Taro Bando

	Instruments:	Piano
	Joined Nintendo:	1996
	Company Role:	Composer
	Game Works:	Mario Kart 64, 1080° Snowboarding, Wind Waker

Biography

Note: This biography was written exclusively for Square Enix Music Online by Chris and is under copyright.

Kenta Nagata has been a composer at Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development since 1996. He has brought elements of instrumental popular music to the company with several landmark contributions and is also known for producing memorable melodies. He debuted the company by scoring Mario Kart 64. While the game had some incidental music, the exciting themes for the race tracks — ranging from the humorous "Moo Moo Farm" to the euphoric "Rainbow Road" — is what the score was remembered for. It received a Japanese, domestic, and 'best of' soundtrack release as well as a club remix album. Nagata subsequently scored the stylish sports game 1080° Snowboarding; with a dynamic mix of rock, techno, and hip-hop, it was popular with mainstream audiences and suited the image of the game.

Nagata subsequently joined Toru Minegishi and Hajime Wakai to score Pokémon Stadium, the series' first instalment on a non-handheld. He subsequently assisted Kazumi Totaka to produce some tracks for Mario Artist: Talent Studio for the Nintendo 64DD. He went on to produce the field background music for Animal Crossing; the music was carefully adapted to be dynamic with the game's setting, for instance changing according to time of day. Nagata subsequently joined Wakai, Minegishi, and Koji Kondo to score the GameCube's The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. As the lead composer of the game, Nagata's role was integral to defining the rustic and nautical sound, resulting in compositions such as Dragon Roost Island, The Great Sea, and Windfall Island, as well as the memorable themes for Aryll, Medli, and and Makar. He made a guest appearance at the concert Mario & Zelda Big Band Live, where his music from the game was performed.

Nagata subsequently returned to the Mario Kart franchise for Double Dash!! He took a backseat while newbie Shinobu Tanaka produced most themes, though his fingerprints were still present despite the different character overall. He subsequently produced additional music for the compilation The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition and, on behalf of the enhanced DS port Super Mario 64 DS, produced some new music for the new events and mini-games while Kondo's score was otherwise reprised. In 2005, he produced the catchy and light-hearted background music for DS' Big Brain Academy, regarded as well done despite not being intended for stand-alone listening. Continuing a line of games for the portable console, he recently scored The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, mixing new compositions with plenty of arrangements from The Wind Waker to represent the series' return to the seas.

List of Game Projects

List of Covered Albums