Miracle Kidz! studio president Mitsuhiro Yoshida passed away unexpectedly on August 30. This was revealed on Saturday. Yoshida, who is best known in English for the Downtown Nekketsu game River City Ransom for the Nintendo Entertainment System, is referred to as the “father” of the Downtown Nekketsu franchise by Miracle Kidz! Yoshida was reportedly hard at work on a new game up to his demise, the company stated.

From the late 1980s until the early 1990s, Yoshida worked as a director at Techn’s Japan on games including Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari (reworked as River City Ransom) and Nekketsu Kk Dodgeball-Bu (reworked as Super Dodge Ball in English). He started Miracle Kids! launched games like Downtown Dodgeball da Yo Zenin Shg in 2008! Downtown Gekitotsu Dodgeball, (River City Dodge Ball All Stars!) (Downtown Smash Dodgeball) and Downtown Nekketsu Dodgeball for the Wii and other platforms.