Koji Kondo
Koji Kondo (近藤浩治
Kondō Kōji b.
August 13,
1960) is a
Japanese composer and
musician best known for his scores for various
video games produced by
Nintendo.
Kondo was born in
Nagoya,
Japan. He took to music at an early age, writing simple tunes for fun even as a small child. At seventeen, he decided to pursue music professionally. He undertook classical training, and he learned to play several instruments. He quickly became the coolest man around because of his Mario Theme Song composition.
In the
1980s, Kondo learned that a company called Nintendo was seeking musicians to compose music for its new video game system, the
Famicom (
Nintendo Entertainment System outside Japan). Kondo had never considered writing video game music before, but he decided to give the company a chance. He was hired in
1983.
Kondo found himself in a totally different environment at Nintendo. Suddenly, he was limited to only four "instruments" (two
monophonic pulse channels, a monophonic triangle wave channel which could be used as a
bass, and a noise channel used for
percussion) due to limitations of the system's sound chip. Though he and Nintendo's technicians eventually discovered a way to add a fifth channel (normally reserved for
SFX), his music was still severely limited on the system.
Kondo has stayed with Nintendo through various consoles, including the
Super Famicom (
Super Nintendo outside Japan), the
Nintendo 64, the
Nintendo GameCube and most recently the
Nintendo DS. These latter systems have vastly improved Nintendo's audio capabilities, and Kondo today composes music with CD quality sound.
Koji Kondo attended the world-premiere of PLAY! A
Video Game Symphony at the
Rosemont Theater in
Rosemont, IL in May of 2006. His music from the
Super Mario Bros. and
The Legend of Zelda series was performed by a full symphony orchestra. This event drew nearly 4000 attendees.
Considered by many to be the "
John Williams" of the digital entertainment world, Koji Kondo is acclaimed the world over thanks to his unique partnership crafting the most recognizable themes and soundtracks with industry giant Nintendo (and to his credit, a creatively fluent partnership with Shigeru Miyamoto). Fans and critics alike cite as his greatest talent being his ability to craft melodies that while catchy and pleasant upon first listen, remain enjoyable even when looped over long periods of time and played through inferior sound equipment. His songs are certainly memorable; the title theme song to Super Mario Brothers retains its iconic status 20 years after its initial release. Not unknown in the musical community, Mr. Kondo can count talent such as
Paul McCartney among his fans. Kondo's music has been cited as being as integral to the Nintendo style as the game design of
Shigeru Miyamoto.Conversely, this familiarity is also the cause of most criticism of Kondo's work. Over nearly 20 years in video game music, his style has changed very little. The themes of
Super Mario Bros. in
1985 are little different from those of
Super Mario Sunshine in
2002, although the earlier game sounds more primitive due to technology constraints. This need for sameness over the years is something of a two-edged sword for Kondo; when he has tried something different, as in
The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (
1998), some criticised him for abandoning the themes and styles they have grown to enjoy (although others found this to be some of his best work).
"Super Mario Bros. Theme" has been on
Billboard Magazine's
Hot Ringtones chart for over 90 weeks, where it also hit #1.Koji Kondo's work shows at least three major influences:
Latin music,
jazz music, and
classical music (mainly
ragtime and
march music), often with a strong
cinematic flair. But dont forget Fusion, video game music in general is heavily fusion-influenced, despite the fact that very little people actually know a style of music known as 'Fusion' exists, similar to Jazz and every bit as complex, but not the same. Some of the best examples of the Fusion influence are "Silence" (F-Zero) and the "in between events" music and main title music in Pilotwings. Fusion is known for the strange "Im in a shopping mall" mood and spacy feel. Latin is particularly evident in his bouncy themes throughout the
Mario series, such as the soundtrack to
Super Mario Bros. 3. The happy main theme has a slow,
samba-like rhythm. The second theme offers a more upbeat, ragtime-like style. The
Bowser theme would not sound out of place being played by a
Mexican mariachi band. This influence also shows up in his more recent works, such as the Gerudo Valley theme from
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a song with a certain stereotypical
Andalusian flair.
