David Wise

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For other persons named David Wise, see David Wise (disambiguation).
David Wise in Rare's sound studio (2004)
David Wise in Rare's sound studio (2004)

David Wise (often also credited as Dave Wise or D. Wise) is a British video game music composer. He is one of the in-house composers at Rare, and his music appears in many Rare-developed titles. He started his career there in 1985 and was the company's sole musician up until 1994. He is known for his atmospheric style of music, mixing natural environmental sounds with prominent melodic and percussive accompaniment.

His most famous work is that of the soundtracks for the Donkey Kong Country series of games, which are widely considered to be some of the best soundtracks to ever appear on the SNES. In addition to the percussive and ambient 'jungle' influences that serve as a thematic undercurrent for much of the series, the games feature a wide variety of different musical styles that are reflective of the various areas and environments they appear in. More recently, he's done the soundtrack for the Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country 3.

Wise has said that he has had a wide range of musical influences, though the first instrument he learned to play was the piano, before later learning the trumpet, and then learning to play drums during adolescence. He played in a few bands during his youth, and was still active in a band as of 2004. His career working for Rare began when he happened to meet its two founders, as he explained in response to a question posted on its company website: "I was working in a music shop demonstrating a Yamaha CX5 Music Computer to a couple of people, Tim & Chris Stamper. I'd written and programmed the music for the demonstration material. They offered me a job."[1]

Contents

[edit] Video game credits

(Please note: Although very few games prior to 1993 had credits, it is a known fact that David Wise was the only musician at Rare from 1985 to 1994, which effectively covers all of their NES and early SNES titles. Some very few games, such as Double Dare, did credit him.)

[edit] 1987

[edit] 1988

[edit] 1989

  • Marble Madness (NES)
  • World Games (NES)
  • WWF Wrestlemania (NES)
  • Sesame Street 123 (NES)
  • John Elway's Quarterback (NES)
  • California Games (NES)
  • Taboo (NES)
  • Sesame Street ABC (NES)
  • Hollywood Squares (NES)
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit (NES)
  • Jordan Vs. Bird: One On One (NES)
  • Cobra Triangle (NES)
  • Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II (NES)
  • Wheel of Fortune Junior Edition (NES)
  • Jeopardy! Junior Edition (NES)
  • Silent Service (NES)

[edit] 1990

  • Double Dare (NES)
  • Wheel of Fortune Family Edition (NES)
  • Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition (NES)
  • The Amazing Spider-Man (Game Boy)
  • Captain Skyhawk (NES)
  • Pin Bot (NES)
  • Snake Rattle ‘N’ Roll (NES)
  • Super Off Road (NES)
  • Wizards & Warriors X: Fortress of Fear (Game Boy)
  • NARC (NES)
  • A Nightmare On Elm Street (NES)
  • Super Glove Ball (NES)
  • Cabal (NES)
  • Time Lord (NES)
  • Arch Rivals (NES)
  • WWF Wrestlemania Challenge (NES)
  • Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship (NES)

[edit] 1991

  • Digger T. Rock (NES)
  • WWF Superstars (Game Boy)
  • Battletoads (NES, Game Boy)
  • Beetlejuice (NES)
  • Super R.C. Pro-Am (Game Boy)
  • High Speed (NES)
  • Sneaky Snakes (Game Boy)
  • Sesame Street ABC & 123 (NES)
  • Pirates! (NES)

[edit] 1992

  • Wizards & Warriors III (NES)
  • Beetlejuice (Game Boy)
  • Indy Heat (NES)
  • R.C. Pro-Am II (NES)
  • Championship Pro-Am (Mega Drive)

[edit] 1993

  • Battletoads (Mega Drive, Game Gear)
  • Battletoads Double Dragon (NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Game Boy)
  • Battletoads in Ragnarok's World (Game Boy)
  • Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES)
  • X The Ball (Arcade)
  • Snake Rattle‘N’ Roll (Mega Drive)

[edit] 1994

[edit] 1995

[edit] 1996

[edit] 1997

[edit] 2000

[edit] 2002

[edit] 2004

[edit] 2005

[edit] 2007

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Rareware.com: The Tepid Seat – Rare Music Team (December 2004)
  2. ^ Rareware.com: Scribes – December 21, 2005
    [Robin Beanland composed "Funky's Fugue"; Eveline Fischer composed "Simian Segue", "Candy's Love Song", "Voices of the Temple", "Forest Frenzy", "Treetop Rock", "Northern Hemispheres", and "Ice Cave Chant"; and David Wise composed the rest of the soundtrack.]
  3. ^ Rareware.com: Scribes – February 9, 2006 at Internet Archive
    [David Wise composed "Dixie Beat", "Crazy Calypso", "Wrinkly's Save Cave", "Get Fit A-Go-Go", "Wrinkly 64", "Brothers Bear", and "Bonus Time" (along with "Bonus Win" and "Bonus Lose"); and Eveline Fischer composed the rest of the soundtrack.]

[edit] External links

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