Kazuo Sawa, a prolific composer of music during the NES era, has passed away, we're sorry to report.
The news was confirmed by his son on social media and spotted by Resetera member Hayama Akito.
Sawa composed the music for several Kunio-kun titles, including Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (Renegade), Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari (River City Ransom), Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club: Soccer Story (Nintendo World Cup) and Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu (Super Dodge Ball).
He also wrote the music for The Battle of Olympus, Totally Rad, Mazin Wars and X-Men: Mutant Wars.
"My dad was one of those people who, back in the Famicom era, was writing sound drivers in assembler while also composing music at the same time," says Sawa's son. "Then, when the PlayStation and Saturn era came around, he mentioned that the workflow changed a lot once they started recording live instruments for sound, so I really wish I had asked him more about those things while he was still alive."
He also reveals that his father worked on many games he was unaware of, because Sawa was "extremely strict about NDAs."
"I didn’t inherit any musical talent," his son concludes, "but fortunately I do have this hobby of collecting retro games, so I plan to gradually gather up the games my dad was involved with."