The music of Yoko Shimomura, one of the most accomplished composers in video game history, has touched, moved, and inspired countless people. Earlier this year, she was granted the illustrious BAFTA Award, a testament to her skill and legacy as a composer. Let’s look closer at her career and why she is so influential.
Who is Yoko Shimomura?
Yoko Shimomura began her career as a video game composer in the late 1980s, working with the legendary Capcom video game developer. Her earliest works include titles such as Final Fight, Code Name: Viper, Gargoyle’s Quest, and many others.
In 1994, Shimomura moved to another primary video game developer, Square (now known as Square-Enix), and composed the soundtrack to the Live-A-Live game. From there, she composed several high-priority soundtracks for hugely popular games such as Super Mario RPG, Parasite Eve, and Legend of Mana, just to name a few.
Despite now working as a freelance composer, Yoko Shimomura has never stopped composing music for video games. Her work spans nearly every genre across virtually every generation of video game consoles. Alongside her video game scores, Shimomura has also composed special arrangements and live orchestrations to her works, with Dark Chronicle, Rogue Galaxy, and Legend of Mana being fantastic examples.
Which games has she composed for?
What separates Yoko Shimomura’s work from other video game composers’ is the iconic nature of her music. Take Gargoyle’s Quest on the Game Boy, for example. The game is set within the Ghoul Realm, populated by monsters, ghosts, and demons. As such, the score for such a game would need to be fittingly spooky and horror-themed.
But more than just being simple Halloween-themed jingles, the music to Gargoyle’s Quest is terrific despite its technical limitations. The melodies Shimomura composed, especially the track “Hell Field”, are stunning. The feelings of melancholy of a damned world on the edge of destruction, quiet and reserved in its tempo and instrumentation, are palpable.
Her more famous works include titles such as Street Fighter II, Kingdom Hearts, and the Mario & Luigi series. To say that Shimomura’s music is timeless is a gargantuan understatement. For countless fans across the world, the title song for the first Kingdom Hearts, “Dearly Beloved”, is a piece that can instantly bring them to tears. Guile’s theme from Street Fighter has become so famous that it has achieved immortal meme-level fame over the past fifteen years. In many ways, Shimomura’s work has become synonymous with the entire video game landscape.
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What is the BAFTA award?
The BAFTA award, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, is among the most prestigious awards an artist may receive. It is the summation of a lifetime of exemplary hard work, a genuine commitment to their craft, and the indelible impact their work has had on their respective field of art. To receive a BAFTA award is tangible proof that a person is not just a successful artist, but one of the most successful and influential artists of all time.
Yoko Shimomura received a BAFTA Award this past April for many reasons. First, it is the grandest congratulations she deserves for giving countless people great memories. It’s also physical proof that women have been instrumental in creating popular art and helping establish the entire video game industry as one of the world’s leading entertainment industries.
In addition, Yoko Shimomura herself was a female-centric Capcom Sound Team member alongside Ayako Mori, Tamayo Kawamoto, Junko Tamiya, Manami Matsumae, Haryumi Fujita, and Tamayo Kawamoto. This team of women composed some of the most incredible music ever to grace the video game industry. Still, due to Capcom’s statutes on using pseudonyms and going uncredited for their work, these women have gone far too long without receiving their due credit.
Why is Yoko Shimomura’s success so noteworthy?
Yoko Shimomura’s BAFTA Award is more than a lifetime achievement for her. It’s a victory for the women who helped define Capcom as an industry-leading giant.. It’s proof that video games are as legitimate an art form as any other famous work in history. And for many, it proves that Traverse Town’s music is that good. What’s your favorite music composed by Yoko Shimomura? Please let us know in the comments below!
