All posts in category Tunage

Celebrations of game composers, obscure and notable.

Tunage – Minako Hamano

Minako Hamano

Minako Hamano joined Nintendo in 1993 and has become a major part of the sound of Metroid, composing tunes for Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission, Metroid Prime 3 and arranged one of the Metroid selections in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. She also very nearly provided Samus Aran’s first voiceover in Super Metroid! Yoshio Sakamoto determined that it was too “sexual” and cut it out of the final game (apparently he still has a beta that contains a nude sprite of Samus’ dying animation with Hamano’s voiceover still intact). She also has been involved in the Legend of Zelda (Link’s Awakening), Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Country Returns), Wario (Wario World and Wario Land: Shake It!), Mario (Mario Kart: Super Circuit) and Pokemon (Pokemon Puzzle Challenge) franchises. She’s also one of the key musicians for the Brain Age series as well. Amazingly, despite involvement in nearly every important Nintendo property, Wikipedia denies her a page on their site due to not being notorious enough.

LVLs. is honored to put its spotlight on a talented woman who has been a massive part of Nintendo’s audio history. We hope you enjoy discovering the talent of Ms. Hamano.

Note – I’ve done what I can to decipher Hamano’s contributions off of these soundtracks. Due to Nintendo’s relative lack of proper discography information, however, I may be selecting tunes that were performed by her fellow composers. I apologize if I have done so.

Complete Discography (newest to oldest):

Brain Age: Concentration Training (2013, 3DS, Nintendo, Music with Shinobu Nagata, Megumi Inoue)

Wii Play Motion (2011, Wii, Nintendo, Sound Engineer)

Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010, Wii, Nintendo, Music with Kenji Yamamoto, Masaru Tajima, Shinji Ushiroda, Daisuke Matsuoka)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Wii, Nintendo, Composer of “Sector 1 – Metroid Fusion”)

Wario Land: Shake It! (2008, Wii, Nintendo/Good Feel, Music with Tomoya Tomita)

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007, Wii, Nintendo/Retro Studios, Music with Kenji Yamamoto)

Tetris DS (2006, DS, Nintendo, Music with Akira Fujiwara)

Brain Age²: More Training in Minutes a Day! (2005, DS, Nintendo, Music [Japanese version; the European release features music from Eri Yasuda, Ryoue Takagi, and Hirohito Tsujii])

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (2005, DS, Nintendo, Music with Akito Nakatsuka)

Daigasso! Band Brothers (2004, DS, Nintendo, Sound with other composers)

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004, Gamecube, Nintendo/Retro Studios, Special Thanks)

Metroid: Zero Mission (2004, GBA, Nintendo, Music with Kenji Yamamoto)

Wario World (2003, Gamecube, Nintendo/Treasure, Music with Norio Hanzawa)

Metroid Fusion (2002, GBA, Nintendo, Music with Akira Fujiwara)

Mobile Golf (2001, GBC, Nintendo/Camelot, Music Programming [Motoi Sakaruba was the actual composer])

Mario Kart Super Circuit (2001, GBA, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, Sound with Kenichi Nishimaki, Masanobu Matsunaga)

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge (2000, GBC, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, Music with Taishi Senda)

Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shōjo (1998 [port], Super Famicom, Nintendo, Special Thanks)

Game Boy Camera (included Games) (1998, GB, Nintendo, Music with Hirokazu Tanaka, Kentaro Nishimura)

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (1998, GBC, Nintendo, Music with Kazumi Totaka, Kozue Ishikawa)

Galactic Pinball (1995, Virtual Boy, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, Sound Assistant)

Teleroboxer (1995, Virtual Boy, Nintendo, Special Thanks)

Snoopy Concert (1995, Super Famicom, Pax Softnica/Nintendo/Mitsu Fudosan, Music with Hirokazu Tanaka)

Super Metroid (1994, SNES, Nintendo, Music with Kenji Yamamoto)

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993, GB, Nintendo, Music with Kazumi Totaka, Kozue Ishikawa)

Mario & Wario (1993, Super Famicom, Nintendo/Game Freak, Special Thanks)

Examples of her Work:

Super Metroid

Maridia Drifting Sand Underwater Area

(more…)

by WildcatJF on December 29, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Music, Tunage

