12 Things You Didn't Know About Video Game Soundtracks

9. From A Letter To A Legend

A prolific television and film composer throughout the ''70s and early '80s, Koichi Sugiyama found a new audience with his series of Dragon Quest soundtracks, and is today widely regarded as the ‘Grandfather of Video Game Music’. A pioneer in the genre, Sugiyama’s orchestral background compelled him to re-engineer his soundtracks as full-scale symphonic recordings in 1986, with the scores eventually being performed live by orchestras, and even adapted for ballet.

Sugiyama was in his fifties when he composed the first Dragon Quest soundtrack, and is still going strong three decades later at the age of 85, having composed the scores for every main title in the franchise. Ironically, he rather stumbled into the profession accidentally.

After being decidedly disappointed with Enix’s shogi sim Morita Kazurou no Shogi, Sugiyama became the first person in history to complete an in-box questionnaire, sending his detailed and constructive criticism directly to the company, outlining precisely where the game had erred.

Enix employees were flabbergasted when they realised the name of the sender. Hardly believing it was the same Koichi Sugiayama - who already had a considerable reputation in Japan as a pop producer and televison composer - the company promptly gave him a call and thanked him for his feedback, before tentatively asking if he would be interested in composing for the company.

Sugiyama welcomed the chance, and putting down his Famicom pad to go off and change the entire landscape of video game music.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.