Masaharu Iwata

Masaharu Iwata

Local	岩田匡治 (いわたまさはる)
Born	1966-10-26
Birth Place	Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Aliases	Rezon, Iwachan, Iwatan, M. Iwata

Masaharu Iwata (also known as Rezon) is a Japanese composer. He was born on October 26, 1966 in Tokyo, Japan. He grew up with music, but when he tried it out for the first time, he was not good at it. During his junior high school days, he became a fan of the band Yellow Magic Orchestra, so he bought a synthesizer and joined a cover band with his friends. Later, video games became very popular in Japan, and Iwata loved video games, so he decided he wanted to try and compose music for them; he applied for a job at Bothtec in 1985 as a composer and sound designer and he got the job. He remained at the company when their name changed to Quest. He also worked for Pixel as their main composer during their NES development. During his time at Quest, he worked on the game Revolter, in which he met Hitoshi Sakimoto, and the two have worked closely together ever since. In 2017, he left from Basiscape for unknown reasons.

Iwata continues to work on video games to this day as a freelancer.

Music Composition

NES

Masaharu programmed a sound engine and wrote the music in assembly. His driver was one of the better-sounding drivers; similar to Stephen Ruddy's sound driver, Iwata's driver uses the triangle channel in conjunction with the noise channel for realistic-sounding drums.

Most of these games have been verified to have been composed by Masaharu Iwata via his website. The other games have either credited him and he has not listed it on his site, or we have received verification from Masaharu.

In the game Kerropi no Keroriinu no Splash Bomb!, the only audio credit is attributed to Iwata for sound. However, he once said he only composed two thirds of the music. Iwata does not remember the other composer's name, however, he does remember the composer went under the alias of "Atlas" (not to be confused with the developer Atlus).

Gameography

Released	Title	Notes
1987-??-??	Bakusou Buggy Ipatsu Yarou (X1)
1987-04-10	Relics: Ankoku Yousai (FDS) (レリクス：暗黒要塞)
1987-10-09	Topple Zip (FDS) (トップルジップ)	Composer?
1988-??-??	Revolter (PC88)
1988-10-11	Great Strategy (FC) (大戦略)
1989-??-??	Fantasy Zone (NES) (ファンタジーゾーン)	Arranged Hiroshi Kawaguchi's music.
1989-12-??	The Uncanny X-Men (NES)	Composer?
1990-??-??	Starship Rendezvous (PC88)
1990-??-??	Barbatus no Majo (PC88)
1990-07-31	Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum (NES)
1990-08-24	Conquest of the Crystal Palace (NES) (魔天童子)	Sound Manipulator (Arranged Tomohisa Mitsuyasu's music)
1990-08-31	Battle Ping Pong (GB)	Sound effects
1990-08-31	Dungeon Kid (FC) (ダンジョンキッド)
1990-11-??	Wakusei Aton Gaiden (FDS) (惑星アトン外伝)
1990-12-07	Ishido (FDS)
1990-12-07	World Champ (NES) (グレートボクシングラッシュ・アップ)
1990-12-22	Musashi no Bouken (FC) (ムサシの冒険)
1991-??-??	King Breeder (PC88)
1991-??-??	Metal Orange (PC88)
1991-04-05	Verytex (SMD)
1991-04-26	Over Horizon (NES) (オーバーホライゾン)
1991-04-26	Shikinjou (FC) (紫禁城)
1991-08-02	Robocco Wars (FC) (ロボッ子ウォーズ)
1991-09-13	Cowboy Kid (NES) (ウェスタンキッズ)
1991-11-15	Magical Chase (TG16)
1991-11-29	America Oudan Ultra Quiz: Shijou Saidai no Tatakai (FC) (アメリカ横断ウルトラクイズ史上最大の戦い)
1991-12-13	Gimme a Break: Shijou Saikyou no Quiz Ou Ketteisen (FC) (ギミア・ぶれいく史上最強のクイズ王決定戦)
1991-12-20	Double Dragon II: The Revenge (SMD)	One song only, "Game Over"
1992-07-??	Baseball Stars II (NES)
1992-08-28	Gimme a Break: Shijou Saikyou no Quiz Ou Ketteisen 2 (FC) (ギミア・ぶれいく史上最強のクイズ王決定戦２)
1992-09-26	King Salmon: The Big Catch (GEN)
1992-12-25	Ah Yakyuu Jinsei Icchokusen (FC) (ああ野球人生一直線)
1993-??-??	Kingdom Grand Prix (ARC)
1993-02-26	Burning Paper (GB)
1993-03-12	Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (SFC)
1993-04-28	The Gorilla Man (FC) (ゴリラーマン)
1993-07-09	Ushio to Tora: Shinnen no Daiyou (FC) (うしおととら深淵の代用)
1993-09-16	Gauntlet IV (GEN)
1993-12-10	Pingu: Sekai de Ichiban Genki na Penguin (GB)
1993-12-01	Kerropi to Keroriinu no Splash Bomb! (FC) (けろっぴとけろりーぬのスプラッシュボム！)
1995-10-06	Tactics Ogre (SFC)
1996-09-27	Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (PS1)
1996-06-14	Kingdom Grand Prix (SAT)
1996-09-13	Chip Chan Kick! (SAT)
1996-11-01	Tactics Ogre: The March of the Black Queen (SAT)
1996-12-13	Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (SAT)
1997-06-20	Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1)
1997-09-25	Tactics Ogre (PS1)
1998-05-21	Baroque (SS)
2006-03-16	Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
2007-09-20	Deltora Quest (NDS)
2010-10-15	Tactics Ogre (PSP)