Posted by WildcatJF on December 29, 2012

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/tunage-minako-hamano/

Tunage – Stephen Rippy

Stephen Rippy

Stephen Rippy’s musical career treads down two paths. He is a singer/songwriter, having recorded nine independent albums of his own material. However, of interest to Tunage is his contributions to Microsoft’s Age of Empires series. He was a member of Ensemble Studios from the start, and was with that developer until their untimely demise following the release of Halo Wars. Rippy’s excellent ear for accurate instrumentation has made each of his soundtracks for Ensemble a musical odyssey, with several standout tracks that define the sound of their respective games. Since Ensemble’s closure, Rippy joined Bonfire Games. After it merged with Zynga, he became the company’s Audio Director, a position he still holds.

Rippy has created some of the most memorable music in PC gaming history, and he absolutely deserves a place among the greatest musicians in gaming lore. Thus, LVLs. is honored to induct Rippy into Tunage’s halls.

Complete Discography (from newest to oldest):

CastleVille (2011, Zynga, PC, music composition and sound design)

Adventure Bay (2010, ngmoco, iPad/iPhone, Original Release’s music composition and sound design)

Game Chest (2010, Microsoft, Windows Phone 7, music composition and sound design)

We Farm (2010, ngmoco, iPad/iPhone, Original Release’s music composition and sound design)

Halo Wars (2009, Microsoft, PC/Xbox 360, Music composition)

Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties Expansion (2007, Microsoft, PC, Music and sound design consulting)

Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs Expansion (2006, Microsoft, PC, Music composition and sound design)

Age of Empires III (2005, Microsoft, PC, Music composition and sound design w. Kevin McMullan)

Age of Mythology: The Titans Expansion (2003, Microsoft, PC, Music composition and sound design w. Kevin McMullan)

Age of Mythology (2002, Microsoft, PC, Music composition and sound design w. Kevin McMullan)

Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion (2000, Microsoft, PC, Music composition w. Kevin McMullan)

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (1999, Microsoft, PC, Music composition w. David Rippy)

Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion (1998, Microsoft, PC, Music composition w. David Rippy)

Age of Empires (1997, Microsoft, PC, Music composition w. David Rippy and Kevin McMullan)

Examples of his Work:

Age of Empires (PC)

Hunt (w. David Rippy)

Full Playlist (more…)

by WildcatJF on August 8, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Music, Tunage

Tagged adventure bay, age of empires, age of empires ii, age of empires iii, Age of Mythology, bonfire games, castleville, ensemble studios, Features, game chest, Games, halo wars, Music, Stephen Rippy, tunage, we farm, zynga

Posted by WildcatJF on August 8, 2012

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/tunage-stephen-rippy/

Tunage – Yuko Takehara

Yuko Takehara

Yuko Takehara, then known by her maiden name Yuko Kadota, joined Capcom as a composer in 1993. She got quickly entangled in some of Capcom’s biggest franchises right off the get-go, giving her musical touch to Mega Man 6, Mighty Final Fight, Final Fight 2 and Mega Man X, among others. She would continue on to work on chapters for Breath of Fire, Street Fighter, Star Gladiator, and Vampire (i.e. Darkstalkers). She also was responsible for composing music for the first of Capcom’s Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure titles, gave the early Marvel Vs. titles their distinctive sound, and even contributed to Capcom’s port of Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, composing the music for the Four Swords section of the game! Takehara left Capcom sometime after Link to the Past’s Four Swords music was done, and has seemingly retired from composing music for the most part. She did make a brief return to make a song for Mega Man 10, composing Pump Man’s theme.

Takehara touched so many of Capcom’s key franchises and left a fabulous mark on all of them. She absolutely deserves a spot in Tunage as a legendary composer. Unfortunately, despite her excellent work on so many staples in Capcom’s stable, Wikipedia has denied her a place among their pages. LVLs. is pleased to give her the acclaim she deserves, and to give her a place to stand tall among her fellow composers.

Complete Discography (from newest to oldest):

Mega Man 10 (2010, Wii/PS3/Xbox 360, Capcom/Inti Creates, Composition of Pump Man’s theme)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (2002, GBA, Nintendo/Capcom, Composition of all of Four Swords)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Ougon no Kaze/Golden Wind (2002, PS2, Capcom, Music Adviser)

Magical Quest Starring Mickey & Minnie (2002, GBA, Capcom, Composition/Sound Effects with Hiroaki Kondo. Mari Yamaguchi composed the original Super NES release. Perhaps Takehara and Kondo did the Genesis music, too?)

