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[batbeg]

When I think of Motoi Sakuraba I don't think of the Tales games nor the Star Ocean ones. I think of fucking Dark Souls.

Man, amazing soundtrack in that game.

My mind is blown - I had no idea Sakuraba did that soundtrack.

 

[Datschge]

Kohei Tanaka's best soundtrack is Lennus 2, very unique style I haven't heard since.

Also whoever wrote Kikikaikai soundtrack for snes is genius.

Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, great guy with great music. Got a whole free tribute album recently.

When I think of Motoi Sakuraba I don't think of the Tales games nor the Star Ocean ones. I think of fucking Dark Souls.

Man, amazing soundtrack in that game.

Already wanted to mention that Sakuraba is quite underrated since he gets relentlessly bashed at many places by people not trying to hear the variety he can offer (once developers request it).

 

[Zhaanie]

Yeah, it blew my mind too. I honestly thought he lost his mojo ages ago, but the Dark Souls soundtrack is fucking amazing.

Maybe he just needed a break from generic JRPGs.

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

Did you know that Sakuraba also did all the music for Mario Golf / Tennis? Apparently the sound director at Camelot is a former co-worker.

 

[dc89]

I really think the Professor Layton music is under rated.

 

[Kuroudu]

I don't think he did many game soundtracks, but I like the songs he did in Folklore. Don't think he is either underrated, he is well known for anime and movie soundtracks.

Kenji Kawai
Folklore Soundtrack - A Mysterious Door
Folklore Soundtrack - Sorrow


As mentioned I think Go Shiina is underrated, Tales of Legendia OST was amazing.

 

[Chaz Ashley]

I personally nominate Akari Kaida... I am not in a position to link any of her work at the moment, though.

Totally, "Breath of Fire III" has one of my favorite Soundtracks ever.

 

[RurouniZel]

+1
Big big fan of Kohei Tanaka for his Sakura Taisen works. he can add so much to a game!

Also whoever wrote Kikikaikai soundtrack for snes is genius.

Another +1 for Kohei Tanaka. His music in Resonance of Fate was the best part about that game! <3

 

[Coxy]

was gonna post Kohei Tanaka!

also nominate Noriyuki Iwadare, Ken Nakagawa, Daisuke Achiwa, Akira Tsuchiya

 

[john tv]

Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda are criminally underrated. Killer 7 and God Hand had two of my favorite OSTs of the last generation.

Killer 7 - Rave On
God Hand - Gene's Rock-a-Bye

(These are just the two most obvious tracks.)

Even though Akira Yamaoka's work on Shadows of the Damned was awesome, it still bums me out that Takada isn't working with Grasshopper anymore.

Takada's working with Shinji Mikami now. Cannot wait to see the first thing Tango puts out with their stamp on it. http://tangogameworks.com/studio/staff

 

[wiggleb0t]

Motoi Sakuraba 'Relaxing place' is heavenly on the ears and 'soul'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rXHTv021Qo

 

[Strife91]

I don't think he did many game soundtracks, but I like the songs he did in Folklore. Don't think he is either underrated, he is well known for anime and movie soundtracks.

Kenji Kawai
Folklore Soundtrack - A Mysterious Door
Folklore Soundtrack - Sorrow


As mentioned I think Go Shiina is underrated, Tales of Legendia OST was amazing.

Kenji Kawai is one of my favorite composers. Didn't know he had done video game music.

 

[Augemitbutter]

Ryo Yonemitsu

old school composer/arranger, best know for his work on Ys.

his newest arrangement from Eschatos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-G3rvO0fyE

 

[mattp]

no one has said miki higashino???
and obviously Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

 

[iconoclast]

Ryu Umemoto (RIP)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClluchrWNJA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRR6rGiUsVo

http://vgmdb.net/artist/50

This. Espgaluda II Black Label and Akai Katana Shin have two of the best soundtracks this gen (if not the best). Pretty much everything he's done is great, but those are my two favorites (possibly because I've heard them so many times...).

edit:

Yousuke Yasui (Eschatos, enough said)

This is great too. Eschatos definitely has one of the best soundtracks of the year, too bad so few people have even heard of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnH9SWk7Sqs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNvMT4WjaOo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOMYqXXGA_I

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

I could basically say everyone that makes up Zuntata but I'll break it down a little bit:

Hisayoshi Ogura - Must read interview over here
G Darius - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUv1QYWfoWk
Ninja Warriors - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vso5T1qJNF0

Yasuhisa "Yack" Watanabe
Metal Black - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUi6mpfTxL0
Elevator Action Returns - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQfxM7QzOiM

Masahiko Takaki
Night Striker - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tF_Cb998ZA

Tamayo Kawamoto
Rayforce - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AhA-mgMs60

Konami Kukeiha Club
A massive unit. They've delivered nothing but classic stuff
Not sure where to begin with them but these two jump to mind immediately.

