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.
Career
right|thumb|Shimomura in 2007
While working for Capcom, Shimomura contributed to the soundtracks of over 16 games, including the successful Street Fighter II, which she composed all but three pieces for. 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. The first soundtrack album to exclusively feature her work came a year later for the soundtrack to Street Fighter II. While she began her tenure at Capcom working on games for video game consoles, by 1990 she had moved to the arcade game division.
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. 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. 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 is also a member of the music label Brave Wave Productions.
Works
Video games
Composition
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="auto"
|+
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Notes
! scope="col" |
|-
!scope="row" | 1988
|Samurai Sword
|
|
|-
|Gargoyle's Quest
|With Harumi Fujita (uncredited)
|
|-
|Nemo
|
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2000
|Hataraku Chocobo
|
|
|-
|Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="3" |2009
|Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
|
|
|-
|Xenoblade Chronicles
|With Manami Kiyota and ACE+
|
|-
|Last Ranker
|
|
|-
|The 3rd Birthday
|With Tsuyoshi Sekito and Mitsuto Suzuki
|
|-
|Demons' Score
| "Azazel del cielo ardiente"
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="3" |2013
|Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
|
|
|-
|Kingdom Hearts χ
|
|
|-
|Exstetra
| "Main Theme"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="3" |2014
|Rise of Mana
| "Where the Heart Beats Free"
|
|-
|Terra Battle
|Two tracks
|
|-
|V.D. -Vanishment Day-
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="4" |2015
|Chronos Ring
|With Kenji Ito and Evan Call
|
|-
|Chunithm: Seelisch Tact
| "Tango Rouge"
|
|-
|Kakuriyo no Mon
| "Ihou no Shugosha"
|
|-
|Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="3" |2016
|The Alchemist Code
|With Shinya Tanaka and Shigeki Hayashi
|
|-
|The Black Knight and the White Demon King
|With Shota Kageyama
|
|-
|Final Fantasy XV
|With Tetsuya Shibata, Yoshino Aoki, and Yoshitaka Suzuki
|
|-
|Magicians Dead Next Blazing
|With Masato Kouda and Makoto Iida
|
|-
|Egglia: Legend of the Red Cap
|With Yoshitaka Hirota
|
|-
|Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
|
|
|-
|Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="1" |2018
|Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="3" |2019
|Kingdom Hearts III
|With Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto
|
|-
|Rakugaki Kingdom
| "Yume to Gensou no Enbukyoku"
|
|-
| Renshin Astral
| Paris battle themes
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2020
| Streets of Rage 4
| "Shiva"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2021
|Gran Saga
|
|
|-
|Xuan-Yuan Sword VII
| "Mohism"
|
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2022
|Sin Chronicle
|"La Giustizia"
|
|-
|Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
|With Grant Kirkhope and Gareth Coker
|
|-
! rowspan="1" scope="row" | 2024
|Reynatis
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" scope="row" | 2025
|Pipistrello 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)"
|
|-
! rowspan="1" scope="row" | 2026
|Vampire Crawlers
|Main theme "Il Cuor non si Spaura"
|
|-
! rowspan="1" scope="row" | TBA
|Kingdom Hearts IV
|
|
|}
Arrangements
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="auto"
|+
!scope="col" | Year
!scope="col" | Title
!scope="col" | Notes
!scope="col" |
|-
!scope="row" | 1989
|F-1 Dream
|Original music by Manami Matsumae
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2008
|Super Smash Bros. Brawl
|"Tetris: Type A", "Gritzy Desert", and "King Dedede's Theme"
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2009
|Little King's Story
|Maurice Ravel's Boléro
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2013
|Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix
|Orchestrations
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="2" |2014
|Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
|"Magicant / Eight Melodies", "Try, Try Again", "Route 10", and "Ryu Stage"
|
|-
|Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix
|Arrangements, orchestrations
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2018
|Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
|"Kass' Theme", "Vega Stage", "Treasure Trove Cove", "Pasta", "Dance of the Blocks", "Cosmo Canyon", "Moonsiders 1st", and "Hand in Hand"
|
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2020
|The Wonderful 101: Remastered
|With several others
|
|-
|Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
|Arrangements
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2022
|Live A Live HD-2D Remake
|Arrangements
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2023
|Super Mario RPG
|Arrangements
|
|}
Other
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="auto"
|+
!scope="col" | Year
!scope="col" | Title
!scope="col" | Notes
!scope="col" |
|-
!scope="row" | 1989
|G.S.M. 1500 series ~ Sweet Home
|Arranged two tracks
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="2" |1992
|Captain Commando -G.S.M. Capcom 5
|With Alph Lyla
|
|-
|Game Music Festival ~Super Live '92~
|With Alph Lyla
|
|-
!scope="row" | 1993
|Street Fighter II Collector's Box
|With Alph Lyla
|
|-
!scope="row" | 1998
|Parasite Eve Remixes
|With several others
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="3" | 2004
|Dan Doh!!
|Anime
|
|-
|Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange
|With several others
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2005
|Best Student Council
|Anime
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2009
|Mushihimesama Double Arrange Album
|With several others
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2010
|GeOnDan Rare Tracks Ver. 2.0
|With several others
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2011
|GeOnDan Super Rare Trax: The LAND of RISING SUN
|With several others
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2012
|GO! GO! Buriki Daioh!!
|With several others
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2013
|X'mas Collections II
|With several others
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2014
|memória! ~ The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura
|
|
|-
|Game Music Prayer II
|With several others
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2017
|Napping Princess
| Anime
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2018
|High Score Girl
|Anime
|
|-
|?
|"Nocturne"; tribute album to XXXTentacion
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2020
|Yucho Pay Original Image Song #TOKIWOMEKURUYUBI
|
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2021
|Merregnon: Land of Silence
| Concert
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2022
|Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal
| Anime
|
|-
!scope="row" | 2024
|The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians
| Anime with Hayato Matsuo and Dai Haraguchi
|
|-
!2026
|Undertale Piano Arrangement Album - Echoes Beneath
|With several others
|
|}
Legacy
Shimomura has been cited as one of the most well-known video game music composers. In March 2007, Shimomura released her first non-video game album, Murmur, an album of vocal songs sung by Chata. Legend of Manas title theme was also performed by the Australian Eminence Symphony Orchestra for its classical gaming music concert A Night in Fantasia 2007.
Music from the original soundtrack of Legend of Mana was arranged for the piano and published by DOREMI Music Publishing. Two compilation books of music from the series have also been published as Seiken Densetsu Best Collection Piano Solo Sheet Music first and second editions, with the second including Shimomura's tracks from Legend of Mana. All songs in each book have been rewritten by Asako Niwa as beginning to intermediate level piano solos, though they are meant to sound as much like the originals as possible. Additionally, piano sheet music from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II has been published as music books by Yamaha Music Media.
Shimomura's first dedicated concert performance outside Japan was held at the Salle Cortot in Paris in November 2015. Later that same month, she performed at the El Plaza Condesa in Mexico City. In September 2016, some of her music for Final Fantasy XV was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, as well as in Boston, with Shimomura herself performing on piano. Her work was performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and filmed at the Stockholm Concert Hall in 2021, with more performances in other locations starting in 2022.
Shimomura was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards and the BAFTA Fellowship award in 2025.
Musical style and influences
Shimomura lists Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Maurice Ravel as some of her influences on her personal website. She has also stated that she has enjoyed "lounge-style jazz" for a long time.