Iconic...
Forgotten...
Timeless...
Innovative...
These are the soundtracks that helped shape and define what we hear in the video games that we play. I am Nitro, and this is the M Disk Playlist's Video Game Music Primer: 2006.
Rule of Rose, composed by Yutaka Minobe
Survival horror games had normally been psychological, intense, gory, or any combination of the above. Rarely had there been a survival horror game that set such a tone that would make anyone uncomfortable while playing. That is what Rule of Rose set out to achieve.
Composed by Yutaka Minobe, who was primarily known as a Sega composer, with his first game being Skies of Arcadia for the Dreamcast. He learned how to play the piano by himself at the age of four, and was learning how to compose his own music at the age of eight. He joined Sega in 1996 working as a sound effect designer and arranger for original Sakura Taisen. When the Dreamcast came around, he was a piano player for pieces in the game Sonic Adventure. He also served as a composer for the 2003 Astro Boy anime, and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's.
The score for Rule of Rose relies mainly on minimalist string, and piano. It wasn't jarring and experimental like Akira Yamaoka's Silent Hill series, or dramatic and intense like the Resident Evil series. It was just subtle enough to generate a "human element to the atmosphere" according to the developers of the game. Rule of Rose was so unsettling, there was a moral panic across Europe over the release of this game, and arguments from politicians over how games were rated in Europe. Similar to how the Grand Theft Auto games were treated in North America at that time. Rule of Rose's limited release across the world ended up making this game one of the rarest PlayStation 2 games, with second-hand markets pricing the game in the triple digits. The game's vocal piece, A Love Suicide, was performed by the Hiroshi Murayama Trio and the Tokyo Chamber Music Society Orchestra.
Rule of Rose was a very simple approach to the survival horror genre, especially with its score. But sometimes, simplicity made things even more terrifying than if any typical horror music had been scored. And that just further amplified how unsettling Rule of Rose was.
Composed by Yutaka Minobe, who was primarily known as a Sega composer, with his first game being Skies of Arcadia for the Dreamcast. He learned how to play the piano by himself at the age of four, and was learning how to compose his own music at the age of eight. He joined Sega in 1996 working as a sound effect designer and arranger for original Sakura Taisen. When the Dreamcast came around, he was a piano player for pieces in the game Sonic Adventure. He also served as a composer for the 2003 Astro Boy anime, and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's.
The score for Rule of Rose relies mainly on minimalist string, and piano. It wasn't jarring and experimental like Akira Yamaoka's Silent Hill series, or dramatic and intense like the Resident Evil series. It was just subtle enough to generate a "human element to the atmosphere" according to the developers of the game. Rule of Rose was so unsettling, there was a moral panic across Europe over the release of this game, and arguments from politicians over how games were rated in Europe. Similar to how the Grand Theft Auto games were treated in North America at that time. Rule of Rose's limited release across the world ended up making this game one of the rarest PlayStation 2 games, with second-hand markets pricing the game in the triple digits. The game's vocal piece, A Love Suicide, was performed by the Hiroshi Murayama Trio and the Tokyo Chamber Music Society Orchestra.
Rule of Rose was a very simple approach to the survival horror genre, especially with its score. But sometimes, simplicity made things even more terrifying than if any typical horror music had been scored. And that just further amplified how unsettling Rule of Rose was.
Final Fantasy XII, composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, Hayato Matsuo, Masaharu Iwata, and Nobuo Uematsu
From the people who worked on the Ogre series, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Vagrant Story came the next main entry single-player not a MMO Final Fantasy title. Sakamoto composed the majority of the entire score. Nobuo Uematsu, who had been the primary Final Fantasy composer until scaling back his responsibilities after the 9th game, only composed one piece, the ending theme Kiss Me Good Bye.
Kiss Me Good Bye was composed by Uematsu, with both the lyrics and vocals by Angela Aki. Aki was chosen to be the vocalist as her piano playing talents reminded Uematsu of Sir Elton John's own piano playing talents. The song is written and performed in English, and in an interview with IGN, Aki states in regards to writing songs in English; "...whatever I feel in my heart, I let my heart process it and give it to the head. And I put the pencil in my head and rhyming in the head. It's more formatted because I look for words that rhyme to build songs."