XEXEX - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YKo2YhP1jM
Salamander 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuJGhdLFr7g

Nobuyoshi Sano aka SanoDG
Sure he's one of Namco's go-to guys for anything Tekken and Ridge Racer, but my favorite work will likely always be Drakengard 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QHmAtmozHE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSSv2XFfv-U&feature=related

Manabu Namiki
Battle Garegga - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szr0TSXcWok&feature=related
Mushihime-sama - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6cmqrcX8go&feature=related

Shinji Hosoe
Pretty much the sole reason why Street Fighter EX exists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkz9Wuc08wc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NXqEj0XzIU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNZtdQHEjwI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axibQV5YsOk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkk-6kv_KTc&feature=related

 

[Vuffster]

Miki Higashino (Suikoden I&II), Yuka Tsujiyoko (Fire Emblem)

 

[discoalucard]

Toshikazu Tanaka, who did a lot of SNK Playmore stuff about five years ago, including Metal Slug 4, 5 and 7, that 3D Metal Slug, King of Fighters Maximum Impact, Rage of the Dragons, and Matrimelee.

http://vgmdb.net/artist/1594

 

[Chemo]

Masafumi Takada is definitely at the top of this list.

 

[bernardobri]

Nobuko Toda

MGS Portable Ops - Calling to the Night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpPH7deyMRI

MGS 4 - Love Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGf2b1H91JA

MGS Peace Walker:
Rain of Bane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sn4ueiEIrc
Uninterrupted Signal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6sTnPo-j4g

She also co-composed and arranged a lot of themes in other soundtracks.

http://vgmdb.net/artist/1792

 

[djtiesto]

Hip Tanaka is pretty underrated IMO, his music defines the early NES for me. Also I can't believe OP forgot Yuzo Koshiro.

The Konami Kukeiha Club was the shit back in the day (classic Konami games had some DOPE soundtracks)... but like the rest of Konami I have no idea what happened...

 

[Brigandier]

no one has said miki higashino???
and obviously Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

Good call on Takenobu Mitsuyoshi his work on Shenmue and Shenmue II are outstanding.

Shenmue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nt56h-Ogek&feature=related

Shenmue II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHWGGk6qIPQ

I could post the whole soundtrack from each game there's literally only a small handful of tracks that are not memorable.

Dude puts so many of the so called big name composers to absolute shame this guy deserves more recognition.

 

[kokujin]

When I think of Motoi Sakuraba I don't think of the Tales games nor the Star Ocean ones. I think of fucking Dark Souls.

Man, amazing soundtrack in that game.

Yeah he's good , but his best work was from the early 90's

El Viento-Detroit Car Factory
El Viento-Factory
Arcus Odyssey-Castomira Dragon
Granada-Smashing Street

Like some others have, Umemoto(R.I.P),Iwadare.I going to nominate Motoaki Takenouchi, he made some the best music on the Genesis, but sadly i haven't seen anything from him in ages.

Jewel Master-Close to the Edge
Jewel Master-Talk to the Wind

Shining Force 2-Castle
Shining Force 2-To Arms

My second nominee is Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, this guy is all around awesome, and he still makes real VGM even til this day.

Power Rangers(SNES)-Area 4
Power Rangers(SNES)-Area 2

Power Rangers Movie-Aircraft Carrier

I'll post some more later.

 

[frequency]

Michiko Naruke. I love the music in Wild Arms.

My absolute favourite composer (by far), even outside of video games.
She deserves infinitely more love than she gets.

She recently composed the soundtrack for &#12494;&#12540;&#12521;&#12392;&#21051;&#12398;&#24037;&#25151; &#38695;&#12398;&#26862;&#12398;&#39764;&#22899;. It's one of my favourite soundtracks. I may like it better than her Wild Arms work.
The game is pretty good too. Unfortunately, it's a DS game so the west will never see it. Atlus published it in Japan so I assume they have the rights? I don't think they'd give it to anyone else or release a DS game now.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I can't believe OP forgot Yuzo Koshiro.

Yuzo Koshiro isn't underrated. He's an excellent composer and recognized appropriately.

 

[Syril]

I'll have to mention Disgaea's composer, Tenpei Sato.

 

[jbueno]

Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda are criminally underrated. Killer 7 and God Hand had two of my favorite OSTs of the last generation.

Killer 7 - Rave On
God Hand - Gene's Rock-a-Bye

(These are just the two most obvious tracks.)

