Masaharu Iwata
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese video game composer. After graduating from high school, where his musical projects included composing on a synthesizer and playing in a cover band
Cover band
A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...

, he joined Bothtec as a composer. He composed the soundtrack to several games there, beginning with 1987's Bakusou Buggy Ipatsu Yarou, and after the company was merged into Quest
Quest Corporation
was a Japanese video game company founded in 1988. They were originally known as Bothtec, which had developed The Scheme, a Metroidvania-style open world action role-playing game featuring music by Yuzo Koshiro, that same year....

 he left to become a freelance composer. His most well-known projects include Ogre Battle
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen
is a 1993 real-time strategy role-playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, directed by Yasumi Matsuno with artwork by Akihiko Yoshida...

, Tactics Ogre
Tactics Ogre
is a Japanese tactical role-playing game created by Quest. The game was originally released in 1995 on the Super Famicom in Japan and then re-released on the Sega Saturn in 1996 and the PlayStation in 1997...

, Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics
is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It is the first game of the Final Fantasy Tactics series and was released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998...

, Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XII
is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2006, it is the twelfth title in the Final Fantasy series and the last in the series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation platform...

, and Soul Calibur IV, though throughout his career he has composed music for over 65 games. He is one of the founding members of Basiscape, headed by fellow composer Hitoshi Sakimoto
Hitoshi Sakimoto
is a Japanese video game composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring the games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 70 games and arranged music for more than 40 others. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began...

 and currently the largest independent video game music production company. His compositions for strategy role-playing games
Tactical role-playing game
A tactical role-playing game is a type of video game which incorporates elements of traditional role-playing video games and strategy games. In Japan these games are known as , a designation which might seem peculiar to native English speakers...

 such as the Ogre Battle series have been described as "among the most well-recognized in the genre".

Early life

Iwata, born on October 26, 1966 in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan, has been interested in music since he was a child, though he terms his first attempts at "experiments with music" while at school to be poor. While in junior high school, he became interested in the Japanese electropop group Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the Sadistic Mika Band...

. This inspired him to buy a synthesizer, and join a cover band
Cover band
A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...

 with some other students. Other musical influences on him during his youth were Arabesque
Arabesque (group)
Arabesque started as an all-girl trio at the height of the european disco era in 1977 in Frankfurt, Germany.After the first album, the band lineup was changed by keeping only the original member Michaela Rose and replacing the two other girls with new members Jasmin Vetter and Sandra Lauer...

, John Foxx
John Foxx
John Foxx is an English singer, artist, photographer and teacher. He was the original lead singer of the band Ultravox before being replaced by Midge Ure, when he left to embark on a solo career in 1979...

, China Crisis
China Crisis
China Crisis is an English pop/rock band. They were formed in 1979 in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside with a core of vocalist/keyboardist Gary Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon...

 and Bill Nelson
Bill Nelson (musician)
Bill Nelson is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, painter and experimental musician...

. It was during this time that video games began to be popular, leading him to become interested in them like many of his friends. Once he graduated high school, Iwata tried to find work that combined his love of music and video games, and joined Bothtec, which while he was there became part of Quest
Quest Corporation
was a Japanese video game company founded in 1988. They were originally known as Bothtec, which had developed The Scheme, a Metroidvania-style open world action role-playing game featuring music by Yuzo Koshiro, that same year....

.

Career

While working at Bothtec as a part-time composer, Iwata composed his first piece in 1987, the ending theme to Bakusou Buggy Ipatsu Yarou. Soon afterward he scored his first full game, Relics: Ankoku Yousai. While at Bothec, Iwata met Hitoshi Sakimoto
Hitoshi Sakimoto
is a Japanese video game composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring the games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 70 games and arranged music for more than 40 others. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began...

, who was a freelance composer working on games for the company while still in high school. The two became friends, and the next game Iwata scored was a collaboration with Sakimoto for the 1988 shooter game
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...

