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: 2000.
Vagrant Story (Playstation), composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto
established franchise like Ogre, or another spin-off, they were tasked with bringing a new game to life. With Final Fantasy Tactics, Sakamoto's music, while still very much dramatic, was
considered by Sakamoto himself to be "bright and cheerful" at times. And initially, the Vagrant Story soundtrack would have matched that mood. However, Matsudo wanted the soundtrack
to be much more dramatic, he wanted a darker tone established through the ambient pieces, he wanted the music to be "more deep and heavy" according to an interview he did with RocketBaby. To help Sakamoto match Matsudo's vision, Matsudo referenced the score from the X-Files as a source of inspiration, second only to the guidance of Matsudo's direction.
It took Sakimoto two years to complete this soundtrack. During the entire duration of the game's development, he was in awe with how everything came together. He even had some doubts himself over how the music could live up to the game itself. It was just as stressful as it was satisfying for him to work on this game. All the pieces in the soundtrack were composed by Sakimoto. But he did receive some support in bringing the music to life. The staff roll was conducted by Kohi Haijama, and performed by the Shinozaki Group, an orchestra ensemble group that also worked with Yoko Shimomura on the game Legend of Mana. Takeharu Ishimoto, and Hirosato Noda helped with the synthesis programing for the piece "Great Cathedral"and Hidenori Iwasaki was the main synth programmer for the opening movie piece.
Vagrant Story would be Sakimoto's last score with Square before becoming a freelance composer, until becoming the founder of his own company Basiscape in 2002. Vagrant Story would wind up being one of the original PlayStation's most successful, and most memorable action role playing games. The score would wind up being one of Sakimoto's most memorable. Right up there with his previous PlayStation game Final Fantasy Tactics. It may not have been as cheerful, or as encouraging as Final Fantasy Tactics was. But perhaps that's what made Vagrant Story's score successful in the first place, the greater emphasis on the dramatic, and the dark tones throughout.
Wario Land 3 (Game Boy Color), composed by Kozue Ishikawa
The entire plot of Wario Land 3 is that Wario is transported into a living, breathing world contained inside a magical music box. Inside that world, Wario must find smaller music boxes to not only return the world to it's normal state, but to help Wario return to his own world. Of course this game had to be included in the VGM Primer. It's a game where you're trapped inside a music box, and it's composer, Kozue Ishikawa already had a great resume with Nintendo. In addition to working on the Wario Land series, she was also the composer for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, her first score, the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Tennis, and Star Fox 2, which was never officially released until its inclusion in the Super Nintendo Classic Edition mini console.
Ishikawa's music was simple, yet whimsical. It didn't rely on a continuous melody. Instead, the music sounded more like simple riffs, with a melody in the background, rather than the foreground. Snippits of silence were heard in between each note in some of the pieces. It was something she had done in the Wario Land games, and it helped her contributions to the Link's Awakening soundtrack stand out. Environment was emphasized more often than the stress of the platforming itself. Sadly, the year 2000 saw Ishikawa's final scores for Nintendo. After this, and Mario Tennis, she left Nintendo.
Wario Land 3 continued Wario's quest for treasure in a more open-world environment, driven by exploration and puzzle solving. Something that, at the time, portable gaming was not really known for. But it's because of this approach to platforming that helped make Wario Land 3 one of the most successful titles in the Game Boy Color catalog. And the world within a music box would not be enhanced any greater than through a former Nintendo composer who had a knack for making music in a platforming game emphasize environment over everything else.
Ishikawa's music was simple, yet whimsical. It didn't rely on a continuous melody. Instead, the music sounded more like simple riffs, with a melody in the background, rather than the foreground. Snippits of silence were heard in between each note in some of the pieces. It was something she had done in the Wario Land games, and it helped her contributions to the Link's Awakening soundtrack stand out. Environment was emphasized more often than the stress of the platforming itself. Sadly, the year 2000 saw Ishikawa's final scores for Nintendo. After this, and Mario Tennis, she left Nintendo.
