TOKYO, June 30 — Shigeru Miyamoto got fans talking after he revealed in an interview with Fortune that he is focusing more on creating games like “Star Fox” rather than on the console development of Nintendo’s future NX: we look at the key building blocks of his game design career.

Having joined Nintendo in 1977, which was transitioning from toys to video games, Japanese designer Shigeru Miyamoto has influenced not just Nintendo but video games as a whole. He’s especially well known for founding three franchises in particular, a trifecta of 1980s essentials, each a crucial part of Nintendo’s ongoing legacy.

Donkey Kong Now a key reference in films “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Pixels,” 1981’s “Donkey Kong” came out of left field with its detailed characters and repeating cycle of four themed stages. Drawing on tropes from “King Kong” as well as “Popeye” and “Beauty and the Beast,” Miyamoto’s creation finally broke the US arcade market for Nintendo. He designed and directed immediate sequels “Donkey Kong Junior” and “Donkey Kong 3,” while further developing one of the series’ main characters, Mario.

Mario Now Nintendo’s mascot, Mario, debuting as ‘Jumpman’ was plucked from “Donkey Kong” to become New York’s red-dungareed plumber Mario.  In 1983’s single-screen arcade game “Mario Bros.” he was joined by Luigi for the first time, but it was 1985’s home console “Super Mario Bros.” that established a genre giant; its blue-skied, block-filled Mushroom Kingdom is likely to inspire Universal’s theme park homage. “Mario Bros.” was also Miyamoto’s first time working as designer, director and producer; the Mario franchise has since ballooned to over 170 titles across numerous platforms, with “Super Mario Maker,” “Super Smash Bros.” “Mario Kart 8” and “Super Mario 3D World” among recent entries.

The Legend of Zelda Miyamoto’s second stint as designer, director and producer was for the first “Legend of Zelda” in 1986, after which he worked primarily as a producer. The series also helped Nintendo break new ground, with “The Legend of Zelda” in bird’s-eye perspective, “Zelda II” incorporating a side-on view, “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” a consuming 3D sprawl, and so on. The series’ convoluted storyline has become the stuff of legend, but each game remains accessible nonetheless. Decades later, 1998’s “Ocarina of Time” was still so enduring that it was used to kickstart the handheld 3DS; a new “Legend of Zelda” is eagerly awaited. ­— AFP-Relaxnews