The video game industry lost another pioneering composer with the passing of Hiroshi Kubota, a former Sega sound programmer and composer who helped define the Mega Drive era’s audio identity. Former colleague Koichi Namiki announced Kubota’s death on social media, revealing he had been battling illness for a long time. Born October 10, 1965, in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan, Kubota was 59 or 60 years old at the time of his death. During his decade at Sega from 1989 to 1999, with a brief retirement in 1994, he arranged iconic music for Sonic the Hedgehog, adapted Michael Jackson’s songs for Moonwalker, and composed original tracks for titles including Ristar, Sorcerian, and Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage. Beyond gaming, Kubota was an accomplished jazz pianist who performed at weddings for fellow Sega Sound Team members, embodying the creative spirit that made Sega’s audio work legendary.
Early Career and Joining Sega
Hiroshi Kubota joined Sega in April 1989, entering the company during a transformative period as the Mega Drive (Genesis in North America) competed against Nintendo’s Super Nintendo for 16-bit console dominance. His arrival coincided with Sega investing heavily in audio capabilities to differentiate from competitors, recognizing that sound quality could influence consumer perception as much as graphics.
One of his earliest projects was the Mega Drive port of Sorcerian, Falcom’s action RPG originally released for Japanese PC platforms. Kubota composed half of the new tracks alongside colleague Tokuhiko Uwabo, creating original music specifically for the console version rather than simply converting PC tracks. This demonstrated his compositional skills beyond technical arrangement work.
The Sorcerian port established Kubota’s role within Sega’s sound team as both composer and technical specialist who understood the Mega Drive’s Yamaha YM2612 FM synthesis chip and Texas Instruments SN76489 PSG chip. This dual expertise made him valuable for projects requiring both musical creativity and technical implementation knowledge.
Arranging Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker
One of Kubota’s most high-profile assignments involved arranging music for Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker on Mega Drive. Released in 1990, the game required adapting Jackson’s iconic pop songs including Smooth Criminal, Beat It, and Billie Jean for the console’s limited audio hardware. This presented enormous technical and creative challenges since Jackson’s productions featured complex layering, live instrumentation, and vocal performances impossible to recreate directly on Mega Drive.
Kubota’s arrangements demonstrated remarkable skill translating the essence of each song while working within severe technical constraints. He captured recognizable melodies, rhythmic feels, and instrumental textures using FM synthesis and PCM samples, creating versions that felt authentic to the source material despite hardware limitations. The Moonwalker soundtrack became one of the Mega Drive’s most impressive early audio showcases.
Working with licensed music from one of the world’s biggest pop stars at age 24 or 25 represented extraordinary responsibility and pressure. The arrangements needed to satisfy both Jackson’s team and Sega’s quality standards while functioning within technical boundaries. Kubota delivered work that enhanced the game’s appeal and demonstrated Sega’s audio capabilities.
Converting Sonic the Hedgehog’s Music
Perhaps Kubota’s most historically significant contribution was converting Masato Nakamura’s original Sonic the Hedgehog music to run in the Mega Drive’s SMPS (Sample Music Playback System) sound engine. Nakamura, bassist for the Japanese pop band Dreams Come True, composed Sonic’s soundtrack but wasn’t a game audio programmer. Someone needed to translate his compositions into code the Mega Drive hardware could execute.
This technical arrangement work proved crucial to Sonic’s success. The music’s catchy melodies, upbeat tempos, and energetic compositions became inseparable from the character’s identity and the franchise’s appeal. Green Hill Zone’s theme, in particular, achieved iconic status recognizable to generations of gamers who never knew Kubota’s role making it possible.
The SMPS sound engine that Kubota implemented Nakamura’s music into became Sega’s standard audio driver for numerous Mega Drive titles. His technical expertise with this system made him valuable for subsequent projects requiring audio programming alongside composition.
Health Struggles and Brief Retirement
In the mid-1990s, Kubota battled ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease causing severe symptoms that significantly impact quality of life. The condition became serious enough that he retired from Sega in January 1994, stepping away from the career he’d built over five years.
Fortunately, the retirement proved short-lived. Kubota returned to Sega in April 1994, just three months after leaving. Whether improved health, financial necessity, or simply missing the work motivated his return isn’t documented, but he resumed his role within the sound team and continued contributing to projects.
This health struggle foreshadowed the long illness that Koichi Namiki referenced when announcing Kubota’s death. Chronic conditions often persist for years or decades, creating ongoing battles that affect both professional capacity and personal wellbeing. That Kubota continued working despite health challenges speaks to his dedication.
