Kazumi Totaka

Kazumi Totaka (戸高 一生, born August 23, 1967) is a Japanese music composer for Nintendo, and mainly works with Nintendo EAD. He has done the musical score to many games, including Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Mario Paint, Yoshi's Story, and many more. He is also very popular for doing the music to the Animal Crossing series. He also does the voice of Yoshi since Yoshi's Story, Professor Elvin Gadd since Luigi's Mansion and Birdo since Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. He also did Shy Guy and Fly Guy until Nate Bihldorff took over in Mario Power Tennis.

Totaka's Song
There is an interesting piece of music that Totaka has sneaked into almost all of the games he's composed. Although it is not widely known, players can listen to a secret track of Totaka's, known as Totaka's Song, after meeting certain conditions. The Mario games it has been spotted in are:
 * Mario Paint - The player can touch the O in the word MARIO, when on the main screen. After that, the O will explode like a bomb, and Totaka's song will play.
 * Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - On the "Game Over" screen, after 2 minutes and 30 seconds Totaka's song will play.
 * Virtual Boy Wario Land - On the end screen that appears after the credits, the track plays after a minute and 15 seconds.
 * Yoshi's Story - On the Trial Mode and Select Yoshi screens, Totaka's song will take over after 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
 * Luigi's Mansion - On the screen showing the controls of the Poltergust 3000 (this appears before training mode), the song plays after 3.5 minutes of idleness.
 * Yoshi Touch & Go - In Marathon Mode, once the player reaches a mountainous area where clouds are being blown away, a 3 minute and 45 second pause leads to the song.
 * Yoshi's New Island - On the world map, the player should go to the part of World 6 with the volcano on it, and wait for about 5 minutes to hear the song.
 * Mario Kart 8 - There is a chance that one of the Yoshis that appear in the audience of certain courses will be humming Totaka's Song; although it is near impossible to hear during a race and cannot be heard in MKTV replays, a clear version has been found in the game's files.

Portrayals

 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island – Yoshi
 * Yoshi's Story – Yoshi / Shy Guy / Fly Guy
 * Super Smash Bros. – Yoshi
 * Mario Tennis – Yoshi / Shy Guy
 * Mario Kart: Super Circuit – Yoshi
 * Luigi's Mansion – Professor Elvin Gadd
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee – Yoshi
 * Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island – Yoshi
 * Super Mario Sunshine – Yoshi
 * Mario Party 4 – Yoshi / Shy Guy
 * Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!! – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario Party 5 – Yoshi
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga – Professor Elvin Gadd
 * Mario Golf: Advance Tour – Yoshi
 * Mario Power Tennis – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Yoshi's Universal Gravitation – Yoshi
 * Mario Party 6 – Yoshi
 * Super Mario 64 DS – Yoshi
 * Yoshi Touch & Go – Yoshi
 * Mario Superstar Baseball – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario Tennis: Power Tour – Yoshi
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP – Yoshi
 * Mario Party 7 – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario Kart DS – Yoshi
 * Super Mario Strikers – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time – Professor Elvin Gadd / Yoshi
 * New Super Mario Bros. – Yoshi
 * Mario Hoops 3-on-3 – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Yoshi's Island DS – Yoshi
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 – Yoshi
 * Mario Strikers Charged – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario Party 8 – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games – Yoshi
 * Mario Party DS – Yoshi
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Yoshi
 * Mario Kart Wii – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario Super Sluggers – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games – Yoshi
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Yoshi
 * Mario Sports Mix – Yoshi
 * Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Fortune Street – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario Kart 7 – Yoshi
 * Mario Party 9 – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario Tennis Open – Yoshi
 * New Super Mario Bros. U – Yoshi
 * Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon – Professor Elvin Gadd
 * New Super Luigi U – Yoshi
 * Mario & Luigi: Dream Team – Yoshi
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP DX – Yoshi
 * Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games – Yoshi
 * Mario Party: Island Tour – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Yoshi's New Island – Yoshi
 * Mario Golf: World Tour – Yoshi / Birdo
 * Mario Kart 8 – Yoshi
 * Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U – Yoshi
 * Yoshi's Woolly World – Yoshi

Trivia

 * K.K. Slider from the Animal Crossing series is based on Kazumi Totaka. His Japanese name is taken from the fact that, in Japan, last names are written first, so it would be Totaka Kazumi. That can be shortened to "Totaka K.," which sounds like "Totakeke."