Masafumi Ogata

Masafumi Ogata (尾形雅史), born 24 August, 1968 in Akita Prefecture, Japan, is a former Sega composer.

He has composed music for two Sonic games and one related CD (alongside Naofumi Hataya) and is notable for composing the opening theme song to Sonic CD, Sonic - You Can Do Anything (also known as Toot Toot Sonic Warrior). He is also credited under the alias "Gatao" (which is an anagram of Ogata) in the 8-bit version of Sonic 2, which contains a version of that song as the background music for the stage Green Hills Zone, almost certainly made before the version in Sonic CD.

Other than Sonic games, he composed the song "Crying World," the theme for Round 6-1 in Ristar. This was not known until a soundtrack album Mega Drive Last Action Heroes, containing music from various Mega Drive games, was released; Tomoko Sasaki is credited as the sole composer in the game's credits (although Ogata is credited under Special Thanks as "Masashi Ogata").

In November 2011, it was revealed by Masayuki Nagao that Ogata composed the "theme song for Sonic Drift" and Nagao just arranged it. He also revealed that the Sonic 3 main theme (which he states is "somewhat a rearrangement of the original Sonic 1/2 theme") was possibly also composed by Ogata, but this is yet to be confirmed.

Aside from Sega titles, he has also composed music for a few Japan-exclusive games developed by C's Ware.

Furthermore, from the notes of the CD albums Platina Selection and Radio DC, it has been determined that Ogata's main company of affiliation following his work at Sega is AMS co., ltd, as "Brand-new World" (originally produced in 1994) was said to be "Re-arranged...for AMS" in the latter album. This, combined with his credit for Rez, means that Ogata had been a part of AMS from at least late 1994 to late 2001.

He has also worked with Hitomi Momoi (better known as simply "MOMO") on occasion, as she provided the main vocals for "Brand-new World" from Sonic the Hedgehog - Remix (which Ogata arranged) and sang the ending theme of Death Crimson 2, "Maybe someday" (she also voiced the game's protagonist, Yuri Rosenberg).

Production History

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Game Gear and Master System Versions) (1992) — Sound (as Gatao)
Sonic CD (Japanese edition) (1993) — BGM Composer and Arranged, Music (—Opening Theme— (Sonic You Can Do Anything))
Sonic CD (U.S. edition) (1993) — Special Thanks
Sonic Drift (1994)
Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit (1994) — Composer (as Mo)
Sonic the Hedgehog - Remix (CD) (1994) (as o-gata)
Ristar (Mega Drive Version) (1995) — Special Thanks (as Masashi Ogata)
ADAM: The Double Factor (1997)
Divi-Dead (1998)
Divi-Dead Original Soundtrack (CD) (1998)
luv wave (1998)
Dream Generation ~Koi Ka? Shigoto Ka!?...~ (1998) — Music & Arrangement
'70s Robot Anime: Geppy-X (1999)
Platina Selection (CD) (1999) (as Masashi Ogata)
Death Crimson 2 (1999) — Music
Death Crimson OX (2001) — Music
EVE: The Fatal Attraction (2001)
Rez (2001) — Assistant Sound Creator (AMS co., ltd.)