Kenji Yamamoto (composer, born 1964)

For other people named Kenji Yamamoto, see Kenji Yamamoto (disambiguation).

Kenji Yamamoto (山本 健誌, Yamamoto Kenji; born April 25, 1964) is a Japanese video game musician working for Nintendo, notable for composing music in many titles of the Metroid series, mainly Super Metroid and the Metroid Prime trilogy. Yamamoto also plays a role as a music director at Nintendo, overseeing audio for several of their games. He frequently collaborates with fellow composers Minako Hamano and Masaru Tajima.

Kenji Yamamoto
山本 健誌
Born	(1964-04-25) April 25, 1964 (age 61) Ueno, Mie, Japan
Alma mater	Osaka University of Arts
Occupation(s)	Composer, sound director, musician
Employer	Nintendo (1987–present)
Musical career
Genres	Video game music
Instrument(s)	Piano, guitar

Yamamoto's music utilizes heavy drums, piano, voiced chants, clangs of pipes, and electric guitar.^[1] In development of Super Metroid, Yamamoto came up with some of the game's themes by humming them to himself while riding his motorcycle home from work.^[2][3][4]

He was asked to compose the music for Metroid Prime to reinforce the series' continuity.^[4] Developers from Retro Studios noted how the process of fitting all the sound effects for a world in Metroid Prime into 6 MB of space was crucial in producing a quality aural experience, as each sound had to be of very high quality. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption took advantage of the increase in the amount of RAM that took place when the series switched from the GameCube to the Wii; this allowed for higher quality audio samples to be used and thus a better overall audio quality.^[4]

Works

Year	Title	Role
1987	Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!![3]	Music with Yukio Kaneoka and Akito Nakatsuka
1988	Famicom Wars[3]	Music with Hirokazu Tanaka
1989	Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind[3]	Music, sound effects
1992	Super Scope 6	Sound[3]
1994	Super Metroid	Music with Minako Hamano[5]
1995	Galactic Pinball	Music with Masaru Tajima[6]
1997	BS Tantei Club: Yuki ni Kieta Kako	Music
1999	Famicom Bunko: Hajimari no Mori	Music with Kozue Ishikawa
2001	Mario Kart: Super Circuit	Sound support
2002	Metroid Fusion	Sound director
	Metroid Prime	Music with Koichi Kyuma
2004	Metroid Prime 2: Echoes	Music
	Metroid: Zero Mission[7]	Music with Minako Hamano[7]
2005	Metroid Prime Pinball	Music with Masaru Tajima
	Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!	Sound director
2006	English Training: Have Fun Improving Your Skills!	Sound director
	Metroid Prime Hunters	Sound supervisor
	Excite Truck[2]	Music with Masaru Tajima
2007	Metroid Prime 3: Corruption	Music with Minako Hamano and Masaru Tajima
2008	Super Smash Bros. Brawl	Arrangements[a]
2009	Excitebots: Trick Racing	Music with Masaru Tajima and Shinji Ushiroda
2010	Photo Dojo	Sound supervisor
	Donkey Kong Country Returns	Music with various others[8][9]
2011	Rhythm Heaven Fever	Sound support
	Pilotwings Resort	Music supervisor
	Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword	Music director
	StreetPass Mii Plaza	Sound supervisor
2012	Kiki Trick	Sound supervisor
	Brain Age: Concentration Training	Sound supervisor
2013	Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D	Sound supervisor
	Tomodachi Life	Sound supervisor
	StreetPass Mii Plaza	Sound director
	Nintendoji	Music director
2014	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze	Music supervisor[10]
	Pokémon Art Academy	Sound supervisor
	Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U	Arrangements[b]
2015	Style Savvy: Fashion Forward	Sound supervisor
	Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash	Sound supervisor
	Real Dasshutsu Game x Nintendo 3DS	Sound director
	Rhythm Heaven Megamix	Sound support staff
	Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE	Sound support
2016	Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge	Music supervisor
	Disney Art Academy	Sound supervisor
	Miitopia	Sound supervisor
2017	Hey! Pikmin	Sound progress management
	Metroid: Samus Returns	Music director[11]
2018	Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido	Sound support
2021	Metroid Dread	Music director
2023	Metroid Prime Remastered	Music producer