Even though Akira Yamaoka's work on Shadows of the Damned was awesome, it still bums me out that Takada isn't working with Grasshopper anymore.

It´s like you´re reading my mind!

Now to actually contribute to this thread, I nominate Go Sato from the Raiden series and Shogo Sakai specially for his work in Mother 3.

When I think of Motoi Sakuraba I don't think of the Tales games nor the Star Ocean ones. I think of fucking Dark Souls.

Man, amazing soundtrack in that game.

Indeed, but when I think of Sakuraba I don´t think of any of those games, I think of mother fucking Baten Kaitos I & II. Best music he has ever done IMO.

EDIT: Also Laura Shigihara has to count as Japanese, though perhaps she isn´t really underrated. Love the Plants vs Zombies tracks.

 

[Seda]

Tsuyoshi Sekito

 

[badcrumble]

Rei Kondo, whose work on Okami and Bayonetta outshone even Masami Ueda's.

Ueda is also seriously underrated, by the way. Love his work on the Biohazard series.

 

[Orayn]

Tsukasa Saito, King's Field IV.

There's something wrong with you if that didn't give you chills. Bear in mind this is the main menu music for a game about a foreboding and hopeless journey into an underground deathtrap, drenched in dark fantasy visuals.

 

[Datschge]

Did you know that Sakuraba also did all the music for Mario Golf / Tennis? Apparently the sound director at Camelot is a former co-worker.

Right, Masaaki Uno is his name, formerly a composer himself before he moved up to doing management and coordination first at Wolfteam, then at Camelot. In 1989 they were running ads for additional composer, and Yasunori Shiono and Motoi Sakuraba were the composers hired as a result of that.

 

[Datschge]

My second nominee is Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, this guy is all around awesome, and he still makes real VGM even til this day.

Hear hear. As I posted before don't miss the Hiroyuki Iwatsuki tribute album. (Edit: sorry for the dp...)

 

[Seth Balmore]

Hitoshi Sakimoto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSxs2t8EJbc

How on Earth did it take 42 posts for someone to mention Sakimoto. :|

Kow Otani, a fu**ing genius !!!

AND 45 posts for someone to mention Otani. What the fuck. >:|

The sound team at Clover/Seeds/Platinum are gods among men/women as well, good to see they've already gotten some love from this thread too.

 

[frequency]

How on Earth did it take 42 posts for someone to mention Sakimoto. :|


AND 45 posts for someone to mention Otani. What the fuck. >:|

Sakimoto isn't really underrated.
Otani doesn't really do games does he? I don't know what he did besides SotC.

 

[Seth Balmore]

Sakimoto isn't really underrated.
Otani doesn't really do games does he? I don't know what he did besides SotC.

You do have a point about Sakimoto not being underrated, but since Ultros didn't mention him in the OP and people are dropping big names like Kajiura or Hibino I just wanted to show the man's work some additional love I really admire how his composing style is instantly recognizable but not samey at all.

And again you make a very valid point about Otani, I just wish the man worked on videogames more often. Guess I got a tad overzealous not once but twice in my previous post, haha.

 

[Lyonaz]

+1 for Noriyuki Iwadare.

I love his work.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

Definitely Miki Higashino. One of the most underrated I can think of. Everything she did is amazing.

 

[AranhaHunter]

Clap Hanz is the only underrated Japanese company IMHO. HSG2 was my most played PSP game and HSG6 is the best game out for Vita IMO.

 

[randomkid]

Oh I've got an answer. Kenichi Tsuchiya is secretly the best Megaten composer and no one knows. Nobody does a character theme better in the biz.

Plus he's responsible for this bit of loveliness from SMT3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_zL_q0ttTA

 

[Macstorm]

Takeharu Ishimoto - The World Ends With You, Crisis Core, and FF Type-0

A few samples.
The Price of Freedom (CC) - http://youtu.be/MOJ91H4mraU
Machina Kunagiri (Type-0) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS1pfalnVoc
Amnesia (TWEWY) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9BrsAqdWsk

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I'll have to mention Disgaea's composer, Tenpei Sato.

Oh good someone else remembered.

I am sad that the OP focuses only on Japanese video game composers. A lot of composers from other countries don't nearly get the love they deserve, even though their accomplishments make them worthy of gamer-household name status (*cough* Ubisoft's stable *cough*)

 

[keit4]

Michiko Naruke. I love the music in Wild Arms.

Kow Otani, a fu**ing genius !!!

Come here to post these. I want to add two more to the list: Taro Bando and Hajime Wakai.