 Revolter, published by ASCGroup for the NEC PC-8801
NEC PC-8801
The NEC PC-8801 was an early Zilog Z80-based computer exclusively released in Japan, where it became very popular, by NEC Corporation in 1981. It was informally called the "PC-88"....

. Iwata remained at Bothtec for a few years more, and left around a year after the company merged into Quest in 1990. He did not join up with another company, instead becoming a freelance composer like Sakimoto.

Over the next few years Iwata composed music for titles from a number of different companies, including Quest. On several of these titles he was credited by the nickname REZON. The nickname comes from the name of the car the hero drove in a show he watched as a child, and he picked it up as he liked the sound of it. Iwata's first encounter with mainstream success in Japan came about in 1993 when he composed Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
is a 1993 real-time strategy role-playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, directed by Yasumi Matsuno with artwork by Akihiko Yoshida...

along with Sakimoto. The soundtrack included a wide variety of instrumentation in its orchestral score, which was new to the composers who chose some instruments from a musical instrument description book Iwata had found. This collaboration led to Iwata co-composing several titles with Sakimoto over the next few years, culminating with his first brush with international success with Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics
is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It is the first game of the Final Fantasy Tactics series and was released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998...

in 1997. On these collaborations, the two typically divided up the work and worked on their own tracks, rather than co-compose each piece. Iwata also collaborated with several other artists during this period in his career, including Toshiaki Sakoda and Masanobu Tsukamoto.

In 2002, Iwata became one of the founding members of Basiscape, currently the largest independent video game music production company, along with Sakimoto, who heads the company, and Manabu Namiki
Manabu Namiki
is a Japanese video game composer who works mainly on shooter games. He has worked with game companies such as Allumer, NMK, Raizing and Cave...

. Basiscape composes and produces music and sound effects for various types of interactive media, most notably video games. Sakimoto says that he left Square to found the company because he did not feel that he had enough "freedom" as an employee of a game company, though he notes that the cost of that freedom is the difficulty in remaining close to the development team. The composers for the company are able to procure individual work for themselves as members of Basiscape, as well as collaborate with other staff members on projects that are hired out to Basiscape as a company rather than any one composer. This allows the composers to remain freelancers while having the steady work of a full-time job. Iwata has composed much of his work since joining the company in collaboration with other Basiscape artists, both as the lead composer and as a member of a large group. Since becoming part of Basiscape, Iwata has gone on to compose for over 25 other titles, including big-name works such as Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XII
is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2006, it is the twelfth title in the Final Fantasy series and the last in the series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation platform...

, Odin Sphere
Odin Sphere
is a 2D fantasy action RPG video game. Developed by Vanillaware and localized and published by Atlus for the PlayStation 2 in 2007, it tells the interlocking stories of five different protagonists. Odin Sphere is considered a spiritual successor to an Atlus game titled Princess Crown and takes some...

, and Soul Calibur IV.

Video game soundtracks

Composer
  • Bakusou Buggy Ipatsu Yarou (1987)
  • Relics: Ankoku Yousai (1987)
  • Revolter (1988) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
    Hitoshi Sakimoto
    is a Japanese video game composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring the games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 70 games and arranged music for more than 40 others. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began...

  • Starship Rendezvous (1990) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Barbatus no Majo (1990)
  • Metal Orange (1990) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto and JKL Furukawa
  • Carat (1990) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto and JKL Furukawa
  • Dungeon Kid (1990)
  • Might and Magic
    Might and Magic
    Might and Magic is a series of role-playing video games from New World Computing, which in 1996 became a subsidiary of The 3DO Company...

    (1990)
  • Conquest of the Crystal Palace
    Conquest of the Crystal Palace
    Conquest of the Crystal Palace is a 1990 Nintendo Entertainment System platformer by Quest and the Asmik Corporation of America. It was released as Matendouji in Japan....

    (1990)
  • Musashi no Bouken
    Musashi no Bouken
    Musashi no Bōken was an RPG for the Nintendo Family Computer system created by Sigma Ent. Inc., and released in Japan on December 22, 1990....

    (1990)
  • Rush Up
    World Champ
    World Champ, known in Japan as , is a boxing game developed and published in Japan by Visco for the Nintendo Family Computer, and was later published in North America by Romstar for the Nintendo Entertainment System....

    (1990)
  • Battle Ping Pong (1990)
  • King Breeder (1991) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • America Oudan Ultra Quiz: Shijou Saidai no Tatakai (1991)
  • Cowboy Kid
    Cowboy Kid
    Cowboy Kid is a video game for the NES platform released in January . In 1991, it was released in Japan as . It was published by Romstar. It is inspired by Konami's Ganbare Goemon series.-Summary:...

    (1991)
  • Over Horizon (1991)
  • Shikinjou (1991)
  • Robocco Wars
    Robocco Wars
    is a Japan-only Nintendo Family Computer video game that was released in 1991 to an exclusively Japanese audience.-Summary:The game allows the player to control a shape-changing robot named R-10 as they fights evil robots. On the land, the player is a freight train that must follow the railroad...

    (1991)
  • Verytex
    Verytex
    Verytex is a vertical scrolling shooting game that is exclusive to Japan. Players controlled the Verytex, a futuristic spaceship, on its journey to protect mankind from waves of enemies in six different levels.-Story:...

    (1991) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto and JKL Furukawa
  • Magical Chase
    Magical Chase
    is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Palsoft and released by Quest on the TurboGrafx-16 platform in 1991 in Japan, and 1993 in the U.S....

    (1991) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Gauntlet IV (1992) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • King Salmon: The Big Catch (1992)
  • Ushio to Tora: Shinen no Daiyou (1993)
  • The Gorilla Man (1993)
  • Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen
    Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen
    is a 1993 real-time strategy role-playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, directed by Yasumi Matsuno with artwork by Akihiko Yoshida...

    (1993) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto and Hayato Matsuo
    Hayato Matsuo
    is a Japanese video game and anime composer, arranger and orchestrator. He has worked on titles such as Front Mission 3, Final Fantasy XII, the Shenmue series, and Magic Knight Rayearth. Inspired by his mother, a piano teacher, he graduated from the music composition department of Tokyo University...

  • Kingdom Grand Prix
    Kingdom Grand Prix
    Kingdom Grandprix, released in Japan as is a vertically scrolling shooter/racing hybrid arcade game created by Eighting/Raizing, it was later ported to the Sega Saturn. It is the second in the Mahou Daisakusen series, but the first to include the bizarre but original feature of being a...

    (1994) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Dragon Master Silk: Episode II (1995) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (1995) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Treasure Hunter G
    Treasure Hunter G
    is a turn-based tactical role playing game developed by Sting Entertainment and published by Square . It was released on May 24, 1996. It was published on the Nintendo's Virtual Console service on December 25, 2007 in Japan....

    (1996) — with many others
  • Chip Chan Kick! (1996) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto and JKL Furukawa
  • Bloody Roar
    Bloody Roar
    is a series of fighting games created by Hudson Soft, and developed together with Eighting. The series has been published by multiple companies, including, Virgin Interactive, Activision and Konami.Hudson Soft later became a subsidiary of Konami.-Information:...

    (1997) — with many others
  • Final Fantasy Tactics
    Final Fantasy Tactics
    is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It is the first game of the Final Fantasy Tactics series and was released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998...

    (1997) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Baroque
    Baroque (video game)
    Baroque is a console role-playing game developed by Sting Entertainment and published by Atlus in the United States, originally developed for the Sega Saturn and later ported to the PlayStation. It was later remade by Sting, where it was to be a planned exclusive for Japan...

