Koji Kondo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Koji Kondo
近藤 浩治
Kondo in 2015
Born	(1961-08-13) August 13, 1961 (age 63) Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Alma mater	Osaka University of Arts
Occupation	Composer pianist sound designer
Years active	(1984–present)
Employer	Nintendo
Musical career
Genres	Video game music chiptune
Instruments	Piano

Koji Kondo (Japanese: 近藤 浩治, Hepburn: Kondō Kōji, born August 13, 1961) is a Japanese composer. He works as a senior leader at Nintendo, a famous video game company. He is famous for creating music for the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda games. His Super Mario Bros. theme song was the first video game music to be added to the American National Recording Registry. This means it is considered very important music! Nintendo hired Kondo in 1984. He was their very first composer who focused only on music. Today, he is a Senior Officer in Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development division.

Koji Kondo's Early Life

Koji Kondo was born in Nagoya, Japan, on August 13, 1961. He started music classes at a young age. From age five, he learned to play the electronic organ at Yamaha Music classes. Kondo also played the marimbas in his elementary school band. Later, he played the electronic organ in a band that performed jazz and rock music. Kondo studied at the Art Planning Department of Osaka University of Arts. He did not have formal classical music training.

Kondo loved arcade video games like Space Invaders and the early Donkey Kong series. He felt that video games were the best place for the kind of sound creation he wanted to do. He gained experience by composing and arranging music. He also learned computer programming. He used a piano and a computer to program music for the Famicom using Famicom BASIC.

Koji Kondo's Career at Nintendo

In 1984, Koji Kondo applied for a job at Nintendo. He wanted to compose music and program sounds. He found the job listing on his school's job board. Kondo loved making synthesizers and playing games. He thought Nintendo was the perfect place for him. He only interviewed with Nintendo and has worked there ever since. Kondo was the third person Nintendo hired to create game music and sound effects. However, he was the first person at Nintendo to specialize only in music composition.

First Projects and Punch-Out!!

Kondo's first project at Nintendo was the sound design for the 1984 arcade game Punch-Out!!. The Famicom console was very popular in Japan at that time. So, Kondo was asked to compose music for games on this console. These games were made at Nintendo's new development group, Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (EAD). His second project was writing an instruction manual. This manual taught people how to program Japanese popular music into the Famicom using a device called Family BASIC. By the end of his first year, he helped create some music for Devil World with Akito Nakatsuka.

Success with Super Mario Bros.

In 1985, Nintendo started selling the Famicom outside Japan. It was called the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). This helped Nintendo after the 1983 video game crash that hurt other companies. Super Mario Bros. was Kondo's first big music project. He created the game's melodies so that short parts of the music could repeat without players getting bored. The main theme is very famous in popular culture. It has been played in over 50 concerts. It was also a best-selling ringtone and has been used by many musicians.

Kondo in 2006

Music for The Legend of Zelda

Kondo's music for The Legend of Zelda games is also very well-known. He made four main background music pieces for the first game in the series. The overworld theme is almost as popular as the Super Mario Bros. main theme. After The Legend of Zelda was a hit, he made music for two games released only in Japan. These were The Mysterious Murasame Castle (1986) and Shin Onigashima (1987). He also created the music for Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (1987). This game was later released outside Japan as Super Mario Bros. 2 in 1988.

Later Super Mario and Zelda Games

Kondo returned to the Super Mario series. He created the music for Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) and Super Mario World (1990). Super Mario World was a launch title for the SNES. Koichi Sugiyama led a jazz music album for Super Mario World. He also oversaw its performance at the first Orchestral Game Musical Concert in 1991. After Super Mario World, Kondo worked on sound programming for Pilotwings (1990). He also composed its "Helicopter Theme." He created sound effects for Star Fox (1993). In 1995, he composed music for Yoshi's Island, a sequel to Super Mario World.

Until the early 2000s, Kondo usually wrote all the music for a project by himself. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the last game he worked on alone. Since then, he has worked with other Nintendo staff. He advises and supervises music made by others. He also adds his own compositions to games. These include Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Super Mario 3D World. Kondo was also the main composer for Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2. He was a consultant for the music in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023).

Concerts and Performances

Kondo attended the first performance of Play! A Video Game Symphony in Chicago in May 2006. A full orchestra played his music from the Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda series. Kondo also attended and performed in three concerts in late 2011. These concerts celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda series. He played piano with the American rock band Imagine Dragons at The Game Awards 2014 in December 2014.

Koji Kondo's Musical Style

Kondo designed his music for Super Mario Bros. to feel like motion. This matched the player's physical experience in the game. The game's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, wanted the audio to have "substance." He also wanted it to be in sync with game elements. Because of this, Kondo based most of the music on dance genres. These included Latin music and the waltz.

In the first The Legend of Zelda game, Kondo used different themes for the overworld and dungeons. Kondo said it was important for music to show distinct characters. This way, players would know where they were in the game right away. Kondo used this idea of contrast in other games, like Super Mario Bros. Kondo has said that Deep Purple, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Casiopea have influenced his music.

Koji Kondo's Works

Awards and Legacy

Kondo's work helped game music change. It went from simple tunes to more complex and orchestral pieces. In 2024, he was added to the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame. This is a very special honor for people who have made a big impact on video games.

See also

In Spanish: Koji Kondo para niños