Yesterday the gaming community around the world woke up to the news that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had passed away at the age of 55.

Besides many fans creating virtual tributes to one of gaming’s longest-serving legends, Dr. Mario and Earthbound composer Hirokazu “Chip” Tanaka scored a tribute to Iwata.

Simply called ‘Dedicated to Satoru Iwata’, it is a remix of the theme from NES classic Balloon Fight.

As The Verge points out, “Iwata and Tanaka first met in 1983 while working on the game, and later were part of the same team on the cult role playing game Earthbound.”

You can listen to the song below, but this isn’t the first time that Tanaka has paid tribute to a Nintendo president through song – he composed a tune for the death of Hiroshi Yamauchi as well.

[Image – SoundCloud]