Koji Kondo | |
|---|---|
近藤 浩治 | |
.jpg) Kondo in 2015 | |
| Born | (1961-08-13)August 13, 1961 (age 64) |
| Alma mater | Osaka University of Arts |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Employer | Nintendo |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Piano |
Musical artist | |
Koji Kondo (Japanese:近藤 浩治,Hepburn:Kondō Kōji; born August 13, 1961) is a Japanesecomposer and senior executive at thevideo game companyNintendo. He is best known for his contributions for theSuper Mario andThe Legend of Zelda series, with hisSuper Mario Bros. theme being the first piece of music from a video game included in the AmericanNational Recording Registry. Kondo was hired by Nintendo in 1984 as its first dedicated composer and is currently a Senior Officer at itsEntertainment Planning & Development division.
Kondo was born inNagoya, Japan, on August 13, 1961.[1] Kondo began taking Yamaha Music classes from kindergarten, where he learned to play theelectronic organ from the age of five. Kondo also played themarimba in his elementary school band. He later improved his skills with the electronic organ in acover band that playedjazz androck music.[2][3] Kondo studied at the Art Planning Department ofOsaka University of Arts,[4] but was never classically trained or academically dedicated to music.
With a love ofarcade video games such asSpace Invaders and the earlyDonkey Kong series, he said video games were the only place where he could find the kind of sound creation that he was looking for. He gained experience in composing, arranging pieces and computer programming through using the piano, and a computer to program music into theFamicom usingFamicom BASIC.
Kondo applied for a music composition and sound programming job atNintendo as a senior in 1984.[2] He recalls, "I found my way to Nintendo by looking at the school's job placement board. You're supposed to apply to many different companies, but I saw the Nintendo ad, and had a love of making synthesizers, and loved games, and thought – that's the place for me. I interviewed with one company, Nintendo, and that's where I've been ever since."[5] Kondo was the third person hired by Nintendo to create music and sound effects for its games, joiningHirokazu Tanaka and Yukio Kaneoka. However, he was the first at Nintendo to actually specialize in musical composition.[6]
His first work at Nintendo was the audio design for the 1984 arcade gamePunch-Out!!.[6] As theFamicom had become popular in Japan, Kondo was assigned to compose music for the console's subsequent games at Nintendo's new development division,Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (EAD). His second work at Nintendo was an instruction manual on how to program Japanesepopular music into the Famicom using the peripheralFamily BASIC.[5] To conclude his first year at Nintendo, he created some of the music ofDevil World, alongside Akito Nakatsuka.[2] In 1985, Nintendo started marketing the Famicom abroad as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to capitalize on the1983 video game crash that had devastatedAtari, Inc. and other companies.[2]Super Mario Bros., released that year, was Kondo's first major score. The game's melodies were created with the intention that short segments of music could be endlessly repeated during the same gameplay without causing boredom.The main theme is iconic in popular culture and has been featured in more than 50 concerts,[2] been a best-selling ringtone,[7] and been remixed orsampled by various musicians.[2]
Kondo's work onThe Legend of Zelda scores has also become highly recognized. He produced four main pieces of background music for the first installment of the series; the overworld theme has become comparable in popularity with theSuper Mario Bros. main theme. After the success ofThe Legend of Zelda, he provided the score for two Japanese-exclusive games,The Mysterious Murasame Castle (1986) andShin Onigashima (1987). He created the soundtrack toYume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (1987),[2] which was later rebranded outside Japan asSuper Mario Bros. 2 in 1988.[8][9]
Kondo returned to theSuper Mario series to produce the scores toSuper Mario Bros. 3 (1988) and theSNES launch titleSuper Mario World (1990).Koichi Sugiyama directed a jazz arrangement album ofSuper Mario World's music and oversaw its performance at the first Orchestral Game Musical Concert in 1991. After finishing the soundtrack toSuper Mario World, Kondo was in charge of the sound programming forPilotwings (1990), while also composing the "Helicopter Theme" for it, and created the sound effects forStar Fox (1993). In 1995, he composed for the sequel toSuper Mario World,Yoshi's Island.[2] Until the early 2000s, Kondo would usually write all compositions by himself on a project, withThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's being the last one Kondo worked on alone.[10] Since then, he has been collaborating with other staff members at Nintendo, advising and supervising music created by others, as well as providing additional compositions for games, includingSuper Mario Galaxy,The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks,The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword andSuper Mario 3D World.[11][12][13] Kondo also served as the lead composer ofSuper Mario Maker andSuper Mario Maker 2.[14][15][16] He was a consultant for the score toThe Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023).[17]
