Koji Kondo

Koji Kondo is a Japanese composer and sound director known for creating some of the most recognizable songs in gaming history, including the original themes from Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Kondo's first and only job as a composer for video games is with Nintendo, and he has been working for them since 1984.

Despite not receiving any formal music training, Kondo had a background in electronic music from a young age. He also played in a cover band covering mostly jazz and rock music. While in university, Kondo managed to join Nintendo when he applied for a recruitment ad he saw looking for musicians and sound programmers while in university. His first official game assignment was Punch-Out, and would soon be tasked with creating songs for some of Nintendo's most notable franchises.

In more recent years, Kondo has taken more of a supervising role, as he often coaches new composers to make sure their new music reflects the franchise that they're scoring for. A notable documented example is with Mahito Yokota for Super Mario Galaxy.