Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Selection of Video Game Music (April 2011) - Part II

You can see Part I here.


#11 - "Ancient's Village" - Final Fantasy III (NES/DS)

Hard to believe you get such a emotional theme in an 8-bit generation, but Uematsu did pull it off well. It's a shame we didn't get this jewel of a game until its remake came out state-side in 2006, and now we can hear it in all it's remade glory.

Original (NES, 1990)





Remake (DS, 2006)






#12 - "Gunmetal Action" - Wild Arms 3 (PS2)

I originally got into this series through a demo disc I received about 10 or so years ago. I never got around playing the series until my close friend gave it to me as a birthday gift. I'm about halfway through the game, and I stopped playing it for some reason, now hearing this theme makes me want to go back and play it.






#13 - "Cascade Capers'" (Waterfall Theme) - Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES)

Even though this game is considered by many to be the worst in the series (including myself), it's still a great game. It's like the bottom of a top-tier trilogy. Anyway, Eveline Fischer composed most of the music for DKC3 on its original Super Nintendo incarnation. David Wise (the composer of DKC2), scrapped all of Fischer's work on the GBA port of DKC3 and made his own soundtrack from scratch. So, unfortunately, this theme isn't in the Game Boy Advance port of this game, but still worth a listen.





#14- "Justice" (Leo's Theme) - Lunar 2: Eternal Blue (Sega CD, Sega Saturn, PS1)

Lunar has to be one of my favorite RPG series. They have two main titles, Silver Star Story, and Eternal Blue. Unfortunately, I've only played the second game in the series (this one) and haven't had a chance to experience Silver Star Story, but I heard it was re-released for the PSP recently, so I'll have to find myself a copy. Anyway, this is the theme when one of the main characters "Leo" is encountered.





#15 - "Athletic" - Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES/GBA)

Boy does this game bring back memories. I got all the way to the final boss on the SNES version, and bam the cartridge save battery failed, I was a very sad ten year old when that happened. I eventually ended up getting the GBA version and I have no freaking clue what happened to that copy of SMW2. I'll beat it eventually. But the sequel "Yoshi's Island DS" is way too hard and bland for my taste, and the music doesn't match up well like this game did.

This particular song usually played on the chaotic levels in the game, with lots of platforms and lifts and jumps. Oh, the memories!






#16- "Janus Control Center" - Goldeneye 007 (N64)

Back in the day, when Rare was actually good, they had a good slew of musical talent working for them, like David Wise and Graeme Norgate. The latter composed most (if not all) of the soundtrack for Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64. All of the soundtrack is actually very catch, but if I had to pick one memorable theme out of the game, it would have to be this one. This song plays at the Control Center, one of the hardest levels (in my opinion). I remember being really young playing this on my N64 and I kept getting Natalya killed on accident.





#17 - "Main Theme" - Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo DS)

Have to admit, I've never actually played this game, but it is one of the main themes of the Smashville level of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. My friends and I have a certain inside joke that a hardcore biker gang would roll to this theme. (Yeah, I know. We're weird.)

Original:





Smash Bros. Version:






#18 - "Meet the Creeper" (Rob Zombie) - Twisted Metal III (PS1)

Now this is a classic. My best friend at the time got me into this series (and also introduced my brother and I to the PlayStation). I wonder whatever happened to him, haven't seen him in years.

I'd have to admit, Twisted Metal 2 was loads better than Twisted Metal III. But III had a far better soundtrack that made up for it. This song played at the intro (seen below) and as the final level on Calypso's blimp. (Primeval boss too, what a b*tch.)





#19 - "Ulara" - The Legend of Dragoon (PS1)

I got into this game last year (after wanting it for countless months) and beat it in about two months or so. It was a great RPG, hard to find nowadays though. But if you ever get a copy-, I highly suggest it.

This song in particular plays in one of the towns near the end of the game (I believe in Disc 4, I may be wrong. Memory fails me!)






#20 - "A Moogle Kupo d'Etat - Evil in Small Doses" - Final Fantasy XI (PS2/PC/XB360)

This was one of the add-on expansion final boss themes added in 2009 to the MMORPG in the Final Fantasy XI series. The player fights a giant moogle as a boss. It's meant to be a hilarious sidestory to the normal seriousness of the game.






Special Mention: The pause music from Battletoads.

If it weren't for the Angry Video Game Nerd, I'd have never heard of this jewel.








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