Rieko Kodama died in may this year (announced only recently)

[Animal_Rights]

Not many would know this name (I didn't either until I read the news), but this Japanese woman was the designer of iconic Sega games such as 1985's Sega Ninja/The Ninja, 1986 Alex Kidd in Miracle World (well known as built into the SEGA Master System consoles) or 1991/92 Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2.

She died at only 58.

Her wikipedia page : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rieko_Kodama

One article in french with some photos and links : https://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/1661091/h...e-sega.htm