Yukinobu Arikawa

Yukinobu Arikawa
Employment history: Sega Enterprises (1990 – ) Divisions: Sega R&D 8 Sega AM2 Sega AM11 Sega Software R&D Dept. 4 Amusement Vision Sega Divisions: New Entertainment R&D Dept. Sega CS1 Sega Games Divisions: CS Studio 1 Sega
Role(s): Designer, Artist, Writer, Localizer

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Yukinobu Arikawa (有川 幸伸), also known as Tombo (とんぼ), is a game designer and texture artist at Sega of Japan. He is famous for the comedic touches he adds to games, such as designing the mostly comedic game Rent A Hero in his first year at Sega or including gags in the Daytona USA and Scud Race courses. Arikawa has also been a long-time contributor to the "absolutely hilarious" Yakuza series since Yakuza 0, notably involved with localization.

Joined Sega in 1990. He became a member of Sega AM2, his debut work being Rent A Hero, which he wrote the plot of. He then became a graphic designer, making the road markings in Virtua Racing and the character settings in Virtua Fighter. His graphic design work continued in Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2 (including the secret background image for Rent A Hero Returns) and Spikeout. He returned to writing th

Arikawa is also one of the developers of the early Super Monkey Ball games, and has been consulted on the series' future representation in crossover games such as Sega Superstars Tennis. As a Yakuza member, he has also supervised the representation of Streets of Rage in Streets of Rage 4.

Production history

Games

• Rent A Hero (Mega Drive; 1991) — Scenario (as Tombo)
• Virtua Racing (Model 1; 1992) — Assistant Designer
• Burning Rival (System 32; 1993) — Special Thanks (as 有川 伸幸)
• Virtua Fighter (Model 1; 1993) — Assistant Designer
• Daytona USA (Model 2; 1994) — Planner
• Virtua Cop (Model 2; 1994) — Design Support
• Virtua Fighter 2 (Model 2; 1994) — Texture designers
• Virtua Cop (Saturn; 1995) — Special Thanks
• Virtua Fighter 3 (Model 3; 1996) — Scroll Design
• Scud Race (Model 3; 1996) — Designers
• Scud Race Plus (Model 3; 1997) — Designers
• Virtua Fighter 3tb (Model 3; 1997) — Scroll Design
• Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge (Model 3; 1998) — Design Support (AM11)
• Spikeout: Digital Battle Online (Model 3; 1998) — Assistant Planner
• Virtua Fighter 3tb (Dreamcast; 1998) — Scroll Design
• Daytona USA 2: Power Edition (Model 3; 1998) — Design Support (AM11)
• Spikeout: Final Edition (Model 3; 1999) — Assistant Planner
• Rent A Hero No.1 (Dreamcast; 2000) — ゲームデザイン (as 蟻川 とんぼ)
• Rent A Hero No.1 (Dreamcast; 2000) — 作詞 (as 蟻川 とんぼ)
• Monkey Ball (NAOMI GD-ROM; 2001) — Designers
• Spikers Battle (NAOMI GD-ROM; 2001) — Special Thanks to
• US Shenmue (Dreamcast; 2001) — Planners
• Super Monkey Ball (GameCube; 2001) — Planners
• Virtua Striker 3 Ver. 2002 (GameCube; 2002) — Planners
• Super Monkey Ball Jr. (Game Boy Advance; 2002) — Planning
• Super Monkey Ball 2 (GameCube; 2002) — Planners
• F-Zero AX (Triforce; 2003) — Thanks To
• F-Zero GX (GameCube; 2003) — Thanks to
• Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 16: Virtua Fighter 2 (PlayStation 2; 2004) — Texture designers
• Super Monkey Ball Deluxe (Xbox; 2005) — Planners
• Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll (Nintendo DS; 2005) — Planner
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Wii; 2006) — Planners
• Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (PlayStation 3; 2008) — アドベンチャーゲームデザイン (as 有川 幸伸)
• Sega Superstars Tennis (PlayStation 3; 2008) — NE
• Sega Superstars Tennis (Wii; 2008) — NE
• Sega Superstars Tennis (Nintendo DS; 2008) — NE
• Super Monkey Ball (iOS; 2008)
• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Xbox 360; 2010) — CS1 R&D
• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Wii; 2010) — CS1 R&D
• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Nintendo DS; 2010) — CS1 R&D
• Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll (Wii; 2010) — Special Thanks
• Kurohyou: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinshou (PlayStation Portable; 2010) — ディレクター (as 有川 幸伸)
• Super Monkey Ball 3D (Nintendo 3DS; 2011) — Special Thanks
• Kurohyou 2: Ryu ga Gotoku Ashura Hen (PlayStation Portable; 2012) — アシスタントプロデューサー (as 有川 幸伸)
• Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition (Android; 2012) — Special Thanks
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz (PlayStation Vita; 2012) — Special Thanks
• Yakuza 0 (PlayStation 3; 2015) — Game Design Production Assistants
• Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (PlayStation 4; 2016) — ADV Game Design
• Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PlayStation 4; 2017) — Localize Support
• Sega Heroes (Android; 2018) — Super Monkey Ball
• Sega Ages Columns II (Nintendo Switch; 2019) — Special Thanks
• Streets of Rage 4 (Windows PC; 2020) — SEGA Development Team
• Sonic Origins (PlayStation 4; 2022) — Game Design
• Sonic Origins (PlayStation 5; 2022) — Game Design
• Sonic Origins (Xbox One; 2022) — Game Design
• Sonic Origins (Nintendo Switch; 2022) — Game Design

Videos

• CGMV Virtua Fighter 2 (VHS; 1995) — Texture designers
• Sega Amusement CG World Best Collection (LaserDisc; 1995) — Planners
• Sega Amusement CG World Best Collection (LaserDisc; 1995) — Texture designers

Music

• Fighters Megamix Sound Tracks (CD; 1997) — Lyrics (as Tombo Arikawa)
• Renta no Kyoku: Rent A Hero No.1 Original Soundtrack (CD; 2000) — Special Thanks (as Tombo Arikawa)
• Vermilion vs Rent A Hero Original Soundtrack (CD; 2009) — Commentator (as Tombo Arikawa)
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Original Soundtrack (CD; 2014)
• Go Sega: 60th Anniversary Album (CD; 2021) — Special Thanks

Song credits

Main article: Yukinobu Arikawa/Song credits.

Magazine articles

Main article: Yukinobu Arikawa/Magazine articles.

Photographs

Main article: Photos of Yukinobu Arikawa