Favourite Video Game Composers

[Aulayna]

So there are many great composers out in the industry now - some like Nobuo Uematsu and Koji Kondo have been with us for years. However, new studios and franchises have also introduced new names and styles to us.

Who are your favourite composers? Which tracks of theirs are your favourites? Which soundtracks did you enjoy the most?

For me this was quite a toughie but I'm going to have to go with Koji Kondo. There's just something about the Zelda soundtracks - from the moment you first set foot in Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time to see the sun rising and the score kicks in, or the looming melody of the final hours as the moon descends closer and closer to Clock Town in Majora's Mask, to kicking back in Kakariko Village or fighting your way through Death Mountain in A Link to the Past or just the Zelda Main Theme as a whole. It just has such a quintessential fantasy adventure feel to it. Final Fantasy themes make me remember moments of the games but the Zelda music, as soon as I hear it I'm back in Hyrule (or Termina, or Koholint etc) all over again, living it out vividly.

This is without even touching on his work on making some of the memorable Mario pieces and the epic scores of Star Fox and Lylat Wars.

Rather than Link (getit... hoho) some individual tracks, I'll just leave this medley here:


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Share the video game music love. :love:

[Karifean]

Nobuo Uematsu. His compositions aren't just crushing the competition for best video game tracks in my book, but are also good contenders for best instrumental pieces in general.

Honorable mention goes to Marc Baril. His music is pretty damn good. The duo "Mutato Muzika" also created some very catchy tracks.

[Aulayna]

Nobuo Uematsu. His compositions aren't just crushing the competition for best video game tracks in my book, but are also good contenders for best instrumental pieces in general.

Honorable mention goes to Marc Baril. His music is pretty damn good. The duo "Mutato Muzika" also created some very catchy tracks.

Uematsu is probably tied first for me (>_< I'm useless at ranking things xD) - he has such a varied and diverse style it's incredible. I guess it's not really wise to compare Kondo and Uematsu because Kondo has had decades to refine the Zelda and Mario style which is why it's so sublime but Uematsu always has to rise to a new challenge with each game he comes too.

[Pike]

Jeremy Soule.

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His Skyrim stuff is fantastic as well.

[Bolivar]

I don't Want to act like Uematsu is alone at the top but in terms of quantity his resume is just too long. Very hard to top that.

Being a big SRPG fan, Hitoshi Sakimoto is maybe my #1, with his work on Valkyria Chronicles 1&2 being my favorite of his work

[Polnareff]

Pretty much any composer for Capcom's arcade soundtracks.

Noriyuki Iwadare (who brought us the Grandia soundtracks, along with the soundtrack for SSBB)

Yuzo Koshiro, before his work on Streets of Rage 3 and after (IMO, none of his soundtracks after SoR2 are that good)

[Depression Moon]

Koji Kondo, Jun Ishikawa, and Nobuo Uematsu.

[krissy]

motoi sakaruba
Video Game Music Day - PlayStation - Valkyrie Profile - Take a Flight - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhgkRJUnWN4&list=PL9236158258B9F94D)

frank klepacki
C&C: Tiberian Dawn - Act on Instinct (music) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZTHFRadJwI)

akira yamaoka
Akira Yamaoka - True (Silent Hill 2) [HD] - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPjuuVOGqxI)

shinji hosoe
999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors OST - Morphogenetic Sorrow - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjNi14fKSow)

[Wolf Kanno]

Nobuo Uematsu is definitely a must. While I felt he reached the peak of his career in the mid 90s with FFIV-VII with FFVI being his Magnum Opus, he still occasionally comes out with some great tracks in the last few years since leaving Square.

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Other favorites also include Yoko Shimomura whom most people on this forum know her for her work on Kingdom Hearts but I feel her greatest work was with the soundtrack to Street Fighter II

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Hitoshi Sakimoto is another composer whom everyone on this forum probably knows for his works on the Ivalice games, but sadly I feel its his more contemporary OSTs that are far better than the Ivalice ones like what he did for the original Shin Megami Tensei and Breath of Fire V

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Course my other top guy I love is Yasunori Mitsuda whom with the Xenogears Myth album may have finally overtaken Nobuo Uematsu for me as my favorite gaming composer.

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Its like he picked my brain for all the best tracks to arrange. :love:

[Pheesh]

Well the KH has my favourite music in any game series so I'd have to go with Yoko Shinomura.

[krissy]

jim guthrie
Sword & Sworcery&#39;s Soundtrack - Lone Star by Jim Guthrie - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wOOqdRsbHKA)

darren korb
Bastion Soundtrack - Slinger&#39;s Song - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mDWzu5yxLg&list=PL1A3044EBC796E3DC)