Overview
- Kishimoto died on April 2, 2026 at age 64, with his son announcing the news publicly and noting the family will hold a private funeral.
- He began his career at Data East in the early 1980s, directing LaserDisc arcade games Cobra Command and Road Blaster.
- In 1986 he created Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, localized as Renegade, which introduced belt‑scrolling movement that let players fight while moving in all directions across a plane.
- He followed with 1987’s Double Dragon, which popularized two‑player co‑op brawling and grew into long‑running Kunio‑kun and Double Dragon franchises across sequels, ports, and remakes.
- Later he worked freelance and founded Plophet, returning to his series on projects like Double Dragon IV in 2017 and consulting on River City Ransom: Underground, as studios such as WayForward paid tribute to his influence.