Kondo attended the world premiere ofPlay! A Video Game Symphony at theRosemont Theater in Chicago in May 2006, where his music from theSuper Mario Bros. andThe Legend of Zelda series was performed by a full symphony orchestra.[18] Kondo also attended and performed in a series of three concerts celebrating the 25th anniversary ofThe Legend of Zelda series in late 2011. He performed piano with the American rock bandImagine Dragons atThe Game Awards 2014 ceremony in December 2014.[19]
Kondo's music forSuper Mario Bros. was designed around the feeling of motion that mirrors the player's physical experience.[20] This followed the philosophy of series creator and designerShigeru Miyamoto, who demanded that audio for the game be made "with substance" and synchronized with elements of the game.[21][22] As a result, Kondo based most of the score around genres that are primarily used for dancing, such asLatin music and thewaltz.[23][24][25][26]
In the firstThe Legend of Zelda, Kondo juxtaposes the game's overworld theme with the theme that plays in dungeons. Kondo remarked on the importance of projecting distinct characters through music, so that players know almost immediately where they are within the game.[27] Kondo used this contrast in other games, such asSuper Mario Bros.[28]
Kondo has citedDeep Purple,Yes,Emerson, Lake & Palmer,Herbie Hancock,Chick Corea andCasiopea as influences.[29][5]
| Year | Title | Role(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Punch-Out!! | Music, sound effects[30] |
| Golf | Sound effects | |
| Devil World | Music withAkito Nakatsuka | |
| 1985 | Soccer | Music, sound effects |
| Arm Wrestling | Music, sound effects | |
| Kung Fu | Sound effects[31] | |
| Super Mario Bros. | Music, sound effects | |
| 1986 | The Legend of Zelda | Music, sound effects |
| The Mysterious Murasame Castle | Music, sound effects | |
| Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels | Music, sound effects | |
| Volleyball | Music, sound effects | |
| 1987 | Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic | Music, sound effects |
| Shin Onigashima | Music, sound effects | |
| 1988 | Super Mario Bros. 2 | Music, sound effects |
| Super Mario Bros. 3 | Music, sound effects | |
| 1990 | Super Mario World | Music, sound effects |
| Pilotwings | Sound programmer; composed "Helicopter Theme"[32][33] | |
| 1991 | The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past | Music, sound effects |
| 1993 | Star Fox | Sound effects |
| 1995 | Yoshi's Island | Music, sound effects |
| 1996 | Super Mario 64 | Music |
| 1997 | Star Fox 64 | Music with Hajime Wakai |
| 1998 | The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | Music |
| 2000 | The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask | Music withToru Minegishi |
| 2002 | Super Mario Sunshine | Music with Shinobu Tanaka |
| The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker | Music with Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, and Toru Minegishi | |
| 2004 | The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures | Music with Asuka Hayazaki |
| 2006 | New Super Mario Bros. | "Overworld Theme" |
| The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess | Music with Toru Minegishi and Asuka Hayazaki | |
| 2007 | Super Mario Galaxy | Music withMahito Yokota |
| 2008 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | "Ground Theme (Super Mario Bros.)" |
| 2009 | The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks | "Ending Theme" |
| 2010 | Super Mario Galaxy 2 | Music with Mahito Yokota and Ryo Nagamatsu |
| 2011 | The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword | "An Ages-Old Tale" |
| 2013 | Super Mario 3D World | Music with Mahito Yokota, Toru Minegishi, and Yasuaki Iwata |
| 2014 | Super Smash Bros. for Wii U | "Super Mario Bros. Medley" |
| 2015 | Super Mario Maker | Music with Naoto Kubo and Asuka Hayazaki |
| 2017 | Super Mario Odyssey | Music with Shiho Fujii and Naoto Kubo |
| 2018 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | "King Bowser (Super Mario Bros. 3)" |
| 2019 | Super Mario Maker 2 | Music with Atsuko Asahi, Toru Minegishi, and Sayako Doi |
| 2023 | Super Mario Bros. Wonder | Music with Shiho Fujii, Sayako Doi, and Chisaki Shimazu[34] |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Super Mario Galaxy 2 | British Academy Games Awards (Best Original Music)[35] | Nominated |
| 2014 | Super Mario 3D World | British Academy Games Awards (Best Original Music)[36] | Nominated |
| Video Game Music Online (Best Soundtrack – Retro / Remixed)[37] | Nominated |
Kondo's work has been cited for allowing game music to transition from simple melodies to more complex orchestrations.[38][39] He was inducted into theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2024.[40]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Game series |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other games | |||||||||||
| Cancelled games | |||||||||||
| Universe |
| ||||||||||
| Other media |
| ||||||||||
| People | |||||||||||
| Related |
| ||||||||||
| Main series |
|  | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spin-offs |
| ||||||||
| Universe |
| ||||||||
| Other media |
| ||||||||
| People | |||||||||
| Companies | |||||||||
| Fan works | |||||||||
| Related | |||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
