Koji Kondo

The composer whose Super Mario Bros. theme became the first video game music in the American National Recording Registry.

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Koji Kondo is a Japanese composer and senior executive at Nintendo, best known for his contributions to the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series. His Super Mario Bros. theme was the first piece of video game music included in the American National Recording Registry. Hired by Nintendo in 1984 as its first dedicated composer, he is currently a Senior Officer at its Entertainment Planning & Development division. For Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Masahiro Sakurai asked him, among other composers, to arrange favourite Nintendo and other game music.

Quick Facts

Born

13 August 1961

Birthplace

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

Employer

Nintendo

Education

Osaka University of Arts

Occupation

Composer
pianist
sound designer

Years active

1984–present

Lore & Background

Kondo's influence on Super Smash Bros. is rooted in his decades of work at Nintendo. He was hired in 1984 as the company's first dedicated composer, creating the audio design for Punch-Out!! and later composing major scores for Super Mario Bros. (1985) and The Legend of Zelda (1986). His music for Super Mario Bros. was designed around the feeling of motion, following Shigeru Miyamoto's demand that audio be made "with substance" and synchronized with gameplay. Kondo based most of the score around dance genres like Latin music and the waltz. For The Legend of Zelda, he juxtaposed the overworld theme with dungeon music to project distinct characters, so players know almost immediately where they are within the game.

Reader's Guide

He composed the scores for Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988), Super Mario World (1990), and Yoshi's Island (1995). Until the early 2000s, Kondo would usually write all compositions by himself on a project, with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time being the last one he worked on alone. Since then, he has collaborated with other staff members, advising and supervising music created by others, as well as providing additional compositions for games including Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Super Mario 3D World. He served as lead composer of Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2, and was a consultant for the score to The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023).

Did You Know?

Kondo learned to play the electronic organ from age five, starting in Yamaha Music classes from kindergarten.
He performed piano with the American rock band Imagine Dragons at The Game Awards 2014.
Kondo was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2024.