Wario Land 3 continued Wario's quest for treasure in a more open-world environment, driven by exploration and puzzle solving. Something that, at the time, portable gaming was not really known for. But it's because of this approach to platforming that helped make Wario Land 3 one of the most successful titles in the Game Boy Color catalog. And the world within a music box would not be enhanced any greater than through a former Nintendo composer who had a knack for making music in a platforming game emphasize environment over everything else.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shard (Nintendo 64), composed by Jun Ishikawa and Hirokazu Ando
Once again, Hirokazu Ando and Jun Ishikawa return to score Kirby's adventure on the Nintendo 64. While Ishikawa has been involved with the Kirby series since the very beginning with the Game Boy Dream Land, Ando has been involved with the series since the Nintendo Kirby's Adventure. In an interview with Forbes, Ando reveals how he wants the music to match the personality and traits of Kirby himself; "For a character like Kirby...I feel like the most suitable type of music has a fast tempo with frenetic transitions, as if the music notes themselves are dancing around." Later in the same interview, Ando states that "because game music is generally repeated while playing a game, players will get tired of it if it’s too simple. I think it’s important for game music to be complex rather than easy to grasp."
Kirby 64 also introduced some new recurring themes. The file select theme was arranged for Kirby Canvas Curse as that game's file select theme. The Ripple Star map was reused in both Kirby Super Star Ultra, Kirby: Plabet Robobot, and parts of the theme can be heard when fighting Morpho Knight as Adeline and Ribbon in Kirby: Star Allies. And speaking of the Ripple Star, the main theme for the world is reprised as the theme for the stage "Endless Explosions" in Kirby Triple Deluxe. The boss themes in Kirby 64 were meshed and arranged together to form the Yin-Yarn battle theme in Kirby's Epic Yarn. And finally, the mid-boss theme was rearranged twice in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. Once for the tank theme, and again for the piece, Burning Secrets. This game also features pieces that are callbacks to previous Kirby games. The Gourmet Race piece from Kirby Super Star returns for the mini games, and the piece Above the Clouds is an arrangement of the Butter Building from Kirby's Adventure. This is also the first game where Kirby's creator, Masahiro Sakarai, voiced the character King Dedede. He would reprise the role in all the Super Smash Bros games King Dedede was apart of.
Kirby 64 had a lot going for it. It carried the traditions of bouncy, exciting pieces to acompany Kirby and his friends, it introduced new pieces to be used in future Kirby games, and despite being a Nintendo 64 title, it did not give Kirby a full 3D environment to roam around. It was still very much a 2D game. But whether 2D, or 3D, you still got the full Kirby experience. And with the Kirby experience came upbeat, exciting, fast paced music throughout.
Mega Man Legends 2 (Playstation), composed by Makoto Tomozawa
Mega Man Legends, or Rockman Dash in Japan, was producer Keiji Inafune's attempt to make a Mega Man game appealing to all audiences, while adding gameplay elements from multiple genre's, and bringing the story to life through animation, and voice acting. The first game in this series became more of a cult hit, when compared to the more successful classic series, and X series. But the success was enough for a second game to be made.
Both Legends games were composed by Makoto Tomozawa. His experience with the Mega Man games were Mega Man X, and Mega Man 7. After the Legends games, he would come back to the series for Mega Man 10. Various fan wiki's state that he also worked on Mega Man: Dr.Wily's Revenge, but in an interview with DASH Republic's OKeijiDragon, he states that his first game was actually the Super Nintendo version of Aladdin, and his first game as a Capcom composer was The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey and Minnie, both released after Dr.Wily's Revenge.
Like the first Mega Man Legends game, which used Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers and Bach's Little Fugue and Air in the G String, Legends 2 takes direct inspiration from classical music for parts of its soundtrack. The music heard in the Sulpher Bottom, the giant airship where Mega Man conducts most of his business, is an arrangement of Antonio Vivaldi's Spring. In Japan, the ending theme is the vocal piece Naite Li Yo, performed by Fumina Hara. Fumina Hara is arguably most famous for being the second actress to take on the role of Sailor Moon for the Sailor Moon musicals. Over in the west, in a very common practice at the time, the vocal piece was replaced by an instrumental piece.
Mega Man Legends 2 was a bigger successor to the original in every way. It's cliffhanger ending may not sit well with fans who are still understandably upset over the fate of Mega Man Legends 3. However, despite the end, Mega Man Legends 2 is still considered an improved cinematic experience with some fun, exciting, and sometimes atmospheric music to acompany Mega Man Volnutt on his open-world journey.
