I grew up in the 16 bit era. I cut my
teeth on the original Nintendo, but it was the Super Nintendo that
first got me into the culture. It was a time where the games had
evolved to be more complex affairs. The graphics, the plot, the
music, all improved with the advent of the Super Nintendo and the
Sega Genesis. However I am not going to preclude tracks from the
original Nintendo as they have some great tracks. One problem is that
there were countless great tracks that often overshadow many gems.
Even I am guilty of that. So today on Lost in the Music, I will be
doing a top 5 game albums of the oft remembered games. As usual this
list will have one game per franchise.
5: Star Tropics 2
There are some people who absolutely
hate this game and think it shouldn't exist. They argue that
everything that was great in the original was dumbed down and
stripped away for the sequel. I will agree that the second game does
have issues but I will defend the games music. There are a few tracks
that can be overlooked, but for the most part, the music on Star
Tropics 2 is fantastic.
What I love with Star Tropics 2 over
the original is that each area has its own unique music, unlike the
original where they used the same tracks for each of the islands.
While the cities themselves may have had unique music, the dungeons
themselves, save for the final one, were all similar. Star tropics 2
however had unique music for each of the area's you visited as well
as the dungeons.
4: Sim City (SNES)
I love sim games. That feeling of being
able to build and create is immeasurably fun. Sure the SNES Sim City
is old and has features missing from its PC brother, but damn is it
not still fun. For many kids, this was their first foray into this
genre of gaming.
Normally the music in these sorts of
games is nothing to spectacular but SimCity stands out. As you go
further along in the game the music gets more complex, similar to how
a city grows. It stands as as an interesting dynamic that hasn't been
used in many other simulation games.
3: Yoshi's Island
Yoshi's Island sold a ton of games but
these days, it is not that well known when you compare it with other
Mario games which I find odd as the full name of Yoshi's Island is
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Of course the success of Yoshi's
Island prompted its own spin off which seems to be more recognized
then the original.
I love the music from this game and I
feel that it marked the change in Kondo's style. I found the music to
be far more appropriate for the game itself. There is a greater sense
of adventure in the overworld maps while cave themes have that
feeling of mystery and excitement. Compared to Super Mario World;s
music which I found basic and bland, Yoshi's Island was a breath of
fresh air.
2: Dragon Warrior 1
When I think Dragon Warrior, my mind
always takes me back to when I was a child. As I have often said,
Dragon Warrior was my first foray into RPG's and at the time, I
didn't understand what to do and would wander around fighting
monsters. These days. That is called grinding, but I digress.
The Music from Dragon Warrior was great
because at the time, I was used to the Music from Mario and Legend of
Zelda, which for the most part existed as background noise. The music
from Dragon Warrior however felt integral to the story. With the
world map theme, it showcases just how alone you are in the world. No
one is brave enough to assist you in your battle against the
Dragonlord. The caves were creepy on the surface and the deeper you
went, the more ominous it became. The only bright spot in the world
were the towns. No monsters had yet attacked them and the people were
able to feel safe for the time being. You never got that Mario or
Zelda.
1: Illusion of Gaia
I have talked about this track so much
that I cannot add anything else that I haven't said before. Simply,
it is a beautiful track from a criminally overlooked game. More
people need to experience Illusion of Gaia. At a time where
Squaresoft was dominating the 16 bit RPG's, this small game was
proving that games could deal with adult situations in a respectful
way. Suicide, alcoholism, slavery, these were all touched upon in the
game and aside from Final Fantasy VI, I do not know if any other game
from this era visited these themes.
It is a real shame that the Soul Blazer
trilogy (Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma) never got the
same amount of care and attention that Dragon Warrior/Quest and Final
Fantasy have received. They are phenomenal stories with solid
gameplay and powerful, emotional music. To me, this would be a great
way for Square Enix to gain back its fans it has lost over the years.
By paying attention to games that are not Final Fantasy and Dragon
Quest and give them the same attention.
It is my deepest wish that artists in
the arranging community takes a listen to some of these tracks and do
a remix of them. I would love to hear what some people can do with
these under appreciated tracks.
This is Daimo Mac and I am lost in the music.
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