Tag: video game music

Music, VGM Wednesdays

VGM Wednesdays – “Prologue” from Castlevania: SOTN

“Prologue” from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, by Michiru Yamane and released in 1997. This piece has so many aspects that I’ve loved from music throughout my life: Music, 80s guitar, Romantic Era-esque arpeggios overtop of thick choral and string chords… it’s like my whole musical career wrapped into one piece.  All it needs are cadential resolutions to IVadd9 chords and we’ll be set. (I really, … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – “Prologue” from Castlevania: SOTN

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Music, VGM Wednesdays

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 … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – “Mushroom Kingdom” from Super Mario RPG

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Music, VGM Wednesdays

VGM Wednesdays – “Staff Roll” From “LoZ: Wind Waker”

“Staff Roll” from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, composed by Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi, Koji Kondo and released in 2003 It feels strange to use a game that I’ve never played for VGM Wednesdays, but I once did a St. Patrick’s Day interview with Radio Free Gamer and this game came up.  I’ve never forgotten its since. It’s the second Koji Kondo game in two … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – “Staff Roll” From “LoZ: Wind Waker”

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Music, VGM Wednesdays

VGM Wednesdays – All of the Cutscenes from Ninja Gaiden

Cutscene Music from Ninja Gaiden, composed by Keiji Yamagishi and released in 1992 Things I love about this game: 1) The Music (goes without saying, right?) 2) Cutscenes in an NES game! And by the same company that made Tecmo Bowl! 3) ScrewAttack rated this game as the 7th hardest NES game of all-time… I agree. 4) … (and I suppose a nostalgic connection). Initially, … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – All of the Cutscenes from Ninja Gaiden

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Music, VGM Wednesdays

VGM Wednesdays – “Close to Home” from Uncharted Waters: New Horizons

“Close to Home” from Uncharted Waters: New Horizons, by Yoko Kanno and released in 1994. I covered this game in my podcast a few years ago and I penned as “one of the best scores you’ve never heard” because the game achieved so little success in North America and Europe.  In Asia, the Uncharted Waters franchise did okay – it wasn’s Mario or Dragon Quest, but … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – “Close to Home” from Uncharted Waters: New Horizons

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Music, VGM Wednesdays

VGM Wednesdays – “Fluffy Sweet” from Cloud

“Fluffy” from Cloud, by Vincent Diamante and released in 2005. Have you ever put down a game after a few hours (or minutes) or play and thought, “man, that was just so beautiful?”  That’s Cloud. I was exposed to this game at an IGDA meeting in Winnipeg about four years ago and it really stuck with me.  Noah Decter-Jackson of Complex Games was leading a small presentation … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – “Fluffy Sweet” from Cloud

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Music, VGM Wednesdays

VGM Wednesdays – “Times Scar” from Chrono Cross

“Time’s Scar” from Square’s “Chrono Cross,”  released in 2000. This game has been on my mind for a while now.  Lately, it re-emerged with its release on the PSN Store about a month ago and I really considered buying it again.  Next, a blog called “Score” wrote a 3-PART analysis on the tune and did a fantastic job. If you like music theory and VGM, you want to … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – “Times Scar” from Chrono Cross

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Music, VGM Wednesdays

VGM Wednesdays – “Colour of the Summer Sky”

“Colour of the Summer Sky” from Square’s Secret of Mana, released in 1993. We first hear it in Potos Village, but it never leaves us through the rest of the game.  Hiroki Kikuta‘s score to Squaresoft’s 1993 RPG, Secret of Mana is one of those scores that transcends other musical works of its generation and that really isn’t a superlative generalization – it’s just one … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – “Colour of the Summer Sky”

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Music, VGM Wednesdays

VGM Wednesdays – “Title Screen” from Kid Icarus

“Title Screen” from Nintendo’s Kid Icarus, released in 1986 Written by Hip Tanaka in 1986, Kid Icarus is one of those pieces that stay with you and you may or may not have it in your head for the next several hours – sorry.  If you ever play the game, you’ll be hearing the music a lot, as the title is notoriously difficult even by … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – “Title Screen” from Kid Icarus

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Music, VGM Wednesdays

VGM Wednesdays – VGMPF and Sim City (SNES)

Very few genres of music have affected me as much as music from video games.  They were a huge part of my youth (but I still remembered to play outside and be creative) and, coupled with high school music education, became a driving force of my musical development. There is SO much great music that has been written over the past 3o years for this … Continue reading VGM Wednesdays – VGMPF and Sim City (SNES)

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