HITOSHI SAKIMOTO: THE EARLY YEARS

Today I'll be taking a look at the early career of one of my favourite videogame composers, Hitoshi Sakimoto. Probably best known these days for his work on Final Fantasy XII, Sakimoto has had a long career filled with top-notch musical work on some excellent soundtracks. So, let's start at the very beginning.

Revolter (1988)

Sakimoto's first soundtrack was for the PC-88 shooter Revolter, which he composed along with long-time collaborator Masaharu Iwata (who is a fine composer in his own right). The pair have worked together many times, and in 2002 they formed the sound design company Basiscape. Sakimoto's career starts of well, with some excellent synth work. Not content with writing the music, he also developed a software driver called "Terpsichorean" to improve the sound, the bloody showoff.

Metal Orange (1990)

Moving on to the PC-98, Cyberblock Metal Orange is an Arkanoid clone with a hentai twist, so beware: this video does contain anime girls in their skimpies, so maybe you shouldn't watch it at work. Normally I'd be wary of any game that tried to boost its appeal with some cartoon grot, but to be honest Arkanoid needs all the help it can get. Happily it also contains some excellent music, especially the intro theme.

Verytex (1991)

Back to the shooters with Asmik's Japanese-only Megadrive / Genesis release Verytex. While the music is great, I think the most impressive thing about it is the quality of the sound Sakimoto wrangled from the Megadrive. I can't think of many better-sound Megadrive games, that's for sure. Also, it perfectly captured that style of music which I can only describe as "shmup music". I just like to think that it's a mandatory part of space-pilot training. "Hey kid, you can fly this advanced space fighter, but only if you listen to extremely catchy, up-tempo digital rock music while you do."

Magical Chase (1991)

A Turbografx / PC Engine shooter starring a cutesy anime witch who blasts her way through hordes of equally adorable enemies, Magical Chase may sound like Cotton, but... well, okay, they're pretty goddamn similar. Still, it's got better music than Cotton.

Devilish / Bad Omen (1991)

I wrote about Devilish / Bad Omen a while ago, and I'm going to reiterate the same points here - a poor game with some really excellent music. More Megadrive wizardry, with an especially nice bouncing bassline in this particular track. One of my personal favourite Megadrive soundtracks, although I suppose nothing will ever top OutRun.

Super Back to the Future II (1993)

Okay, so Sakimoto didn't technically compose this one; it's Alan Silvestri's theme for the Back to the Future trilogy. Great Scott, eighty-eight miles per hour, you get the idea. Still, it's nice to hear it coming out of a SNES, and very well arranged it is too. In fact, to me it sound like it could be "airship" music for a SNES RPG, or perhaps even a lost track from Starfox.

Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (1993)

Probably the earliest soundtrack that brought Sakimoto wider recognition, it was again a collaborative effort between Sakimoto, Iwata and Hayato Matsuo. Epic, somewhat militaristic themes for roleplaying games would become something of a theme for Sakimoto in the future, especially in Final Fantasy Tactics.

Shippū Mahō Daisakusen Kingdom Grandprix (1994)

This isn't an RPG, though. Nope, it's the batshit crazy tale of a world that has replaced wars with people racing around on dragons, and the gameplay itself is a curious mix of vertical shooter and racing. As you might expect, the soundtrack has that same shoot-em-up feel to it, although... is it just me, or does this track sound like "Escape" from the Transformers The Movie soundtrack?

And now that we're reaching the transition from 16 to 32-bit consoles, it seems like a good place to end this little recap. So there you have it - Hitoshi Sakimoto has been making great videogame soundtracks for many years, and hopefully will still be doing so when I'm hacking my lungs up in a hospital bed, playing a Playstation 27 and complaining about those damn kids and their hover-boards.
BONUS: Here's an interview with the man himself.

10 GREAT FINAL FANTASY REMIXES / COVERS

Final Fantasy music. Do I really need to say anything more? Primary series composer Nobuo Uematsu is regarded by many fans of videogame music as a genius, and while comparisons to history's greatest classical composers might be pushing it a little, the man sure knows how to write music for role-playing games. Of course, there are alway going to be people out there who think they can improve on his work, so here are ten of my personal favourite Final Fantasy remixes and covers.
P.S. You will notice that there're no tracks here from games later than FFVIII. I'll leave you to come to your own conclusion about that.