    (1998)
  • Bloody Roar 2
    Bloody Roar 2
    Bloody Roar II, is a brawler arcade game developed by Eighting/Raizing in 1999....

    (1999) — with Manabu Namiki, Kenichi Koyano, and Jin Watanabe
  • Evolution: The World of Sacred Device
    Evolution: The World of Sacred Device
    Evolution: The World of Sacred Device is a console role-playing game for the Dreamcast console. It was developed by Sting and published by Ubisoft in North America and Europe. In Japan it was published by ESP .Evolution is a dungeon crawling game that follows the adventures of Mag Launcher...

    (1999) — with Toshiaki Sakoda and Masanobu Tsukamoto
  • Evolution 2: Far Off Promise
    Evolution 2: Far Off Promise
    Evolution 2: Far Off Promise is a console role-playing game for the Dreamcast console. It is a sequel to Evolution: The World of Sacred Device. It was developed by Sting and published by Ubisoft in North America...

    (1999) — with Toshiaki Sakoda and Masanobu Tsukamoto
  • Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
    Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
    , sequel to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, is a real-time strategy role-playing video game developed by Quest and published by Atlus for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. Though basically similar to the original Ogre Battle, it has borne some notoriety for significant game play tweaks that...

    (1999) — with Hayato Matsuo
  • Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis
    Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis
    is a tactical strategy game developed by Quest. It was originally released by Nintendo in Japan in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance, then later released by Atlus in North America in 2002....

    (2001) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Shadow Hearts
    Shadow Hearts
    is a series of role playing games for the PlayStation 2. The original Shadow Hearts was developed by Sacnoth and released by Midway in the United States on December 11, 2001. The sequel, Shadow Hearts: Covenant , was also made by the same group, although Sacnoth reformed itself into a company...

    (2001) — with Yoshitaka Hirota
    Yoshitaka Hirota
    is a Japanese video game composer and bass guitarist. His most notable works include the soundtracks to the Shadow Hearts series. Hirota was previously a sound effects programmer having worked on various Square titles...

    , Yasunori Mitsuda
    Yasunori Mitsuda
    is a Japanese video game composer, sound programmer, and musician. He has composed music for or worked on over 35 games, and has contributed to over 15 other albums...

    , and Ryo Fukuda
  • Gekitou Pro Baseball (2003)
  • Mushihimesama (2004) — with Manabu Namiki
    Manabu Namiki
    is a Japanese video game composer who works mainly on shooter games. He has worked with game companies such as Allumer, NMK, Raizing and Cave...

  • Digi Communication 2 in 1 Datou! Black Gemagema Dan (2004) — with Manabu Namiki and Kenichi Koyano
  • Battle B-Daman
    Battle B-Daman
    is an anime and manga series by Eiji Inuki that first aired in January 2004 in Japan, replacing Beyblade in its timeslot. It premiered in the United States on April 2005. Like its predecessor, it is themed around an enhanced version of a children's schoolyard game – whereas Beyblade was based...

    (2004) — with Kenichi Koyano, Kimihiro Abe, and Manabu Namiki
  • Kuusen II (2004) — with Manabu Namiki
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Dream Carnival (2004) — with Manabu Namiki and Mitsuhiro Kaneda
  • Stella Deus (2004) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Jikuu Bouken Zentrix (2005) — with Manabu Namiki
  • Zoids: Full Metal Crash (2005) — with many others
  • Wizardry Gaiden: Prisoners of the Battles (2005) — with Mitsuhiro Kaneda and Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Final Fantasy XII
    Final Fantasy XII
    is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2006, it is the twelfth title in the Final Fantasy series and the last in the series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation platform...

    (2006) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto, Hayato Matsuo, and Nobuo Uematsu
    Nobuo Uematsu
    is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...

