Super Smash Bros. Composer Has Died at Age 56

gamerant.com:

There’s no denying the amount of work, passion, and artistic skill that goes into making games likeSuper Smash Bros. Super Smash Bros. is brought to life by the work of many artists, animators, musicians, programmers, composers, and sound engineers.

Unfortunately, one of these creatives is no longer with us. Kenichi Okuma had worked in the industry since the early 1990s, with his composer credits including 2008’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The veteran game composer passed away from esophageal cancer last Friday at age 56.

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Okuma’s family members announced his death via Twitter on July 24th. Machine translated from Japanese, the tweet reads, “Kenichi Okuma died on July 22nd due to esophageal cancer. He was 56 years old. His time and funeral will be held at a family funeral. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who loved Okuma’s music and all the people involved for their long-standing kindness. Thank you very much.” Public information about Okuma’s illness is limited, possibly due to his relatively low profile outside Japan. Regardless, Okuma’s early passing is undoubtedly a tragedy for his friends, fans, and family.

The tweet’s replies soon filled with friends and fans sharing prayers and condolences to the family and saying farewell to the talented composer. Among those mourning Okuma’s death was Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai. He shared his condolences and promised that Okuma’s legacy would live on through Brawl and thelater Super Smash Bros. games that reused some of his tracks.

Okuma’s work is not very well known in the west, as very few of the games he composed for released outside of Japan. It’s thus difficult to find English-language