Both Legends games were composed by Makoto Tomozawa. His experience with the Mega Man games were Mega Man X, and Mega Man 7. After the Legends games, he would come back to the series for Mega Man 10. Various fan wiki's state that he also worked on Mega Man: Dr.Wily's Revenge, but in an interview with DASH Republic's OKeijiDragon, he states that his first game was actually the Super Nintendo version of Aladdin, and his first game as a Capcom composer was The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey and Minnie, both released after Dr.Wily's Revenge.
Like the first Mega Man Legends game, which used Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers and Bach's Little Fugue and Air in the G String, Legends 2 takes direct inspiration from classical music for parts of its soundtrack. The music heard in the Sulpher Bottom, the giant airship where Mega Man conducts most of his business, is an arrangement of Antonio Vivaldi's Spring. In Japan, the ending theme is the vocal piece Naite Li Yo, performed by Fumina Hara. Fumina Hara is arguably most famous for being the second actress to take on the role of Sailor Moon for the Sailor Moon musicals. Over in the west, in a very common practice at the time, the vocal piece was replaced by an instrumental piece.
Mega Man Legends 2 was a bigger successor to the original in every way. It's cliffhanger ending may not sit well with fans who are still understandably upset over the fate of Mega Man Legends 3. However, despite the end, Mega Man Legends 2 is still considered an improved cinematic experience with some fun, exciting, and sometimes atmospheric music to acompany Mega Man Volnutt on his open-world journey.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Nintendo 64), composed by Koji Kondo and Toru Minegishi
After Ocarina of Time, it seemed like the bar was set to unprecedented heights with the Zelda series. Both the game, and the music are still regarded as being the best the Zelda series had to offer. But with such accolades comes debates. It was either Ocarina of Time that was Nintendo 64's best Zelda title, or this one, Majora's Mask. To even compare to Ocarina of Time, director Eiji Aonuma decided on the three-day system. The three-day system counts down three days in game-time, converted to almost an hour in real-time. After the third day, the moon, under the curse of Majora's Mask destroys the world.
Ocarina of Time used music to help enhance Link's abilities, and to help him navigate through dungeons. Music use in Majora's Mask is more dire than in previous Zelda games. On top of giving Link the necessary skills needed to progress, music is used to help manipulate time, to help make things easier to save Link's progress, and to help return Link to the first day of the moon's descent to the world. Time travel and manipulation through music creates a newfound since of urgency that did not exist in any Zelda title before, nor was it replicated in future Zelda titles. In addition to music, Link relies on masks from Ocarina of Time's mask salesman (in a much larger role than his previous appearance), to help navigate through dungeons, puzzles, to help converse with the town citizens through different perspectives, and to play instruments unique to their masks. For example, the Deku Mask grants Link the ability to play the deku pipes, the Goron mask grants Link the ability to play bongo drums, and the Zora mask grants Link the ability to play a guitar.
Majora's Mask would also be the first Zelda game with musical contributions by Toru Minegishi, who would eventually succeed Koji Kondo as the primary composer for the Zelda series. In Majora's Mask, Minigishi all of the battle themes, except for the final battle themes. Minegishi had been inspired by the original Legend of Zelda game, as well as the talents of Koji Kondo, and had wanted to work with video games since he was young. He joined Nintendo working in bits on the Nintendo 64. It wasn't until the Gamecube came along where Minigishi was truly able to showcase his talents. One of the most notable nostalgia music trips in Majora's Mask is the return of the Hyrule Field theme, which was omitted in Ocarina of Time's soundtrack. It was brought back for this game, adding a section unique to Majora's Mask that further enhances the urgency created by the game's three-day system.
Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time are frequently debated over which is the better Zelda title between the two. Without question, Majora's Mask is regarded as one of the darker Zelda titles that provided more of a haunting, ominous experience that wasn't attempted before, or replicated later. This game also required the Nintendo 64 expansion pak, due to the sheer size of what Majora's Mask was capable of. Only three N64 games required the expansion pak; This one, Donkey Kong 64, and the next game to be highlighted in this episode.