Masahary Iwata composed only two pieces for the entire score. Despite the minimal contributions, Iwata has been a frequent collaborator of Sakimoto's. Collaborating with him since 1988 with the game Revolter, and collaborating with him on the Ogre games, Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, and so many others.
Hayato Matsuo composed seven pieces for the game. He started his career working with Dragon Quest composer Koichi Sugiyama working on arrangements of Sugiyama's score for the Toei anime Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. His anime resume would also include popular shows like Magic Knight Rayearth, Hellsing Ultimate, and the 2012 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In video games, he had collaborated with Sakimoto and Iwata on games like Ogre Battle, and Ogre Battle 64. In 2003, he was the composer for the 13th Kamen Rider title, Kamen Rider Faiz.
Going into the process of scoring this game, Sakimoto only knew one thing. He already knew what the ending theme was going to be, so he took that into consideration as he composed. He was inspired by Uematsu, and was already a fan of the Final Fantasy series. But for 12, he already knew that he didn't want to try and be as experimental and as eclectic as previous Final Fantasy's had been. He already knew that the entire score was going to use a fundamental orchestra form. He also knew that instead of trying to mirror what Uematsu had done for his Final Fantasy scores, he would compose 12 in his own style. He would compose under the impression of how he himself would interpret the Final Fantasy series.
Final Fantasy XII was not like other Final Fantasy games. Everything from the way battles were conducted, to behind the scenes development were nothing like what other Final Fantasy games had experienced. Even so, Final Fantasy XII was renowned for pushing the PlayStation 2 to its limits in the face of the brand new console generation that started with the release of the Xbox 360 one year prior.
Kiss Me Good Bye was composed by Uematsu, with both the lyrics and vocals by Angela Aki. Aki was chosen to be the vocalist as her piano playing talents reminded Uematsu of Sir Elton John's own piano playing talents. The song is written and performed in English, and in an interview with IGN, Aki states in regards to writing songs in English; "...whatever I feel in my heart, I let my heart process it and give it to the head. And I put the pencil in my head and rhyming in the head. It's more formatted because I look for words that rhyme to build songs."
Masahary Iwata composed only two pieces for the entire score. Despite the minimal contributions, Iwata has been a frequent collaborator of Sakimoto's. Collaborating with him since 1988 with the game Revolter, and collaborating with him on the Ogre games, Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, and so many others.
Hayato Matsuo composed seven pieces for the game. He started his career working with Dragon Quest composer Koichi Sugiyama working on arrangements of Sugiyama's score for the Toei anime Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. His anime resume would also include popular shows like Magic Knight Rayearth, Hellsing Ultimate, and the 2012 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In video games, he had collaborated with Sakimoto and Iwata on games like Ogre Battle, and Ogre Battle 64. In 2003, he was the composer for the 13th Kamen Rider title, Kamen Rider Faiz.
Going into the process of scoring this game, Sakimoto only knew one thing. He already knew what the ending theme was going to be, so he took that into consideration as he composed. He was inspired by Uematsu, and was already a fan of the Final Fantasy series. But for 12, he already knew that he didn't want to try and be as experimental and as eclectic as previous Final Fantasy's had been. He already knew that the entire score was going to use a fundamental orchestra form. He also knew that instead of trying to mirror what Uematsu had done for his Final Fantasy scores, he would compose 12 in his own style. He would compose under the impression of how he himself would interpret the Final Fantasy series.
Final Fantasy XII was not like other Final Fantasy games. Everything from the way battles were conducted, to behind the scenes development were nothing like what other Final Fantasy games had experienced. Even so, Final Fantasy XII was renowned for pushing the PlayStation 2 to its limits in the face of the brand new console generation that started with the release of the Xbox 360 one year prior.
Mother 3, composed by Shogo Sakai
The previous Mother games, released in the states as Earthbound Beginnings and Earthbound respectively were both composed by Keiichi Suzuki, and Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka. For Mother 3, the score was handled by HAL Laboratory composer Shogo Sakai, who Nintendo felt understood the Mother series enough to qualify for the job. Sakai had been composing for video games since 1987, working with Data East on games like Bad Dudes, Boulder Dash, and Metal Max. In 1996, he joined HAL Laboratory and his first game would have been the first version of Mother 3, originally intended for release on the Nintendo 64. Development on Mother 3 became too much for the Nintendo 64 alone, so the ill-fated 64 Disk Drive ended up being required for the game to run. After many delays, Mother 3 was shelved, until 2003 when development on Mother 3 resumed as a Game Boy Advance title.
