Junichi Masuda

Junichi Masuda has no doubt touched the lives of millions of people through his continued work on the Pokémon games. As one of the founding members of Game Freak, Masuda initially served as a composer for the series and was the sole person responsible for the soundtrack of the first generation Pokémon games. Additionally, he was the one who developed the program that would be used to generate all of the original Pokémon cries and sounds.

Since those days, Masuda has gone on to have a directorial role in every main series Pokémon game since Crystal, while still composing the music for all the main entries, as well. Perhaps most notably, he designed the Hoenn region that featured in the third generation games, basing it off of a vacation home his family visited in the summers when he was young. It's no stretch to say Pokémon wouldn't be the same without him and today marks Mr. Masuda's 48th birthday.

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube788k
Watch on YouTube

What do you think? How has Pokémon impacted your life? What would you like to see out of the next Pokémon game? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[source twitter.com]