What I particularly like about the Ultima IV theme, as well as many others, is that when you hear it you go “this is certainly a video-game tune”. Last month I ordered a Monster Hunter 2 artbook which is bundled with the soundtrack. While I certainly liked it (Capcom are gods when it come to music); it doesn’t entirely feel “exclusive” to a video-game. Some of the tracks gave me that “epic” feeling, but if I didn’t know about Monster Hunter, I may say it’s an original soundtrack from a movie or something in that vein.
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Maybe that’s why Metroid is my favorite series. Grasping the “silent drama” feels very much like a video-game than walls of text that are, in 99% of the cases, boring to read and cliche. It’s the perfect franchise that mixes ambient music with catchy themes. I will never forget the first time I played Metroid on the NES. I wasn’t good at the game, but as soon as Samus appears on the screen and you start hearing Brinstar’s theme…. whoa, it certainly was a great moment in my gaming life. And that’s why I prefer Tallon IV in to the others. As much as I liked Phendrana Drifts for building up the greatest soothing atmosphere in any Metroid game, with the relaxing environment and the top-notch music (and for being original as well), Tallon IV replicated that epic feeling of the NES game. Maybe because it remixes the music of Brinstar in a much “calmer” way, but that wasn’t entirely it. As soon as the music kicked in in that place, I said “Wow, Retro did it” and when the Brinstar mix started appearing on the surface, I just knew, from that precise moment, that I’m going to play one of my favorite games of all time, even before reaching Phendrana Drifts. I’m replaying the Triology now and my love for Metroid has been rekindled. Not that it was fading away, but it’s one of those games that makes me glad I’m a gamer. It’s rare for any game to give me that “best game ever” vibe. It was there when I fought Metal Man in Mega Man 2, it was there when I entered Kraid’s Lair in Super Metroid, and it was there the moment I started Ultima IV and heard its main theme. _
To conclude my reply in a well-suited manner, I think it’s best to introduce you to one of my favorite remixes of all time. It’s called Famicom Genki Dama; a fine tribute to some of my favorite NES games such as Dragon Quest 3, Mega Man 2 and many others. Oh man, DQ3 had a kick-ass soundtrack as well.
The number in the corner of the video corresponds to the track list:
Track List
01 Gradius
02 Twin Bee
03 Xevious
04 Spelunker
05 Dig Dug
06 Super Mario Bros. 3
07 R.B.I. Baseball (Family Stadium)
08 Phoenix (Hi no Tori)
09 Transformers: Mystery of Convoy
10 Dragon Quest II
11 Final Fantasy II
12 King Kong 2: Megaton Punch of Anger
13 The Glory of Hercules (Herakuresu no Eikou)
14 Dragon Quest III
15 Ghosts ‘n Goblins (Makaimura)
16 Dragon Quest III
17 Milon’s Secret Castle
18 Ninja Kid (GeGeGe no Kitaro – Youkai Dai Makyou)
19 Castlevania ( Akumajo Dracula )
20 Dragon Quest II
21 Mother
22 The Goonies
23 Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragons and the Blade of Light
24 Final Fantasy III
25 The Legend of Zelda
26 Megaman 2 (Rockman 2)
27 Mother
xx Dragon Quest III
What I think is such response to ‘video game music’ is its heroism. Game music, especially of the older type, had a heroic quality to it. A game like Lolo is just a blue ball running around a room, but the music oozes heroism.
Modern orchestra music might try to do the heroic music but there are just too many notes. It sounds like a mess. It lacks the haunting power of the earlier tunes.
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