David Wise is a British composer who has worked on numerous iconic video game soundtracks during his career, including the widely belovedDonkey Kong Countryseries. Having contributed to the industry for around the last 37 years, Wise has a longstanding legacy that continues to grow with the recent launch ofNikoderiko: The Magical World.Its music showcases Wise’s unique music style and talents, taking players back to the days of 90s platforming with an eclectic palette of sounds.
Game Rant recently had the opportunity to sit down with Wise to discuss his longstanding legacy and recent work creatingNikoderiko: The Magical World’s music, wherein he also sought to bring something new to the table. In addition to reflecting on his career and work onNikoderiko, Wise also spoke about future projects and how he hopes to inspire others through his legacy.
David Wise Reflects On His Legacy And How He Hopes To Inspire Others
In addition to working on theDonkey Kong Country-inspired platformerNikoderiko: The Magical World, Wise said he feels very “honored” and pleased to have contributed his “musical voice” to video games for a long time, adding that he’s very fortunate to have such a “strange and unusual career that’s lasted for 37 years so far and counting.” It’s no surprise that such a long career produces an equally long legacy as well.
For example, Wise added it has been very “humbling” and “exciting” to hear recreations and remixed versions of his music andvideo game soundtracksover the years, which initially helped him realize that people liked his music. As Wise said,
That’s just completely unbelievable because that touches you emotionally in a way that it’s hard to describe. The fact that people like the music so much that they want to do their own version of it. That really is quite something. And from what I’ve done, if people want to learn the techniques or the composition behind it, again, if I’ve inspired somebody to go out and do it on their own, I think that’s a real win.
David Wise Discusses Creating Nikoderiko: The Magical World’s Music And Future Projects
Wise only had positive things to say about working with the team at VEA Games onNikoderiko, which he said provided “excellent” feedback on the project. Speaking generally, Wise also mentioned always wanting to bring something unique to the table for every piece of music he writes. He acknowledgedNikoderikois reminiscent of some of his previous works, which span variousNintendo franchises, indie games, and so forth, but added that the game’s setting is different and talked about wanting to find “a voice or something unique that suitedNikoderiko.“Ultimately, Wise praisedNikoderikofor developing “a life of its own” throughout the project.
Looking ahead, Wise understandably couldn’t talk about every future project but did mention working onthe upcoming indie platformerLucid, another title inspired by variousretro gameslikeDonkey Kong Country. He is always looking forward to new opportunities that might come up from innovative projects and said it is an exciting time to be a composer in the industry. Wise also summarized his thoughts on inspiring others:
Overall, if somebody has been inspired enough to want to go do something and learn from it, that really is quite something.
