Koji Kondo (近藤 浩治 Kondō Kōji, born August 13, 1960) is a Japanese composer … Read Full Bio ↴Koji Kondo (近藤 浩治 Kondō Kōji, born 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.
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 Wii. 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: Ocarina of Time, some criticized him for abandoning the themes and styles they had 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. 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. Bowser's 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 Super Mario Bros., and 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 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.
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.
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 Wii. 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: Ocarina of Time, some criticized him for abandoning the themes and styles they had 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. 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. Bowser's 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 Super Mario Bros., and 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 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.
Staff Credits
近藤浩治 Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by 近藤浩治:
Chase Start me up いつもと同じ空 よくある シチュエーション なのに はやる気持ちはもう 夏のゲーム いざ開始! …
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
@billny33
This ending music just reminds me of how well this game broke your heart beautifully. It was a seven-layer cake of bittersweet heartbreak.
- Zelda: "Link, give the Ocarina to me." She puts her hand on his. Never has an N64 polygon NPC looked so deeply sad as she explains she must send Link back to regain his lost years as a child. And then, she plays those notes. And he's gone. If there was love there, it will never be.
- The glorious festival of all the game's NPC's with old rivalries budding into new friendships, but no Link to enjoy his victory.
- The Six Sages looking down on the festival in spirit form. They did it, they won. They're also most likely dead in spirit form. Bittersweet.
- The credits scene landscapes reminding you just how breathtaking every environment truly is
- Child Link going back to the Temple of Time and, what's this...Navi? No, why would you leave me now? Navi is gone forever as she escapes via the high window
- Child Link still goes and puts back the Master Sword forever sealing his fate as a child, but he sure walks away like a boss while the church bells ring. That's a lump and a half in your throat right there
- Post-Post-credits scene of Child Link first entering the castle garden and seeing Zelda. Their eyes meet. Time stops. You remember that moment from your early playthrough. The final Nintendo stamp shows up, and that godforsaken Zelda's Lullaby plays one last time, cutting up all sorts of onions in its trail. Then it stops and you are left with nothing but silence and silhouette.
@xieotv2386
Idk I prefer the intro, it in a few seconds sets the tone for the whole song and the ending. It's a victorious version of the main score but it's tinged in sadness, hopeful yet heartbroken. Then the dialogue hits and you realize that while you've won, link has lost, everything. Everyone who knew who he was who knew he saved them is gone (baring the close relatives of the sages lost).
The score tells a recap of the whole story in a brief few seconds. And that's why I think it's amazing.
Another song that does this well is,
"For the dark soul"
It's a song that shows you the theme of the game it's presented in in the first few seconds of the song then changes it before circling back.
While these songs contrast (one being about moving on even after losing everything and making a life for yourself even after loss and the other being about maddening cycles)
They both capture their stories theme well, these composers are geniuses and I don't think they get enough credit for how well they make scores in come games.
@ike_of_the_greil_mercenari465
Today, my best friend passed away. He was well known for his Link cosplay; he had been battling cancer for years and the Lord took him home. I played this for him just before he passed; his journey in this life was over and I thought that his journey should end in a poetic fashion. His favorite game was, "Ocarina of Time".
@Quick2402
Truly saddening. I hope the best for you and anyone involved. This world is more beautiful that it gets it’s credit for and your friend is in an amazing place. It’s great to see the game can make that big of an impact on a human life. I hope the best for your endeavors, partner.
@lipicarus6924
I immediately started crying reading this. I am so sorry. What a beautiful friendship you had. He will always be looking out for you. Thank you for making his last moments the greatest and so fitting. I hope you’ll be able to heal someday. He’s on to a great adventure… until the day you meet again, take care. <3
@KenShinta174
May he rest in peace
@rmissing3361
Rest in Peace.
@pedroou3280
rest in peace.
@chuy3162
You're the Hero that time will never remember.
Truly one of the saddest endings.
@OmegaVideoGameGod
The gods will.
@thekingtoastamo5808
He was remembered, just not when he was around. Remember how when ganondorf re-appeared, the people of hyrule were praying for him to return to defeat him again, but he couldn't because he was sent back in time. And in the child timeline, it wasn't until after his time that he was known as a hero
@otakuslayer5702
@TheKingToast AMO but then he wasnt even known for what he did it was for something else