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In case you missed it, famed video game music composer Nobuo Uematsu celebrated his 58th birthday on March 21st. Uematsu’s career spans over three decades, starting with his first soundtrack for the game Cruise Chaser Blassty which he wrote for Square in 1985.

Of course, Uematsu is widely known as the composer for the Final Fantasy series. The first game, Final Fantasy, was released in 1987 and was a huge success. This jump started his career which includes over 30 games and a few anime films. Most of his work was written for Square and Square Enix games, but he has worked for other studios as well like Mistwalker, the developers behind Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey and The Last Story. He even started his own studio, Smile Please, and a band, The Black Mages.

In celebration of his birthday, below are my picks for his top 15 songs. Choosing 15 works from a collection that spans 30 years was difficult, but I think I chose wisely. I lived and breathed Final Fantasy games for much of my teen years and I have to thank Nobuo Uematsu for giving those amazing gaming memories an epic soundtrack.

15. “Cave” from Blue Dragon

14. “Red Wings” from Final Fantasy IV

13. “Forbidden Land Eureka” from Final Fantasy III

12. “Into the Darkness” from Final Fantasy IV

11. “Main Theme” from The Last Story

10. “Rebel Army Theme” from Final Fantasy II

9. “Liberi Fatali” from Final Fantasy VIII

8. “Kefka’s Theme” from Final Fantasy VI

7. “Vamo’ Alla Flamenco” from Final Fantasy IX

6. “Aerith’s Theme” from Final Fantasy VII

5. “Terra’s Theme” from Final Fantasy VI

4. “To Zanarkand/At Zanarkand” from Final Fantasy X

3. “One-Winged Angel” from Final Fantasy VII

2. Opera Overture from Final Fantasy VI

1. “Dancing Mad” from Final Fantasy VI

 

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