Naoto Kubo

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Naoto Kubo [Edit] [Talk]

Naoto Kubo ^{(JPJapanese: 久保直人

Romaji: Kubo Naoto)} is a video game composer for Nintendo. He is primarily known for being the music lead for Super Mario Odyssey, where he composed the feature "Jump Up, Super Star!" song.

After studying at the Berklee College of Music, he worked on Aruze Gaming starting in 2011. He left them to join Nintendo EAD Tokyo in December 2013, where he has mostly worked on various Mario games.

History[]

During his recruitment interview, Naoto Kubo stated that he has owned and played the original Super Mario Bros. video game in his childhood, which was his first game. Kubo stated that it "is the origin of my game life". Kubo studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, from 2004 to 2008, and earned a Bachelor's of Arts degree.^[1]^[2] He composed music for a 2008 animated short film, titled Duke Baa. He later partook in the Video Game Orchestra at Boston's Symphony Hall in 2011, co-arranging the Final Fantasy VII suite.^[3]^[2]

Kubo worked for U.S.-based Aruze Gaming until 2013 where he joined Nintendo's sound group later that year.^[4] Working for mostly Mario series titles, Kubo's first work was Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, released for the Wii U in 2014. Then, he worked on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D for the Nintendo 3DS (mostly adapting the original Nintendo 64 score), and Super Mario Maker for Wii U.

In his first breakthrough and orchestrated credit, Kubo worked as the lead composer for Super Mario Odyssey for the Nintendo Switch in 2017; in his work on that title he composed the series' first vocal song, "Jump Up, Super Star!", as well as most of the music for many of the kingdoms featured in the title, including the Cascade, Sand, Metro, and Seaside kingdoms.

Kubo also arranged a Mega Man 5 music track in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Game Works[]

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (2015) - Music Composer
Super Mario Maker (2015) - Music
Super Mario Odyssey (2017) - Music Lead
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Switch/3DS) (2018)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) - Music Arrangement

Song Credits[]

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D[]

Credits 2 -- Arrangement^{^[5]}

Super Mario Odyssey[]

Title Screen -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
The Skies above Peach’s Castle -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Here Come the Broodals -- Composition (w/Shigetoshi Gohara), Arrangement (w/Shigetoshi Gohara)^{^[6]}
Battling the Broodals -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
The Odyssey Begins -- Composition (w/Shigetoshi Gohara), Arrangement (w/Shigetoshi Gohara)^{^[6]}
Fossil Falls^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
You Got a Moon! 1 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Capturing a T-Rex -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Battling Madame Broode -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Mario Meets the World: The Odyssey’s Maiden Voyage -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Setting the Scene 1 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Tostarena Ruins^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Inside the Inverted Pyramid^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Tostarena Nights^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Jaxi Joyride -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Knocking Out Knucklotec -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Tostarena Town -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
You Got a Moon! 2^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bumping into Bowser’s Flying Battleship -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bowser’s Entrance -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bowser’s Bombardment: The Odyssey Goes Down -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Setting the Scene 2 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
New Donk Nights -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
New Donk Nights: City Hall -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Menacing Mechawiggler -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
You Got a Multi Moon! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
New Donk City -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
The Band’s All Here: Super Mario Bros. Ground BGM -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Pausing by the Poolside -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Underground Power Plant^{^[7]} -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Jump Up, Super Star! - New Donk City Festival^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Festival Finale -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Ice Caves -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bubblaine^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bubblaine: Underwater -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Battling Brigadier Mollusque-Lanceur III, Dauphin of Bubblaine^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Setting the Scene 3 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Eye to Eye with the Ruined Dragon -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bowser, Bound for the Moon -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
To the Next Kingdom -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Odyssey to the Moon -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Underground Moon Caverns -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bowser Battle 2: The Final Fight -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Is It Really Over? -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Honeylune Ridge: Collapse^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Break Free (Lead the Way)^{^[7]} -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
The Super Mario Odyssey Crew -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Yay! Slots Away! -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Caves -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Jump Up, Super Star! -- Composition [arr. Yoichi Murata]^{^[6]}
Dancing with New Friends -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
A Relaxing Dance -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Running through Rolling Canyon -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Capturing a Frog -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Powering Up the Odyssey -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
The Sparkle Water Spouts Again -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
The Wardrobe Widens! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Dey Call Us da Broodals! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Meeting Madame Broode -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Angering Brigadier Mollusque-Lanceur III, Dauphin of Bubblaine -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Congratulations! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Traversing Tostarena -- Composition (w/Shigetoshi Gohara), Arrangement (w/Shigetoshi Gohara)^{^[6]}
Bubblaine Gloom -- Composition (w/Shigetoshi Gohara), Arrangement (w/Shigetoshi Gohara)^{^[6]}