Kondo's more jazz-influenced pieces also come from a wide variety of projects. One of the earliest examples of this is his minimalist underground theme from the first
Super Mario Bros. Saria's theme from
Ocarina of Time sounds almost
Dixieland in places. All of this is hardly surprising; Kondo lists
Henry Mancini as one of his most admired influences.
Kondo was trained as a classical musician, and this shows in his more ambitious projects, such as the soundtracks to the
Zelda series. These pieces are distinctively cinematic, reminiscent of
John Williams' work on
Star Wars or
Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The title theme to the
1986 The Legend of Zelda is grandiose for all its low fidelity. Several of Mr. Kondo's themes have been famously recorded with full orchestral backing, with several tours of his work featured highly in concerts presented around the world.
Kondo's work is also highly influenced by
Eastern Asian music, which might not be surprising given his country of birth. His songs are predominantly melody-based with little supporting harmony, which is in keeping with the Asian tradition. This makes him somewhat unique among the most popular video game composers, as his counterparts such as
Nobuo Uematsu and
Koichi Sugiyama produce more Western-sounding compositions for their games.
Devil World (with
Akito Nakatsuka) (
1984)
Super Mario Bros. (
1985)
Nazo no Murasame-jou ("The Mysterious Castle of Murasame") (
1986)
The Legend of Zelda (
1986,
1987)
Shin Onigashima (
1987)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (
1988)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (
1988,
1990)
Pilotwings (with Soyo Oka) (1990)
*Super Mario World (1991)
*The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1992)
*The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993)
*Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
*Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (with Yoko Shimomura and Nobuo Uematsu) (1996)
*Super Mario 64 (1996)
*Star Fox 64 (with Hajime Wakai) (1997)
*The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
*Super Smash Bros. (with several others) (1999)
*The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (with Toru Minegishi) (2000)
*Super Smash Bros. Melee (with several others) (2001)
*Super Mario Sunshine (with Shinobu Tanaka) (2002)
*The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (with Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, and Toru Minegishi) (2003)
*New Super Mario Bros. (with Asuka Ota and Hajime Wakai) (2006)
*The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (with Toru Minegishi) (2006)
*Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' (with several others, including
Nobuo Uematsu) (
2007)
*
Super Mario Bros. Original Soundtrack (
Cassette) (
1986)
**Cat. Number: 10FC-2046
**Track 1 is original. Track 2 is an 'Orchestra Version'.
*
Super Mario Brothers ~MARIO SYNDROME~ (
Record) (
1986)
**Cat. Number: K13A-748
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Disco/Dance-style Arrangements of Super Mario Bros., featuring vocals
*
Famicom Music (
1986; reprinted in
2002)
**Cat. Number: 28XA-69 (reprint: SCDC-00145)
**Tracks 1, 2, 4-6, and 9-11 are original. Tracks 3 and 7 are arrange versions.
**Arrangement by
Yoshihiro Kunimoto**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario Bros. (1, 7)
***
The Legend of Zelda (11)
*
Nazo no Murasame-jou / The Legend of Zelda (
1986)
**Cat. Number: 10FC-8001
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Features 'Orchestra Versions' of the music from the two games
*
Famicom Music VOL.2 (
1987; reprinted in
2002)
**Cat. Number: 28XA-197 (reprint: SCDC-00151)
**Tracks 1-5 and 7-10 are original. Track 8 is an arranged version.
**Arranged by
Yoshihiro Kunimoto**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Shin Onigashima Part 1 (1)
***
Doki Doki Panic (6)
***
Nazo no Murasame-jou (8)
***
Shin Onigashima Part 2 (10)
*
Toy Music: Dancing Super Mario Brothers - Akihabara Electric Circus (
1988)
**Cat. Number: CT32-5299
**Tracks 2-10 are arranged versions. Track 1 is original.
**Arranged by
Akihabara Electric Circus**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***Theme of Disc System (1)
***
Nazo no Murasame-jou (2)
***
Super Mario Bros. (4, 10)
***
Shin Onigashima (6)
***
The Legend of Zelda (9)
*
Super Mario Bros. 3: G.S.M. (FC) Nintendo 1 (
1988)
**Cat. Number: D25B-0005
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Tracks 1-4 are arranged versions. Track 5 is original.