The Pigskin Army theme was originally intended to be the game's main theme. However, less than a year before the game's release, Sakai was asked to compose a theme as minimalist as the popular Eight Melodies piece from the first Mother game. That theme would be the Love Theme, a theme used to portray the serious nature of this game. And despite being a Mother game, Mother 3 did have some of the most serious moments in the entire Mother trilogy. Sakai was also asked to compose the Love Theme using only one finger. Music was also integrated into the game's battle mechanics. Regular attacks can be timed to the beat of the current battle theme to build up your characters combos. The higher your combo, the stronger your attack. Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No.1, a popular piano instrumental, got arranged by Sakai for a plot developing scene near the end of the game. Unofficially, references to licensed music were integrated throughout the Mother games. But in this instance, Gymnopedie No.1 officially became the first licensed piece of music to be arranged for the series.
Mother 3 continued the trend of having a whimsical score, a serious score, and being able to balance the two together perfectly. And despite the popularity of the series, Mother 3 was only officially released in Japan. Despite this, Mother 3 remains just as beloved outside of Japan as the other Mother games. And Sakai's score manages to encapsulate what Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka did for their contributions to the series.
The Pigskin Army theme was originally intended to be the game's main theme. However, less than a year before the game's release, Sakai was asked to compose a theme as minimalist as the popular Eight Melodies piece from the first Mother game. That theme would be the Love Theme, a theme used to portray the serious nature of this game. And despite being a Mother game, Mother 3 did have some of the most serious moments in the entire Mother trilogy. Sakai was also asked to compose the Love Theme using only one finger. Music was also integrated into the game's battle mechanics. Regular attacks can be timed to the beat of the current battle theme to build up your characters combos. The higher your combo, the stronger your attack. Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No.1, a popular piano instrumental, got arranged by Sakai for a plot developing scene near the end of the game. Unofficially, references to licensed music were integrated throughout the Mother games. But in this instance, Gymnopedie No.1 officially became the first licensed piece of music to be arranged for the series.
Mother 3 continued the trend of having a whimsical score, a serious score, and being able to balance the two together perfectly. And despite the popularity of the series, Mother 3 was only officially released in Japan. Despite this, Mother 3 remains just as beloved outside of Japan as the other Mother games. And Sakai's score manages to encapsulate what Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka did for their contributions to the series.
Okami, composed by Masami Ueda, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Rei Kondoh, and Akira Kaida
Okami was a game that took director Hideki Kamiya's love for the Legend of Zelda series, with Japanese mythology and folklore. Most of the score was split between Masami Ueda and Hiroshi Yamaguchi, with Rei Kondoh and Akira Kaida handling smaller portions of the score respectivly.
Masami Ueda got his music career started with the original Resident Evil series in 1996. Then Ueda joined Clover Studio, a studio founded by select Capcom staff, to work on the Viewtiful Joe games, and finally, Okami as the game's lead composer. Despite the game's setting taking place in traditional Japan, Ueda states in an interview with Parker Chapin that only select pieces from the entire score were in true Japanese styles. He cites the Brush God themes, and the theme you hear when you save the game. Ueda in the same interview also states that some of his favorite pieces from the game were Playing with Ushikawa, Cursed Shinshu Plains, and Harami Lake.
For Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Okami would be the first game he worked on. And Okami would be his only score for Clover Studio before composing for PlatinumGames, composing for the Bayonetta series, The Wonderful 101, and the Star Fox games PlatinumGames and Nintendo worked on together. Rei Kondoh also got his start in video game scoring with Okami. He would also collaborate with Yamaguchi on all the games he worked on as well. Kondoh, outside of the PlatinumGames collaborations, would be known for his works on Fire Emblem Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses. Akira Kaida had been composing for games almost as long as Masami Ueda has. They both got their starts with Capcom, with Kaida's first score being Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge. Kaida would primarily be a Capcom composer in her career, working mostly on Mega Man titles like Mega Man & Bass, Mega Man Battle Network's 1 (including its remake, Operate Shooting Star), 4.5, and 5, Mega Man Star Force 3, and Mega Man 10.