? - Theme of Love (Orchestrated) - FFIV

The series' first entry on the SNES, Final Fantasy IV featured many excellent themes that really hammered home the improvements of 16-bit music over it's 8-bit predecessors. Hearing the Red Wings' theme as they fly over the Mode 7 landscape? Now that's powerful stuff. However, I've put aside those stirring songs of battle (because I'm a complete softie at heart) and gone for the "Theme of Love", presented here in a beautiful orchestrated version. Emotional without being cloying, the FF series' best love theme gets the arrangement it deserves.

moAbbi - Force Your Way - FFVIII

A lot of people seem to dislike FFVIII. These people are wrong. Okay, fine, they're entitled to their opinion and everything, but FFVIII will always be near the top of my personal Final Fantasy leaderboard. One reason why is the music: here's a synth-metal version of the boss battle theme, a track so great it'll temporarily make you forget just how irritating Rinoa is.

DTM (?) - Searching For Friends - FFVI

FFVI's second airship theme, formerly a melancholy backdrop to your quest to find your scattered companions, is transformed into a hip-hop flavoured groove. It's a direction I wouldn't have expected for this track, but it's a great one, and perfect if you want a change of pace from the metal remixes. The solo that starts at 2:07 is really great, too - simple yet effective.

Syuryougonjinsyu - Battle 2 - FFIII

FFIII has, in my opinion, the most underrated soundtrack in the FF series. It features my favourite overworld theme of the series, the beautiful Water Maiden theme and some fantastic battle music, including this battle theme. You know what else I love? Surf music. It's be great if someone combined these two things. Oh wait, they did! Syuryougonjinsyu have made me a very happy person with their tubular take on this excellent battle theme.

EvilSnake666666 - Cid's Theme - FFVII

Another underrated track gets the update it deserves in this rock arrangement of Cid's epic (in the actual sense of the word) theme from FFVII. It will make you want to fly into space, and possibly make you want some GODDAMN TEA. Mind you, I'm British, so I always want some GODDAMN TEA.

5/4TAKEPOD - Pride of the White Knight (Battle on the Bridge) - FF Tactics

A non-Uematsu track from my personal favourite Final Fantasy game. Hitoshi Sakimoto took over the composing duties for the strategy-RPG spin-off, and his work is as good as anything in the main series. Here's an excellent rock version of the "Battle on the Bridge" theme, and if it doesn't get you pumped for a battle full of badly-translated attacks and character names, then your heart must be a shrivelled lump of coal. Seriously, at 0:44 I'm getting goosebumps and headbanging simultaneously.

The Black Mages - Dancing Mad - FFVI

"Dancing Mad" is probably Nobuo Uematsu's magnum opus, a towering work of insane majesty that is perfectly fitting as the theme to Kefka's psychopathic godhood. In 2002, Uematsu put together a band called The Black Mages to perform covers of his Final Fantasy material, including this 12-minute prog-rock monolith. I think I'm going to stipulate in my will that this must be played in its entirety at my funeral.

Aiko - Eternal Wind (Piano) - FFIII

Another track from FFIII, this time the beautiful overworld theme "Eternal Wind" played on the piano. Simple, haunting and very, very good. It's just a shame that it's so short.

The Runaway Five - Shinra Shuffle (Still More Fighting) - FFVII

In terms of baffling my expectations, this arrangement of FFVII's boss battle theme is by far and away my favourite. How can you improve the already-amazing "Still More Fighting"? A heavy metal version? A full orchestra? Boring, predicatble, pedestrian! No, what you want is a swing jazz version, and that's exactly what The Runaway Five have delivered, and it is perfect. An incredible arrangement, wonderful playing and sheer joy all add up to make this a real treat that you should make sure you listen to at least once.

Tour de Japon - Final Fantasy Main Theme - FF Series

And to finish, what could be more appropriate than the main Final Fantasy theme, as performed by a full orchestra as part of the Tour de Japon event? Nobuo Uematsu even appears halfway through to conduct the orchestra. This is not something that personally bothers me, but if you get someone telling you that videogame music is unlistenable shit, show them this. Alternatively, just laugh in their face.

So there you go, ten Final Fantasy remixes, arrangements and covers that I personally think are really bloody good. Hope you thought so too.

Previously:
10 Great Megaman Remixes!
10 Great Castlevania Remixes!