Ocarina of Time used music to help enhance Link's abilities, and to help him navigate through dungeons. Music use in Majora's Mask is more dire than in previous Zelda games. On top of giving Link the necessary skills needed to progress, music is used to help manipulate time, to help make things easier to save Link's progress, and to help return Link to the first day of the moon's descent to the world. Time travel and manipulation through music creates a newfound since of urgency that did not exist in any Zelda title before, nor was it replicated in future Zelda titles. In addition to music, Link relies on masks from Ocarina of Time's mask salesman (in a much larger role than his previous appearance), to help navigate through dungeons, puzzles, to help converse with the town citizens through different perspectives, and to play instruments unique to their masks. For example, the Deku Mask grants Link the ability to play the deku pipes, the Goron mask grants Link the ability to play bongo drums, and the Zora mask grants Link the ability to play a guitar.
Majora's Mask would also be the first Zelda game with musical contributions by Toru Minegishi, who would eventually succeed Koji Kondo as the primary composer for the Zelda series. In Majora's Mask, Minigishi all of the battle themes, except for the final battle themes. Minegishi had been inspired by the original Legend of Zelda game, as well as the talents of Koji Kondo, and had wanted to work with video games since he was young. He joined Nintendo working in bits on the Nintendo 64. It wasn't until the Gamecube came along where Minigishi was truly able to showcase his talents. One of the most notable nostalgia music trips in Majora's Mask is the return of the Hyrule Field theme, which was omitted in Ocarina of Time's soundtrack. It was brought back for this game, adding a section unique to Majora's Mask that further enhances the urgency created by the game's three-day system.
Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time are frequently debated over which is the better Zelda title between the two. Without question, Majora's Mask is regarded as one of the darker Zelda titles that provided more of a haunting, ominous experience that wasn't attempted before, or replicated later. This game also required the Nintendo 64 expansion pak, due to the sheer size of what Majora's Mask was capable of. Only three N64 games required the expansion pak; This one, Donkey Kong 64, and the next game to be highlighted in this episode.
Secret of Evermore (Super Nintendo), composed by Jeremy Soule
After the success of GoldenEye, Rare sought to develop another Bond game based off the 1997 movie Tomorrow Never Dies. However, Electronic Arts acquired the rights to the James Bond franchise, and developed Tomorrow Never Dies for the PlayStation. But that did not slow director Martin Hollis down. In fact, losing the rights to the James Bond franchise only helped motivate them into making a spiritual successor to GoldenEye, due to the time already invested in the new project. Instead of modern day China and Britian, the setting was a sci-fi world. Instead of James Bond, the main protagonist is female operative Joanna Dark, voiced by Rare composer Eveline Fischer. The anime film Ghost in the Shell, and the television show X-Files helped shape the world, and the cast of Perfect Dark into something that played like GoldenEye, but was nothing like any story that could be told in the James Bond universe.
Grame Norgate was originally supposed to be the primary composer of Perfect Dark, but was only able to contribute a small number of pieces to the game due to leaving Rare for TimeSplitters developer Free Radical Design. The primary composer role went to Grant Kirkhope, who was no stranger to Rare's success on the Nintendo 64, and had worked with the staff before while working on the GoldenEye soundtrack. But Kirkhope was a very busy composer, also being assigned the games Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Tooie. So he assigned the task of composing Perfect Dark's cinematic pieces to Rare's newest composer, David Clynick. This would be Clynick's first Rare game he worked on, as well as the only Nintendo game he worked on. All his works for Rare after Perfect Dark came after Microsoft acquired the company.
Perfect Dark was only the latest addition to Rare's ever growing successful titles to land on the Nintendo 64. Due to the expansion pak requirement, it would also be their biggest undertaking. Once again, Kirkhope helped contribute a memorable soundtrack to the Nintendo 64, and once again, the Nintendo 64 was home to an unforgettable first person shooter experience.
Grame Norgate was originally supposed to be the primary composer of Perfect Dark, but was only able to contribute a small number of pieces to the game due to leaving Rare for TimeSplitters developer Free Radical Design. The primary composer role went to Grant Kirkhope, who was no stranger to Rare's success on the Nintendo 64, and had worked with the staff before while working on the GoldenEye soundtrack. But Kirkhope was a very busy composer, also being assigned the games Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Tooie. So he assigned the task of composing Perfect Dark's cinematic pieces to Rare's newest composer, David Clynick. This would be Clynick's first Rare game he worked on, as well as the only Nintendo game he worked on. All his works for Rare after Perfect Dark came after Microsoft acquired the company.