 

[Glorious_Paradox]

Jun Chikuma is worth mentioning here, if only for her amazing job in Faxanadu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc8vy6FUbz8

Also, as mentioned above, Tsukasa Saito's work with King's Field is incredible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtUNWWZcjMI&feature=relmfu

 

[Yuterald]

Tsukasa Saito, King's Field IV.

There's something wrong with you if that didn't give you chills. Bear in mind this is the main menu music for a game about a foreboding and hopeless journey into an underground deathtrap, drenched in dark fantasy visuals.

Yes, I was just about to post this! There are some other really great tracks in that game too. The holy forest, mansion of howling winds, etc. Good atmospheric stuff.

Anyway, my first pic off the top of my head is going to be Naoyuki Sato. He partnered with Michiru Yamane and did Elebits together. Elebits has an AMAZING OST. I'm pretty sure the following tracks are Sato.

Elebits:

Me and my Little War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-9IxW0p4EM&feature=topics

The Zero Elebit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKQJrEr6piQ&feature=topics

Puzzle Panic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLqbZoOO7y8&feature=topics

 

[CrazyDude]

Shogo Sakai.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5SWJR4HIzM&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idULzIIF950

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Miki Higashino. The first two Suikodens have great soundtracks, especially the second.

 

[Airgetlam]

She recently composed the soundtrack for &#12494;&#12540;&#12521;&#12392;&#21051;&#12398;&#24037;&#25151; &#38695;&#12398;&#26862;&#12398;&#39764;&#22899;. It's one of my favourite soundtracks. I may like it better than her Wild Arms work.

Is it really? I should look it up and listen. I've really missed her music since she didn't compose for Wild Arms 5 and that came out four years ago. (I'm still desperately hoping for a Wild Arms 6, which will probably never happen. That and Suikoden VI T_T)

 

[Teknoman]

My second nominee is Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, this guy is all around awesome, and he still makes real VGM even til this day.

Power Rangers(SNES)-Area 4
Power Rangers(SNES)-Area 2

Power Rangers Movie-Aircraft Carrier

I'll post some more later.

So THATS who composed those tracks. What games does he compose for today, because alot of action titles could really use his musical talents.

I don't know if he's necessarily underrated since his output is slim at best, BUT CHECK EM TRASURE CLASSICS courtesy of the Norio Hanzawa bomb:

Gunstar Heroes Stage 1
Gunstar Heroes - Green boss fight
Guardian heroes - Fighters of Pain
Sin and Punishment: Star Successor - War
Sin and Punishment: Star Successor - Barrage

Yup he knows how to set the scene.

Go Shiina. I'm not sure what else he did besides Tales of Legendia, but I'd definitely like to see him do more games.

Chasing Shirley
Forest of No Return
The Legendary Sorcerer
Sea of Rage
Hurry

God Eater and Mr. Driller (which has a far too awesome soundtrack for a puzzle game).

Mr. Driller:

Speed of Light

Caballero night area

God Eater:

A shadow covering the town

The savior's return

Dont forget the HAL/Kirby crew:

Jun Ishikawa & Hirokazu Ando -

Factory Investigation

Rock Star

Marshmallow Castle

Battle with Marx

 

[frequency]

Is it really? I should look it up and listen. I've really missed her music since she didn't compose for Wild Arms 5 and that came out four years ago. (I'm still desperately hoping for a Wild Arms 6, which will probably never happen. That and Suikoden VI T_T)

The lack of Wild Arms has been the biggest disappointment for me this home console generation. Suikoden hurts a lot too, but at least we're getting a new one for the PSP (although it's another spin-off type thing).

I find the Noora soundtrack to be generally brighter. I guess because it's a way more light hearted game than Wild Arms (though that series isn't all that dark either). I like all of her music, but I definitely prefer the brighter town/overworld/etc themes she does more than the combat/forboding themes.
She has Kaori Asoh back to do the vocals for the main theme too. It's such a great soundtrack.

I would find some youtube videos or something for you but I'm at work right now.

 

[Lumpy Onion]

Akihiko Mori did the soundtrack for Mystic Ark. Also the soundtracks for Wonder Project JK and J2 among a few other SFC games I haven't played. After playing Mystic Ark and reading up on the composer it saddened me to find out he died in the late 1990's. Really good music.

Your mother is the next god- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IEThEfKieA&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLEA91C55209EDFF0B

A boss theme- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5e-90ZzWt4&feature=related

Match Time- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa31kmrkmBI

Final Boss theme- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzXRRdUvvco&feature=related

I really like these songs as they all try and weave the game's main musical theme (your mother is the next god) into the battle tracks. The Final Boss theme in particular is incredibly bad-ass and epic sounding.