Feature: The Music Which Defines Us

After playing through Bastion last week, which featured an excellent soundtrack, I started thinking about the game music that still sticks with me today. There are some games, great games, where you finish them but a few days later don’t remember much of the music. For me, BioShock was one of these games. On the other hand, there are other games where you can remember the music years later.

Sure, there’s the obvious themes that most gamers would immediately recognize, like the Zelda and Super Mario Brothers ones. But since they are so ubiquitous, they aren’t very fun to talk about. So I decided to make a list (in no particular order) of my personally memorable gaming music moments. For each song, I also include a link to it on YouTube if you want to check it out.

The Curse of Monkey Island Theme (link)

The entire Carribean-infused soundtrack by Michael Land is phenomenal. Though the work obviously builds on the themes Land established in the first two Monkey Island games, the technology available in 1997 finally allowed him to fully express himself. The result is one awesome soundtrack.

I particularly like the rendition of the Monkey Island theme in this game. I like it so much, in fact, that it’s one of the two ring tones I use on my phone (the other being the USC band’s “Conquest,” which I use during football season). Humorously, when I first put the ring tone on my phone, my sister heard it and wanted it on her phone, too.

Tristam Theme (Diablo and Diablo II) (link)

The Tristam theme is the iconic Diablo song, so much so that when Blizzard made the official reveal for Diablo III, they of course had to tease it with this Matt Uelmen song. The fact that it’s so memorable for me might just be a function of how much I played Diablo II, which was quite a bit. My freshman year in college it was pretty much the only game I played, and I definitely played it more than I should have. It’s a haunting sort of dueling guitars that especially resonates after you see the destroyed Tristram in Diablo II.

Tallon Overworld Theme 2 (Metroid Prime) (link)

I could have picked one of many other songs from Kenji Yamamoto’s soundtrack. But for some reason, the second Tallon Overworld theme is my favorite, even more so than the title screen theme. This was another game where I neglected my college responsibilities and just played it. I remember when it came out, I ordered it and a GameCube online (using my well-earned part-time job money). When I got it, I basically didn’t go to class for a day or two while I finished it. The music in Metroid Prime has a high-tech and fully-synthesized feel to it, and it’s pulled off to great effect. It really meshes well with the technology in the game world.

Frog’s Theme (Chrono Trigger) (link)

Like with much of Nobuo Uematsu’s earlier works, it sounds much better with a full orchestral arrangement than it did on the SNES. I have one particular arrangement of it that I favor, though I was unable to find that exact version on YouTube. I think the reason this theme particularly stuck with me is simply because Frog was my favorite secondary character in Chrono Trigger. I always liked the sort of overdramatic heroism that defined him; and the music fit him perfectly.

Stormwind Theme (World of Warcraft) (link)

For better or worse, whenever I think of Warcraft music now, I first think of the Stormwind theme. Like most MMO players, I eventually disabled the music, simply because it becomes repetitive when you hear the same music hour after hour. But before the music got the axe, I knew the Stormwind Theme by heart. The choirs emphasized by Jason Hayes on this track really bring out the majestic qualities of the major Alliance capitol city.

Halo Theme (link)

So I never actually owned a first generation Xbox until well after the Xbox 360 came out (I bought it for some fighting games). But in my sophomore year of college, one of my roommates had an Xbox, and me and my friend played through Halo on it. While I certainly don’t hold the series on a pedestal as some do, I did at least enjoy the two Halos (1 and 3) which I played. The main music theme, however, is pretty hard to forget.

Girl in the Tower (King’s Quest VI) (link)

This is a pretty terrible song; essentially Sierra was trying to make a song in the vein of a Disney one to go with their game. The lyrics are cheesy, and the music is bombastic and very lame. But sometimes there’s a song where you know the lyrics to the chorus, and even though you don’t like the song, you can’t forget it. For me, “Girl in the Tower” definitely fits in that category. The funny thing is that the game shipped with a piece of a paper in the box that suggested you request the song on your local radio station. I wonder how many people actually did this.

The End (Bastion) (link)

Given that it was the game which drove me to writing this article, I thought it would only be fair to include a track from Bastion. It’s a very haunting song which builds on some music earlier in the game, but combines it to great effect. The result is something which stuck with me well after the credits ended. I would suggest not reading the comments in the YouTube video, given that this song plays as the end of the game. While this song certainly is much fresher on my mind than some of these other songs, I get the feeling it’ll stick with me for a while.

Conclusion

So there you have some of my gaming music memories. Maybe you heard something you liked, or maybe you think you have terrible taste. Either way, I’d love to hear other people’s top tunes in the comments.

Feature articles appear every Wednesday on Game Canary.

Categories: Features

Tags: music

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