Published May 8, 2026, 10:59 AM EDT Shigeru Miyamoto's right-hand man, Takashi Tezuka, is leaving Nintendo Image: Nintendo Takashi Tezuka, the director of Nintendo classics like Super Mario Bros. 3 and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past , will retire from Nintendo this summer, the company confirmed Friday. Tezuka joined Nintendo in 1984, and rapidly rose through the ranks as a graphics designer to game director to, ultimately, executive officer. He'll retire from Nintendo on June 26, Nintendo revealed in a financial document . Tezuka started his career at Nintendo designing sprites for the original Punch-Out!! and quickly became an assistant director on the company's foundational video games. He served as an assistant director alongside Shigeru Miyamoto on titles like Excitebike , Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda .…