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.
Yamamoto's music utilizes heavy drums, piano, voiced chants, clangs of pipes, and electric guitar. 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.
He was asked to compose the music for Metroid Prime to reinforce the series' continuity. 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.
Works
Year Title Role 1987 Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! Music with Yukio Kaneoka and Akito Nakatsuka 1988 Famicom Wars Music with Hirokazu Tanaka1989 Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind Music, sound effects 1992 Super Scope 6Sound 1994 Super Metroid Music with Minako Hamano 1995 Galactic Pinball Music with Masaru Tajima1997BS Tantei Club: Yuki ni Kieta KakoMusic 1999 Famicom Bunko: Hajimari no Mori Music with Kozue Ishikawa2001 Mario Kart: Super Circuit Sound support 2002 Metroid Fusion Sound director Metroid Prime Music with Koichi Kyuma 2004 Metroid Prime 2: Echoes MusicMetroid: Zero MissionMusic with Minako Hamano 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 Music with Masaru Tajima 2007 Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Music with Minako Hamano and Masaru Tajima 2008 Super Smash Bros. Brawl Arrangements 2009 Excitebots: Trick Racing Music with Masaru Tajima and Shinji Ushiroda 2010 Photo Dojo Sound supervisor Donkey Kong Country Returns Music with various others 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 supervisorTomodachi Life Sound supervisorStreetPass Mii Plaza Sound directorNintendojiMusic director 2014 Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Music supervisorPokémon Art Academy Sound supervisor Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Arrangements 2015 Style Savvy: Fashion ForwardSound supervisorMario Tennis: Ultra Smash Sound supervisorReal Dasshutsu Game x Nintendo 3DSSound directorRhythm Heaven MegamixSound support staff Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Sound support 2016 Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo ChallengeMusic supervisorDisney Art AcademySound supervisorMiitopiaSound supervisor 2017 Hey! Pikmin Sound progress management Metroid: Samus Returns Music director 2018 Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido Sound support 2021 Metroid Dread Music director2023Metroid Prime RemasteredMusic producer2025Metroid Prime 4: BeyondMusic with Minako Hamano
References
External links
Composer profile at OverClocked ReMix