Perfect Dark was only the latest addition to Rare's ever growing successful titles to land on the Nintendo 64. Due to the expansion pak requirement, it would also be their biggest undertaking. Once again, Kirkhope helped contribute a memorable soundtrack to the Nintendo 64, and once again, the Nintendo 64 was home to an unforgettable first person shooter experience.
Terranigma (Super Nintendo), composed by Miyoko Takaoka and Masanori Hikichi
It wasn't just Naganuma's original score that brought this vibrant game to life. It was his recruitment of music that fit the various genre's that were hitting their strides around the time of this game's release that helped bring Jet Set Radio to life, both the literal game, and the in-game pirate radio station in Tokyo-to. Music artists from across the globe, spanning an eclectic list of genre's were tapped on to enhance the experience of tagging your turf with graffiti. Artists like B.B. Rights, Castle Logical, Deavid Soul, F-Fields, Guitar Vader, Idol Taxi, Reps, Richard Jacques, and Toronto. There were even some artists that were exclusive to the region the games were released in. In the PAL region, Future Cast, O.B. One, and Semi Detached were part of the soundtrack. In the US, Cold, Professor Murder Music, and Rob Zombie were part of the soundtrack. In both the US and PAL regions, the bands Jurassic 5 and Mix Master Mike were part of the soundtrack.
As for the composer himself, Hideki Naganuma had a knack for music since he started playing the electric organ at the age of five. In the 90s, he worked as a bartender and DJ in one of Japan's famous jazz venues, Blue Note Tokyo. But his ambitions were greater than that, he wanted to make contributions to the music industry, sending demos to Epic Sony Records, and he sent demos to the company that would eventually hire him, Sega. He started on the Sega Saturn, as a voice editor for the Revolutionary Girl Utena video game, Itsuka Kakumeisareru Monogatari. It was his only Saturn game before being the composer various Dreamcast games leading up to the release of Jet Set Radio. Outside of video games, his works can be heard in two well known anime. He remixed Captain Straydum's Fusen Gamu for the first ending of the anime Gintama, and he wrote the tracks Love Sensation and Sky-2-High under the alias skankfunk for the anime Air Gear.
Jet Set Radio was one of the Dreamcast's most stand-out titles. In an age where nearly every game had to be third dimensional, it was very rare for a game to emphasize cel shading in its graphics. The music was very modern, appropriate to the graffiti gang culture of modern times, and it enhanced the world and gameplay experience of making Tokyo-to your own personal canvas.
As for the composer himself, Hideki Naganuma had a knack for music since he started playing the electric organ at the age of five. In the 90s, he worked as a bartender and DJ in one of Japan's famous jazz venues, Blue Note Tokyo. But his ambitions were greater than that, he wanted to make contributions to the music industry, sending demos to Epic Sony Records, and he sent demos to the company that would eventually hire him, Sega. He started on the Sega Saturn, as a voice editor for the Revolutionary Girl Utena video game, Itsuka Kakumeisareru Monogatari. It was his only Saturn game before being the composer various Dreamcast games leading up to the release of Jet Set Radio. Outside of video games, his works can be heard in two well known anime. He remixed Captain Straydum's Fusen Gamu for the first ending of the anime Gintama, and he wrote the tracks Love Sensation and Sky-2-High under the alias skankfunk for the anime Air Gear.
Jet Set Radio was one of the Dreamcast's most stand-out titles. In an age where nearly every game had to be third dimensional, it was very rare for a game to emphasize cel shading in its graphics. The music was very modern, appropriate to the graffiti gang culture of modern times, and it enhanced the world and gameplay experience of making Tokyo-to your own personal canvas.