The game's staff roll theme is Reset, performed by Ayaka Hirahara. The theme combines Jpop with the traditional Japanese style music incorporated into the Okami score. All re-releases of the game outside of Japan replace Reset with an unreleased version of the Ryoshima Coast theme.
Overtime, Okami would become one of the most beloved titles from the PlayStation 2, even winning a British Academy Games Award for its score in 2007, in addition to winning an award for artistic achievement. Okami is a homage to Japanese culture and fantasy, blended with modern gameplay mechanics to create one of gaming's most unique, and most emotional experiences.
Masami Ueda got his music career started with the original Resident Evil series in 1996. Then Ueda joined Clover Studio, a studio founded by select Capcom staff, to work on the Viewtiful Joe games, and finally, Okami as the game's lead composer. Despite the game's setting taking place in traditional Japan, Ueda states in an interview with Parker Chapin that only select pieces from the entire score were in true Japanese styles. He cites the Brush God themes, and the theme you hear when you save the game. Ueda in the same interview also states that some of his favorite pieces from the game were Playing with Ushikawa, Cursed Shinshu Plains, and Harami Lake.
For Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Okami would be the first game he worked on. And Okami would be his only score for Clover Studio before composing for PlatinumGames, composing for the Bayonetta series, The Wonderful 101, and the Star Fox games PlatinumGames and Nintendo worked on together. Rei Kondoh also got his start in video game scoring with Okami. He would also collaborate with Yamaguchi on all the games he worked on as well. Kondoh, outside of the PlatinumGames collaborations, would be known for his works on Fire Emblem Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses. Akira Kaida had been composing for games almost as long as Masami Ueda has. They both got their starts with Capcom, with Kaida's first score being Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge. Kaida would primarily be a Capcom composer in her career, working mostly on Mega Man titles like Mega Man & Bass, Mega Man Battle Network's 1 (including its remake, Operate Shooting Star), 4.5, and 5, Mega Man Star Force 3, and Mega Man 10.
The game's staff roll theme is Reset, performed by Ayaka Hirahara. The theme combines Jpop with the traditional Japanese style music incorporated into the Okami score. All re-releases of the game outside of Japan replace Reset with an unreleased version of the Ryoshima Coast theme.
Overtime, Okami would become one of the most beloved titles from the PlayStation 2, even winning a British Academy Games Award for its score in 2007, in addition to winning an award for artistic achievement. Okami is a homage to Japanese culture and fantasy, blended with modern gameplay mechanics to create one of gaming's most unique, and most emotional experiences.
LocoRoco, composed by Nobuyuki Shimizu, and Kemmei Adachi
LocoRoco was meant to be a fun, accessible puzzle platformer with pretty visuals, and a cute soundtrack. It was a combination of appealing to younger audiences and appealing to international audiences. To help LocoRoco stand out as much as possible, director Tsutomu Kouno created his own language for many of the songs to be performed in. He did this to both help the score stand out, and so that foreign players would not be alienated by hearing something performed in a specific language.
Kemmei Adachi has been composing for Sony games since 1998 with Devil Dice. Outside of LocoRoco, he is mostly known for games in the Gran Turismo, and God Eater games. His most recent game was the 2017 release of Everybody's Gold. Nobuyuki Shimizu is primarily known for being a composer in the anime industry, working as an arranger on classics like Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer, Macross: Do You Remember Love, City Hunter, Bubblegum Crisis, and Megazone 23. But perhaps having a composer with the experience that Shimizu had helped amplify Kouno's intent to have the music sound lively, and indicitive of the music he was listening to at the time of development. The music genre he wanted to replicate moreso than others were reggae, soul, and R&B.
LocoRoco would become one of the most successful titles in the PlayStation Portable library, spanning multiple sequels. Literally every part of the game was meant to stand out, and appeal to anyone of any age, from any nationality. The art, characters, gameplay, and the music all complimented each other so well, that one wouldn't necessarily be "enhancing" the other. Everything came together seamlessly, with Tsuuomu Kouno's vision guiding development of the game.
