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The Energetic Compositions of Yuzo Koshiro

By: Omar (@siegarettes)

When we talk about the best of videogame composers, the same names often get brought up. Nobuo Uematsu, Koji Kondo, Grant Kirkhope and Koh Ohtani. While those composers have rightfully earned their place, it often makes for a predictable list. A lot of talented composers tend to get lost in the mix, either due to the games they work on not feeling as monumental, or because they weren’t as well known in English speaking territories. 

One of these composers would be Yuzo Koshiro. Best known for his work on the Streets of Rage series, Koshiro’s best works communicate a strong energy. There’s a momentum to a his work that carries through multiple generations of hardware. 

Koshiro worked on the soundtrack for the original Y's games, with tracks like First Step Towards Wars being some of his more celebrated work:

Probably one of his greatest strengths are his skills as a programmer. He learned sequencing on PC-8801 hardware, in addition to learning piano from his mother. (He also apparently studied under Joe Hisashi, who would become known for his Miyazaki film soundtracks). This knowledge helped him find ways to push the sound chips of the early machines, allowing him to do things like create an orchestral sound for the soundtracks of the Actraiser games:

Koshiro also created a custom programming language for the music of the Streets of Rage series. SoR’s soundtrack was full of thick, aggressive beats that brought to mind the image of a fist fight on the dance floor. Even now it’s celebrated as one of the crowning videogame soundtracks, and considered ahead of its time within the realm of electronic music. 

One of his more ambitious ideas was the use of a random sequence generator, which he incorporated samples from for the soundtrack of Streets of Rage III. The more experimental approach proved divisive among fans. There’s a more sinister and violent tension to the sound, drawing comparisons to the work of artists like Aphex Twin, and the jungle electronic scene. One of the more interesting tracks is Shinobi Reverse, which draws back to his work with Sega on Revenge of Shinobi, distorting it into something alien:

His work on the series was provided as part of Ancient Corporation, a company he co-founded with his mother, which also provided character art and designs from his sister. Ancient helped produced titles like the Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog and the comedic mech RPG Robotrek, by Enix and Quintet. They even contributed to games such as Shenmue and recently developed Xbox Indie title Protect Me Knight, which is due for a 3DS sequel overseas. 

His work on Shenmue in particular shows off his range. The subdued piano and strings are a stark contrast to the energetic electronic sounds that he’s most known for:

Of course, no Yuzo Koshiro soundtrack would be complete without some funky rhythms. So here’s his Hip de Hop from the same game:

Since then he’s gone on to contribute music to Half-Minute Hero, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, the 7th Dragon and Etrian Odyssey series, as well as a few arrangements for the Smash Brothers and Project x Zonegames.

Koshiro may not be quite the star that other composers have been, but he does get respect. There’s a passionate fan base for his work, and there’s been a few interviews that have given some interesting insight to his work process and the difficulties of composing for various platforms. The most notable of these is probably one by Jeremy Parish for 1UP.com. It’s since gone dead, but you can find an archive of it here.

With that said, enjoy a mix of his best jams: