SDEX-0025: Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~ S-1 Bike Game Series:...

[strugglepoo]

The composer for Excitebike has been revealed in the WiiWare game Excitebike: World Rally.

[Revoc]

OMG! Good finding. But I really would like to know who is the composer of Mach Rider.

[Blitz Lunar]

ahh, figures it'd be nakatsuka great find.

edit: much belated addendum, but a couple of interesting points:

1. Whoaholyshit Daisuke Shiiba did the music and arrangements for World Rally! I only just noticed (since there were no credits on gamefaqs or mobygames etc.) I had suspected he was involved, the accordion song was really reminiscent of his Tomodachi Collection work. Well, that's another ace soundtrack to his name, he was already one of my favourite composers. I don't think he can do any wrong. Brilliant.
2. Soyo Oka isn't mentioned in the credits, although Shiiba has arranged at least one of her songs (twice) for this game. I guess they forgot

[kyubihanyou]

Originally Posted by Revoc

OMG! Good finding. But I really would like to know who is the composer of Mach Rider.

Based on Smashing Live/DX Orchestra Concert, Mach Rider is composed by either Koji Kondo, Akito Nakatsuka, Hirokazu Tanaka, or Naoto Ishida.

Personally, I think Naoto and Koji are quite easily eliminated. From there, we just have to use our ears. I say Hirokazu, though; Akito's just too high pitched for the job, and Hirokazu's other tracks sound similar enough.

[Revoc]

Originally Posted by kyubihanyou

Based on Smashing Live/DX Orchestra Concert, Mach Rider is composed by either Koji Kondo, Akito Nakatsuka, Hirokazu Tanaka, or Naoto Ishida.

Personally, I think Naoto and Koji are quite easily eliminated. From there, we just have to use our ears. I say Hirokazu, though; Akito's just too high pitched for the job, and Hirokazu's other tracks sound similar enough.

I totally forgot the detailed credits from Smashing Live concert!

I agree to eliminate Koji Kondo, but I'm not 100% sure of Naoto Ishida. I also think that it's not Hirokazu Tanaka, because for sure he would mention Mach Rider on his official site. I think it's Akito Nakatsuka, despite the high pitched that you mentioned.

[kyubihanyou]

Originally Posted by Revoc

I agree to eliminate Koji Kondo, but I'm not 100% sure of Naoto Ishida. I also think that it's not Hirokazu Tanaka, because for sure he would mention Mach Rider on his official site. I think it's Akito Nakatsuka, despite the high pitched that you mentioned.

Well played, sir. Well played.

Looking up the infamous F-Zero duo I found that Yumiko Kanki also co-composed NES Open Tournament Golf with Akito Nakatsuka and the canceled Star Fox 2 with Kozue Ishikawa. Naoto Ishida, however, appears to have only contributed to one other game: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (2001), and even there he might just be referenced for previous work. Despite this, I find it highly unlikely that either of them joined when it was just the original four (Yukio, Hirokazu, Koji, and Akito). If they did, they would have done a lot more games.

I also don't consider Naoto all that great or involved; the only tracks he did on F-Zero that I know of are Ending Theme (yawn) and Big Blue; he has to be the biggest (and most literal) one hit wonder in all of gaming, 'cause that's all he's got. I guess I'll change to Akito as well; the Ice Climber Title is starting to sound a little too similar to Mach Rider's after going back and forth too many times.

EDIT: 03/06
After all of these revelations and theories, I wouldn't be surprised if Akito did all of the sports titles. His resume seems a little short to me. The only other person I think it could be is Yukio Kaneoka, who did Punch Out!, but I really have more faith in the former.

[kyubihanyou]

Sorry to double post and bump, but I just discovered something:
12 Smash Bros. Great Medley
1. Ancient Kingdom I
2. Ancient Kingdom II
3. Flat Zone
4. Balloon Fight
5. Big Blue
6. Mach Rider
7. Yo'ster Isle
8. Saria's Song
9. Super Mario 3
10. Icicle Mountain
11. Peach's Castle
Original music by Koji Kondo, Akito Nakatsuka, Hirokazu Tanaka, Naoto Ishida (Nintendo Co., Ltd.), Hirokazu Ando, Hideki Kanazashi (HAL Laboratory, Inc.) --->How did I miss THAT of all things?

1. Koji Kondo
2. Koji Kondo
3. Hirokazu Ando and Hideki Kanazashi (For Flat Zone=Original composition) (Thanks Revoc) - Original Game & Watch sounds (not Flat Zone) by Hirokazu Tanaka BTW
4. Hirokazu Tanaka
5. Naoto Ishida
6.(Akito Nakatsuka)
7. Koji Kondo
8. Koji Kondo
9. Koji Kondo
10. Akito Nakatsuka
11. Koji Kondo

Tally:
Koji - 6
Akito - 1/2 ----->Frequency theory supports below assumption that Akito composed Mach Rider
Hirokazu T. - 1
Naoto - 1
Hirokazu A. - 1 (Thanks Revoc)
Hideki - 1 (Thanks Revoc)

Not only are they out of order, but they seemed to be ranked on frequency (i.e. Akito must have been behind Mach Rider in order to make this theory true).

Still, Hirokazu Ando and Hideki Kanazashi have to be on there for a reason, so I guess Mach Rider is theirs (only the first stage theme is here, though; did Hirokazu Ando do the transitions throughout the medley?).

...No, wait. Mach Rider is a Nintendo-made game (headaches)

I guess it really is Akito, then. Now even Excitebike's Title sounds like it. It, Ice Climber, and Mach Rider all have those same instruments playing in the background for their title screens, especially since they're all essentially one that sounds like a bassline and the high-pitched one which carries the main melody.

There's no doubt left in my mind now. It's gotta be Akito.

My bad (or my good). Whatever. =D

[Revoc]

I had noticed this detail when you remembered that composers are credited in the booklet. The explanation for Hirokazu Ando and Hideki Kanazashi names in this list is very simple. "Flat Zone" is an original composition for Game & Watch stage made especially for Super Smash Bros. Melee. The same happened with the "Flat Zone 2" in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which was composed by Kenichi Okuma.

And I agree that Akito Nakatsuka is the most likely composer of Mach Rider.

[Blitz Lunar]

my initial guess would have been tanaka, since mach rider music is slightly zany and that seems to one of tanaka's defining musical characteristics. but if it's fairly certain it isn't, nakatsuka would be my next guess. it is kinda strange how kanki and ishida didn't work on many games though...

[kyubihanyou]

Originally Posted by Blitz Lunar

my initial guess would have been tanaka, since mach rider music is slightly zany and that seems to one of tanaka's defining musical characteristics. but if it's fairly certain it isn't, nakatsuka would be my next guess. it is kinda strange how kanki and ishida didn't work on many games though...

As one of my above comments shows, I had exactly the same mindset at first, except I was more naive and linked Hirokazu simply by the pitch of the music. It was only after many listenings of the title themes of Excitebike, Ice Climber, and Mach Rider itself that the answer made itself clear to me, as the same two instruments are indeed used in each of these three compositions.

Also, Hirokazu Tanaka does not list Mach Rider on his official website (link above), so there's not much left to choose from after that.

Long story short, Akito Nakatsuka is the safest bet, at least until an official confirmation. Now if we can figure out the sports titles...

[NOTE: Hirokazu Tanaka definitely did not do any of these based on his compositions page]

NES Open Tournament Golf (1991) (above) - Akito Nakatsuka, Yumiko Kanki
http://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/ne...t-golf/credits

Tennis (1983)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sr6EXFH_Nc - Sounds like either Yukio Kaneoka or Akito Nakatsuka

Golf (1984)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1yZg2SV9AY - Nothing (yeah....)

Soccer (1985)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRDwkK0Pxrs - Koji Kondo
http://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/soccer/credits

Volleyball (1986)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-39oUQIBN4 - Same Title as Volleyball, but a bit lower pitched due to sound advances. Again, sounds like either Yukio Kaneoka or Akito Nakatsuka

Pro Wrestling (1986)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HiUUJqJvqg - Same Title as above, but completely different after that. Again, sounds like either Yukio Kaneoka or Akito Nakatsuka

[Revoc]

Originally Posted by Revoc

The explanation for Hirokazu Ando and Hideki Kanazashi names in this list is very simple. "Flat Zone" is an original composition for Game & Watch stage made especially for Super Smash Bros. Melee.

I realized I made a big mistake on that assumption. There is no way Hideki Kanazashi have worked in Super Smash Bros. Melee if he left HAL Laboratory in 1990 (although I don’t know how the departure date is known). Anyway, he isn’t credited in the list of the composers of original tracks from Melee. "Flat Zone" is composed just by Hirokazu Ando.

Originally Posted by kyubihanyou

Hirokazu Ando, Hideki Kanazashi (HAL Laboratory, Inc.) --->How did I miss THAT of all things?

When I saw this I discard that possibility because I always thought that Mach Rider was developed only by Nintendo. But the truth is (at least according to the game entry on Japanese Wikipedia and confirmed by Gamespot), HAL Laboratory has helped in the development of the game.

Statement about this in the Japanese Wikipedia:

以後も任天堂ブランドで発売された『ゴルフ』『マッハライダー』『バルーンファイト』『F1レース』の開発 に携わった[2]。

Knowing that the composers of the other tracks of "Smash Bros Great Medley" are known, by elimination, the composer of Mach Rider is undoubtedly Hideki Kanazashi.

[CHz]

Originally Posted by Revoc

I realized I made a big mistake on that assumption. There is no way Hideki Kanazashi have worked in Super Smash Bros. Melee if he left HAL Laboratory in 1990 (although I don’t know how the departure date is known).

1990 is probably incorrect. I think I just filled that in based on his last known game, since you HAVE to give a year to flag someone as no longer belonging to a group.

And now that I'm checking this out, I'm not exactly what my source was that Kanazashi left HAL in the first place. It seems likely, since he hasn't shown up for 20 years, but that may have just been a guess and not based on anything official. I've cleared that out, sorry for lying to you.

However! All that said:

Originally Posted by Revoc

Anyway, he isn’t credited in the list of the composers of original tracks from Melee. "Flat Zone" is composed just by Hirokazu Ando.

…

Knowing that the composers of the other tracks of "Smash Bros Great Medley" are known, by elimination, the composer of Mach Rider is undoubtedly Hideki Kanazashi.

Even if Kanazashi was still at HAL, he didn't work on Melee, so this conclusion still holds! "Flat Zone" must be Ando's because it's a Melee-original track and he's the only Melee sound team member credited for composition for the medley. That leaves Kanazashi as the only composer without a track and Mach Rider as the only game to give him. So , nice work, and so on.

[Blitz Lunar]

and i just retagged Flat Zone from Shogo Sakai to Ando. i always thought it sounded like Ando's work, so i am not sure how i ended up with it attributed to Sakai.

[CHz]

Originally Posted by CHz

Even if Kanazashi was still at HAL, he didn't work on Melee, so this conclusion still holds! "Flat Zone" must be Ando's because it's a Melee-original track and he's the only Melee sound team member credited for composition for the medley. That leaves Kanazashi as the only composer without a track and Mach Rider as the only game to give him. So , nice work, and so on.

Actually hold on, let me roll this one back a little bit. We should be a little careful about extrapolating composition for the whole game based on the appearance of one piece in the medley. Kanazashi was a composer, but not necessarily the sole composer. Granted the game doesn't have a lot of music besides the main theme, so it wouldn't surprise me if Kanazashi did it all, but we don't know for sure. Naoto Ishida wasn't the sole composer for F-ZERO, which is also included in the medley.

[Revoc]

Originally Posted by CHz

1990 is probably incorrect. I think I just filled that in based on his last known game, since you HAVE to give a year to flag someone as no longer belonging to a group.

And now that I'm checking this out, I'm not exactly what my source was that Kanazashi left HAL in the first place. It seems likely, since he hasn't shown up for 20 years, but that may have just been a guess and not based on anything official. I've cleared that out, sorry for lying to you.

Thanks for clarifying, CHz. I think it would be interesting to have a checkbox in addition to the departure date to indicate whether the artists have left the unit. For example, several musicians from Konami Kukeiha Club have been known to have left the company (Tappy Iwase, Hidenori Maezawa), but the exact departure date is unknown.

Originally Posted by CHz

Actually hold on, let me roll this one back a little bit. We should be a little careful about extrapolating composition for the whole game based on the appearance of one piece in the medley. Kanazashi was a composer, but not necessarily the sole composer. Granted the game doesn't have a lot of music besides the main theme, so it wouldn't surprise me if Kanazashi did it all, but we don't know for sure. Naoto Ishida wasn't the sole composer for F-ZERO, which is also included in the medley.

Well spoted. The only thing we know is that Hideki Kanazashi composed "Main BGM1". We don't have the scans of this album, but from what I saw in other volumes of the Game Sound Museum series there aren't composer credits.

I've changed the information in the notes.

[Doommaster1994]

I think it is Hideki Kanazashi, too, since his first game was around 1986. I am also thinking Hiroaki "GSX" Suga had something to do with the original Mach Rider. Probably something along the lines of sound effects or sound programming. Not to change topic here, but whoever composed Mach Rider probably also worked on F1 Race. They have similar tunes. I don't think Akito Nakatsuka worked on the music because he usually composes jazzy-like music.
I was told by Shogo Sakai that Hirokazu Ando did not compose Mach Rider.
UPDATE:
The composer is definitely Hiroaki Suga: http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/images/0/0...igh_Scores.png
GSX is an alias for Hiroaki Suga.

[dissident93]

According to Mr. Doomaster1994, Hideki Kanazashi was the composer for the whole game. He asked Tadashi Ikegami, who also told him that Jun Ishikawa was the composer for HAL's Hole in One Golf (not Ando, who SNESmusic credited for some reason).

Hopefully that settles things

[CHz]

Sweet.

Guessing roles from high score lists and staff rolls where they aren't specified is perilous.

[dissident93]

Still better than no credits at all! haha

[Blitz Lunar]

Originally Posted by dissident93

who also told him that Jun Ishikawa was the composer for HAL's Hole in One Golf (not Ando, who SNESmusic credited for some reason).

whatwhatWHAAAAT?

Upon listening, it kinda figures. It could be either of them, it's pretty tame music compared to their other work. Man, the things I'd love to grill Ikegami about...

[_if]

Apparently VGM Preservation Foundation already knew.

[dissident93]

Originally Posted by _if

Apparently VGM Preservation Foundation already knew.

Doomaster1994 helps run the site. :P

[_if]

Ah, okay. Did he get confirmation from Ikegami that he did the music to Kirby's Pinball Land by any chance? I see it Ikegami's list, but I don't know if it was just added or anything.

[dissident93]

he most likely did, but I'll ask him to be sure.

EDIT: he said he asked him a long time ago, but it's correct.