Takaya Imamura, who is most renowned for designing iconic Nintendo characters like Fox and Captain Falcon, recently announced that he's leading the charge on a new game that will release for the Nintendo Switch in 2023. This won't be part of Nintendo's first party, however, as nearly two years ago Imamura revealed that he'd left the acclaimed video game company for reasons unknown. It seems clearer now that the creative likely wanted to work on his own projects.
As reported by Japanese website 4gamer, and later transcribed by VGC, Imamura released his debut manga this week, Omega 6. It's a sci-fi story following the characters Thunder and Kaira, "bounty hunters who travel through space in search of a new planet to replace Earth." This upcoming game, aptly titled Omega 6 The Video Game, is in development at studio Happy Meal, and it will be a "simple text adventure game," featuring an original story set in the manga's world.
Imamura was not only the visual designer for Fox and Falcon, he was also one of the main designers for the actual games, acting as a producer and/or supervisor for every game throughout both series' lifespans. Fans of these beloved franchises, F-Zero and Star Fox, are constantly requesting that the IPs be revisited with new games, though things are currently not looking too good for either series. The most recent Star Fox, which Imamura worked on, was 2016's Star Fox Zero.
The title was co-developed with PlatinumGames, the creators of Bayonetta, and it was unfortunately panned by many reviewers due to its reliance on motion controls and the gimmicks attached to the Wii U's double-screen functionality. Furthermore, as per Destructoid, it reportedly had the lowest amount of launch-period sales in the history of the series in Japan.
On the other hand, sci-fi racing series F-Zero saw its last entry in 2004, in the form of the GBA exclusive F-Zero Climax; the series has not seen a new title since then. A particularly fervent investor went as far as to ask Nintendo executives whether they had any plans to remake or make a new project with the F-Zero IP. The response was unfortunately short and dismissive, suggesting the possibility is low. At least, fans will get to see Imamura's visual style take flight in this new Omega 6 video game, though its genre may not be what most are used to seeing in his games.