In Tokyo, close to Toyoda Station, stands a house not unlike many other houses in the area. From the outside it looks like a nice family home. Nothing strikes visitors as unusual upon entering.

Open the door in the hall where you take off your shoes, however, and you are greeted by a dozen or so people working for Ancient, a video game company whose name might not be as well known as Sonic Team, Polyphony, etc. but whose members have been involved with quite a few games that are considered true classics. The names are familiar to most gamers: Revenge of Shinobi, the Bare Knuckle/Streets of Rage series, Adventure Island, Ys, Book I & 2, ActRaiser, Shenmue, Story of Thor; the list goes on.

Ancient is a company unlike most others. It has remained a small independent outfit operating from the Koshiro family home since it is at heart a family-operated business. Mother Koshiro is the company president while daughter Ayano is designer and son Yuzo is composer.

It was with the legendary game music composer Yuzo Koshiro that we sat down for this interview, near a lovely Wing Piano. Yuzo, sadly, was suffering a cold, while I was suffering from extreme jet lag and exhaustion. Despite this, the interview went ahead as planned. Also present was some dude called Kevin who by his sheer obnoxiousness did a great job of battling my fatigue.

TNL: Thanks for this opportunity to talk with you, and I hope your condition improves fast.
Yuzo Koshiro: Thank you.

TNL: So what year did you start working on video games?
YK: My involvement with the production of videogames/game music started in 1989.

TNL: Ah, and what game was that with?
YK: The first game I worked on was Ys.

TNL: And you're first work for Sega?
YK: The first project we did for Sega was Game Gear Sonic the Hedgehog.

TNL: How difficult was it years ago to write game music?
YK: When I made Mega Drive and SNES music, it was difficult to compress the data and still retain sound quality. We had a limited amount of cartridge space to work with, so it often was a challenge to get the sound we wanted.

TNL: You achieved some memorable tunes on both the SNES and the Mega Drive/Genesis. Which was the more challenging to work with?
YK: I started composing with an FM generator back in the late 80s. The MD soundchip was FM synth, so I knew it quite well by the time I was working with it.

The SNES sound chip was excellent, but the 64KB sound limit was rather difficult. It was just my effort, I guess. (laughs)

TNL: Which do you prefer?
YK: I enjoyed them both, actually.

TNL: When did you start making games as part of Ancient, and what was Ancient´s first independently produced game?
YK: 1991 to 1992. Our first non-comissioned game was Story of Thor [called Beyond Oasis in North America].

TNL: Which other video game composers do you admire?
YK: Nintendo's Koji Kondo.

TNL: When you make game music, is it an exchange of ideas with the game design team?
YK: I make the music on my own, but I play the game to get a feel for the sort of music to be composed.

TNL: How is the process different from the early days?
YK: These days, I have to use many different synthesizers, but way back, there were only a few chips I needed to worry about. It's more difficult to compose now, because the music is CD-quality, so we have to take a lot more factors and sound channels into account.

TNL: How many people are working at Ancient now?
YK: Fifteen people. It's a family-oriented business. Five programmers, two sound designers, three planners.

TNL: Is it challenging working with such a small group?
YK: Yes, it is difficult.

TNL: Do you still have freedom to choose your own projects?
YK: We definitely realize how lucky we have been in the past to make our own games, and we will continue to do so because we have very capable designers and programmers working for us. We still often pitch our own ideas to companies who are interested in working with us. Because of the changing industry, however, we also may be forced to accept projects that interest us from other companies

TNL: Do you want to stay independent?
YK: Yes, definitely. If you want to make original games, independence is very important.

TNL: Which games do you like?
YK: Recently, I like FPS games, i.e. Team Fortress. In fact we have a network down here we sometimes use. [Note: Ancient has its own server and clan for FPS games called ANC.]

TNL: Which companies have you worked with?
YK: We have worked with a lot of big companies like Enix and Sega.

TNL: I see. Which of those companies did you like the most and why?
YK: Sega. They gave us the most freedom. We have had a partnership with them for well over ten years.

TNL: Which hardware did you like the most?
YK: The Mega Drive/Genesis. The Bare Knuckle games were a huge success for us. (I like the second one the most.)

TNL: How long did it take to write music for the older systems, compared to now?
YK: About three-to-six months. Now it's more like three months, since the hardware is much more powerful.

These days we spend less time compressing and working around the hardware to get our music in. It's harder as well, though, because now producing music for the newer systems takes many more resources because of the higher quality.

TNL: What do you think of the Game Boy Advance sound?
YK: It's fun to make music for the GBA. It's a bit like working with the limits of the cartridge systems of old, so, yes, it is fun working around lower specs. CD music is fun to create, but I like the old way of making music as well.

TNL: Which of your projects has been your favorite?
YK: Bare Knuckle II/Streets of Rage 2.

TNL: What sort of music do you listen to yourself?
YK: I enjoy classical music: Bach, Mozart, etc. Movie composers, like John Williams, as well.

TNL: As a game designer, do you find it difficult to enjoy other people's work?
YK: No, not really. I enjoy playing other people's games for myself.

TNL: Thank you for this interview. We look forward to more of your excellent work in the future.

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