Miyamoto Recruited Aonuma After Playing SNES Marvelous

In a 2005 interview, Eiji Aonuma recounted that Shigeru Miyamoto approached him after playing Marvelous, a Super Nintendo game Aonuma developed. Miyamoto asked if he would join the Zelda development team, and Aonuma accepted.

Aonuma said he had aimed to weave “some essence of Zelda” into Marvelous rather than copy the series outright. After the game was released, Miyamoto invited him to work on The Legend of Zelda franchise.

Aonuma’s first major assignment on the series was dungeon design for the 1998 title Ocarina of Time. He continued working on the franchise thereafter, contributing to level design and puzzles on subsequent entries.

Recalling the moment Miyamoto offered the role, Aonuma remembered responding simply: “I said: Yes!” The interview links Marvelous’ Zelda-like elements to the offer that brought Aonuma onto the development team.

Shigeru Miyamoto is the creator of The Legend of Zelda. The encounter after Marvelous’ release preceded Aonuma’s long-term role shaping the series’ dungeons and gameplay.