**Arranged by
Yoshihiro Kunimoto (1, 4) and
Nobuyuki Ohnogi (2, 3)
*
Fantastic World of Super Mario Bros. 3 (
CD/
Cassette) (
1988)
**Cat. Number: BY12-5031 (Cassette version: KHY-1036)
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Tracks 1-4 are arranged versions. Track 5 is original.
*
Super Mario Bros. 3 ~ Akihabara Electric Circus (
1988)
**Cat. Number: CT32-5329
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**All tracks arranged by the
Akihabara Electric Circus*
Super Mario Bros. 1.2.3.: Hop! Step! Jump! (
1989)
**Cat. Number: CA-3393
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Tracks 1 & 2 are arranged versions. Track 3 is original.
**Arranged by the
Mario Freaks Orchestra (1, 2)
*
Super Mario Bros. Special (
1990)
**Cat. Number: MECG-28003
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Tracks 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14, and 17 are Drama tracks. Tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, and 16 are Vocal arranges.
**Drama track voices:
***Mario:
Nozomu Sasaki***Kuribo (Goomba):
Megumi Hayashibara***Princess Peach:
Maria Kawamura**Singers:
***
Shinichi Ishihara***
Yashino Takamori***
Kiyoko Itayagoshi***
Takahide Inoue***
Chika Sakamoto*
Game Music Graffiti (
1990)
**Cat. Number: COCA-6969~70
**Contains arranged versions of music from
Famicom and
Game Boy games
**Arranged by the
Mario Freaks Orchestra**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***Disc 1:
****
Super Mario Bros. (3)
****
Super Mario Bros. 3 (3)
****
Devil World (with
Akito Nakatsuka, 4)
****Disc System Theme (10)
****
The Legend of Zelda (11)
****
Nazo no Murasame-jou (12)
****
Super Mario Bros. 2 (not Super Mario Bros. USA, 13)
***Disc 2:
****
Shin Onigashima (4)
*
Super Mario World (
1991)
**Cat. Number: WPCL-233~4
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Disc 1 contains arranged music from Super Mario Bros. 1, 3, and Super Mario World
**Disc 2 contains original music from Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3 and Super Mario World, as well as Sound Effects libraries from each
**Disc 1 arranged by
Soichi Noriki*
Game Music Concert ~ The Best Selection (
1991)
**Cat. Number: WPCL-560
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario Bros. (arranged by
Nobuo Kurita, conducted by
Kousuke Onozaki, 5)
***
Super Mario World (arranged by
Nobuo Kurita, conducted by
Kousuke Onozaki, 6)
***
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods (arranged and conducted by
Toshiko Watanabe, 7, 8)
**Performed by the
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra*
Nintendo Super Famicom Game Music (
1992)
**Cat. Number: TOCT-6429
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario World (8, 26-29)
***
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods (6, 7, 30-32)
**Tracks 1-8 are arranged versions. Tracks 9-32 are original.
**Arranged by
Takami Asano*
Famicom Music ~ Best Selection (
1992)
**Cat. Number: SRCL-2476
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario Bros. (1)
***
The Legend of Zelda (3)
**Contains arrangements of popular Famicom game music
*
Nintendo Super Famicom Game Music ~ Fun Together With Beyer (
1993)
**Cat. Number: ACD-1143
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods (1-5)
***
Super Mario World (27-31)
**Contains piano solo arrangements by
Asako Niwa*
Super Mario Compact Disco: Ambassadors of Funk featuring M.C. Mario (
1993)
**Cat. Number: ALCB-829
**Arrangements of music from various Mario games, rap/hip-hop style
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario World (1, 2, 10, 11, 20)
***
Super Mario Bros. 3 (7)
***
Super Mario Bros. USA (16)
*
The Legend of Zelda: Sound and Drama (
1994)
**Cat. Number: SRCL-2940~1
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Disc 1 contains arranged (1-8) and drama (9) versions of
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods. Disc 2 contains original music from
The Legend of Zelda, and The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods.
