is a Japanese composer and pianist known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working at the video game studio Capcom the same year. Shimomura wrote music for several games there, including Final Fight, Street Fighter II, and The King of Dragons. She left Capcom and joined Square (now Square Enix) in 1993, with her first project there being Live A Live. There she would compose the music for games such as Super Mario RPG, Legend of Mana, and Parasite Eve. Shimomura received the BAFTA Fellowship award in 2025.
Shimomura would later become better known for writing the music for the Kingdom Hearts series. She left Square to become a freelancer in 2002, continuing to work with them on later games such as The 3rd Birthday and Final Fantasy XV. Other well-known games she worked on include the Mario & Luigi series, Radiant Historia, and Xenoblade Chronicles. Her works have been performed in multiple video game music concerts, with her music also published as arranged albums and piano scores. Shimomura is a member of the music label Brave Wave Productions.
Early life Shimomura was born on October 19, 1967, in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. She developed an interest for music at a young age, and started taking piano lessons "at the age of four or five". She began composing her own music by playing the piano randomly and pretending to compose, eventually coming up with her own pieces, the first of which she says she still remembers how to play. Shimomura attended Osaka College of Music, and graduated as a piano major in 1988.
Upon graduation, Shimomura intended to become a piano instructor and was extended a job offer to become a piano teacher at a music store, but due to her interest in video games she decided to send some samples of her work to various video game companies that were recruiting at the university. Capcom invited her in for an audition and interview, and she was offered a job there. Her family and instructors were dismayed with her change in focus, as video game music was not well respected, and "they had paid [her] tuition for an expensive music school and couldn't understand why [she] would accept such a job", but Shimomura accepted the job at Capcom anyway.
Career
While working for Capcom, Shimomura contributed to the soundtracks of over 16 games, including the successful Street Fighter II, for which she composed all but three pieces. The first soundtrack she worked on at the company was for Samurai Sword in 1988. Final Fight, in 1989, was her first work to receive a separate soundtrack album release, on an album of music from several Capcom games.Final Fight -G.S.M. CAPCOM 3-. Pony Canyon (May 21, 1990). PCCB-00030. The first soundtrack album to exclusively feature her work came a year later for the soundtrack to Street Fighter II.Street Fighter II Image Album -G.S.M. CAPCOM-. Pony Canyon (November 21, 1991). PCCB-00075. While she began her tenure at Capcom working on games for video game consoles, by 1990 she had moved to the arcade game division. She was a member of the company's in-house band Alph Lyla, which played various Capcom game music, including pieces written by Shimomura. She performed live with the group on a few occasions, including playing piano during Alph Lyla's appearance at the 1992 Game Music Festival.
In 1993, Shimomura left Capcom to join another game company, Square. She stated that this was because she was interested in writing "classical-style" music for fantasy role-playing games. While working for Capcom, she was in the arcade department and was unable to transfer to the console department to focus her work on their role-playing video game series Breath of Fire, although she did contribute one track to the first game in the series. Her first project at Square was the score for the role-playing video game Live A Live in 1994. While she was working on the score to Super Mario RPG the following year, she was asked to join Noriko Matsueda on the music to the futuristic role-playing game Front Mission. Although she stated she was overworked doing both scores and it was not the genre that she was interested in, she found herself unable to refuse after her attempted refusal happened in the presence of the president of Square, Tetsuo Mizuno. These games were followed by Tobal No. 1, the last score she worked on with another composer for a decade.
Over the next few years, she composed the soundtrack to several games, including Parasite Eve and Legend of Mana. Of all her compositions, Shimomura considers the soundtrack to Legend of Mana the one that best expresses herself and the soundtrack remains Shimomura's personal favourite. Parasite Eve on the PlayStation had the first soundtrack by Shimomura that included a vocal song, as it was the first game she had written for running on a console system that had the sound capability for one. In 2002 she wrote the score for Kingdom Hearts, which she has said is the most "special" soundtrack to her, as well as a turning point in her career; she named the soundtracks to Street Fighter II and Super Mario RPG as the other two significant points in her life as a composer.
Kingdom Hearts was highly successful, shipping more than four million copies worldwide; Shimomura's music was frequently cited as one of the highlights of the game, and the title track has been ranked as the fourth-best role-playing game title track of all time. The soundtrack has received two albums of piano arrangements. Kingdom Hearts was the last soundtrack that she worked on as an employee at Square. After the release of Kingdom Hearts in 2002, Shimomura left Square for maternity leave, and began work as a freelancer in 2003. She has built on the work she did while at Square, continuing to compose music for all eleven Kingdom Hearts games, and branching out to Nintendo's Mario & Luigi series. She has also worked on many other projects, such as Heroes of Mana and various arranged albums. In February 2014, Shimomura played piano at a retrospective 25th anniversary concert at Tokyo FM Hall. She performed songs from games such as Kingdom Hearts, Live a Live, and Street Fighter II. During the Beware the Forest's Mushrooms performance from Super Mario RPG, Shimomura was joined onstage by fellow composer Yasunori Mitsuda, who played the Irish bouzouki. She most recently composed and produced the majority of the score for Final Fantasy XV, which she began writing for in 2006, a decade before the game was released. She is also a member of the music label Brave Wave Productions.