Kemmei Adachi has been composing for Sony games since 1998 with Devil Dice. Outside of LocoRoco, he is mostly known for games in the Gran Turismo, and God Eater games. His most recent game was the 2017 release of Everybody's Gold. Nobuyuki Shimizu is primarily known for being a composer in the anime industry, working as an arranger on classics like Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer, Macross: Do You Remember Love, City Hunter, Bubblegum Crisis, and Megazone 23. But perhaps having a composer with the experience that Shimizu had helped amplify Kouno's intent to have the music sound lively, and indicitive of the music he was listening to at the time of development. The music genre he wanted to replicate moreso than others were reggae, soul, and R&B.
LocoRoco would become one of the most successful titles in the PlayStation Portable library, spanning multiple sequels. Literally every part of the game was meant to stand out, and appeal to anyone of any age, from any nationality. The art, characters, gameplay, and the music all complimented each other so well, that one wouldn't necessarily be "enhancing" the other. Everything came together seamlessly, with Tsuuomu Kouno's vision guiding development of the game.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, composed by Shoji Meguro, and Yosuke Uda
Persona 3 did not sound like most JRPGs. Persona 3 did not sound like the previous Persona games. Persona 3 stood out for its music that focused heavily on the genre's that Meguro had been fond of in his early life, like jazz, and rock. In addition to encorporting those generes, he was also incorporating pop and hip-hop vocals to more than just the opening, ending, or the occassional insert song. Vocal music was just as important to the soundtrack as the instrumentals. 12 vocal pieces are used in the score, all performed by Yumi Kawamura, Tomoko Komiya, and Lotis Juice. The use of vocals helped set the foundation for what future Personal titles would sound like, and would partially inspire rhythm games that use music from Persona's 3, 4, and 5.
Shoji Meguro started his music career working on the first Persona game, Revelations. Revelations is notable for the piece, Aria of the Soul, which would become a recurring motif for the entire Persona series, as the theme used in each of the game's respective Velvet Rooms. Yosuke Uda only composed a single piece for the game, Adventure Act. Uda also happened to be the field planner for the gmae, as well as the Digital Devel Saga sub-series of Shin Megami Tensei.
From Revelations: Persona, all the way to the newest version of Persona 5, Persona 5: Royal, Shoji Meguro helped take the Persona series from a spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei series, to a JRPG series that could stand on its own. The music was not something you would normally expect in a JRPG, and that's what helped make Persona 3 stand out. It was a modern-setting JRPG that actually used modern-setting sounds, in addition to the sounds you would expect to hear in a JRPG.
Civilization represents history of the world, history of culture, and how everything evolved and progressed through time. With tracks like Baba Yetu, Civilization IV also represented arguably the biggest shift in making video game music become recognized for more than just being something from a video game.
Shoji Meguro started his music career working on the first Persona game, Revelations. Revelations is notable for the piece, Aria of the Soul, which would become a recurring motif for the entire Persona series, as the theme used in each of the game's respective Velvet Rooms. Yosuke Uda only composed a single piece for the game, Adventure Act. Uda also happened to be the field planner for the gmae, as well as the Digital Devel Saga sub-series of Shin Megami Tensei.
From Revelations: Persona, all the way to the newest version of Persona 5, Persona 5: Royal, Shoji Meguro helped take the Persona series from a spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei series, to a JRPG series that could stand on its own. The music was not something you would normally expect in a JRPG, and that's what helped make Persona 3 stand out. It was a modern-setting JRPG that actually used modern-setting sounds, in addition to the sounds you would expect to hear in a JRPG.
Civilization represents history of the world, history of culture, and how everything evolved and progressed through time. With tracks like Baba Yetu, Civilization IV also represented arguably the biggest shift in making video game music become recognized for more than just being something from a video game.
Dead Rising, composed by Hideki Okugawa, and Marika Suzuki
Dead Rising is what would happen if you took George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, with an attempt to show off how much can be done on the Xbox 360, a system that wasn't even a year old at the time of this game's release. The entire score relied on a combination of dramatic cinematic pieces, calming and pleasant music you would normally hear in a real shopping center, and vocal pieces.
Hideki Okugawa had been a Capcom composer since 1994 with the game Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom. He became widely known for his work as the primary composer of the Street Fighter III games. After Street Fighter, but before Dead Rising, he was also known for his work on the Onimusha series. Okugawa was responsible for composing all of the mall music. Marika Suzuki had composed for Capcom since 2004 with the game Under the Skin. Together, Suzuki and Okugawa contributed to the score equally.
