Koji Kondo

Koji Kondo in the 2000s.

Koji Kondo (born 1960-08-13) is a Japanese video game music composer who has been working for Nintendo since 1984. He is certainly Nintendo's most famous composer, and one of the most famous video game music composers in history. His music spans many different genres. Kondo currently oversees audio production at Nintendo and doesn't have much time for composing anymore, so he usually only contributes a single song to some of the bigger titles.

Personal

The first game I heard which had Kondo's music in it was Super Mario Bros. I had no idea at the time who composed the game's music, but I enjoyed it (except the underwater music!). It was The Legend of Zelda soundtrack which really made me take notice that video game music could convey a since of emotion. I would often leave the game's opening demo running on my TV just to keep listening to the title music. I also loved Kondo's soundtracks for Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3. When the SNES came out, I very much enjoyed the soundtrack for Super Mario World and absolutely adored The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I don't remember exactly when I became aware of Koji Kondo as a person, but I don't think it was until even after I heard the soundtrack of Super Mario 64 (another great one).

Gameography

The rank column is based exclusively on my enjoyment of Kondo's soundtrack. A "?" indicates I'm not familiar enough with the soundtrack to rank it, an "N/A" indicates Kondo didn't contribute enough to the soundtrack to consider it in the rankings.

Released	Title	Platform	Rank	Notes
1984-02-??	Punch-Out!!	Arcade	15	Mostly covers; original music is just jingles.
1984-05-01	Golf	Famicom	N/A	Game only has sound effects.
1984-06-12	VS. Stroke & Match: Golf	VS. System	?
1984-10-05	Devil World	Famicom	11	With Akito Nakatsuka.
1985-04-09	Soccer	Famicom	14
1985-05-??	Arm Wrestling	Arcade	N/A	Reused music from Punch-Out!!
1985-06-21	Kung Fu	Famicom	12
1985-09-13	Super Mario Bros.	Famicom	09
1986-02-21	The Legend of Zelda	Famicom Disk System	05
1986-04-14	The Mysterious Murasame Castle	Famicom Disk System	?
1986-05-03	Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels	Famicom Disk System	N/A	Same music as the original with an FDS ending.
1986-07-21	Volleyball	Famicom	13
1987-07-10	Yume Koujou: Doki Doki Panic	Famicom Disk System	07
1987-09-04	Famicom Mukashibanashi: Shin Onigashima	Famicom Disk System	?
1988-10-??	Super Mario Bros. 2	NES	06
1988-10-23	Super Mario Bros. 3	Famicom	04
1990-11-21	Super Mario World	Super Famicom	03
1990-12-21	Pilotwings	Super Famicom	N/A	Composed Helicopter song
1991-11-21	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past	Super Famicom	01
1995-08-15	Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island	Super Famicom	10
1996-06-23	Super Mario 64	Nintendo 64	02	Programmed by Hideaki Shimizu
1996-08-??	Tetris Attack	Game Boy	N/A	Yoshi's themes.
1996-09-??	Tetris Attack	SNES	N/A	Yoshi's themes.
1997-05-27	Star Fox 64	Nintendo 64	N/A	Sound effects.
1998-11-21	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	Nintendo 64	08
1998-12-18	Mario Party	Nintendo 64	N/A	Sound support.
1999-12-17	Mario Party 2	Nintendo 64	N/A	Sound support.
2000-05-27	The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask	Nintendo 64	?	With Toru Minegishi.
2000-08-11	Paper Mario	Nintendo 64	N/A	Original themes.
2000-12-07	Mario Party 3	Nintendo 64	N/A	Sound support.
2001-02-27	The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages	Game Boy Color	N/A	Original music.
2001-02-27	The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons	Game Boy Color	N/A	Original music.
2002-07-19	Super Mario Sunshine	GameCube	?	With Shinobu Tanaka
2002-10-21	Mario Party 4	GameCube	N/A	Sound support.
2002-12-13	The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker	GameCube	N/A	Composed Grandma's Theme
2004-03-18	The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures	GameCube	?
2006-05-15	New Super Mario Bros.	Nintendo DS	N/A	Composed Ground BGM; Sound Director
2006-11-19	The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess	Wii	N/A	Composed Orchestra Piece #1
2007-11-01	Super Mario Galaxy	Wii	?	Composed Rosalina in the Observatory, Egg Planet
2008-01-31	Super Smash Bros. Brawl	Wii	N/A	Arrangements
2009-12-07	The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks	Nintendo DS	N/A	Composed Ending
2010-05-23	Super Mario Galaxy 2	Wii	?	Composed Yoshi Star Galaxy, Starship Mario, Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla
2011-11-18	The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword	Wii	N/A	Composed Legend of Skyloft
2013-11-21	Super Mario 3D World	Wii U	?	Composed Chain-Link Charge, Sunshine Seaside
2014-11-21	Super Smash Bros. For Wii U	Wii U	N/A	Arrangements
2015-09-10	Super Mario Maker	Wii U	N/A	Arrangements
2017-04-28	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Switch	N/A	Composed Battle Theme
2017-10-27	Super Mario Odyssey	Switch	?	Composed Wooded Kingdom, Bowser Castle
2018-12-07	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	Switch	N/A	Arrangements

Songs

This is a list of some of my favorite Koji Kondo songs. For all his songs, see Koji Kondo songs.

Title	Game
Above Ground BGM	Super Mario Bros. 2
Above Ground BGM	Super Mario Bros. 3
Athletic BGM	Super Mario Bros. 3
Athletic BGM	Super Mario World
Dark Forest	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Dire, Dire Docks (under water version)	Super Mario 64
Ending	Super Mario World
Hyrule Castle	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Kakariko Village	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Kakariko Village	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Overworld BGM	Super Mario World
Slider	Super Mario 64
Snow Mountain	Super Mario 64
Staff Roll	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Super Mario 64 Main Theme	Super Mario 64
Title BGM	The Legend of Zelda