The Legacy of Yuzo Koshiro
The composer has worked on some of the most important franchises in gaming history
Yuzo Koshiro has composed soundtracks for games as legendary as the Streets of Rage trilogy, Revenge of Shinobi, Beyond Oasis, and Actraiser. He is one of the legendary names in video game music composition, along with Nobuo Uematsu and Koji Kondo. He is still working today, recently contributing music to Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Wonderful 101 remake, the Secret of Mana remake, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, and the long-awaited Streets of Rage 4. He has worked with Sega, Falcom, Konami, Enix, Namco, Natsume, and many other famous publishers, as a composer.
One of the titans of the 16-bit era, Koshiro is best known for employing various electronic genres (such as breakbeat, electro, UK hardcore, house, jungle, techno, and trance) in his chip music soundtracks. He has utilized elements of jazz fusion, hard rock, hip hop, funk, traditional Japanese music, and symphonic classical, as well.
His soundtracks for the Streets of Rage trilogy have been compared to the best of 90s house music, sounding like something you would hear at a club equally…