The vocal pieces were reserved for the bosses in the game, known as the psychopaths, humans driven insane by the zombie outbreak. The genre's used for the psychopaths ranged from metal, punk, and hardcore rap. It did its best to depict the kind of music that was popular in the mid 2000s.
Dead Rising tried to make you kill as many zombies as they could fit in one screen, while simultaneously being a campy sandbox romp through an infested mall where you could use practically anything to help you fight. It also had its serious moments that pitted you against the living and non-living. All in all, the music was there to compliment every possible experience the game could throw at you.
Hideki Okugawa had been a Capcom composer since 1994 with the game Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom. He became widely known for his work as the primary composer of the Street Fighter III games. After Street Fighter, but before Dead Rising, he was also known for his work on the Onimusha series. Okugawa was responsible for composing all of the mall music. Marika Suzuki had composed for Capcom since 2004 with the game Under the Skin. Together, Suzuki and Okugawa contributed to the score equally.
The vocal pieces were reserved for the bosses in the game, known as the psychopaths, humans driven insane by the zombie outbreak. The genre's used for the psychopaths ranged from metal, punk, and hardcore rap. It did its best to depict the kind of music that was popular in the mid 2000s.
Dead Rising tried to make you kill as many zombies as they could fit in one screen, while simultaneously being a campy sandbox romp through an infested mall where you could use practically anything to help you fight. It also had its serious moments that pitted you against the living and non-living. All in all, the music was there to compliment every possible experience the game could throw at you.
Bully, composed by Shawn Lee
Rockstar Games was no stranger to controversy. Their more recent Grand Theft Auto games put them in a lot of hot water, or hot coffee in regards to San Andreas. So releasing a game with the title "Bully" seemed like they were intentionally asking for trouble. Turns out, Bully was very wholesome when compared to Grand Theft Auto. You are sent to Bullworth Academy by your family, and you must abide by all the school's rules and do your schoolwork while simultaneously dealing with the academy's different cliques, under the guise and manipulation of sociopath, Gary. It was more mischievous than violent.
Shawn Lee, whose only game score was this one, had been a professional musician since 1988 with his work with the Dust Brothers and Jeff Buckley. He had released albums in France, Japan, and the United States. His work has appeared in the films Ocean's Thirteen, The Break-Up, and his work has appeared in numerous popular TV shows like CSI: Miami, Lost, and HBO's Eastbound and Down.
In an interview with Il tergiversatore, Lee states that "The music touched on the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and beyond. It was obviously influenced by film soundtracks and also various POP musical styles. Each musical cue had it’s own unique parameters and the trick was to pull together all these different styles of music, making them feel cohesive."
Bully was a different kind of sandbox game for Rockstar. But it still proved to be a success nonetheless, with ports on the Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii, and as a PlayStation 2 Classic on the PlayStation 4. The pop music and film score feel that Shawn Lee used for the Bully score helped enhance the story of an adolescent teen in a prosperous school, dealing with various cliques along the way.
Shawn Lee, whose only game score was this one, had been a professional musician since 1988 with his work with the Dust Brothers and Jeff Buckley. He had released albums in France, Japan, and the United States. His work has appeared in the films Ocean's Thirteen, The Break-Up, and his work has appeared in numerous popular TV shows like CSI: Miami, Lost, and HBO's Eastbound and Down.
In an interview with Il tergiversatore, Lee states that "The music touched on the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and beyond. It was obviously influenced by film soundtracks and also various POP musical styles. Each musical cue had it’s own unique parameters and the trick was to pull together all these different styles of music, making them feel cohesive."
Bully was a different kind of sandbox game for Rockstar. But it still proved to be a success nonetheless, with ports on the Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii, and as a PlayStation 2 Classic on the PlayStation 4. The pop music and film score feel that Shawn Lee used for the Bully score helped enhance the story of an adolescent teen in a prosperous school, dealing with various cliques along the way.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, composed by Toru Minegishi, and Asuka Ohta
Twilight Princess was the Zelda game meant to appeal to North American audiences, out of concern that a second game in the style of Wind Waker wouldn't be as appealing. This would also be the first Zelda game where Toru Minegishi would serve as the primary composer, a role that Koji Kondo had all the way up to the release of Wind Waker.
