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Underrated Japanese Video Game Composers

S

Suzuki Yu

Member
WTF! three pages and yet no mention of Hidenori Shoji !

795-1224467983.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs9ma8hvRNQ&list=PL2ADB110E6B939EB6&index=20&feature=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfmqqAsp-Sk&list=PL172094E178B31FF8&index=1&feature=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLGCqzQXxKo&list=PL172094E178B31FF8&index=21&feature=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GoeKzH8zQg&list=PL172094E178B31FF8&index=26&feature=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxo7ZHuooFk&list=PL3FD42D8487E07DBD&index=1&feature=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwukthJYEqM&list=PL3FD42D8487E07DBD&index=20&feature=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgZNQvaoLPs&list=PL3FD42D8487E07DBD&index=26&feature=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WGdLyiccFQ&list=PL3FD42D8487E07DBD&index=36&feature=plpp_video

and many more..

he's simply my favorite guitarist in video games
 
L

Lionheart1827

Member
I'm not sure if hes considered underrated, but the guy who did Secret of Mana and its sequel is amazing. I dont know what else he has done though. :/ But I remember those two soundtracks being unique.
 
B

Beats

Member
Lionheart1827 said:
I'm not sure if hes considered underrated, but the guy who did Secret of Mana and its sequel is amazing. I dont know what else he has done though. :/ But I remember those two soundtracks being unique.
Click to expand...

That would be Hiroki Kikuta. He released an original album called Alphabet Planet a few years ago which apparently sounds very similar to the music he made for Secret of Mana.
 
L

luka

Loves Robotech S1
Go Shiina and Akira Tsuchiya

FateBreaker said:
GO SHIINA.

So insanely good that it's insane. I truly think Tales of Legendia is the best game soundtrack ever, and his Klonoa 2 and Tekken contributions are amazing.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think all my favorite tracks from tekken 5 and 6, the ones that really stand out, were his.
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
Kenichi Tokoi

Mainly for the brilliant Tower of Caelum from PSO Ep. III (wait about a minute and a half...maybe it works better if you've experienced the game)

Edit: this is from an interview he did:
RB: What thoughts do you have about Sonic's 10th Anniversary?

KO: It is wonderful that many fans have been charmed by Sonic. I think that it is a good opportunity to consider the evolution of the work and what can be done from now on. I appreciate the mastery and width of the expression that I have experienced through Sonic. Thank you Mr. Naka very much. I hope the Sonic series will cerebrate 20th, 30th anniversary and I hope the future is connected with his creator.
Click to expand...
Oh well. It was only a hope.
 
G

ghibli99

Member
Kei Wakakusa's work on Elemental Gearbolt (PS1), while somewhat recognized at the time, doesn't come up much in music threads. Plus, it was in a game by Alfa System, who at the time was more infamously associated with Horned Owl. This was a marked improvement, although still flawed.

Click here for YouTube playlist.

So beautiful. Most of the tracks have less than 1000 views, so I'd say this qualifies.
 
O

Octorockin'

Member
FateBreaker said:
GO SHIINA.

So insanely good that it's insane. I truly think Tales of Legendia is the best game soundtrack ever, and his Klonoa 2 and Tekken contributions are amazing.
Click to expand...

Wow, this guy's music sounds great! His style is very deep and imaginative.

Suzuki Yu said:
WTF! three pages and yet no mention of Hidenori Shoji !


he's simply my favorite guitarist in video games
Click to expand...

Great pick. Shoji's F-Zero GX music is just awesome.

I haven't played any of the Yakuza games, but now I feel like I owe it to myself to try one.
 
IAmRei

IAmRei

Member
Tsuyoi sekito - brave fencer musashi
Often listen to his tracks on BFM, beautifully arranged

Hitoshi sakamoto - ff tactic, ff 12, valkyria chronicles, odin sphere

Daiki kasho - GT 4
Obscure track is my favorite

Manami matsumae - megaman
I met her on game dev event in 2016, she is quite friendly, we even did megaman pose photo.

Only these ive come in mind. Will update as i remember later on
 
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cireza

cireza

Member
electricmastro said:
Motoi Sakuraba (Baten Kaitos, Golden Sun, Tales of Symphonia)

Hirokazu Tanaka (Earthbound, Metroid, Mario Paint)

Noriyuki Iwadare (Grandia II, Lunar: The Silver Star, Radiata Stories)

Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy Tactics, Ogre Battle, Opoona)
Click to expand...
Superb list. Sakuraba is probably my favorite composer. Iwadare was so good at making super atmospheric towns music. As for Sakimoto, I love his works on 8/16 bits consoles, especially on the MegaDrive where he did some excellent soundtracks.

SEGA also have a ton of amazing composers that worked for them, including Tokuhiko Uwabo, Mariko Nanba, Jun Senoue, Hideaki Kobayashi, Tomoya Ohtani etc...
 
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NeoIkaruGAF

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Guilty_AI said:
ZUN.

Probably not underrated, but doesn't get mentioned enough outside of certain circles.







Click to expand...

ZUN is an odd one.
Touhou music sounds pretty much all the same on casual listening. Have a Touhou OST play in the background and you’re very likely to remember listening to a series of tracks that all had the same key and basic rhythm. The enormous Touhou doujin scene is baffling, considering most barely arrange upon the original music. Yet, it’s strangely captivating and Touhou music is an absolute industry classic.
 
TheInfamousKira

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Who scored the new pieces in Crisis Core? Takeharu Ishimoto or some shit? That dude had the pseudo-industrial mid 00's butt rock genre fucking MASTERED.

No sarcasm or hate, I fucking LOVE crunchy ass power chords, military drumming and weird electronic samples. To hear a song and immediately be able to guess the year it was released is fucking peak kino or whatever the Xtards say nowadays.