Vampire Chronicle (2000, DC, Capcom, Composition of Staff Roll)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (1999, Arcade/DC/PS1, Capcom, Composition)

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1998/9, Arcade/DC/PS1, Capcom, Composition and Arrangement with Masato Kouda)

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997-1999, Arcade/Saturn/PS1, Capcom, Composition and Arrangement with Yuki Iwai)

X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996-1998, Arcade/Saturn/PS1, Capcom, Composition and Arrangement with Yuki Iwai)

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (1996, Arcade/PS1/Saturn/modern systems, Capcom, Composition and Arrangement of Donovan and Devilot’s themes)

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (1996, Arcade, Capcom, Composition and Arrangement with Yuki Iwai, Syun Nishigaki, Setsuo Yamamoto, Hideki Okugawa, Masato Koda, and Tatsuro Suzuki)

Star Gladiator (1996, Arcade/PS1, Capcom, Composition of Staff Roll)

Street Fighter Alpha (1995/6, Arcade/PS1/Saturn, Capcom, Composition and Arrangement with Isao Abe, Syun Nishigaki, Setsuo Yamamoto, Naoshi Mizuta and Naoaki Iwami)

Final Fight Tough/3 (1995/6, SNES, Capcom, Compositon w. Yuki Iwai)*

Mega Man 7 (1995, SNES, Capcom, Composition and Arrangement with Makoto Tomozawa and Toshihiko Horiyama)

Breath of Fire II (1994, SNES, Capcom, All Composition and Arrangement)

The Punisher (1993, Arcade, Capcom, Special Thanks)

Final Fight 2 (1993, SNES, Capcom, Composition of Fret Street Beat)

Mighty Final Fight (1993, NES, Capcom, Composition and Arrangement with Setsuo Yamamoto)

Mega Man 6 (1993, NES, Capcom, All Composition and Arrangement)

Aladdin (1993, SNES, Capcom, All Composition and Arrangement)

Mega Man X (1993, SNES, Capcom, Composition and Arrangement of Boomer Kuwanger Stage)

* = Only GameFAQs suggests that these two composed Final Fight 3. There are, to my knowledge, no in-game credits nor official soundtrack release for the game, so I’m including it only because it seems plausible.

Examples of Her Work:

Mega Man 6 (NES)

Flame Man

Centaur Man

Full Playlist (more…)

by WildcatJF on July 18, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Games, Music, Tunage

Posted by WildcatJF on July 18, 2012

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/tunage-yuko-takehara/

Tunage – Norio Hanzawa

Image source: Giant Bomb

Norio Hanzawa (also credited as NON, Kazuo Hanzawa, Star Hanzawa, and Playback Hanzawa) is a video game music composer currently employed at Treasure Co. Ltd. He originally worked at Konami as a member of Konami Kukeiha Club where his first known credited game was Castlevania: The Adventure for the original Game Boy in 1989. In 1992, he was one of a handful of Konami employees who left the company to form Treasure, and is currently Treasure’s only full-time music composer.

How can it be that the soundtrack for Gunstar Heroes is notable enough to have its own page on Wikipedia (two, in fact!), yet the man who composed it is not? Norio Hanzawa’s musical scores are a perfect fit for Treasure’s classical sensibilities. They have a timelessness to them, capturing the essence of vintage video game music with their use of synth and catchy themes, yet still sounding right at home on modern consoles. Treasure’s games are known for their distinctive charm, but a large part of that charm would be missing without Hanzawa’s amazing compositions.

Discography

Castlevania: The Adventure (with S. Fukutake and H. Funauchi) (1989)
Quarth (1989)
RollerGames (1990)
The Simpsons (arcade version) (1991)
Bucky O’Hare (arcade version) (1992)
Gunstar Heroes (1993)
Dynamite Headdy (with Nazo Suzuki, Koji Yamada and Aki Hata) (1994)
Yū Yū Hakusho: Makyō Tōitsusen (with Nazo Suzuki and Aki Hata) (1994)
Alien Soldier (1995)
Guardian Heroes (1996)
Mischief Makers (1997)
Rakugaki Showtime (1999)
Bangai-O (Dreamcast version, with Aki Hata and Toshiya Yamanaka) (2000)
Silpheed: The Lost Planet (with Kass Satomari and Tomy Sonoda) (2000)
Stretch Panic (2001)
Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Bad Dream (2002)
Wario World (with Minako Hamano) (2003)
Astro Boy: Omega Factor (with Tsuyoshi Kaneko) (2003)
Advance Guardian Heroes (2004)
Gunstar Super Heroes (2005)
Bleach: The Blade of Fate (2007)
Bangai-O Spirits (2008)
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (2010)
Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury (2011)

