As the ’80s give way to the ’90s, 16-bit technology arrives and video games become more vivid and more dynamic than ever before. A generation of young composers who grew up inspired by the game music of the previous generation take video game music to new heights, with the new systems allowing for game music to sound more cinematic than ever before. At the same time, video games are experiencing a boom across the globe thanks to titles like Street Fighter 2 which ensured that the music of composer Yoko Shimomura was blaring out of news agents, fish and chips shops, and – of course – arcades the world over.

• Nick Dwyer

• Arnie Roth
• Nobuo Uematsu
• Haruhisa Tanaka