Yuzo Koshiro

Yuzo Koshiro (古代祐三 Koshiro Yūzō, born December 12, 1967, in Tokyo, Japan) is one of the well-known faces of Japanese video game music. In the 1980s and 1990s, he created the melodies for productions such as the popular Mega Drive titles The Revenge of Shinobi (with his name appearing on the title screen), Bare Knuckle (Streets of Rage) and The Story of Thor, following up with the score for the Super Nintendo game ActRaiser. His latest work includes compositions for the highly acclaimed games Shenmue and Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2. Koshiro is also partially responsible for composing the original Ys soundtrack for the popular series of roleplaying games. Unfortunately, Koshiro does not own the rights to any of his famous Ys compositions, and has indicated in interviews that he is bitter about that fact and finds their resulting international acclaim ironic.

Yuzo Koshiro is one of the pioneers in releasing soundtracks with his own music. The live orchestral version of ActRaiser was one of the industry's first of its kind. A live performance of this music could be heard in 2004 at the second Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany and in 2005 at the first Chamber Music Game Concert in Leipzig, Germany. Yuzo Koshiro is participating on PLAY! A Video Game Symphony, a symphonic world-tour featuring video game music. His arrangement of music from the Sonic the Hedgehog series is presented in every concert all over the world. Yuzo Koshiro attended the concert on May 27, 2006, in Chicago. On August 23, 2006, Yuzo Koshiro's music from Revenge of Shinobi was performed at the fourth Symphonic Game Concert in Leipzig, Germany, in an arrangement done by himself.

Production History

Yuzo Koshiro has contributed music to the following games:

• Xanadu Scenario II - PC-88 , PC-98
• Ys - PC-88 , PC-98
• Ys II - PC-88 , PC-98
• Romancia - PC-88
• Dragon Slayer IV / Legacy of the Wizard - NES
• Sorcerian - PC-88 , PC-98
• Algarna - Dharp X1
• Bosconian - Sharp X68000
• The Scheme - PC-88
• Misty Blue - PC-88
• Crack Down - Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
• The Stickman is Back - (Unreleased)
• The Super Shinobi / Revenge of Shinobi - Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
• Thrice - Sharp X68000
• Bare Knuckle / Streets of Rage - Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
• ActRaiser - Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• ActRaiser 2 - Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• Super Adventure Island - Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• Super Adventure Island 2 - Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear
• Bare Knuckle II / Streets of Rage 2 - Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
• Slapfight - Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
• Miracle Casino Paradise - Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• The GG Shinobi - Sega Game Gear
• The GG Shinobi II - Sega Game Gear
• Batman Returns - Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System
• Bare Knuckle III / Streets of Rage 3 - Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
• The Story of Thor / Beyond Oasis - Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
• Eye of the Beholder - Sega CD
• Zork I - Sega Saturn / PlayStation
• The Story of Thor 2 / The Legend of Oasis - Sega Saturn
• Vatlva - Sega Saturn
• Culdcept - Sega Saturn
• Shenmue - Sega Dreamcast
• Wangan Midnight - Arcade , PlayStation 2
• Car Battler Joe - Game Boy Advance
• Island of Kaiju - Nintendo GameCube
• Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune - Arcade
• Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune 2 - Arcade
• Namco X Capcom - PlayStation 2
• Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2 (USA) / Dancing Stage Max (PAL) / Dance Dance Revolution STR!KE (JPN) - PlayStation 2 - He provided the song "You Gotta Move It" with Julie Rugaard performing vocals.)
• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Nintendo DS

He has also recently produced music for the Merregnon 2 project, Ten Plants and the Street Fighter II Tribute Album.

Trivia

His sister, Ayano Koshiro, is responsible for many of the character designs in the games for which Yuzo has composed music. One of the more popular examples is the Bare Knuckle (Streets of Rage) series on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. She also worked on character design of Ys and Actraiser.

External links

• Composer profile at OverClocked ReMix
• "Yuzo Koshiro Interview" Kikizo: (Oct. 14, 2005)
• "The OPCFG Interview with Yuzo Koshiro" Organization for the Preservation of Classic Forms of Gaming: Strangman, Rob (2002)
• Yuzo Koshiro DJ'ing in a Japanese Club (youtube.com video)