Selected Samples

Castlevania: The Adventure

- Full soundtrack

The Simpsons (arcade)

“Downtown Springfield ~ Help Maggie”

- Full soundtrack

Gunstar Heroes

“Stage 1″

- Full soundtrack

Alien Soldier

“Side Limits ~Flashback~”

- Full soundtrack

Guardian Heroes

“Dear ‘Amadeus’”

- Full soundtrack

Mischief Makers

“Esperance 1″

- Full soundtrack

Wario World

- Full soundtrack

Gunstar Super Heroes

“Title”

- Full soundtrack

Bangai-O Spirits

“Title”

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor

“Successor”

- Full soundtrack

Sources

MobyGames – http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,97690/
VGMdb – http://vgmdb.net/artist/1587
Giant Bomb – http://www.giantbomb.com/norio-hanzawa/72-58331/
Video Game Music Preservation Foundation – http://www.vgmpf.com/Composer.php?Id=NorioHanzawa

Additional Links

Artist page at Overclocked Remix

If there are any corrections or additions that need to be made to this article, please let us know in the comments!

by Nester on March 4, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Music, Tunage

Posted by Nester on March 4, 2012

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/tunage-norio-hanzawa/

Tunage – Yutaka Minobe

Yutaka Minobe

Yutaka Minobe was a fairly involved composer in Sega’s stable from 2000 to 2005, until he left to join Marvelous subsidiary Delfi Sound Inc. Despite his departure, he has continued to lend a hand to several Sonic the Hedgehog games, from Sonic Adventure all the way up to Sonic Generations. While at Sega, he was half of the musical force behind the exceptional Skies of Arcadia/Eternal Arcadia soundtrack, and also was involved with NiGHTS: Journey into Dreams, Shinobi (PS2), Space Channel 5: Part 2, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II, and Sega’s Astro Boy movie tie-in for the PS2. With Marvelous, he’s worked on Little King’s Story, Flingsmash, Yoshi’s Island DS and Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon. He also lent his talents to Rule of Rose (whose company head is now at Marvelous), Onimusha: Blade Warriors, and Jigen Kairou. On top of all that, he has done a lot of sound effect creation and support for quite a few games.

As of this writing, Minobe continues to be an absentee from Wikipedia’s halls of information, which is a shame. Minobe is diversified, worked on several key games that are quite notable, and he does solid music that’s great to listen to. No worries, though, as LVLs. is happy to include him as part of Tunage.

Discography:

Sonic Generations (2011, PS3/PC/Xbox 360 versions only, Sega, Composition & Arrangement; Piano)

FlingSmash (2010, Wii, Nintendo/Artoon, Composition)

Jigen Kairou (2009, PSP, Sony, Composition from what I can tell)

Little King’s Story (2009, Wii, Marvelous/XSEED, Composition & Arrangement; Piano)

Sonic and the Black Knight (2009, Wii, Sega, Composition & Arrangement)

Sonic Unleashed (2008, Multi, Sega, Piano)

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (2007, Wii, Sega, Composition & Arrangement)

Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon (2007, PS2/PSP, Marvelous/Natsume, Composition)

Yoshi’s Island DS (2006, DS, Nintendo/Artoon, Composition & Arrangement)

Rule of Rose (2006, PS2, Punchline/Sony/Atlus, Composition and Coordination)

Shadow the Hedgehog (2005, Multi, Sega, Composition & Arrangement)

Tian Xing: Swords of Destiny (2005, PS2, Marvelous/Artoon/Rising Star Games, Composition)

Sonic Heroes (2004, Multi, Sega, Composition & Arrangement)

Onimusha: Blade Warriors (2004, PS2, Capcom, Composer of “Den of Thieves”)

