Chris Sutherland as seen in the Xbox: The Official Magazine[1] in 2016.
Chris Sutherland is a British video game programmer and software engineer born on February 1, 1956. He initially joined Rare in 1989. Being credited as a programmer, he worked on many games, including The Amazing Spider-Man[2] for Game Boy, Sneaky Snakes[3], Battletoads for Arcade, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and some games from the Donkey Kong (series) created by Rare.
Sutherland is also known to have voiced many characters and enemies in games developed by Rare, such as the announcers from Battletoads[4] for Arcade, Killer Instinct (1994)[5] and Killer Instinct 2[6][7], Banjo and Kazooie from the Banjo-Kazooie series, Daniel Carrington, Trent Easton and dataDyne guards from Perfect Dark[8], and SnowHorn Tribe from Star Fox Adventures. In the Donkey Kong games developed by Rare, Chris Sutherland has provided voices for many Kremling characters and enemies.[9] And despite an earlier misunderstanding in crediting Kevin Bayliss, Sutherland was the one who actually voiced Diddy Kong in the same games.
After Rare being acquired by Microsoft Game Studios[10] in 2002, Chris Sutherland and other colleagues left the company in 2014 and they became the founding members of Playtonic Games[11]. Sutherland is credited as project director and software engineer in Yooka-Laylee, the first game developed by the new company.
Works in the Donkey Kong series[]
- Donkey Kong Country for Super Family Computer/Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1994): head programmer, and voice clips for Kritter, Klump, Klaptrap, Krusha, King K. Rool, Donkey Kong (when failing a Bonus Level), and Rambi the Rhinoceros[9]
- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for SFC/SNES (1995): head programmer, and voice clips for Klomp, Klinger, Kaboing, Kruncha, Klampon, Kannon, Krook, Kloak, Kutlass, Kaptain K. Rool, and Rambi the Rhinoceros[9]
- Donkey Kong Land 2 for Game Boy (1996): original game
- Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! for SFC/SNES (1996): voice clips for Kobble, Koin, Knocka, Skidda, Krimp, Re-Koil, Baron K. Roolenstein and Brash[9]
- Diddy Kong Racing for Nintendo 64 (1997): voice clips for Diddy Kong, Banjo, Krunch the Kremling, Taj the Genie and Tricky the Triceratops
- Donkey Kong 64 for Nintendo 64 (1999): support team, voice clips for Diddy Kong, Lanky Kong, Chunky Kong, King K. Rool and Krusha, and DK Rap (uncredited) lyrics
- Donkey Kong Country for Game Boy Advance (2003): original Donkey Kong Country team, and voice clips for Diddy Kong, Gnawty, Kritter, Krusha and King K. Rool
- Donkey Kong Country 2 for GBA (2004): original Donkey Kong Country 2 team, and voice clips for Diddy Kong and Kaptain K. Rool
- DK: King of Swing for GBA (2005): voice clips for King K. Rool[9]
- Donkey Kong Country 3 for GBA (2005): voice clips for Bleak, Kiddy Kong, and Baron K. Roolstein
Interviews[]
- DF Retro: Donkey Kong Country + Killer Instinct - A 16-Bit CG Revolution! on YouTube
- Rare Replay - The Making of Battletoads on YouTube
- Rare Replay - Dreaming of Banjo on YouTube
Trivia[]
- The games Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Golf: World Tour and Mario Sports Superstars reuse voice clips for Diddy Kong provided by Chris Sutherland from the game Donkey Kong 64. In similar way, the game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate also reuses voice clips for Klaptrap and Banjo & Kazooie without crediting Sutherland.
- Between 2004 and the present, and starting in the game Mario Power Tennis, Katsumi Suzuki[12] became the current voice actor for Diddy Kong in later games, replacing Chris Sutherland in the role.
External Links[]
- Chris Sutherland's Official Twitter
- Chris Sutherland Works on Wayback Machine - Chris Sutherland's Blog