Episode 4-2: The Queen of VGM, Yoko Shimomura

Very Good Music: A VGM Podcast

Greetings, gamers! Let's talk about some of the most successful, longest-running franchises in gaming. Street Fighter. Mario. Final Fantasy. Mana. Kingdom Hearts. You know what they all have in common? Very Good Music, composed by the queen of VGM herself, Yoko Shimomura!

This week, Bedroth and Shootkapow talk about another of their favorites, one of the most famous video game music makers on the planet. We trace her trajectory from her roots at Capcom all the way through her latest freelance collaboration with K-pop star Taeyeon. From chiptune jams to vocal-orchestral masterpieces, though, everything follows our number one rule: It's all Very Good Music!

So good, this intro says it twice!

Thanks as always to our amazing patrons and the artists who made our show art and theme song. You, too, can become a patron at patreon.com/vgmvgm, and you can reach out to us one of these ways:

Discord: https://discord.gg/qpbXPdCf2N

Twitter: @VGMpod and @Shootkapow

E-mail: [e-mail]

Voicemail: Anchor.com/vgmvgm.

You can also leave us a comment on YouTube and while you're at it, please let us know if you like the video, and subscribe and ring the bell to be notified of future episodes! We look forward to hearing from you!

Playlist:

Intro: Dearly Beloved - Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix - Square Enix - PS3 - 2012

10:55 - Round 5: Bay Area - Final Fight - Capcom - SNES - 1990

20:21 - Attraction Medley - Adventures in the Magic Kingdom - Capcom - NES - 1990

26:49 - Vega's Theme - Street Fighter II: The World Warrior - Capcom - Arcade - 1991

36:25 - MEGALOMANIA - Live A Live - Square - Super Famicom - 1994

46:45 - Hello, Happy Kingdom - Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - Square - SNES - 1996

57:48 - Title Theme - Legend of Mana - Square - PS1 - 1999

1:10:01 - In the Final/The Grand Finale - Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - Nintendo - DS - 2009

1:17:49 - Primal Eyes for The 3rd Birthday - The 3rd Birthday - Square Enix - PlayStation Portable (PSP) - 2010

1:27:38 - Colony 9 - Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - Nintendo/Monolith Soft - Switch - 2019

1:37:03 - Ahead of Destiny - Gran Saga - NPIXEL - Mobile - 2021

Blooper: BGM 1, 2, and 3 - Hataraku Chocobo - Square/Bandai - WonderSwan - 2000

Special thanks to our Patrons:

Alex Messenger, host of A VGM Journey

Skeletroy, creator of SNES Thrash Remixes on YouTube

Ryan Steel, composer of Catlandia: Crisis at Fort PawPrint

"Kung Fu" Carlito, host of Heroes Three: Adventures in Asian Cinema

Forrest Shamlian, creator of Castle Corp and Bomb Show on YouTube

SprintCade

The Mysterious Nathan

Artist Links:

Naomi Rubin - patreon.com/naomirubin | comics at moonsproutstation.com

Carlos Leon Roman - Instagram.com/kf_carlito

Ben "The Diad" Dishman - @TheDiad

Skeletroy - patreon.com/skeletroy

--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vgmvgm/message