super mario rpg | Kenley Kristofferson

August 1, 2012

VGM Wednesday – The Wedding Edition

“The Merry Mary Bell Rings” from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, by Yoko Shimamura, and released in 1996.

Well, tomorrow is the day!

Tomorrow, I will be married 🙂

It seems only fitting that today’s VGM Wednesday reflects this exciting 48 hours because that’s what video games do, don’t they? They resonate with us at the common times of the games and our lives. Whether it’s the mastery of our surroundings in Portal, the adventure-seeking in Skyrim, or the celebration of love in Final Fantasy IV (during Cecil and Rosa’s wedding, of course, as this is the wedding edition). We empathize with the game elements that we crave in our lives, at least where narrative is concerned.

I recently beat the DS port of Final Fantasy IV and, while the battles were a bit cheap at times, the wedding between Cecil and Rosa at the end (spoiler) really resonated with me because I’m getting married right away! I wanted to high-five Cecil and wish him the best because we’re both going through the same thing and, as silly as it may sound, I was just so happy for him.

(also, Rosa is a total babe who is crazy in love with him, who wouldn’t want to high-five that scenario?)

It’s a strange feeling, this “getting married” thing. Many people say that nothing changes in their relationship, while others say it was a transformative experience. I can’t help but ask myself “I wonder what it’ll be like for me?”

Brenna and I have been dating for seven years – that’s a long time. Thankfully, it doesn’t feel like it. We live together and know each other pretty well, which I think has helped us plan the wedding.

(read: “…which has helped me help Brenna plan the wedding.” She’s the mastermind and it’s going to be a crazy good time)

Anyway, I guess not knowing is part of the adventure, isn’t it? It’s that you have the adventure together. I’m not nervous for the journey, just excited. She’s the most amazing woman that I know 🙂

Okay, off to Marrymore to get married. Valentina and Booster are first, though. They reconciled their differences with Mario and have decided to be happy.

Until next time 🙂
Kenley

PS: All images from this post were taken from the awesome Destructoid post, “The Ten Best Video Game Weddings.”

April 11, 2012

VGM Wednesday – “Super Mario RPG Medley” by GaMetal

“Almost every song” from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, by GaMetal, posted by January 9, 2012.

I don’t have words… Actually, his comments say everything for themselves, so here they are:

Almost EVERY song from the soundtrack is featured.

This song itself is split into 7 ‘acts’ as I’d like to call them, combined together to form this enormous tribute. Over 40 different songs are featured; the tracklist (with nifty time links!) is as follows:

Act 1: In the Beginning
The Sword Descends and the Stars Scatter 00:00
Got a Star Piece (Pt 2) 00:45
Fight Against Koopa 00:54
Super Pipe House 1:45
Where Am I Going? 2:33
The Road is Full of Dangers 2:53
Fight Against Monsters 3:26
Victory 3:55

Act 2: Mushroom People and Tadpole Adventures
Hello, Happy Kingdom 4:20
Still, the Road is Full of Dangers 5:23
Fight Against a Somewhat Stronger Monster 6:00
Let’s Go Down the Midas River 7:27
Grandpa and the Delightful Tadpoles 7:54
Shock 8:31
Sad Song 8:33

Act 3: Geno, Yoshis, and Moles
Here’s Some Weapons! 9:34
Let’s Play Geno 10:15
Beware the Forest’s Mushrooms 10:43
Rose Town 11:51
Welcome! Yo’ster Isle! 12:16
Let’s Race 13:02
Hard-working Moles are Good Moles 13:19
Docaty Mountain Railroad 13:55

Act 4: Booster and his Wedding
Welcome to Booster Tower 14:41
And My Name’s Booster 15:23
Slope 17:11
The Merry Marry Bells Ring 17:38
The Starlights Flower 18:18

Act 5: The Sea, the Monster Town, Clouds and Volcanos
Sunken Ship 18:42
Going Shopping in Seaside Town 19:02
My Paradise -Monstro Town- 19:29
Margarie Margarita 20:13
Let’s do the Fluff-Fluff! 21:11
Barrel Volcano 22:21
The Axem Rangers Drop In 22:58
Fight Against an Armed Boss 23:25

Act 6: The Path to Smithy and the Final Battle
Koopa Castle 24:44
Weapons Factory 26:03
Fight Against Smithy 27:28
Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming 28:39

Act 7: A Grand Ending
Goodbye, Geno 31:08
Seeking Dreams through the Windows of the Stars 32:11
Happy Parade, Delightful Parade 33:19
And the Parade Draws to a Close 36:02

I love that this was a labour of love for him. Also in the comments, he’s said that he works on this 3-10 hours per day, 5 days a week. He just wanted it to be perfect.

(but seriously, imagine learning almost every part on almost every song on an album/soundtrack).

Good job, sir 🙂
Kenley

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February 15, 2012

VGM Wednesdays – “Mushroom Kingdom” from Super Mario RPG

“Mushroom Kingdom” from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, composed by Yoko Shimamura and released in 1996

Why isn’t there more bassoon in VGM? Seriously, its bouncy woodsiness sells me immediate in “Mushroom Kingdom.”

I love what Yoko Shimamura (or Parasite Eve and Kingdom Hearts fame) does here. Instead of adapting a theme from Mario for the iconic Mushroom Kingdom, she puts pencil to paper and creates something new.

Because, let’s face it, we’ve been in the Mushroom Kingdom through most Mario games, but when have we ever been inside the Mushroom Kingdom? Maybe we have, but when we actually get to walk around and explore it feels like a new experience and I think it should have new music. Thankfully, so does Shimamura 🙂

But it’s not only the bassoon in the beginning that make it shine, there is also tambourine and triangle which sits juuuuuuuust beneath the bassoon colour and adds some sparkle to the colour. There’s also a click in there somewhere, maybe a cross stick, temple block or wood block. I’m not sure what it is, but I like it.

Then we have English Horn on a small melody in the A section – a double reed duet. YES!

Some low reed and low brass colours take over the melody in the B section (0:13) and catapult the listener back into A section, which now has a flute on top.

Until about 0:48, the piece is carried by the winds. Now, why is that important? It’s really because we depend on strings for just-about-everything and the winds and percussion usually colour that sound. This time, in the absence of strings, we have only colour and it’s beautiful 🙂

Thoughts? Write them below, send me a tweet or comment on the facebook post!

Thanks,
Kenley

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