**Disc 1 arranged by
Yoshiyuki &
Masumi Ito*
Game Music Concert 4 - Live Best Collection - (
1994)
**Cat. Number: SRCL-2736
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario Bros. (3)
**Performed by the
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra*
Yoshi's Island Original Sound Version (
1995)
**Cat. Number: PSCN-5040
**All composition by Koji Kondo
*
Game Music Concert 5 - Live Best Collection - (
1996)
**Cat. Number: SRCL-2739
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (2)
**Performed by the
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra*
Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version (
1996)
**Cat. Number: PSCN-5047~8
**Composition by
Yoko Shimomura,
Nobuo Uematsu, and Koji Kondo
**All tracks arrangaed by Shimomura.
**Koji Kondo composed:
***Disc 1: Tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 26, 30, 37, and 38
***Disc 2, Tracks 15, 16, and 22
*
Super Mario 64 Original Soundtrack (
1996)
**Cat. Number: PCCG-00357
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Track 1 voiced by
Charles Martinet**Track 36 is a piano arrangement
*
Star Fox 64 Original Soundtrack (
1997)
**Cat. Number: PCCG-00421
**All composition by
Hajime Wakai & Koji Kondo
***Koji Kondo (1-7, 32-39)
***
Hajime Wakai (8-31)
*
The Legend of Zelda The Ocarina of Time Original Soundtrack (
1998)
**Cat. Number: PCCG-00475
**All composition by Koji Kondo
*
Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Original Soundtrack Vol. II ~ The Lost Tracks~ (
1998)
**Cat. Number: 8110010
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**German promotional soundtrack
**Tracks 1-20 are original. Tracks 21-23 are arranged versions.
**Arrangement by Acoustic Department
*
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Hyrule Symphony (
1999)
**Cat. Number: ZMCX-102
**All composition by Koji Kondo (except Track 13 Koji Kondo with Akito Nakamura, Kozue Ishikawa & Minako Hamano)
**(String) Orchestra arrangements of
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Track 13 is a medley from the series.
**Arrangement by
Ryuichi Katsumata*
The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Re-Arranged Album (
1999)
**Cat. Number: TKCA-71824
**All composition by Koji Kondo
**Arrangement by
MOKA*
N64Y2K: Millennium Trax (
1999)
**Cat. Number: 3591040
**Koji Kondo composed tracks 1, 6, 8, 14-16, and 20
**Arrangements by Acoustic Department
*
Nintendo All-Star Dairanto Smash Brothers (
2000)
**Cat. Number: TECD-35446~7
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario Bros. (2, 10)
***
The Legend of Zelda (4)
*
The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask Original Soundtrack (
2000)
**Cat. Number: PICA-2006
**All composition by Koji Kondo, except for Disc 1: Tracks 36 & 52, and Disc 2: Track 7, composed by
Toru Minegishi*
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Orchestrations (
2000)
**Cat. Number: FMCN-1003
**All composition by Koji Kondo and
Toru Minegishi**Arranged by the
Majora Philharmonic Sound Orchestra*
Smash Brothers DX Orchestra (
2002)
**Promotion album included with the December 2002 issue of Famitsu Cube+Advance Magazine
**Conducted by
Taizo Takemoto**Performed by the
New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra**Recorded at
Tokyo Festival Hall, August 27, 2002
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
The Legend of Zelda (3)
***
Star Fox 64 (with
Hajime Wakai, 9)
***
Super Mario Bros. (12)
***
Yoshi's Island (12)
***
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (12)
***
Super Mario Bros. 3 (12)
***
Super Mario 64 (15)
*
The Legend of Zelda: Takt of Wind Original Sound Tracks (
2003)
**Cat. Number: SCDC-00250~1
**Composition by
Kenta Nagata,
Hajime Wakai,
Toru Minegishi, and Koji Kondo
*
PEACH - Healing Music (
2003)
**Cat. Number: CN-P004
**Promotional album, available only to members of
Club Nintendo**Tracks 1-22 are original. Tracks 23-26 are arranged versions: 'recorded musical perfomances with instruments, presented by the Nintendo Music Staff'
