While not the first side-scrolling martial arts action games (predated by Kung-Fu Master), they established the general template and conventions used by the beat 'em up genre since the late 1980s.
In his teenage years as a high school student, he used to regularly get into fights on a daily basis, which was partly triggered by a break-up with a girl who dumped him.
Kishimoto was also a fan of Bruce Lee's Hong Kong martial arts films, particularly Enter the Dragon (1973).
In 2000, he began working as a game developer for the "Plus e" platform, a computer terminal distributed to family restaurants in Japan.
He has served as a creative consultant for sequels to Technos' former IPs such as Double Dragon Neon and River City Ransom: Underground.