Update: Nostalgic Game Music (part 2)
Song: Stickerbrush Symphony
Game: Donkey Kong Country 2
Comments: Playing DKC2 as a wee lass, I played the Krazy Kremland world tier more than any other for reasons I cannot explain. Somewhere between the shitty bee levels and the shitty marsh levels and the shitty-after-long-extended-plays-because-they-were-the-only-ones-I-was-good-at roller coaster levels, I think my dislike bled over to the Brambles. I hated them, loathed them. Fuck thorns. Fuck barrels. Fuck parrots. Playing the game again now, I still don't like the marsh levels, and my SNES gathering dust for five years or so still wasn't enough to expunge my overkill of the amusement park. But somehow my hatred of the Brambles died out. I love the levels now. Barrel-hopping against a slow drifting blue sky? Completely relaxing. This song is the ultimate chill out song. Whenever I get wound up, I listen to this and it just mellows me out instantly. For DOUBLY tranquility, try the remix version.
Song: Forever Rachel
Game: Final Fantasy VI
Comments: This is actually from the fan produced Reborn album, because really, this, like Slam Shuffle, was gypped in terms of getting an official arrangement. Criminal, I tell you, criminal. This is song is melancholy incarnate, pretty in a heart aching way.
Song: Theme
Game: Kirby's Dreamland
Comments: I bought my Gameboy from a flea market when I was ten. I lost the back at some point, so held the batteries in with taped on cardboard and had to remove the protective plastic screen because it was scratched to hell. It was also the only Gameboy I had until just over a year ago. Kirby was one of the original games I had gotten with it, and I remember little aside from a boxing penguin and sucking so badly at it. And considering my brother's gaming skills as compared to mine, and how angry he was getting at the game during our last blackout, I'm probably still positively awful at it. But hearing the catchy-if not super redundant-start screen music still brings some warm and fuzzy memories.
Song: Into the Darkness
Game: Final Fantasy IV
Comments: The Prologue was actually the first song from a game I was ever obsessed with, but years later, this is the one that really sticks with me. I can't really describe the sound beyond "ethereal", but there's something about it that just kind makes my stomach clench when I hear it. For whatever reason I always associate the song with Camille Saint-Saens' "The Aquarium," so both bring to mind caverns housing underground waterfalls and hidden springs.
Song: Windmill
Game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Comments: As stated last update, I love this game to a degree that makes me feel like some screeching new gen system fangirl. "lol i only liek gaems in 3d" But you can suck it. I don't care, I love it. :D The best music is in the game are the ocarina songs, in my opinion, so it's no surprise one of my favorites is the full version of one such theme. It has carousel quality to it, one I would emphasize by spending long periods of time letting the cogs of the windmill carry me around in circles while rain poured and thunder clapped along the ceiling.
Song: Healing Winds
Game: Soul Calibur 2
Comments: There's something very epic and majestic about this song, which is strange considering it's the theme to the Museum Gallery. Only the best for your bonus features! But honestly, there's some serious quality put in the Soul Calibur games, a level of detail and regard most fighting games don't receive. I'm not a fan of fighters, but it's something I picked up on the first time I played the original on the Dreamcast and was enough to make me rent it over and over again. So while this is from the second one, listening to it brings back memories of the original.
Song: Main Theme
Game: Metal Gear Solid 2
Comments: I rescind the above remark about Healing Wings being epic. Want epic? This is epic, movie epic even. No surprise there, considering it's A. composed by big wig Harry Gregson-Williams and B. the theme to Metal Gear Solid, which is cinematic in its own right. I know everyone and their dog is fapping over MGS3, but as much as I enjoyed it, SoL will always be my favorite of the games. I love the characters (yes, even Raiden), love the story, love the music. It's fantastically composed and combined with the visuals, makes for what is still one of my favorite opening sequences ever.
Song: Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World
Game: Chrono Cross
Comments: Chrono Cross is a mediocre sequel with a mediocre cast and a mediocre plotline. And completely fantastic soundtrack. Seriously, how they managed to halfass everything but the OST, I dunno, but it's almost good enough to make up for how bland and confusing the game is. Barring a title so ridiculously long it almost qualifies it for emo-dom, this a beautiful song. Before I had access to my own computer, I used to leave the game on the background for hours at a time, just because I loved this song that much.
Song: Aria di Mezzo Carattere (live edition)
Songs: Final Fantasy VI
Comments: I know, last week I declined to upload the Aria because it’s so ridiculously popular, but, but, I had to plug this. In terms of nostalgia, I should go with the original version. Sixteen bit quality, that tinny, awful robotic singing voice. But I'm not going to. As much as I love the tinny, awful robotic singing voice. No, really, I do. Instead, I'm offering this, a twelve minute rendition of the opera from the More Friends concert in LA two years ago. It's live, it’s in English, it feels like you're really there. For all the people bitching about the change in lyrics in the GBA version of the game, I think they need to give this a listen, because it's the same set of lyrics and it's kind of awesome.
