Composing Classics: A History of Video Game Music

Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros. 1985)

When Koji Kondo joined Nintendo in 1984, he became the company’s first employee to focus specifically on music composition. Soon he’d create some of the most beloved and familiar songs in gaming history, including the main themes of Super Mario Bros., a bouncy tune with short repeatable segments; and The Legend of Zelda, a two-line melody he composed in a single day.

Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka (Metroid 1986)

Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka—composer, sound designer, and creator of the audio hardware for Nintendo’s Famicom and Game Boy—is best known for his wide range of game music compositions, including the minimalistic and industrial sounds of Metroid. In that action-adventure game he punctuated the music and sound effects with moments of silence, enhancing the atmosphere of isolation and suspense.

Martin Galway (Wizball 1987)

Irish chiptune composer Martin Galway produced music for games published on early personal computers such as the Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Inspired by rock and roll and electronic music, Galway used a computer’s built-in programmable sound generator chip to create memorable themes for the popular Ultima and Wing Commander franchises, and stand-alone titles such as Wizball and Rambo: First Blood Part II.

Michiru Yamane (Castlevania: Bloodlines 1994)

Composer and pianist Michiru Yamane spent two decades at Konami as part of the company’s sound team, the Konami Kukeiha Club. Her compositions for the Castlevania series, starting with Bloodlines in 1994, combined classical music—which she felt meshed well with the series’ old-world, vampiric feel—with the rock music prevalent in the franchise’s earlier titles.

Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger 1995)

Though now recognized as one of video gaming’s foremost composers, Yasunori Mitsuda nearly quit his position at game developer Square after being relegated only to sound effect projects. He has since composed dozens of soundtracks inspired by traditional Celtic, Japanese, and classical music, most famously for the role-playing games Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. Today, his music is widely performed by orchestras and remixed by fans.

Christopher Tin (Civilization IV 2005)

Christopher Tin composed the main theme of Civilization IV at the behest of the game’s lead designer, Soren Johnsen. His production “Baba Yetu," a choral, Swahili version of The Lord's Prayer, became the first video game song to win a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s). In 2019, it played during the signing of a peace agreement between warring parties in Mozambique.

Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy VII 1997)

Self-taught musician Nobuo Uematsu raised video game scores to the level of classical compositions worthy of being performed in concert halls. Best known for his complex and emotional themes for the Final Fantasy franchise, his most famous songs include Final Fantasy VII’s heart-pounding “One-Winged Angel,” which he called an “orchestral track with a destructive impact.”

Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill 1999)

Akira Yamaoka’s score for Silent Hill differed from previous survival-horror soundtracks by playing nearly continuously during the game, rather than having music erupt suddenly to signify danger, which created an atmosphere of perpetual tension. Some songs contained so many non-traditional, industrial sounds that his team thought the code was faulty, until he explained how the music increased the player’s unease.

Marty O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori (Halo: Combat Evolved 2001)

Marty O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori joined forces in 2001 to compose music for the first-person shooter Halo: Combat Evolved. They focused on a single theme that could be re-used and re-arranged, giving the game a consistent, familiar backdrop without becoming repetitive. By using music sparsely, they increased dramatic impact when it appeared. Though very few games of the era produced commercial soundtracks, Halo’s became a rousing success.

Winifred Phillips (Assassin's Creed III: Liberation 2012)

Since childhood, Winifred Phillips has loved both music and video games. She married those passions to compose best-selling games like God of War, LittleBigPlanet, and SimAnimals. In 2012, she scored Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, combining a baroque string orchestra with African drums and flutes to denote the dual French aristocratic and African slave ancestry of protagonist Aveline de Grandpré.

Music forms the backbone of Thatgamecompany’s art adventure Journey. Austin Wintory likened his emotional, reactive score to a cello concert with the player as the star soloist, supported by flutes, violas, and harps to represent other elements encountered in the game's world.

Yoko Shimomura (Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology 2017)

Yoko Shimomura is one of the most highly recognized video game composers. For more than three decades, her varied musical work for Street Fighter II, Kingdom Hearts, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy XV, and other games have consistently evoked deeply emotional responses from players. Her signature style includes a heavy emphasis on string instruments, even during battle music that traditionally features percussion.

Wilbert Roget, II (Mortal Kombat 11, 2019)
Wilbert Roget, II began creating video game music in 2008 as a staff composer for LucasArts. In 2019 he scored Mortal Kombat 11, working on a franchise that originally inspired his love of video games. His soundtrack propels play with a dark, octatonic scale and uses Middle Eastern, East Asian, and Scandinavian influences to give characters individual leitmotif themes that reflect their backstories.