Sonic Pinball Party (2003, Game Boy Advance, Sega, Sound Creator, Composition)

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (2002/2003, Gamecube, Sega, Additional Support, Composition)

Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut (2003, Wii, Sega, Sound Effects, Keyboards)

Space Channel 5: Part 2: Special Edition (2003, PS2, Sega, Keyboards)

Space Channel 5: Part 2 (2002, Dreamcast, Sega, Keyboards)

Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002, Xbox, Sega, Composition & Arrangement)

Shinobi (2002, PS2, Sega, Sound Creator, Composition)

Sonic Advance (2001, Game Boy Advance, Sega, Sound Creator, Composition)

Skies of Arcadia (2000, Dreamcast, Sega, Sound Effects, Composition and Arrangement with Takayuki Maeda)

Sonic Adventure (1998, Dreamcast, Sega, Sound effects, Keyboards)

Examples of his Work:

Skies of Arcadia (DC)

Kingdom of Ixa’taka

(more…)

by WildcatJF on June 23, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Music, Tunage

Posted by WildcatJF on June 23, 2011

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/tunage-yutaka-minobe/

Tunage: Michiru Yamane Part 2

As with Koji Kondo, Yamane’s music will be split into multiple parts. The first focused on Yamane’s Castlevania work, while this one will highlight her other contributions.

MSX

Gradius 2 Gofer no Yabou Episode II / Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction (with Motoaki Furukawa, Kazuhiko Uehara, Yukie Morimoto and Masahiro Ikariko)

Part I

Part II

(more…)

by WildcatJF on January 3, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Music, Tunage

Posted by WildcatJF on January 3, 2011

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/tunage-michiru-yamane-part-2/

Tunage: Michiru Yamane

Michiru Yamane

Primarily known for her work on the Castlevania series, Michiru Yamane was one of Konami’s all-time great composers. Beyond that storied franchise, she also worked on several other Konami franchises, including Suikoden, Rocket Knight Adventures/Sparkster, Gradius, SD Snatcher, Ganbare Goemon, Contra and Twinbee. Since parting ways with Konami she continues to compose for video games, with her latest being the all-woman fighter Skullgirls.

Like Koji Kondo, Yamane has gotten plenty of acclaim for her compositions in games, and has been involved with several projects since her 1988 hiring by Konami. This article will present key examples of the diversity she brought to Konami’s soundtracks (plus the games she composes for post-Konami), as well as spotlight the excellent Castlevania sound she created that defined the franchise for years.

Note – There is a possibility that Sony, in their odd tyranny over KONAMI’S CASTLEVANIA SERIES, have prevented me from sharing Symphony of the Night, Curse of Darkness and one of the Dracula X Chronicles tunes from Youtube with the embed feature. You may have to click through to hear them on Youtube directly. I’m in the process of revamping this article in the hopes that this can be avoided, but I don’t want to erase this notification just in case Sony still has its mitts all over something it doesn’t own. XD

Complete Discography (Newest to Oldest):

Skullgirls (2012, PS3/Xbox 360, Konami/Reverge Labs, Composition w. Vincent Dimante)

Mushihimesama Bug Panic (2011, iPhone, Cave, Composition)

Otomedius Excellent/Otomediusu X (Ekuserento!) (2011, Xbox 360, Konami, Composition [Kokoro Belmont section])

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia/Akumajo Dracula: The Stolen Seal (2008, DS, Konami, Composition w. Yasuhiro Ichihashi)

beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD (2007, Arcade, Konami, Composed “Kamiro Una Mendesu”)

Elebits (2007, Wii, Konami, Composition w. Naoyuki Sato)

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin/Akumajo Dracula: Gallery of Labyrinth (2006, DS, Konami, Composition w. Yuko Koshiro)

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow/Akumajo Dracula: Cross of the Blue Moon (2005, DS, Konami, Composition w. Masahiko Kimura)

The Sword of Etheria/OZ (2005, PS2, Konami, All Composition)

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness/Akumajo Dracula: Curse of Darkness (2005, PS2/Xbox, Konami, All Composition)

Suikoden IV/Genso Suikoden IV (2004, PS2, Konami, Composition w. Masahiko Kimura, Norikazu Miura)

Rumble Roses (2004, PS2, Konami, composed Immortal Revenger and The Thorn of Justice)

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence/Castlevania (2003, PS2, Konami, All Composition)