Toru Minegishi, who joined the Zelda franchise with Majora's Mask, would slowly transition into the role as one of the primary composer of the Zelda series with this game. Minegishi had always been a fan of Kondo's and his music in the Zelda franchise, using those as inspirations of his own career. In Twilight Princess, he was mainly responsible for the field and dungeon pieces. Asuka Ohta helped compose much of the event music, as well as the battle themes. Also inspired by Koji Kondom she joined Nintendo as a composer with her first Zelda title being Four Swords Adventures.
Arrangements of Koji Kondo's music, like in previous Zelda titles, can be heard in Twilight Princess. But this game does more than just provide new arrangements of Kondo's pieces, it uses them in ways they had never been used before. Like in the game's final dungeon, where you are forced to go through Hyrule Caslte to get to Ganondorf. The Hyrule Castle theme, originally composed for A Link to the Past is heard. But the more you progress through the castle, the more you start to hear Ganon's theme, which was also originally composed for A Link to the Past. Once you reach the end of the castle, Ganon's theme completely takes over the Hyrule Caslte theme.
Twilight Princess marked a new beginning for Zelda music going forward. No longer was Koji Kondo the primary force behind the Zelda franchise's music. Kondo's influence would continue to be heard throughout future Zelda titles, but new composers would step up with each new main entry in the Zelda franchise.
Toru Minegishi, who joined the Zelda franchise with Majora's Mask, would slowly transition into the role as one of the primary composer of the Zelda series with this game. Minegishi had always been a fan of Kondo's and his music in the Zelda franchise, using those as inspirations of his own career. In Twilight Princess, he was mainly responsible for the field and dungeon pieces. Asuka Ohta helped compose much of the event music, as well as the battle themes. Also inspired by Koji Kondom she joined Nintendo as a composer with her first Zelda title being Four Swords Adventures.
Arrangements of Koji Kondo's music, like in previous Zelda titles, can be heard in Twilight Princess. But this game does more than just provide new arrangements of Kondo's pieces, it uses them in ways they had never been used before. Like in the game's final dungeon, where you are forced to go through Hyrule Caslte to get to Ganondorf. The Hyrule Castle theme, originally composed for A Link to the Past is heard. But the more you progress through the castle, the more you start to hear Ganon's theme, which was also originally composed for A Link to the Past. Once you reach the end of the castle, Ganon's theme completely takes over the Hyrule Caslte theme.
Twilight Princess marked a new beginning for Zelda music going forward. No longer was Koji Kondo the primary force behind the Zelda franchise's music. Kondo's influence would continue to be heard throughout future Zelda titles, but new composers would step up with each new main entry in the Zelda franchise.
And now, I would like to do something different. Instead of covering a game, I want to cover the music heard in the background of the various Wii menus. When the Nintendo Wii was released, it was destined to be one of the hottest selling consoles on the market at the time. But what helped make the Ninendo Wii stand out was not the games, or the motion controls, but the music you heard in the game's main menu. The main menu itself, and it's many different channels; Wii Shop, Mii, Photo, News, Weather, and the Everybody Vote's channel each had different, unique, and memorable music.
Sources indicate that longtime Nintendo composer, Kazumi Totaka was the mastermind behind the music you would hear in these Wii menus. Kazumi Totaka has been one of Nintendo's in-house composers since 1992 with the games X, Mario Paint, Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, and Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins. He is also known for sneaking in his own 19-note piece as an easter egg in every game he has composed music for, known as Totaka's Song. When he transferred to Analysis and Development, his role as a composer decreased somewhat. But he would still find occassion to compose for games, including the role as one of Animal Crossing's primary composers.
Even after the Wii ended its online services in 2017, the music from the Wii channel's remained popular to this day. Largely through memes, the Wii music, mainly the Mii Channel theme, remain a prevelant part of video game music society. The Wii menu music also appear as arrangements in the Smash Bros series, showing that Nintendo also considers the music of the Wii menu's an important part of their music library.
The Nintendo Wii was one of Nintendo's most iconic consoles. The Wii's mark on video game history can be heard the instant you turn it on, and before you even play any game you insert into the system.
WRITTEN SOURCES
Gamasutra
IGN
Il tergiversatore
mother3.fobby.net
Parker Chapin
No comments:
Post a Comment