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario 64 (2, 3, 26)
***
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (7, 8, 10, 11)
***
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (9)
***
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (with
Kenta Nagata,
Hajime Wakai, and
Toru Minegishi, 12, 21, 24)
***
Shin Onigashima: Part 1 (19)
***
Super Mario Sunshine (with
Shinobu Tanaka, 20)
***
Super Mario Bros. 3 (22)
*
Mario & Zelda Big Band Live (
2003)
**Cat. Number: SCDC-00315
**Composition by Koji Kondo (1-7, 9-18),
Kazumi Totaka (8),
Kenta Nagata (9, 10),
Hajime Wakai (9, 10),
Toru Minegishi (9, 10), and
Shinobu Tanaka (4, 17)
***
Super Mario Bros. (1, 3, 5)
***
Super Mario 64 (2, 18)
***
Super Mario Sunshine (4, 12, 17)
***
Super Mario Bros. 3 (6)
***
Yoshi's Island (7)
***
Yoshi's Story (8)
***
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (9, 10)
***
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (11, 14, 15)
***
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (13)
***
The Legend of Zelda (16)
*
Famicom 20th Anniversary Original Sound Tracks Vol. 1 (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SCDC-00317
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario Bros. (4-11)
***
Devil World (with
Akito Nakatsuka, 26-28)
***
The Legend of Zelda (55-66)
***
Nazo no Murasame-jou (67-75)
*
Famicom 20th Anniversary Arrange Sound Tracks (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SCDC-00320
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Shin Onigashima: The First Part (arranged by
Takayuki "J99" Aihara, 5)
***
Nazo no Murasame-jou (arranged by
Yasuhisa "Yack." Watanabe, 6)
***
Super Mario Bros. (arranged by
Motoi Sakuraba, 8)
***
The Legend of Zelda (arranged by
Metal Yuuki Group, 9)
*
Famicom 20th Anniversary Original Sound Tracks Vol. 3 (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SCDC-00319
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Shin Onigashima: The First Part (1-13)
***
Shin Onigashima: The Second Part (14-24)
*
Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~: 01 Super Mario Bros. (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SDEX-0010
**All composition by Koji Kondo
*
Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~: 10 The Legend of Zelda (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SDEX-0019
**All composition by Koji Kondo
*
Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~: 11 Nazo no Murasame-jou (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SDEX-0020
**All composition by Koji Kondo
*
Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~: 14 Shin Onigashima -Part 1- (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SDEX-0023
**All composition by Koji Kondo
*
Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~: 15 Shin Onigashima -Part 2- (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SDEX-0024
**All composition by Koji Kondo
*
Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~: S-3 Mario Bros. / Super Mario USA (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SDEX-0027
**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario USA (6-17)
*
Famicom Sound History Series "Mario the Music" (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SCDC-00360
**Composition by Koji Kondo,
Hirokazu Tanaka,
Akira Nobuya, and
Noriko Tsutomu**Koji Kondo's featured compositions:
***
Super Mario Bros. (4-11)
***
Super Mario Bros. 2 (12)
***
Super Mario Bros. 3 (13-42)
***
Super Mario USA (43-53)
*
Nintendo Sound History Series "Zelda the Music" (
2004)
**Cat. Number: SCDC-00395
**Contains music from througout
Nintendo's history, from the
Famicom to the
GameCube*Sheet Music Arrangements
**
Gerudo Valley and Kakariko Village for Piano**
Video Game Sheet Music*Fan remixes of Koji Kondo's work:
**
Composer profile at
OverClocked ReMix**
Rearrangements at
VGMix*Partial Discographies:
**
GMROnline.com**
Gametrax.net**
The Mushroom Kingdom (Mario soundtracks only, includes non-Kondo work)
**
Jeux-Europe.com (Biography, discography and pictures)
*