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/Castlevania: Minuet of Dawn (2003, GBA, Konami, Composition w. Takashi Yoshida, Soshiro Hokkai)

Winning Eleven 6 International/World Soccer Winning Eleven 6 (2002, PS2, Konami, Composition with Sota Fujimori)

Suikoden III/Genso Suikoden III (2002, PS2, Konami, Composition with Takashi Yoshida, Masahiko Kimura)

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance/Castlevania: Concerto of the Midnight Sun (2002, GBA, Konami, Composed “Pitch-Black Door” and “Night Head”, Arrangement (“VK2K2″), with Soshiro Hokkai)

World Soccer Winning Eleven 5 Final Evolution (2001, PS2, Konami, Composition with Norikazu Miura)

Elder Gate (2000, PS1, Konami, Composition with Sota Fujimori, Hidenori Onishi)

Gungage (1999, PS1, Konami, Composition with Sota Fujimori)

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/Akumajo Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight (1997, PS1/Saturn, Konami, All Composition)

Sparkster (1994, SNES, Konami, Composition with Kazuhiko Uehara, Masahiro Ikariko, Akira Yamaoka, M. Matsuhira)

Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 (1994, Genesis, Konami, Composition w. Akira Yamaoka)

Castlevania: Bloodlines/Akumajo Dracula: Vampire Killer (1994, Genesis, Konami, All Composition)

Contra: Hard Corps (1994, Genesis, Konami, Composition with Aki Hata, Hiroshi Kobayashi)

Rocket Knight Adventures (1993, Genesis, Konami, Composition with Masanori Ohuchi, Aki Hata, Masanori Adachi, Hiroshi Kobayashi)

Wild West C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa (1992, Arcade, Konami, Composition with Hideaki Kashima)

Astérix (1992, Arcade, Konami, Composition with Mutsuhiko Izumi, Junya Nakano, M. Egama, A. Hashimoto)

Bells & Whistles/Detana!! Twinbee (1991, Arcade, Konami, Composition with Hidenori Maezawa, Masae Nakashima)

Vendetta/Crime Fighters 2 (1991, Arcade, Konami, Composition with Hideaki Kashima)

Lightning Fighters/Trigon (1990, Arcade, Konami, Composition with Kenichi Matsubara)

Nemesis (1990, Game Boy, Konami, Composition with Shinya Sakamoto, Yuji Technouchi, Tomoya Tomita)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan (1990, Game Boy, Konami, Composition with Tomoko Nishikawa)

SD Snatcher (1990, MSX2, Konami, Composition with Masahiro Ikariko, Mutsuhiko Izumi, Yuji Takenouchi, Harumi Uekoh, Yuko Kurahashi, Tomoya Tomita, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Kazuhiko Uehara)

Ganbare Goemon 2 (1989, Famicom, Konami, Composition with Kouji Murata)

Gradius II Gofer no Yabou Episode II/Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction (1988, MSX, Konami, Composition with Motoaki Furukawa, Kazuhiko Uehara, Yukie Morimoto, Masahiro Ikariko)

Examples of her Work:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Dracula’s Castle

(more…)

by WildcatJF on December 14, 2010 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Music, Tunage

Posted by WildcatJF on December 14, 2010

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/tunage-michiru-yamane/

Tunage – Naoki Kodaka

Naoki Kodaka

Noaki Kodaka spent close to ten years composing incredible music for Sunsoft. His mastery of the NES sound chip is evident upon listening to the soundtracks of Blaster Master, Batman, Ufouria: The Saga and Journey of Silius. He also handled the soundtracks for the Albert Odyssey series on his own, and collaborated with other Sunsoft composers on additional Batman soundtracks, Super Fantasy Zone, Super Spy Hunter, After Burner II and Gremlins II: The New Batch. He seemingly retired in 1996 and little is known about his current whereabouts.

Kodaka made amazing music that stands in a league of its own, especially for the NES. Consistently he pushed the NES sound hardware to its limits, composing tunes that were way ahead of their time. Despite his obvious talents and his imprint on early gaming music, Wikipedia continues to ignore Kodaka’s accomplishments. LVLs. is proud to spotlight this important figure and give him the home he rightfully deserves.

