It seems that only the game devs from the 80's and 90's who stuck around and got famous are remembered today. But those guys are the minority. The majority of devs left and are now forgotten. Even worse, is that the earliest Famicom games did not list the actual devs names in the credits, so it is even somewhat difficult to figure out for sure who even made it.

Because Inafune stuck with Capcom and got promoted, he became the face of the Mega Man series. But he didn't create the character or games. Akira Kitamura was the director of Mega Man 1 and 2, and left part way through 3. He made the Mega Man character and design. Yet he is relegated to obscurity (he could be dead for all we know). Even his Mega Man spiritual successor, Cocoron for the Famicom is relegated to obscurity. If he is still alive, he really should have made a kickstarter for Cocoron 2.

The same team made all three Famicom Castlevania games. We think it was a team led by Hitoshi Akamatsu. Go to even the Castlevania Wikia and on this guy's page you'll see just a few short sentences. Nothing is known about him or his team. Like Kitamura he left gaming at some point and dropped off the face of the earth.

It goes on and on like this. These devs have been forgotten by everyone and this isn't right.