is a Japanese

video game music Video game music (VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to t ...

composer who worked for

Sunsoft , is a Japanese electronics manufacturer, video game developer and publisher. They are known for their video games under the brand name Sunsoft. History In April 1971, Sun Electronics Corporation (alternatively called Sun Denshi) was founded i ...

. He is currently a professor of music at several universities and occasionally composes new music for special events. Kodaka first learned to play piano during his early childhood but quit formal training at age 7, finding that he preferred to play popular music. He later resumed his classical studies in high school and would go on to major in composition at the

Aichi Prefectural University of the Arts formerly known as "Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music" is a public university in the city of Nagakute in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The university was established in 1966 and is located in a hilly area on the eastern outskirts o ...

. Following his graduation, he briefly worked on producing music for radio and television. Among his classmates, Kodaka was known to spend much of his spare time in arcades, and this ultimately attracted Sunsoft to hire him as a video game composer. He is best known for writing the soundtracks for ''

Journey to Silius ''Journey to Silius'', known in Japan as , is a Side-scrolling video game, side-scrolling Shoot 'em up#Run and gun, run and gun video game developed and published by Sunsoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990. ''Journey to Silius'' wa ...

'', ''Batman'' (

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

and

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

versions), ''

Blaster Master ''Blaster Master'' is a video game series that was originally developed and published by Sunsoft. It began with the 1988 video game ''Blaster Master (video game), Blaster Master'' for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the series has been Re ...

, Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', the '' Albert Odyssey series'', '' Super Fantasy Zone'', and a few other titles. He was almost always assisted on his NES projects by sound programmers Nobuyuki Hara, Shinichi Seya, and sometimes Naohisa Morota. Usually, Kodaka would compose songs on traditional sheet music, and the sound programmers would translate the compositions for the NES, sometimes receiving feedback from Kodaka on how the songs should sound. Kodaka retired from game music composition in 2002 and became a professor at

Nagoya College of Music is a private university at Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Jap ...

, where he teaches composition, arrangement, and production. At some later time, he also joined the faculty at

Daido University is a coeducational private university in Minami-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. History The university began as the Daido Technical-Educational Foundation in 1939. In 1969, the school became the Daido Institute of Technology. The universi ...

, where he teaches

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

and computer-based music.

Works

*''

Atlantis no Nazo is a side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Sunsoft and released for the Family Computer in 1986. The game is set in the mythical land of Atlantis. The player controls an amateur adventurer named , whose objective is to save hi ...

'' (1986) *''

Dead Zone Dead zone may refer to: Science and technology * Dead zone (cell phone), an area where cell phones cannot transmit to a nearby cell site * Dead zone (ecology), low-oxygen areas in the world's oceans * Dead band, the region of insensitivity of a ...

'' (1986) *''

The Wing of Madoola is a 1986 action-platform video game developed and published by Sunsoft for the Family Computer. It stars Lucia, a magic-wielding warrior of the Rameru clan. Darutos, a descendant of the Rameru line, found the Wing of Madoola statue and used it ...

'' (1986) *''Nazoler Land'' (1987) *''

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

'' (1987) *''

Spy Hunter ''Spy Hunter'' is a vehicular combat game developed by Bally Midway and released for arcades in 1983. The game draws inspiration from the James Bond films and was originally supposed to carry the James Bond brand. The object of the game is t ...

'' (1987) *'' Ripple Island'' (1988) *'' Freedom Force'' (1988) *''

'' (1988) *''Nankin no Adventure'' (1988) *''

Platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

'' (1988) *''

Fester's Quest ''Fester's Quest'' (also known as ''Uncle Fester's Quest'' or ''The Addams Family: Uncle Fester's Quest'') is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System based on the 1960s television series ''The Addams Family''. It was released in 1989 i ...

'' (1989) *''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' (1989) *'' Batman: The Video Game'' (1990) *''

'' (1990) *''Nantettatte!! Baseball'' (1990) *'' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990) *'' Ufouria: The Saga'' (1991) *'' Super Spy Hunter'' (1991) *'' Batman: Return of the Joker'' (1991) *'' Super Fantasy Zone'' (1992) *'' Albert Odyssey'' (1993) *''

Sugoi Hebereke is a 1994 fighting game developed and published by Sunsoft in Japan for the Super Famicom on March 11, 1994. It is a spin-off of the ''Hebereke'' series, as well as Sunsoft's first attempt in the genre before they became better known for the 1 ...

'' (1994) *'' Albert Odyssey II'' (1994) *'' Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean'' (1996) *''Out Live: Be Eliminate Yesterday'' (1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kodaka, Naoki Chiptune and tracker musicians Japanese composers Japanese male composers Living people Japanese video game composers Year of birth missing (living people) Aichi Prefectural University of the Arts alumni