15 February 2012

Episode 68: Hitoshi Sakimoto

For Episode 68, Brent and Rob focus of the masterful work of Hitoshi Sakimoto.  Sakimoto worked extensively as both a composer and arranger/programmer, but this episode concentrates on his compositions.  Often times, Hitoshi Sakimoto collaborated with Masaharu Iwata, so this is also partially and possibly a mini focus on Masaharu Iwata.  That is, for a few of the games, because there is no track breakdown indicating which composer did which track, the track played may very well belong to Iwata and not Sakimoto.  Regardless, the music is absolutely amazing.  Hitoshi Sakimoto, truly a great composer of the 16-bit era.  Full track listing below.



Game - Composer - Song - Company - Console - Year (North American release unless otherwise indicated)

Bubble Ghost - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Ending - Pony Canyon/FCI - Game Boy - 1990

Verytex - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, JKL Furukawa - Act 1 (The Void of Space) - Asmik/Opera House - Mega Drive - 1991

Magical Chase - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Waltz of Meditation Part 2 (Stage 5: Hell Fire) - Quest/NEC - TurboGrafx-16 - 1993

Gauntlet IV - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata - Retribution - Tengen/M2 - Genesis - 1993

Devilish: The Next Possession - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Intro - Sage's Creation/Aisystem Tokyo - Genesis - 1992

Super Back to the Future II - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Round 6-1 - Toshiba EMI - Super Famicom - 1993

Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Old Man's Prayer - Quest/Enix - SNES - 1995

Sword Maniac - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Paradox - Toshiba EMI/Fupac - Super Famicom - 1994

Moldorian: Hikari to Yami no Kyoudai - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Field - Sega - Game Gear (Japan) - 1994

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Theme of the Black Knights - Quest - Super Famicom - 1995

Treasure Hunter G - Hitoshi Sakimoto - A Former Kagonari - Sting/Square - Super Famicom - 1996

Hourai Gakuen no Bouken! The Adventure of Hourai High School: Tenkousei Scramble - Hitoshi Sakimoto - School 2 - J-Wing/Dynamite - Super Famicom - 1996

Verytex - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, JKL Furukawa - Act 3 (Ruined Area) - Opera House/Asmik - Mega Drive - 1991

Treasure Hunter G - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Gemini Wing - Sting/Square - Super Famicom - 1996

Hourai Gakuen no Bouken! The Adventure of Hourai High School: Tenkousei Scramble - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Ruin in the Jungle - J-Wing/Dynamite - Super Famicom - 1996

Hourai Gakuen no Bouken! The Adventure of Hourai High School: Tenkousei Scramble - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Shinmachi (Day) - J-Wing/Dynamite - Super Famicom - 1996

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Fortune Teller 2 - Quest - Super Famicom - 1995

Bubble Ghost - Hitoshi Sakimoto - Stage Music - Pony Canyon/FCI - Game Boy - 1990

Master of Monsters - Hayato Matsuo (comp., arr.),  Hitoshi Sakimoto (arr.), Koichi Sugiyama (advisor) - Black Dignity (Title Screen) - Renovation - Genesis - 1991

11 comments:

  1. I'm glad you've both listened to the mixes, they were so much fun to make.

    the first mix starts with the high score music from the horrible Target Renegade, then immediately goes into Wrestlemania Challenge's title screen music, followed by a snippet from the Famicom game Barcode World, etc.

    My guess is that the unfamiliar tracks were from the Japanese games, with maybe the exception of Rollergames or The Blue Marlin.

    Should I try to post the mixes to your Facebook page so that the other LMH fans can hear them?

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  2. They are just for you! I'm glad you don't want to share them, in fact.

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  3. Another fun episode! If you want to do more composer spotlights you should do one about Chris Hülsbeck. He made some of the best tracks mostly for C64 and Amiga systems.

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  4. did you guys see this? Sakimoto did an IAMA on reddit! http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/xndgw/i_am_hitoshi_sakimoto_video_game_composer_final/

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  5. So, I am pretty darn sure that between a certain ~3 seconds of Act 1 (The Void of Space) from Verytex and a certain ~3 seconds of a track from Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance there is a huge, massive similarity that cannot be a coincidence.

    The relavent part of The Void of Space:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74bsAMOwBQ&feature=youtu.be&t=1m16s

    The relavent part of the Final Fantasy Tactics advance track, Unavoidable Destiny:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCWH0vLrlEA&feature=youtu.be&t=25s

    I was going to mention this a) because I find it interesting and b) to give some evidence that the Verytex track really is by Sakimoto since there is some doubt about that point. HOWEVER, I just become aware that Unavoidable Destiny is one of the few tracks on the Tactics Advance soundtrack that is not by Sakimoto but is instead by someone named Kaori Ohkoshi. Now I feel CONFUSED. And in NEED of SLEEP.

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  6. Hey, have you guys ever considered doing a composer focus on Hitoshi Sakimoto? That would be awesome.

    Seriously, great episode guys. I loved all of it, but interestingly I liked the non-SNES stuff the best. He really knew how to make the Genesis do amazing things. And Brent, I agree with you; HitSak is one of my favorite composers as well. As far as Genesis goes, right up there with Hanzawa and Koshiro.....and of course Matt Furniss.

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    Replies
    1. Considered doing a focus on Hitoshi Sakimoto?

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    2. That's me making fun of myself for asking you a few weeks back if you've played Gauntlet IV tracks and all the other ones that Sakimoto worked on(as programmer or otherwise).....By the way, Brent, this episode turned me on to YMO. Thanks for that, too.

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  7. Wow, amazing episode. Definitely my favorite focus so far. I've always been a little biased against the Genesis because I felt that most soundtracks I heard shared the same cheesy synth sounds. (I love synths in general). Hitoshi Sakimoto's works didn't have any of that cheesiness. Hit after hit. Thanks!

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  8. The Final Fantasy Tactics (1997) soundtrack is a masterpiece by Sakimoto and Iwata. For example: Ovelia's Theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZerSeZBymF8

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