Game: Donkey Kong Country 2
Comments: Playing DKC2 as a wee lass, I played the Krazy Kremland world tier more than any other for reasons I cannot explain. Somewhere between the shitty bee levels and the shitty marsh levels and the shitty-after-long-extended-plays-because-they-were-the-only-ones-I-was-good-at roller coaster levels, I think my dislike bled over to the Brambles. I hated them, loathed them. Fuck thorns. Fuck barrels. Fuck parrots. Playing the game again now, I still don't like the marsh levels, and my SNES gathering dust for five years or so still wasn't enough to expunge my overkill of the amusement park. But somehow my hatred of the Brambles died out. I love the levels now. Barrel-hopping against a slow drifting blue sky? Completely relaxing. This song is the ultimate chill out song. Whenever I get wound up, I listen to this and it just mellows me out instantly. For DOUBLY tranquility, try the remix version.
Song: Forever Rachel
Game: Final Fantasy VI
Comments: This is actually from the fan produced Reborn album, because really, this, like Slam Shuffle, was gypped in terms of getting an official arrangement. Criminal, I tell you, criminal. This is song is melancholy incarnate, pretty in a heart aching way.
Song: Theme
Game: Kirby's Dreamland
Comments: I bought my Gameboy from a flea market when I was ten. I lost the back at some point, so held the batteries in with taped on cardboard and had to remove the protective plastic screen because it was scratched to hell. It was also the only Gameboy I had until just over a year ago. Kirby was one of the original games I had gotten with it, and I remember little aside from a boxing penguin and sucking so badly at it. And considering my brother's gaming skills as compared to mine, and how angry he was getting at the game during our last blackout, I'm probably still positively awful at it. But hearing the catchy-if not super redundant-start screen music still brings some warm and fuzzy memories.
Song: Into the Darkness
Game: Final Fantasy IV
Comments: The Prologue was actually the first song from a game I was ever obsessed with, but years later, this is the one that really sticks with me. I can't really describe the sound beyond "ethereal", but there's something about it that just kind makes my stomach clench when I hear it. For whatever reason I always associate the song with Camille Saint-Saens' "The Aquarium," so both bring to mind caverns housing underground waterfalls and hidden springs.
Song: Windmill
Game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Comments: As stated last update, I love this game to a degree that makes me feel like some screeching new gen system fangirl. "lol i only liek gaems in 3d" But you can suck it. I don't care, I love it. :D The best music is in the game are the ocarina songs, in my opinion, so it's no surprise one of my favorites is the full version of one such theme. It has carousel quality to it, one I would emphasize by spending long periods of time letting the cogs of the windmill carry me around in circles while rain poured and thunder clapped along the ceiling.
Song: Healing Winds
Game: Soul Calibur 2
Comments: There's something very epic and majestic about this song, which is strange considering it's the theme to the Museum Gallery. Only the best for your bonus features! But honestly, there's some serious quality put in the Soul Calibur games, a level of detail and regard most fighting games don't receive. I'm not a fan of fighters, but it's something I picked up on the first time I played the original on the Dreamcast and was enough to make me rent it over and over again. So while this is from the second one, listening to it brings back memories of the original.
Song: Main Theme
Game: Metal Gear Solid 2
Comments: I rescind the above remark about Healing Wings being epic. Want epic? This is epic, movie epic even. No surprise there, considering it's A. composed by big wig Harry Gregson-Williams and B. the theme to Metal Gear Solid, which is cinematic in its own right. I know everyone and their dog is fapping over MGS3, but as much as I enjoyed it, SoL will always be my favorite of the games. I love the characters (yes, even Raiden), love the story, love the music. It's fantastically composed and combined with the visuals, makes for what is still one of my favorite opening sequences ever.
Song: Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World
Game: Chrono Cross
Comments: Chrono Cross is a mediocre sequel with a mediocre cast and a mediocre plotline. And completely fantastic soundtrack. Seriously, how they managed to halfass everything but the OST, I dunno, but it's almost good enough to make up for how bland and confusing the game is. Barring a title so ridiculously long it almost qualifies it for emo-dom, this a beautiful song. Before I had access to my own computer, I used to leave the game on the background for hours at a time, just because I loved this song that much.
Song: Aria di Mezzo Carattere (live edition)
Songs: Final Fantasy VI
Comments: I know, last week I declined to upload the Aria because it’s so ridiculously popular, but, but, I had to plug this. In terms of nostalgia, I should go with the original version. Sixteen bit quality, that tinny, awful robotic singing voice. But I'm not going to. As much as I love the tinny, awful robotic singing voice. No, really, I do. Instead, I'm offering this, a twelve minute rendition of the opera from the More Friends concert in LA two years ago. It's live, it’s in English, it feels like you're really there. For all the people bitching about the change in lyrics in the GBA version of the game, I think they need to give this a listen, because it's the same set of lyrics and it's kind of awesome.