For the past few months we have been working on an extra special interview for Shinesparkers with the legendary composer of Metroid, Hirokazu Tanaka. If you’re a fan of music from the Metroid series such as Kraid’s Lair, Brinstar and the iconic opening theme to the first Metroid title, Mr. Tanaka is the man you should be thanking. His musical compositions are featured in many iconic Nintendo titles, such as Kid Icarus, EarthBound, Super Mario Land, Duck Hunt and many more. His work goes beyond music as the designer and programmer for the Famicom and Game Boy audio hardware, and is credited in the design of the Game Boy Camera and Printer!
We are incredibly thankful to Tanaka-san for sparing his time to speak with us, along with translator Antoine Fantys and his friend Toya Yukawa for their support in helping us translate this interview. Special thanks to Ben Stewart for the great header image, as well as team member RoyboyX with helping us put the interview together with yours truly.