Drive Executive designer
Sorcerian 1989 Mega Drive Graphic designer
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi 1990 Mega Drive Graphic designer
Sonic the Hedgehog 1991 Mega Drive Designer
Advanced Daisenryaku 1991 Mega Drive Model maker
Riddle Wired 1991 Mega Drive Special thanks
Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II 1992 Mega Drive Designer
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 1992 Mega Drive Zone artist
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium 1993 Mega Drive Director, environment, object, and event designer
Magic Knight Rayearth 1995 Sega Saturn Director
Phantasy Star Collection 1998 Sega Saturn Supervisor
Deep Fear 1998 Sega Saturn Producer
Skies of Arcadia 2000 Dreamcast Producer
Phantasy Star Collection 2002 Game Boy Advance Supervisor
Skies of Arcadia Legends 2002 Nintendo GameCube Producer
Phantasy Star Generation 1 2003 PlayStation 2 Supervisor[5]
Project Altered Beast 2005 PlayStation 2 Producer
Phantasy Star Generation 2 2005 PlayStation 2 Supervisor[5]
Mind Quiz 2006 Nintendo DS, PSP Producer
7th Dragon 2009 Nintendo DS Producer
7th Dragon 2020 2011 PSP Producer

References

  1. ↑ Interview: Rieko Kodama from The Next Level
  2. ↑ Famitsu Reviews Resident Evil 5 and 7th Dragon
  3. ↑ Jenkins, David (March 12, 2009). "Japanese Charts: Resident Evil 5 Unlocks Strong Sales". Gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  4. ↑ Sega Stars: Rieko Kodama from Sega-16.com
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.g-wie-gorilla.de/content/view/161/18/

External links