Music / Koji Kondo

Koji Kondo (born August 13, 1961) is perhaps the most legendary video game music composer, alongside fellow composers Koichi Sugiyama and Nobuo Uematsu. He composed what is perhaps the most well-known video game song of all time, the Super Mario Bros. theme. He has also composed for many other Mario games, along with The Legend of Zelda series, and various other games for Nintendo.

Among other things, he is known for constantly remaking his old pieces and putting it into newer games, especially in the Mario series. This has made him a somewhat controversial figure among Nintendo fans, dividing them into fans who enjoy the remakes of his old pieces and fans who grow tired of these themes and say he should come up with newer pieces^note  Sometimes ignoring the fact that he mixes his old pieces with newer ones in every game. Nevertheless, he is still renowned as one of the greatest composers in the industry.

Well-known examples of his pieces can be found on the Awesome Music pages for Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.

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Video Game Music

• Devil World (1984, along with Akito Nakatsuka)
• Doki Doki Panic (1987)
  • Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988 Dolled-Up Installment of Doki Doki Panic, reusing its music)
  • Samples: Original theme, All-Stars arrangement.
• Golf (1984)
• The Legend of Zelda (1986)
  • Samples: Title theme, overworld.
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)
  • Samples: Hyrule Castle, Sanctuary Dungeon, Light World, Dark World.
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
  • Samples: Hyrule Field.
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000, along with Toru Minegishi)
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002, along with Toru Minegishi, Kenta Nagata and Hajime Wakai)
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006, along with Toru Minegishi and Asuka Ota)
• The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009, along with Toru Minegishi, Asuka Ota and Manaka Tominaga)
• The Mysterious Murasame Castle (1986)
• Pilotwings (1990)
• Shin Onigashima (1987)
• Soccer (1985)
• Star Fox 64 (1997, along with Hajime Wakai)
  • Samples: Main theme.
• Super Mario Bros. (1985)
  • Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986, reusing its predecessor's music)
  • Samples: Original theme, All-Stars arrangement, Boston Symphony Orchestra, original underground theme, All-Stars arrangement.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988): Some of the music that premiered in this game would be rearranged sporadically in later games, such as in Super Mario RPG, Super Mario 64 DS and New Super Mario Bros..
  • Samples: Grass Land, level theme, athletic theme, boss theme, Bowser's theme.
• Super Mario World (1990)
  • Samples: Level theme, athletic theme, Bowser's theme.
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
  • Samples: Level theme, athletic theme.
• Super Mario 64 (1996)
  • Samples: Level theme, athletic theme, Bowser's Road, Bowser's theme.
• Super Mario Sunshine (2002, along with Shinobu Tanaka)
  • Samples: Isle Delfino, Bianco Hills.
• Super Mario Galaxy (2007, along with Mahito Yokota)
  • Samples: Good Egg Galaxy.
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010, along with Ryo Nagamatsu and Mahito Yokota)
• Super Mario Odyssey (2017, along with Naoto Kubo and Shiho Fujii)
• Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023, as sound director, with Shiho Fujii, Sayako Doi, and Chisaki Shimazu)
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, arrangement)

Movie Music

• The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2022, with Brian Tyler)

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