Works Video games Composition + Year Title Notes 1988Samurai Sword 1989Final Fight"Round 5: Bay Area 2 & 3"1990Code Name: ViperAll tracks except Stage 1 by Junko Tamiya (uncredited)Gargoyle's Quest With Harumi Fujita (uncredited)Adventures in the Magic KingdomMizushima Shinji no DaikoushienNemoMahjong School: The Super O VersionWith Masaki Izutani (uncredited)1991Street Fighter IIWith Isao AbeThe King of Dragons Block Block With Masaki Izutani 1992Varth: Operation Thunderstorm "Bonus Stage"1993Breath of Fire"Trade City"The PunisherWith Isao Abe 1994Live A Live 1995Front MissionWith Noriko Matsueda1996Super Mario RPGTobal No. 1With several others 1998Parasite Eve 1999Legend of Mana 2000Hataraku Chocobo 2002Kingdom Hearts 2003Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga 2004Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories2005Pop'n Music 13 Carnival "Majestic Fire"Mario & Luigi: Partners in TimeKingdom Hearts II 2006Monster Kingdom: Jewel SummonerWith several others2007Heroes of ManaKingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories 2008Luminous Arc 2With Akari Kaida, Yoshino Aoki, and Shunsuke Nakamura2009Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside StoryKingdom Hearts 358/2 DaysPop'n Music 17 The Movie "Twin Hero - Oath to Tomorrow"2010Kingdom Hearts Birth by SleepWith Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu IshimotoKingdom Hearts codedXenoblade ChroniclesWith Manami Kiyota and ACE+Last RankerKingdom Hearts Re:codedRadiant HistoriaThe 3rd BirthdayWith Tsuyoshi Sekito and Mitsuto Suzuki 2011Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming"Battle of the God 9"2012Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop DistanceWith Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu IshimotoDemons' Score "Azazel del cielo ardiente"2013Mario & Luigi: Dream TeamKingdom Hearts χExstetra "Main Theme"2014Rise of Mana "Where the Heart Beats Free"Terra BattleTwo tracksV.D. -Vanishment Day-2015Chronos RingWith Kenji Ito and Evan CallChunithm: Seelisch Tact "Tango Rouge"Kakuriyo no Mon "Ihou no Shugosha"Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam2016The Alchemist CodeWith Shinya Tanaka and Shigeki HayashiThe Black Knight and the White Demon KingWith Shota KageyamaFinal Fantasy XVWith Tetsuya Shibata, Yoshino Aoki, and Yoshitaka Suzuki2017Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary PassageMagicians Dead Next BlazingWith Masato Kouda and Makoto IidaEgglia: Legend of the Red CapWith Yoshitaka HirotaRadiant Historia: Perfect ChronologyMario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions2018Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey2019Kingdom Hearts IIIWith Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu IshimotoRakugaki Kingdom "Yume to Gensou no Enbukyoku" Renshin Astral Paris battle themes 2020 Streets of Rage 4 "Shiva" 2021Gran Saga Xuan-Yuan Sword VII "Mohism" 2022Sin Chronicle"La Giustizia"Mario + Rabbids Sparks of HopeWith Grant Kirkhope and Gareth Coker 2024Reynatis 2025Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo"Pipistrello Manor"Street Fighter 6"Edge of Triumph"Lost Soul Aside"A New Home", "Luminous", "Walk With Me", "Lost Soul (Violin)" 2026Vampire CrawlersMain theme "Il Cuor non si Spaura" 2027Kingdom Hearts IV
Arrangements + Year Title Notes 1989F-1 DreamOriginal music by Manami Matsumae 1991Buster Bros.Original music by Tamayo Kawamoto 2008Super Smash Bros. Brawl "Tetris: Type A", "Gritzy Desert", and "King Dedede's Theme" 2009Little King's StoryMaurice Ravel's Boléro 2013Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 RemixOrchestrations2014Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U"Magicant / Eight Melodies", "Try, Try Again", "Route 10", and "Ryu Stage"Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 RemixArrangements, orchestrations 2018Super Smash Bros. Ultimate "Kass' Theme", "Vega Stage", "Treasure Trove Cove", "Pasta", "Dance of the Blocks", "Cosmo Canyon", "Moonsiders 1st", and "Hand in Hand", 2020The Wonderful 101: RemasteredWith several othersKingdom Hearts: Melody of MemoryArrangements 2022Live A Live HD-2D RemakeArrangements 2023Super Mario RPGArrangements
Other + Year Title Notes 1989G.S.M. 1500 series ~ Sweet HomeArranged two tracks1992Captain Commando -G.S.M. Capcom 5With Alph LylaGame Music Festival ~Super Live '92~With Alph Lyla 1993Street Fighter II Collector's BoxWith Alph Lyla 1998Parasite Eve RemixesWith several others 2004Dan Doh!!AnimePhantasy Star Online Episode I & II Premium ArrangeWith several othersDark Chronicle Premium ArrangeWith several others 2005Best Student CouncilAnime 2006Rogue Galaxy Premium ArrangeWith several others 2007MurmurOriginal album, with lyrics and vocals by Chata 2008Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura 2009Mushihimesama Double Arrange AlbumWith several others 2010GeOnDan Rare Tracks Ver. 2.0With several others 2011GeOnDan Super Rare Trax: The LAND of RISING SUNWith several others 2012GO! GO! Buriki Daioh!!With several others 2013X'mas Collections IIWith several others 2014memória! ~ The Very Best of Yoko ShimomuraGame Music Prayer IIWith several others 2017Napping Princess Anime 2018High Score GirlAnime 2019Ladderless"Deeply Mind"; original album by Oldcodex?"Nocturne"; tribute album to XXXTentacion 2020Yucho Pay Original Image Song #TOKIWOMEKURUYUBI 2021Merregnon: Land of Silence Concert 2022Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal Anime 2024The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians Anime with Hayato Matsuo and Dai Haraguchi 2026Undertale Piano Arrangement Album - Echoes BeneathWith several others
Legacy