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

Napalm Man Stage (Mega Man 5) -- Arrangement

Interviews[]

References[]

↑ Naoto Kubo - Kyoto Report
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Video Game Orchestra Takes the Stage at Symphony Hall (Berklee Today) Date: April 1, 2011. Author: Mark Small.
↑ Live at Symphony Hall / Video Game Orchestra (VGMdb)
↑ Naoto Kubo Facebook
↑ https://vgmdb.net/album/53815
↑ ^6.00 ^6.01 ^6.02 ^6.03 ^6.04 ^6.05 ^6.06 ^6.07 ^6.08 ^6.09 ^6.10 ^6.11 ^6.12 ^6.13 ^6.14 ^6.15 ^6.16 ^6.17 ^6.18 ^6.19 ^6.20 ^6.21 ^6.22 ^6.23 ^6.24 ^6.25 ^6.26 ^6.27 ^6.28 ^6.29 ^6.30 ^6.31 ^6.32 ^6.33 ^6.34 ^6.35 ^6.36 ^6.37 ^6.38 ^6.39 ^6.40 ^6.41 ^6.42 ^6.43 ^6.44 ^6.45 ^6.46 ^6.47 ^6.48 ^6.49 ^6.50 ^6.51 ^6.52 ^6.53 ^6.54 ^6.55 ^6.56 ^6.57 ^6.58 ^6.59 ^6.60 ^6.61 ^6.62 https://vgmdb.net/album/73671
↑ ^7.00 ^7.01 ^7.02 ^7.03 ^7.04 ^7.05 ^7.06 ^7.07 ^7.08 ^7.09 ^7.10 Includes 8-bit version

[1] Naoto Kubo - Kyoto Report

[berklee-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Video Game Orchestra Takes the Stage at Symphony Hall (Berklee Today) Date: April 1, 2011. Author: Mark Small.

[3] Live at Symphony Hall / Video Game Orchestra (VGMdb)

[4] Naoto Kubo Facebook

[5] ttps://vgmdb.net/album/53815

[:0-6] 6.00 ^6.01 ^6.02 ^6.03 ^6.04 ^6.05 ^6.06 ^6.07 ^6.08 ^6.09 ^6.10 ^6.11 ^6.12 ^6.13 ^6.14 ^6.15 ^6.16 ^6.17 ^6.18 ^6.19 ^6.20 ^6.21 ^6.22 ^6.23 ^6.24 ^6.25 ^6.26 ^6.27 ^6.28 ^6.29 ^6.30 ^6.31 ^6.32 ^6.33 ^6.34 ^6.35 ^6.36 ^6.37 ^6.38 ^6.39 ^6.40 ^6.41 ^6.42 ^6.43 ^6.44 ^6.45 ^6.46 ^6.47 ^6.48 ^6.49 ^6.50 ^6.51 ^6.52 ^6.53 ^6.54 ^6.55 ^6.56 ^6.57 ^6.58 ^6.59 ^6.60 ^6.61 ^6.62 https://vgmdb.net/album/73671

[:1-7] 7.00 ^7.01 ^7.02 ^7.03 ^7.04 ^7.05 ^7.06 ^7.07 ^7.08 ^7.09 ^7.10 Includes 8-bit version

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