Who composed the music and sound effects for the original Pokémon Red and Green games?

Junichi Masuda composed the music and sound effects for the original Pokémon Red and Green games.

Masuda was one of Game Freak’s early developers and worked on the first Pokémon titles as a composer, programmer, and sound creator. His contributions included the game’s musical tracks, sound effects, and the programming needed to play audio on the Game Boy.

He later took on broader creative roles in the franchise. Masuda directed Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, produced or directed many later games, and contributed music across numerous generations.

Masuda’s role is sometimes confused with Satoshi Tajiri’s, because Tajiri conceived the Pokémon concept and directed the original project, or Ken Sugimori’s, because Sugimori led the visual design work. Those were different responsibilities. Masuda’s original contribution was especially important because the limited Game Boy hardware made memorable sound design a demanding technical task.