10/10 Price of Freedom would be tattooed on me if it wasn't a song.
 
F31 Leopard

F31 Leopard

Member
Rei Kondoh. Some works include Fire Emblem, Bayonetta, Wonderful 101, Smash Bros. Most recent work I like is Redemption Reapers.


Chihiro Aoki. Yakuza/LaD

 
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E

electricmastro

Neo Member
cireza said:
Superb list. Sakuraba is probably my favorite composer. Iwadare was so good at making super atmospheric towns music. As for Sakimoto, I love his works on 8/16 bits consoles, especially on the MegaDrive where he did some excellent soundtracks.

SEGA also have a ton of amazing composers that worked for them, including Tokuhiko Uwabo, Mariko Nanba, Jun Senoue, Hideaki Kobayashi, Tomoya Ohtani etc...
Click to expand...
Sakuraba might be the most deserving on repeatedly being on top 10 all time lists for his variety and impact in his compositions, alongside Kondo and Uematsu.
 
Guilty_AI

Guilty_AI

Member
NeoIkaruGAF said:
ZUN is an odd one.
Touhou music sounds pretty much all the same on casual listening. Have a Touhou OST play in the background and you’re very likely to remember listening to a series of tracks that all had the same key and basic rhythm. The enormous Touhou doujin scene is baffling, considering most barely arrange upon the original music. Yet, it’s strangely captivating and Touhou music is an absolute industry classic.
Click to expand...
I do think there's quite a variety to them, although they do tend to use similar soundfonts (ZUNPETS) so i can't blame people for thinking they sound the same (and the whole series has a leitmotif that appears in many tracks)

 
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NeoIkaruGAF

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Nintendo’s musicians don’t get credited enough.
It’s been a couple of decades since most of their best music stopped being made by Kondo, Tanaka and Totaka. But every mainline Mario and Zelda since then has had terrific music*. Plus there’s amazing stuff like Mario Kart 8, and new IPs like Splatoon and Arms all rock on the music front.


*I don’t care if you think BOTW and TOTK have “no music”. The sound design in those games could teach so much to your average AAA composer of today. The general reaction to the OSTs of the latest Zelda games perfectly shows how so many people need game music to be loud and bombastic to even register in their brains.
 
S

SHA

Member
March Climber said:
You're going to have to be more specific, which poster are you asking? This thread is 13 years old.
Click to expand...
I could make a list but I'm not sure about every other game, it's a bad topic, there is a lot of gray area in the music industry on which considered normal or not, I'm not an expert who could normalize these things, composers should know a lot better than me.
 
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March Climber

March Climber

Member
SHA said:
I could make a list but I'm not sure about every other game, it's a bad topic, there is a lot of gray area in the music industry on which considered normal or not, I'm not an expert who could normalize these things, composers should know a lot better than me.
Click to expand...
Ah I see what you mean.

The only japanese composer I knew of that 100% for sure stole other music was the guy who composed the soundtrack for the DBZ Budokai PS2 games and the first soundtrack of the DBZ Kai anime. I think his name was Yamamoto. His name and his music were scubbed from history, and you can only find his music on the first run Blu Rays of the show and the PS2 DVDs of the Budokai games.
 
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E

electricmastro

Neo Member
March Climber said:
Ah I see what you mean.

The only japanese composer I knew of that 100% for sure stole other music was the guy who composed the soundtrack for the DBZ Budokai PS2 games and the first soundtrack of the DBZ Kai anime. I think his name was Yamamoto. His name and his music were scubbed from history, and you can only find his music on the first run Blu Rays of the show and the PS2 DVDs of the Budokai games.
Click to expand...
Oh, you mean Kenji Yamamoto?
 
March Climber

March Climber

Member
electricmastro said:
Oh, you mean Kenji Yamamoto?
Click to expand...
Yep, that's the guy. It's been years but I remember his plagiarized music not only caused a delay of the Kai Buu saga, it caused a re-release of Kai with older remastered DBZ JP soundtracks, and also it caused a ton of people online to go back and find out just how many songs he stole music sheets from. The amount was insane. There's an entire playlist on youtube of 100+ tracks showing what he stole.

I guess at least the man had good taste in music, but he really nuked his career once people found out. 🤷‍♂️
 
E

electricmastro

Neo Member
March Climber said:
Yep, that's the guy. It's been years but I remember his plagiarized music not only caused a delay of the Kai Buu saga, it caused a re-release of Kai with older remastered DBZ JP soundtracks, and also it caused a ton of people online to go back and find out just how many songs he stole music sheets from. The amount was insane. There's an entire playlist on youtube of 100+ tracks showing what he stole.

I guess at least the man had good taste in music, but he really nuked his career once people found out. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
Oh, the Metroid composer plagiarized then, huh?

Screen-Shot-2024-03-30-at-9-55-37-PM.png
 
March Climber

March Climber

Member
electricmastro said:
Oh, the Metroid composer plagiarized then, huh?
Click to expand...
Wrong guy :messenger_tears_of_joy:

This is your guy:

Kenji Yamamoto (composer, born 1964) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

"Kenji Yamamoto (山本 健誌, Yamamoto Kenji, born April 25, 1964) is a Japanese video game musician working for Nintendo"

This is the guy I'm talking about:

Kenji Yamamoto (composer, born 1958) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

"Kenji Yamamoto (山本 健司, Yamamoto Kenji, born July 1, 1958) is a Japanese composer and arranger who has been responsible for producing and composing soundtracks, including opening and ending sequence themes for various anime, tokusatsu and video game projects in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, mostly related to the Dragon Ball franchise."

Edit: Also there's no need to do 'gotchas' man. I'm just having a conversation with you, not trying to win an argument. Have to say this is a funny coincidence though.
 
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