His in-game persona was renamed Master Higgins for the non-Japanese Hudson's Adventure Island series. Most of his magics in the first game referenced this game series and his powers therein. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_Isl...8video_game%29)
His "real-life" claim to fame is that he could press a button at 16 times per second in the 80s. One of his specials in the first game referenced this. While I'm not sure, I think that you unlocked him in the first game by using at least 16 different characters in Story Mode. He's also an executive at Hudson Soft, which could also help explain his appearances in these Hudson Soft developed games. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takahashi_Meijin)
His "real-life" claim to fame is that he could press a button at 16 times per second in the 80s. One of his specials in the first game referenced this. While I'm not sure, I think that you unlocked him in the first game by using at least 16 different characters in Story Mode. He's also an executive at Hudson Soft, which could also help explain his appearances in these Hudson Soft developed games. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takahashi_Meijin)