Final Fantasy IX (Playstation), composed by Nobuo Uematsu
Both Final Fantasy 7 and 8 were considered by Uematsu himself to have contained a mood of realism, making it difficult for him to compose music that did not fit that "realism" that helped define the asthetics of 7 and 8. Final Fantasy 9 was billed as the game that "went back to its roots." Everything about 9 was a complete 180 on what defined 7 and 8. 9 was more fantasy than realistic, with homages to older Final Fantasy titles in nearly every corner. To help enhance the more "simple" approach to Final Fantasy, director Hiroyuki Ito encouraged a much smaller quantity of pieces. Instead, Uematsu composed 160 pieces for the game. The mood Uematsu tried to capture in this soundtrack was a medieval theme. Uematsu traveled to Germany during the development of Final Fantasy 9, and was able to find inspiration through visiting old castles. He was also able to find inspiration listening to ABBA's greatest hits album, according to his interview with Weekly Famitsu conducted before the game's release in Japan. Not every single piece fit the medieval theme though, Uematsu was still able to think outside the box in terms of music styles. Moreso than he could in previous Final Fantasy games.
As part of 9's attempt to be a callback to the earlier Final Fantasy games, the volcano theme from the first Final Fantasy was arranged for this game, as well as the Castle Pandemonium theme from Final Fantasy 2. The piece Doga and Unei from Final Fantasy III is brought back if certain conditions relating to the Treno Auction House are met. And perhaps the most obvious callback to the earlier Final Fantasy games were the lead-ins to the random encounters in the game. Every Final Fantasy game, except 7 and 8, had the same intro for their random encounter themes. It didn't matter what the actual battle theme was, the intro would still be the same. Unique to this soundtrack is the leitmotif of main antagonist Kuja. When other major antagonists had very sweeping epic pieces, or haunting moods to envoke fear, Kuja relied only on a very minimalist approach to having music describe who he is.
The game's main theme is Melodies of Life, performed in English and Japanese by Emiko Shiratori. Uematsu discovered Shiratori through a vocal arrangement of Epona's Theme from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that was done for an official rearrangement album in Japan. Melodies of Life is also the main leitmotif of the entire game, with variations of the song being heard throughout the game. Most notably being the song Princess Garnet AKA Dagger sings to herself. In 2006, the song was performed at the VOICES: Music from Final Fantasy concert. This performance is described by Uematsu as being the definitive version of the song. It begins with the opening piece, A Place to Call Home, leading into the song itself, which combines both the English and Japanese lyrics.
Nobuo Uematsu continues to raise the bar, and change the landscape of how music in role playing games should sound. The soundtrack has been described by Uematsu in interviews, and in the soundtrack liner notes as being his favorite soundtrack in the Final Fantasy series. As time progressed after 9's release, we would soon learn that 9 would wind up being the last Final Fantasy game Uematsu would compose by himself.
As part of 9's attempt to be a callback to the earlier Final Fantasy games, the volcano theme from the first Final Fantasy was arranged for this game, as well as the Castle Pandemonium theme from Final Fantasy 2. The piece Doga and Unei from Final Fantasy III is brought back if certain conditions relating to the Treno Auction House are met. And perhaps the most obvious callback to the earlier Final Fantasy games were the lead-ins to the random encounters in the game. Every Final Fantasy game, except 7 and 8, had the same intro for their random encounter themes. It didn't matter what the actual battle theme was, the intro would still be the same. Unique to this soundtrack is the leitmotif of main antagonist Kuja. When other major antagonists had very sweeping epic pieces, or haunting moods to envoke fear, Kuja relied only on a very minimalist approach to having music describe who he is.
The game's main theme is Melodies of Life, performed in English and Japanese by Emiko Shiratori. Uematsu discovered Shiratori through a vocal arrangement of Epona's Theme from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that was done for an official rearrangement album in Japan. Melodies of Life is also the main leitmotif of the entire game, with variations of the song being heard throughout the game. Most notably being the song Princess Garnet AKA Dagger sings to herself. In 2006, the song was performed at the VOICES: Music from Final Fantasy concert. This performance is described by Uematsu as being the definitive version of the song. It begins with the opening piece, A Place to Call Home, leading into the song itself, which combines both the English and Japanese lyrics.
Nobuo Uematsu continues to raise the bar, and change the landscape of how music in role playing games should sound. The soundtrack has been described by Uematsu in interviews, and in the soundtrack liner notes as being his favorite soundtrack in the Final Fantasy series. As time progressed after 9's release, we would soon learn that 9 would wind up being the last Final Fantasy game Uematsu would compose by himself.
Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast), composed by Tatsuyuki Maeda and Yutaka Minobe
What do you get when you combine the members of Team Andromeda, whose last game at that point was the widely successful Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn, and members of the original Phantasy Star development team? You get a role playing game akin to Nintendo-era role playing games, about a group of air pirates who are joined together with one objective in mind; stop the Valuan Empire from conquering the world.
Most of the soundtrack is composed by Yutaka Minobe, whose first game as a composer was this game. 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. The more experienced Tatsuyuki Maeda has been composing for Sega since Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 1994. The only known bio on him as of this production is that he studied the electric organ in school.
Most of the soundtrack is heavily orchestrated. There are a few pieces that are more electric than orchestrated, like Vyse's theme, and a few of the game's battle themes. When the Dreamcast flopped, the game was rereleased on the Nintendo GameCube as Skies of Arcadia Legends. The rerelease adds new features, quests, additions to the storyline, and the online content from the Dreamcast was immediately available on the GameCube. But the soundtrack in the GameCube release unfortunately suffers from downgraded quality issues when compared to how the music sounded on the Dreamcast.
Whether played on the Dreamcast, or the GameCube, Skies of Arcadia is still regarded as one of the greatest role playing games released by Sega with a soundtrack from gifted musicians who learned at an early age. It may not have been a commercial success, but it is still regarded as one of Sega's best additions to the role playing genre.
Most of the soundtrack is composed by Yutaka Minobe, whose first game as a composer was this game. 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. The more experienced Tatsuyuki Maeda has been composing for Sega since Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 1994. The only known bio on him as of this production is that he studied the electric organ in school.
Most of the soundtrack is heavily orchestrated. There are a few pieces that are more electric than orchestrated, like Vyse's theme, and a few of the game's battle themes. When the Dreamcast flopped, the game was rereleased on the Nintendo GameCube as Skies of Arcadia Legends. The rerelease adds new features, quests, additions to the storyline, and the online content from the Dreamcast was immediately available on the GameCube. But the soundtrack in the GameCube release unfortunately suffers from downgraded quality issues when compared to how the music sounded on the Dreamcast.
Whether played on the Dreamcast, or the GameCube, Skies of Arcadia is still regarded as one of the greatest role playing games released by Sega with a soundtrack from gifted musicians who learned at an early age. It may not have been a commercial success, but it is still regarded as one of Sega's best additions to the role playing genre.
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Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast), composed by Hideaki Kobayashi, Fumie Kumatani, and Kenichi Tokoi
In 1997, Ultima Online was released for the PC. The producer of the game, Richard Garriott described the game as being a massively multiplayer online role playing game. An MMORPG if you will. The first time that sub-genre was coined. Fast forward to three years later, with the release of Phantasy Star Online, a home consoles first attempt at pulling off an MMORPG. Online gaming was hitting it's stride in the western market, but online gaming was almost exclusive to computers. And in the Japanese marker, computer gaming wasn't nearly as popular. So the decision was made to make Phantasy Star Online a console experience to tap into the onling gaming marker through the consoles.
Phantasy Star Online was supported officially until the final official servers went offline in 2010. Over the course of the next ten years, we would see expansions to the game in the form of Phantasy Star Online Episode 2, Episode 3: CARD Revolution, and Blue Burst. Episodes 1, and 2 was released on the Dreamcast, Gamecube, Xbox, and PC. Episode 3: CARD Revolution was released on the Gamecube, and Blue Burst was an enhanced PC port of episodes 1 and 2, which also contained episode 4.
