Friday, December 9, 2011

Yoko Shimomura

Yoko Shimomura is one of the most popular, well-known, and talented composers of video game music. She has written varied music for games such as Street Fighter II, Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. However, she is most well-known for her music for the Kingdom Hearts series produced by Square and Disney. Her music for the games in the series runs the gamut from lyrical and lighthearted to dark and apocalyptic. She even incorporates themes by Jimmie Dodd, Richard and Robert Sherman, Hans Zimmer, Alan Menken, and Danny Elfman. The music is unfortunately limited in terms of performance as it is played on synthesizers emulating the orchestra (apart from a few tracks) and the compositions would undoubtedly benefit greatly by being played by a real orchestra. Nevertheless, the music itself is well-written and effective, and its popularity is, for the most part, well deserved.

Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts II

No comments:

Post a Comment