  • Battle Stadium D.O.N. (2006) — with Kimihiro Abe, Kenichi Koyano, Manabu Namiki, and Mitsuhiro Kaneda
  • Digimon Savers: Another Mission
    Digimon Savers: Another Mission
    is a Digimon video game for the PlayStation 2.-Gameplay:The game is set in the Digimon Data Squad universe, and revolves around the Seven Great Demon Lords. In this game the player will be able to control the four main Savers characters, Marcus Damon, Thomas H. Norstein, Yoshino "Yoshi" Fujieda,...

    (2006) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto and Manabu Namiki
  • BLEACH Heat the Soul 3 (2006) — with Manabu Namiki, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, and Kimihiro Abe
  • Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner
    Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner
    Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner is a turn-based role-playing video game developed by Gaia and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and Atlus for the PlayStation Portable console. The game was released in February 2006 in Japan and in February 2007 in North America.The game takes place in a...

    (2006) — with many others
  • Fantasy Earth: Zero (2006) — with Kenichi Koyano, Hitoshi Sakimoto, and Manabu Namiki
  • Children of Mana
    Children of Mana
    Children of Mana, known in Japan as , is a 2006 action role-playing game for the Nintendo DS handheld game console, part of the Mana series and, more specifically, of the World of Mana project launched by Square Enix...

    (2006) — with Kenji Ito
    Kenji Ito
    , also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays...

     and Takayuki Aihara
  • Grim Grimoire (2007) — with Basiscape
    Hitoshi Sakimoto
    is a Japanese video game composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring the games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 70 games and arranged music for more than 40 others. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began...

  • Odin Sphere
    Odin Sphere
    is a 2D fantasy action RPG video game. Developed by Vanillaware and localized and published by Atlus for the PlayStation 2 in 2007, it tells the interlocking stories of five different protagonists. Odin Sphere is considered a spiritual successor to an Atlus game titled Princess Crown and takes some...

    (2007) — with Basiscape
  • Deltora Quest: The Seven Jewels (2007) — with Basiscape
  • A.S.H. -Archaic Sealed Heat- (2007) — with Hitoshi Sakimoto
  • Opoona
    Opoona
    is a role-playing video game developed by ArtePiazza and published by Koei for the Wii. The player follows the story of the titular Opoona as he attempts to find the location of his family from which he was separated after the occurrence of a mysterious accident during their travels...

    (2007) — with Basiscape
  • Elminage: Yami no Fujo to Kamigami no Yubiwa (2008) — with Basiscape
  • Coded Soul (2008) — with Basiscape
  • Suikoden Tierkreis
    Suikoden Tierkreis
    Suikoden Tierkreis, originally released in Japan as , is a role-playing video game for the Nintendo DS developed and published by Konami as part of their Suikoden series. Originally released in December 2008 for Japanese audiences, the game was made available in English in Europe and North America...

    (2008) — with Norikazu Miura and Yoshino Aoki
    Yoshino Aoki
    is a Japanese video game music composer. She began her career with video game company Capcom and later became a free-lance composer.-Life and career:...

  • Soul Calibur IV (2008) — with Junichi Nakatsuru
    Junichi Nakatsuru
    is a Japanese video game composer and sound director employed at Namco Bandai Games. He is best known for his work on the Soul series.-Biography:...

    , Keiki Kobayashi, and Hiroyuki Fujita
  • The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (2008) - with Hitoshi Sakimoto, Michiko Naruke, and Kimihiro Abe
  • Muramasa: The Demon Blade
    Muramasa: The Demon Blade
    Muramasa: The Demon Blade, known in Japan as is an action role playing game developed by Vanillaware and published by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan, Rising Star Games in Europe, and Ignition Entertainment in North America for the Wii...

    (2009) - with Basiscape
  • Tactics Ogre: Wheel of Fate (2011) - with Hitoshi Sakimoto

Arranger
  • Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
    Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
    is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS handheld game console.Grimoire of the Rift is the sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as well as an iteration in the Ivalice Alliance.- Gameplay :...

    (2007)

External links

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