Yōko Shimomura
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Yōko Shimomura is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988. From then until 1993, she worked for Capcom, where she composed wholly or in part the scores for 16 games, including Final Fight and Street Fighter II.
From 1993 to 2002 Shimomura worked for Square (now Square Enix), where she composed for a further eight games, including the popular Super Mario RPG, Parasite Eve, and Legend of Mana games. While working for Square, she was best known for her work on the soundtrack for Kingdom Hearts, which was her last game for the company before leaving. Starting with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, she began working as an active freelancer, writing for over a dozen titles.
Her works have gained a great deal of popularity, and have been performed in multiple video game music concerts, including one, Sinfonia Drammatica, that was focused half on her "greatest hits" album, Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura, and half on the music of a previous concert. Music from several of her games has been published as arranged albums and as piano scores.
Audio Development
NES
Shimomura used a sound driver by Yoshihiro Sakaguchi, which required its user to enter notation and effects in the form of hexadecimal numbers. She likely composed on the piano or some other instrument before coding her music.
GBA
Shimomura used Nintendo's MP2K sound engine.
Gameography
| Released | Title | Sample | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-??-?? | Samurai Sword (FDS) (サムライ ソード) | ||
| 1989-08-25 | F-1 Dream (PCE) (F1ドリーム) | Arrangements | |
| 1989-12-15 | Sweet Home (NES) (スウィートホーム) | Arrangements | |
| 1989-12-?? | Final Fight (ARC) (ファイナルファイト) | Minor role | |
| 1990-02-23 | Code Name: Viper (NES) (人間兵器デッドフォックス) | |
All songs except Areas 1 & 2 by Junko Tamiya. |
| 1990-03-01 | Adventure Quiz Capcom World: Hatena no Daibouken (ARC) (アドベンチャークイズ2 ハテナはてなの大冒険) | Minor role | |
| 1990-05-02 | Gargoyle's Quest (GB) (レッドアリーマー 魔界村外伝) | With Harumi Fujita and Tamayo Kawamoto. | |
| 1990-06-01 | Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (NES) | ||
| 1990-10-26 | Mizushima Shinji no Daikoushien (FC) (水島新司の大甲子園) | ||
| 1990-12-?? | Nemo (ARC) (ニモ) | ||
| 1990-??-?? | Mahjong School: The Super O Version (ARC) (麻雀学園 スーパー○禁版) | Minor role | |
| 1991-03-?? | Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (ARC) (ストリートファイターⅡ) | |
Composed most songs (Isao Abe did the rest) and arranged the entire soundtrack. |
| 1991-05-31 | Buster Bros. (TGCD) (ポンピングワールド) | ||
| 1991-09-?? | The King of Dragons (ARC) (ザ・キングオブドラゴンズ) | ||
| 1991-10-?? | Block Block (ARC) (ブロックブロック) | ||
| 1992-03-?? | Street Fighter II': Champion Edition (ARC) (ストリートファイターII' -CHAMPION EDITION-) | |
Composed two new songs in addition to her existing work on The World Warrior |
| 1992-07-?? | Varth: Operation Thunderstorm (ARC) (バース) | Minor role | |
| 1993-04-03 | Breath of Fire (SNES) (ブレスオブファイア) | One song only: "Trade City" | |
| 1993-04-22 | The Punisher (ARC) (パニッシャー) | ||
| 1994-09-02 | Live A Live (SFC) (ライブアライブ) | |
|
| 1995-02-24 | Front Mission (SFC) (フロントミッション) | ||
| 1996-03-09 | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES) (スーパーマリオRPG) | ||
| 1996-08-02 | Tobal No. 1 (PS1) (トバル ナンバーワン) | ||
| 1998-03-29 | Parasite Eve (PS1) (パラサイト・イヴ) | ||
| 1999-07-15 | Legend of Mana (PS1) (聖剣伝説 LEGEND OF MANA) | ||
| 1999-12-22 | Chocobo Stallion (PS1) (チョコボスタリオン) | ||
| 2000-09-21 | Hataraku Chocobo (WS) (はたらくチョコボ) | ||
| 2002-03-28 | Kingdom Hearts (PS2) (キングダム ハーツ) | ||
| 2003-11-17 | Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA) (マリオ＆ルイージRPG) | ||
| 2004-11-11 | Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA) (キングダム ハーツ チェイン オブ メモリーズ) | ||
| 2005-09-07 | pop'n music 13 Carnival (ARC) (pop'n music 13 カーニバル) | One song only: "Majestic Fire" | |
| 2005-11-28 | Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (DS) (マリオ&ルイージRPG2×2) | ||
| 2005-12-22 | Kingdom Hearts II (PS2) (キングダムハーツII) | ||
| 2006-02-23 | Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner (PSP) (モンスターキングダム・ジュエルサモナー) | ||
| 2007-03-08 | Heroes of Mana (DS) (聖剣伝説 HEROES of MANA) | ||
| 2008-05-15 | Luminous Arc 2 (DS) (ルミナスアーク2 ウィル) | ||
| 2009-02-11 | Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS) (マリオ&ルイージRPG3!!!) | ||
| 2009-03-04 | pop'n music 17 THE MOVIE (ARC) | ||
| 2009-05-30 | Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS) (キングダム ハーツ 358/2 Days) | ||
| 2010-01-09 | Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (PSP) (キングダム ハーツ バース バイ スリープ) | ||
| 2010-01-28 | Kingdom Hearts coded (PSP) (キングダム ハーツコーデッド) | ||
| 2010-06-10 | Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) (ゼノブレイド) | ||
| 2010-07-15 | Last Ranker (PSP) (ラストランカー) | ||
| 2010-10-07 | Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (DS) (キングダム ハーツRe:コーデッド) | ||
| 2010-11-03 | Radiant Historia (DS) (ラジアントヒストリア) | ||
| 2010-12-22 | The 3rd Birthday (PSP) (ザ・サード バースデイ) | ||
| 2011-08-04 | Half-Minute Hero II (PSP) (勇者30 SECOND) | ||
| 2012-03-29 | Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS) (キングダム ハーツ 3D [ドリーム ドロップ ディスタンス]) | ||
| 2012-09-19 | Demons’ Score (Mobile) | One song only: "Azazel del cielo ardiente" | |
| 2013-07-12 | Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS) (マリオ&ルイージRPG4 ドリームアドベンチャー) | ||
| 2023-11-17 | Super Mario RPG (SW) | Original Music. | |
| TBA | Final Fantasy XV (PS4) (ファイナルファンタジーXV) | ||
| TBA | Kingdom Hearts III (PS4) (キングダムハーツIII) | ||
| Unknown | Family School (FC) | Audio Driver? |
Picture Gallery
Unknown source.
Unknown source.
Unknown source.
Unknown source.
With Hiroku Kikuta, Nobuo Uematsu, and Yasunori Mitsuda at Symphonic Fantasies Germany, 2009.
Posted on her Facebook, 2011-04-13.
With Yasunori Mitsuda at Kölner Philharmonie, 2012.
With Takashi Tateishi and Manami Matsumae. Unknown source.
With Nobuo Uematsu, posted on her Facebook 2015-11-06.
Links
- midiplex.com - Official.
- mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,36646/ - MobyGames.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoko_Shimomura - Wikipedia.
- facebook.com/midiplex - Facebook.
- twitter.com/midiplex - Twitter.
- youtube.com/watch?v=Y__usQbGA5M - Discussing working in the 1980s with Manami Matsumae.
- w.atwiki.jp/gamemusicbest100/pages/290.html - Atwiki.jp (Japanese).
