Not long after Banjo-Kazooie was revealed for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during Nintendo's E3 2019 Direct presentation, VGC reached out to the composer, Grant Kirkhope, to hear his side of the story and find out what it was like create music for Nintendo's all-star fighting game.
It all started at the beginning of this year when Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle creative director Davide Soliani reached out to the former Rare composer and told him Nintendo wanted his contact information.
"In about January this year I received a message from Davide Soliani, the creative director on Mario Rabbids, who said Nintendo were asking for my contact information...He said, ‘can I pass it on to them?’ and I was like, ‘too f***ing right!’
Not long after this, Kirkhope got an email from Nintendo asking for his help and saying how they loved what he did with the Princess Peach theme in Mario + Rabbids.
Naturally, Grant was confused about what was going on, though he did have an inkling it could be tied to Banjo in Smash. At the time, he thought otherwise as Nintendo always use their own composers to remix tunes:
“So my brain was going mad trying to work out what it could be. I did quickly wonder if it could be Banjo in Smash Bros., but then I thought it couldn’t be that because they always use their own Japanese composers to remix the tunes for that game. They never get the actual composers: even David Wise didn’t get to do his Donkey Kong stuff for K Rool, which I didn’t understand."
He even thought it might have been for Rabbid Peach as a playable character in Smash, or something along those lines.
After a month's wait, Kirkhope found out Banjo-Kazooie would be added as a DLC fighter in Smash Ultimate and from then onwards it was a matter working out what songs he would use to represent the character. In the end, the iconic Spiral Mountain track was selected:
"I went through a few different ideas like Mad Monster Mansion, Freezeezy Peak or Treasure Trove Cove, but eventually settled on Spiral Mountain. I thought that would be the most recognisable of all of them."
Grant was rather happy with his decision when he found out Spiral Mountain would actually be the level included in Smash but was also wondering why Nintendo didn't tell him this to begin with:
“I didn’t actually know the Banjo stage in the game was Spiral Mountain, so it was pretty handy when I found out I’d accidentally matched the tune with the stage. Maybe they should’ve told me at the start!”
On top of this, Nintendo asked him to include various references to other Banjo-Kazooie levels. Fans will just have to listen closely if they want to work out each melody:
"I put in bits of melody from other [Banjo-Kazooie] tunes. It’s up to the fans to spot them!”
Are you glad to hear the one and only Grant Kirkhope has been able to supply the music for Banjo-Kazooie and the character's level in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Are you excited in general for the return of the bear and bird? Tell us down in the comments.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 18
best track. that is all
I mean, who else could they have gotten?
Nothing but respect for this man and David Wise. Best video game composers besides Koji Kondo himself. I'm frankly appalled they didn't already have his contact information!
Honestly, can't wait.
Loved his Gruntilda Battle duet with FamilyJules! While this sounds like there's no new games coming, THIS will work, too! Much love!
The funny thing about this is that just days before Nintendos E3, he had tweeted out saying that fans should not hold their breath for Banjo being in Smash Brothers. I admire him for getting peoples hopes down so that the reveal would be that much more amazing.
As much as I love Banjo, I really hope that they also bring in a few tracks from other Rareware games like Jet Force Gemini. I want Banjo and Kazooie to have a soundtrack list rivaling Castlevania, but with a mix of both Banjo and Kazooie themes and other Rareware themes.
Where can I find the song?
Apart from the god of that trailer of course.
I do wish it was Tresure Trove Cove, but Spiral Mountain is more iconic.
This makes me so happy
You can hear the new track at https://www.smashbros.com/ja_JP/sound/index.html
I love the references to other stages! I hope there's a chance for B-K HD on Switch.
Has he only composed 1 song for Smash? At least it sounds great. That being said, I hope there will be more songs. Persona for example had 11 songs!
@Henmii
You and me both buddy! Hopefully that was just for the trailer? If not I suspect they will have a lot of the originals in there.
Wait, so there's only one song coming with Banjo? Man, Cloud must be rejoicing.
@Sebas The source article for the interview claimed that Nintendo would handle the rest of the Banjo remixes; even if this is the only remix, though, there's no way we'd just get the one song.
@patbacknitro18 Great mighty poo for the win. Maybe they can do a toned down version, lol
I'm really glad they brought Kirkhope on board with at least one remix of Banjo Kazooie for Smash, he's just too good of a composer to be left out!
@PikaPhantom
Ah, whoops. Makes sense.
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