Complete Discography (Newest to Oldest)

Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean (1996, Saturn, Sunsoft, All Composition)

Waku Waku 7 (1996, NeoGeo/Arcade/Saturn, listed under Special Thanks)

Albert Odyssey 2: Jashin no Taidou (1994, Super Famicom, Sunsoft, All Composition)

Albert Odyssey (1993, Super Famicom, Sunsoft, All Composition)

Super Fantasy Zone (1992, Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega/Sunsoft, Composition w. Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Hara Nobuyuki and Shinichi Seya)

Super Spy Hunter/Battle Formula (1991, NES/Famicom, Sunsoft, Composition w. Hara Nobuyuki and Shinichi Seya)

Ufouria: The Saga/Hebereke (1991, NES/Famicom, Sunsoft, Composition w. Hara Nobuyuki and Shinichi Seya)

Batman: Return of the Joker (1991, NES, Sunsoft, Composition w. Hara Nobuyuki and Shinichi Seya)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990, NES, Sunsoft, Composition w. Hara Nobuyuki and Shinichi Seya)

Journey to Silius/Raf World (1990, NES/Famicom, Sunsoft, Composition w. Hara Nobuyuki, Shinichi Seya, Marumo and Mabochan)

Batman (1990, Game Boy, Sunsoft, Composition w. Hara Nobuyuki and Shinichi Seya)

Batman (1990, Mega Drive/Genesis, Sunsoft, All Composition)

After Burner II (1989, Famicom, Sunsoft, Composition w. Naohisa Morota)

Batman (1989, NES, Sunsoft, Composition w. Nobuyuki Hara)

Blaster Master/Chô Wakusei Senki Metafight (1988, NES/Famicom, Sunsoft, All Composition)

The Wing of Madoola (1986, Famicom, Sunsoft, Composition)

Examples of his Work:

Blaster Master/Chô Wakusei Senki Metafight

Area 1

(more…)

by WildcatJF on November 16, 2010 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Music, Tunage

Posted by WildcatJF on November 16, 2010

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/tunage-naoki-kodaka/

Tunage: Christophe Héral

Christophe Héral

Christophe Héral is primarily a musical composer for French films and media. It would make sense then that he has worked with UBI Soft (A French publisher), contributing heavily to three of their games: Beyond Good & Evil, Rayman Origins, and Tintin and the Secret of the Unicorn. He is also attached to Beyond Good & Evil 2. Michel Ancel, creator of Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil, seems to be a big fan of Héral’s diverse range of musical prowess.

Héral has received several accolades over his career in France. Despite the quality and acclaim for his compositions, however, his recently created Wikipedia page does little to proclaim those triumphs. It barely even grants him recognition for his gaming contributions, and that’s what it focuses on. Fortunately, there’s always Tunage to pick up the slack, and we are proud to be able to give Héral his due.

Complete Discography (newest to oldest)

I’ve only included his gaming contributions.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 (Platforms unknown, UBI Soft, forthcoming, composer)

Rayman Origins (Multi-platform, UBI Soft, 2011, co-composer with Billy Martin)

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (Multi-platform, UBI Soft, 2011, composer)

Beyond Good & Evil (multi-platform, UBI Soft, 2003, composer)

Best Known For: Beyond Good & Evil (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)

Examples of his Work:

Beyond Good & Evil

Home Sweet Home

Propaganda

Full Playlist

Video Games Live

Beyond Good & Evil piece

Rayman Origins

Sea of Serendipity ~ Panic at the Port

Full Playlist

Beyond Good & Evil 2

Trailer

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Official Trailer

L’ile de Black Mor (Animation)

Theme

Eleanor’s Secret (animation)

Selections

Sources:

Christophe Héral’s Personal Website: http://www.heral.net/
IMDb Page for Héral: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0378425/

by WildcatJF on October 17, 2010 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Film, Games, Music, Tunage

Tagged beyond good & evil, beyond good & evil 2, christophe Héral, Features, Film, Games, Music, rayman origins, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, tunage

Posted by WildcatJF on October 17, 2010

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2010/10/17/tunage-christophe-heral/

Tunage – Koji Kondo, Part 2

This is a continuation of Koji Kondo’s Tunage article, in order to not sizzle people’s computers. This page collects his Legend of Zelda and other misc. compositions. To see the previous post covering Super Mario Bros. and its sequels, see here.

Legend of Zelda (NES)

Overworld