Later Sega Projects
Beyond his high-profile early work, Kubota contributed to numerous Sega titles throughout the 1990s. Advanced Daisenryaku: Deutsch Dengeki Sakusen (1991) was a military strategy game requiring different musical approaches than action platformers. Dyna Brothers (1992) involved raising creatures in a life simulation, necessitating gentler atmospheric compositions.
Panic! (1993) for Sega CD showcased Kubota working with CD-quality audio rather than chip-generated music, expanding his technical range. Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit (1994) required racing game music with appropriate intensity and rhythm for high-speed competition.
Ristar (1995) represented one of Kubota’s most celebrated later projects. This colorful platformer about a stretchy-armed star featured vibrant, memorable music that enhanced the game’s cheerful aesthetic. Ristar has since become a cult classic partly due to its exceptional audio work.
His final credited Sega project was Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage (1999) for Dreamcast, based on the dark fantasy manga and anime Berserk. This mature action game required dramatically different musical approaches than his previous work, demonstrating versatility across genres and tones.
Jazz Pianist Career
Beyond video game composition, Kubota was an accomplished jazz pianist who performed professionally. He played at the weddings of several Sega Sound Team colleagues including Masayuki Nagao, Kazuhiko Nagai, Chikako Kamatani, and Yukifumi Makino, demonstrating both his musical skill and the close relationships within Sega’s audio department.
Jazz piano requires sophisticated harmonic understanding, improvisational skill, and technical facility different from composing within video game constraints. That Kubota excelled in both disciplines speaks to broad musical talent that extended beyond the game industry.
The Sega Sound Team fostered creative environment where members pursued varied musical interests outside their day jobs. This cross-pollination between game audio, jazz, rock, and other genres enriched their work and created supportive community where colleagues celebrated each other’s achievements.
Legacy and Industry Impact
Hiroshi Kubota’s contributions helped establish Sega’s reputation for exceptional audio during the 16-bit era. While colleagues like Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage) and Masato Nakamura (Sonic composer) received more public recognition, Kubota’s technical arrangements and programming made their music possible on actual hardware.
His work demonstrated that game audio required both creative composition and technical implementation expertise. Converting Nakamura’s Sonic music into SMPS format involved artistic decisions about which instrumental voices to emphasize, how to balance frequency ranges given hardware limitations, and ensuring the musical intent survived technical translation.
The Moonwalker arrangements showcased how thoughtful adaptation could honor source material while embracing hardware constraints creatively. Rather than creating pale imitations of Jackson’s productions, Kubota crafted versions that worked within the Mega Drive’s capabilities while capturing each song’s essence.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Hiroshi Kubota die?
Hiroshi Kubota passed away in 2025 at age 59 or 60 after battling illness for a long time, according to former Sega colleague Koichi Namiki who announced his death on social media.
What games did Hiroshi Kubota work on?
Kubota’s credits include arranging music for Sonic the Hedgehog and Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, plus composing for Ristar, Sorcerian, Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage, and numerous other Sega titles from 1989-1999.
What did Hiroshi Kubota do at Sega?
Kubota worked as a sound programmer and composer, specializing in both creating original music and arranging licensed tracks for Sega’s hardware, particularly the Mega Drive’s SMPS sound engine.
Did Hiroshi Kubota compose Sonic the Hedgehog’s music?
No, Masato Nakamura composed Sonic’s original music. Kubota arranged and programmed Nakamura’s compositions to run on the Mega Drive’s SMPS sound engine, making the music technically functional.
Was Hiroshi Kubota a musician outside of video games?
Yes, Kubota was an accomplished jazz pianist who performed professionally, including at the weddings of several Sega Sound Team colleagues.
Why did Hiroshi Kubota retire from Sega?
Kubota briefly retired in January 1994 while battling ulcerative colitis but returned to Sega in April 1994, continuing to work on projects until 1999.
What was the SMPS sound engine?
SMPS (Sample Music Playback System) was Sega’s standard audio driver for Mega Drive games. Kubota’s expertise with this system made him valuable for implementing music on Sega’s hardware.
Conclusion
Hiroshi Kubota’s death reminds us how many talented individuals contributed to gaming’s golden age without receiving widespread recognition. While players remember Sonic’s music and Moonwalker’s soundtrack, few know the programmer who made those compositions playable on actual hardware. His decade at Sega during the company’s creative peak produced work that influenced millions of players worldwide, even if his name never appeared in headlines. For those who understand game audio history, Kubota represents the essential technical artists whose expertise bridges creative vision and technological reality. May his contributions continue bringing joy through the timeless music he helped bring to life.