Chris Sutherland (programmer)
British video game programmer and voice actor
Chris Sutherland (born February 1, 1956)[ 1] is an English video game programmer and voice actor. He is best known for programming several titles while at Rare , including Battletoads Arcade , Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest , and Banjo Kazooie , before co-founding Playtonic Games with several other Rare employees. During this time, he also voiced several characters for the company, including Banjo and Kazooie , Diddy Kong and the announcer of the Killer Instinct series.[ 2] [ 3]
Biography
In 1989, Sutherland joined the British video game company Rare as a programmer for The Amazing Spider-Man (1990) on Game Boy .[ 4] [ 5] Later, he became the lead programmer for Donkey Kong Country (1994), and was responsible for implementing the game's pre-rendered graphics, a process he described as challenging due to the need to reduce the characters' frames of animation.[ 6] He continued to act as lead programmer for its sequel, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), and Banjo-Kazooie (1998) and Banjo-Tooie (2000).[ 7] During this time, Sutherland provided voice acting for characters in several Rare games, including as Diddy Kong in Diddy Kong Racing (1997) and Donkey Kong 64 (1999), as well as the Banjo-Kazooie series' eponymous characters in all of their appearances.[ 8] Additionally, he has appeared as the announcer for all three games in the Killer Instinct series.[ 2]
In 2014, Sutherland left Rare and became one of the founding members of Playtonic Games , alongside other Rare employees including Steve Hurst, Steve Mayles, Gavin Price, Jens Restemeier, and Mark Stevenson.[ 5] [ 9]
Credits
Year
Title
Role
1990
The Amazing Spider-Man
Programmer
1991
Sneaky Snakes
1994
Battletoads
Programmer, voice actor (Announcer, Rash, Zitz, Pimple)
Donkey Kong Country
Lead programmer, voice actor (GBA version only) (Diddy Kong, King K. Rool, Kritter, Krusha, Gnawty)
Killer Instinct
Voice actor (Announcer)
1995
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Lead programmer, voice actor (GBA version only) (Diddy Kong, King K. Rool)
1996
Killer Instinct 2
Voice actor (Announcer)
Killer Instinct Gold
1997
Diddy Kong Racing
Voice actor (Diddy Kong , Banjo, Krunch, Taj the Genie)
1998
Banjo-Kazooie
Lead programmer, voice actor (Banjo and Kazooie )
1999
Donkey Kong 64
Lead programmer, voice actor (Diddy Kong, Lanky Kong, Chunky Kong, King K. Rool , Krusha), music vocals ("DK Rap ")
2000
Perfect Dark
Voice actor (Daniel Carrington, Trent Easton, DataDyne Guards)
Banjo-Tooie
Lead programmer, voice actor (Banjo and Kazooie)
2002
Star Fox Adventures
Voice actor (SnowHorn Tribe)
2005
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Programmer, voice actor (Banjo Head, Kazooie Head, Vampire Chicken)
Kameo: Elements of Power
Voice actor (Old Ma'wood)
2006
Viva Pinata
Producer, voice actor (Jardiniero)
2008
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Voice actor (Banjo and Kazooie)
2010
Kinect Sports
Producer
2011
Kinect Sports: Season Two
Project manager
2013
Killer Instinct
Voice actor (Announcer "Chris")
2014
Kinect Sports Rivals
Project manager
2017
Yooka-Laylee
Director, programmer, voice actor (Yooka and Laylee), music vocals ("Yooka-Laylee Rap")
2018
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Voice actor (Banjo and Kazooie)
2019
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Director, programmer, voice actor (Yooka and Laylee)
2020
Mighty Fight Federation
Voice actor (Yooka and Laylee)
2021
Terrain of Magical Expertise
Voice actor (Spirit Gate)
References
External links
Series Other games
1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Upcoming Unreleased
People