The Wonder Years 1.24.08: Week 40 - Best Tunes
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 01.24.2008
The best tunes of the Wonder Years!
Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and it's my birthday today, so whoop-de-fucking-do. As anyone knows, the real celebration comes in the form of yet another multiple of ten being reached by "The Wonder Years, as being a geek I have deemed it necessary for all such decimal pleasures to be awarded the title of "special feature column". So, without further ado, I bring to you:
The best tunes of the Wonder Years
I'm feeling in a musical mood this week, so we're going to have a look at some of the best soundtracks available from the 16-bit era. Music is something that can really make or break a game, but in these days of fully orchestrated and/or licensed soundtracks, let's spare a thought for good old MIDI, which has provided some of the greatest tunes the gaming world has ever seen. It seems to me that when you have a gathering of gamers, conversation will inevitably turn to greatest game soundtracks, perhaps because a piece of music can evoke feelings of nostalgia for a particular old favorite game just like that. This list will probably be intensely subjective and will feature a lot more personal opinion than usual, so feel free to suggest your own favorites if you disagree. Remember: I'm not more knowledgeable than you, I just happen to have a larger forum to express my views than you do.
[Also, props to VGMusic for hosting probably the largest collection of game music online, it's the source of most of the clips linked in this column.]
I think if there were any, any hope for gamers to unite and determine the single greatest video game soundtrack of all time, Chrono Trigger would absolutely have to be top of the list. It's one of the most epic and inspiring aural experiences you'll ever... er... experience, and it's well worth going out of your way to track down the 3-CD soundtrack, which also features pieces commissioned for the game but never included such as the lovely 'Singing Mountain'. My personal highlight is the wonderfully uplifting theme of the heroic knight, Frog, but I seriously don't think there is a single mediocre work out of the 55 or so different tunes on offer.
A wonderfully eclectic mix of rock, techno and acid jazz, SOR2 features arguably (inasmuch as it has been argued, many times, by geeks on forums - and I don't mean that in a derogatory sense) the best soundtrack on the Genesis. It's surprising how many side-scrolling fighters have a selection of kick-ass tunes, but this is always the first soundtrack that comes to mind when I picture the genre. The particular selection here is more laid back than the majority of the game's cuts, almost trance-like at certain moments, which is certainly apt given that you're deserving of a break by the time you've battled this far through the game.
It may be a sign of my ever-growing age, but I always thought it was easy to distinguish between FF6 (released as FF3 on the SNES in the west) and FF3 (released only in Japan on the NES), but ever since Square started remaking the titles for handheld consoles I've completely lost track of the standard nomenclature. Anyway, this is the one with Kefka in it, just so we're straight. The overworld theme was, at the time I first played the game, indisputably the most epic thing I'd ever heard in a video game, and it still stands up today as one my all-time favorite pieces of game music.
Much was made of Ecco's ambient soundtrack at the time of the game's release, with all sorts of ballyhoo written about how the music perfectly complemented the game's theme. While I still argue that Donkey Kong Country has a much better implementation of "underwater" ambience (in fact, since the game itself didn't make this list, although it could well have done, here's its classic underwater music), there's no denying the quality of Ecco's tunes, my favorite of which comes from (I think) world five.
Slightly obscure game alert. All you really need to know about Plok is the rumor that its soundtrack so pleased Shigeru Miyamoto, he apparently thought Software Creations and Tim Follin had crammed a special chip into the cartridge in order to create such music with only five channels being utilized. They hadn't, but it's a surefire testament to them in any case. Standout piece of the game, for my money, comes from the game's Akrillic levels, although the southern-fried Plok Title Theme ran it close for inclusion here. The Akrillic tune takes the biscuit for being so audaciously prog-rock in its approach to gaming.
It's probably no surprise that RPGs tend to have the most votes when it comes to having the best soundtracks, but it's always surprised me just how many games tend to have excellent ending tunes, even if the game prior to the credits wasn't up to much. Ys III combines the best of both world with a wonderfully understated closing piece of music, but the game prior to it, like the rest in its series, features a wonderful soundtrack courtesy of composer Mieko Ishikawa that has been the subject of countless adaptations and re-arrangements. And rightly so.
Often hailed as being one of the most evocative 16-bit soundtracks of its time (although it's hard to estimate how well the soundtrack really does evoke the sense of isolation on an alien planet), Super Metroid has the distinction of having a better soundtrack than any of its more recent-generation sequels - I'll admit to not knowing who the composer was, but he was obviously outdoing himself with his work on this game. The cut chosen here comes from the planet Brinstar, and it's a perfect blend of chilling classical suspense and futuristic techno.
If you're in the US, you probably know this game and its horrendously translated pseudonym Lightening Force, but fear not at the work of such grammatical terrorism, it's a decent game with an even decent-er soundtrack, although undeniably cheesy. How cheesy you ask? Take a listen to the staff credits accompaniment piece linked herewith, also titled somewhat un-grammatically in the true vein of Scandinavian power metal, and hear for yourself the true power of MIDI metal cheese.
I was going to be overly self-indulgent and upload a version of this song I recorded myself for your delectation, but hell, I'm not that egotistical. One of the rockingest tunes from one of the rockingest game soundtracks released in the 90s (although I'll admit I would have loved to hear the music to Mega Man 2 updated for 16-bit MIDI), there probably isn't an old-school gamer alive who doesn't know the music to the opening stage of this game, so memorable is its composition. Kudos, Capcom, for reaching the hearts and earlobes of so many.
The Videosphere
Let's take a look at this week's video highlight. I figured that, since it's my birthday, I could probably get away with putting something completely unrelated to gaming in this section. But then I thought "hang on, I do that every week anyway, pretty much". So thusly, behold with your very own eyes, the sheer majesty of Jerry Phillips: The Manualist.
General indulgences
Every week in this section I'll endeavor to provide you, the faithful readers, with a fascinating insight into the various forms of entertainment currently dominating my spare time.
This week, I have been mostly enjoying:
Warioware Smooth Moves. Same choice as last week? Hey, what can I say, minigames are addictive.
Planet Earth on DVD. My girlfriend has been going through something of a natural history phase recently, and while I'm not too enamored with some of her choices, this is certainly a magnificent documentary that show off this little world of ours at its best.
The Office. But is the British or American version superior? Answers on a postcard - or, at least, in the comments section below.
and setting up Abby's new laptop, which, if you read last week's column, does have a VGA-out after all. Now all I need to is fix her perplexing shortsightedness that pops up whenever she uses the thing...
And finally…
As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line or leave a comment. You can also check out my science fiction column "The Flux Capacitor" over at 411 Movies. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - high speed critical future racing, baby. Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.
