Masato Nakamura

Japan · Born 1958 · Composer & Bassist

The bassist and songwriter of the J-pop band Dreams Come True, whom Sega hired to give Sonic the Hedgehog a pop sound. He scored the first two Sonic games.

Masato Nakamura was born on 1 October 1958 in Chōfu, Tokyo. In 1988 he co-founded the band Dreams Come True with singer Miwa Yoshida and keyboardist Takahiro Nishikawa, serving as its bassist and principal composer; the group became one of Japan's most successful acts, selling more than 50 million CDs. Early in 1990 Sega chose Nakamura to compose the music for Sonic the Hedgehog. The decision reflected what Sega wanted the character to be — modern, fast and fashionable — and Nakamura approached the soundtrack as a pop songwriter rather than a game composer, writing melodic, bass-driven tunes for the Mega Drive's FM sound chip. Released in 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog gave the character an instantly recognisable sound, and Nakamura returned for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 1992. He did not continue with the series after that, but his music remained part of it. For the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game he contributed a remixed version of the ending theme from Sonic 2, and in 2022 he voiced a character in the Japanese dub of the film Sonic the Hedgehog 2.