The music was shared mostly between Hideaki Kobayashi, and Fumie Kumatani. Kumatani started playing piano when she was three, and according to her, insisted on taking piano lessons. She joined Sega in 1995, working on games like NIGHTS into Dreams, and Burning Rangers. She was one of the composers for Sonic Adventure, notably writing and composing the vocal themes My Sweet Passion, and Lazy Days. As a composer on Phantasy Star Online, she was responsable for writing and composing one of the signature tracks, Can Still See the Light, performed by Loren. Kobayashi, although having less experience with Sega than Kumatani, ended up becoming the primary composer for the Phantasy Star series starting with this game. Before joining Sega, he played for a brass band as a teenager, and demonstrated his expansive music theory knowledge, and ability to experiment with different styles of music under the alias HIDE-AKI as a contributor to the @MIDI albums. His pieces were more aggressive, and experimental than Kobayashi's. On top of that, he wrote and composed the game's other signature theme, The Whole New World, also performed by Loren. Kenichi Tokoi didn't join the Phantasy Star Online staff until episode 3. His music was more of a compliment to what the other primary composers had already contributed. Tokoi did write and compose episode 3's main theme, Let the Winds Blow, once again performed by LOREN.
Part of what makes the soundtrack stand out are the final battle themes for each update to the game. All the final battles share one major thing in common, they all contain the world IDOLA in the title. Pray for IDOLA the Distorted, Cry for IDOLA the holy, IDOLA have the immortal feather, IDOLA have the divine blade, IDOLA the strange fruits, and IDOLA the fanatic viper. All IDOLA battle themes were composed by Kobayashi, except for Strange Fruits, which was composed by Tokoi. IDOLA, as used in Phantasy Star Online, is heavily implied to represent the aberration of Phantasy Star's signature antagonist, Dark Falz.
Phantasy Star Online was one of the biggest innovations to the console gaming experience, paving way for how games on consoles could be developed, and updated for years to come. The composers enhanced the entire experience through the traditional methods of composing music for role playing games, as well as experimental methods, experimental methods rarely heard in video games at the time of the game's first release.
Phantasy Star Online was supported officially until the final official servers went offline in 2010. Over the course of the next ten years, we would see expansions to the game in the form of Phantasy Star Online Episode 2, Episode 3: CARD Revolution, and Blue Burst. Episodes 1, and 2 was released on the Dreamcast, Gamecube, Xbox, and PC. Episode 3: CARD Revolution was released on the Gamecube, and Blue Burst was an enhanced PC port of episodes 1 and 2, which also contained episode 4.
The music was shared mostly between Hideaki Kobayashi, and Fumie Kumatani. Kumatani started playing piano when she was three, and according to her, insisted on taking piano lessons. She joined Sega in 1995, working on games like NIGHTS into Dreams, and Burning Rangers. She was one of the composers for Sonic Adventure, notably writing and composing the vocal themes My Sweet Passion, and Lazy Days. As a composer on Phantasy Star Online, she was responsable for writing and composing one of the signature tracks, Can Still See the Light, performed by Loren. Kobayashi, although having less experience with Sega than Kumatani, ended up becoming the primary composer for the Phantasy Star series starting with this game. Before joining Sega, he played for a brass band as a teenager, and demonstrated his expansive music theory knowledge, and ability to experiment with different styles of music under the alias HIDE-AKI as a contributor to the @MIDI albums. His pieces were more aggressive, and experimental than Kobayashi's. On top of that, he wrote and composed the game's other signature theme, The Whole New World, also performed by Loren. Kenichi Tokoi didn't join the Phantasy Star Online staff until episode 3. His music was more of a compliment to what the other primary composers had already contributed. Tokoi did write and compose episode 3's main theme, Let the Winds Blow, once again performed by LOREN.
Part of what makes the soundtrack stand out are the final battle themes for each update to the game. All the final battles share one major thing in common, they all contain the world IDOLA in the title. Pray for IDOLA the Distorted, Cry for IDOLA the holy, IDOLA have the immortal feather, IDOLA have the divine blade, IDOLA the strange fruits, and IDOLA the fanatic viper. All IDOLA battle themes were composed by Kobayashi, except for Strange Fruits, which was composed by Tokoi. IDOLA, as used in Phantasy Star Online, is heavily implied to represent the aberration of Phantasy Star's signature antagonist, Dark Falz.
Phantasy Star Online was one of the biggest innovations to the console gaming experience, paving way for how games on consoles could be developed, and updated for years to come. The composers enhanced the entire experience through the traditional methods of composing music for role playing games, as well as experimental methods, experimental methods rarely heard in video games at the time of the game's first release.
Research Credits:
DASH Republic
Forbes
Gamespot
OKeijiDragon
Rittor Music
RocketBaby
Square Enix Music
Video Game Music Online
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