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: 2001.
Conker's Bad Fur Day (Nintendo 64), composed by Robin Beanland
Conker had one of the strangest development journeys in gaming. Staring in 1997 as Conker's Quest, which was later renamed Twelve Tales: Conker 64. It was hyped and promoted as a Rare platformer that could be accessible and appreciated to all kinds of families. Conker even made it to the Game Boy in 1999 as Conker's Pocket Tales. And while Conker did arrive on the Game Boy after having a cameo in the 1997 Diddy Kong Racing, the fate of his solo Nintendo 64 game was not known until 2000, when it was revealed that the would-be family platformer became the mature Conker's Bad Fur Day. The game was so mature, Nintendo refused to promote it in Nintendo Power. In North America, it was primarily promoted in Playboy magazine. And in Europe, the game had to be published by THQ, because Nintendo of Europe wouldn't publish it themselves.
Not only was the game composed by Robin Beanland, it was also co-writen by him. The game was primarly written and directed by Chris Seavor, who also was the voice for nearly the entire cast of the game. Robin Beanland's experience with the Nintendo 64 consisted of the games Killer Instinct Gold, parts of GoldenEye 007, and Jet Force Gemini when he filled in for Graeme Norgate who had left Rare. This was his first game as a primary solo composer since Killer Instinct Gold.
The music in the entire game ranged from cutsey platformer, the kind expected in your typical Rare platformer, to sweeping dramatic scores, the kind you would expect to hear in movies like Reservoir Dogs, Saving Private Ryan, and The Matrix....just some of the movies that were parodied by this game. You even got a musical number from a giant evil monster made entirely of poop. The Great Mighty Poo was voiced by Rare programmer Chris Marlow, the only male character not voiced by Chris Seavor.
Conker's Bad Fur Day capped off Rare's memorable line-up of titles released for the Nintendo 64. A game like this was nothing that was released on a Nintendo system at the time, but it wound up being one of the last memorable titles released on the Nintendo 64 before the system got phased out in favor of the upcoming GameCube. Conker's Bad Fur Day would be remastered in 2005 for the Xbox as Conker: Live and Reloaded. The original N64 game was included in the 2015 compilation title Rare Replay for the Xbox One, which also features original music from Robin Beanland, who still remains with Rare as of this production.
Gitaroo Man (PlayStation 2), composed by Tomohiro Harada, Sadayoshi Okamoto, and Yosuke Sato
Gitaroo Man initially slipped under many radars, resulting in the game becoming a rare collectible in parts of the world. But overtime, Gitaroo Man became a cult hit. Known for its catchy music, crazy storyline, and its difficult gameplay. In this game, you are U1, a boy who just wants to impress the girl of his dreams, Little Pico. But suddenly, U1 comes across a dog Puma, who bestows upon him the power of Gitaroo Man, telling him that he is the last of the Gitaroo's, and that U1 must save the planet of the Gitaroo's from the evil Zowie. True story. In the game, U1 as Gitaroo Man is challenged by enemies represented by Zowie to music duels. The enemies use different styles of music to challenge U1, who is always represented by hard rock.
The majority of the music was produced by Sadayoshi Okamoto and Yosuke Sato, collectively known as COIL. In addition to rock, genre's covered by COIL are blues, and reggae. Arguably, COIL's most popular contribution to the soundtrack is the acoustic version of The Legendary Theme. This piece is played when U1 and Little Pico share a quiet moment together. When compared to the rest of the game, it is very slow paced, easy to play, and is a relaxing change of pace from what the game threw at you before. The Legendary Theme is reprised near the end of the game when U1 duels Kirah, who bares a striking resembelance to Little Coil. He plays this in an attempt to win Kirah to his side so that the two can fight Zowie together.
Tomohiro Harada's contributions to the soundtrack cover other variations of rock not covered by COIL. Like slow rock, and gothic metal. Harada also produced the track, Flyin' To Your Heart, the game's one pop song. It is performed by YUAN with lyrics written in English, Chinese, and Japanese. In the Playstation Portable port, Gitaroo Man Lives, Flying to your Heart is performed entirely in English by the same group.
Gitaroo Man is also notable for being the first game designed by Keiichi Yano, who would later go on to develop the signature music game series for the Nintendo DS, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, as well as the Western version, Elite Beat Agents. Gitaroo Man was not afraid to be obscure. The story was ridiculous but fun, the characters were crazy, and some of the gameplay mechanics ranged wildly from relaxing to frustrating. But overall, Gitaroo Man remains a top tier music game among fans of the genre.
Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2), composed by Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and Junya Nakano
Nobuo Uematsu had been a main stable of the entire main-entry Final Fantasy games since the beginning. Final Fantasy X would be the start of Uematsu's slow decline in involvement with the series. *Instead of one composer for a main entry Final Fantasy, we now have three.* The games Masashi Hamazu was a primary composer on before Final Fantasy X was Chocobo Mystery Dungeon, and SaGa Fronteir 2. Hamazu grew up in Germany with music in his family. His Mother taught piano, and his Father was an opera singer. He was influenced by Koichi Sugiyama's score for the Dragon Quest series, and was inspired by the effort Square placed in the scores for their video games. The games Junya Nakano was a primary composer on before Final Fantasy X was Treasure Conflix, Another Mind, and Threads of Fate. Nakano began his career at Konami after being inspired by the 1979 arcade game Lunar Rescue. Because of Konami's stance on having their staff go by aliases in games, Nakano left Konami in favor of Square, who wasn't so anonymous with their recognition of staff. Nakano's co-composer, Masashi Hamauzu, is cited in an interview with RocketBaby as the composer he admired the most at Square.
The first time you hear Uematsu is through the game's memorable title screen music simply titled Zanarkand. A single piano piece that sets the tone for the mysterious world that would challenge the main protagonist group, while in the game's story, sets the tone for the final part of their journey. Zanarkand was originally a piece that was composed for a friend's recital. However, Uematsu shelved it as he felt it did not suit the recital. He gave the Final Fantasy X development staff that piece for use in the games soundtrack.
The responsibilities of the soundtrack were evenly split. However, after composing many memorable battle themes from previous Final Fantasy games and having them help define his career, Uematsu only composed two battle themes. The regular battle theme, and the battle theme played during your last battle against primary antagonist Seymour. Masashi Hamauzu composed most of the game's battle themes. Peril, notably used as the battle theme for Sinspawn Gui. Assault, the music played when you rescue Yuna from her forced wedding with Seymour, as well the main battle theme played when you fight Sin once and for all. Servants of the Mountain, while technically not a battle theme, it was still used as a battle theme between Kimari and his rivals Biran and Yenke. Challenge, the battle theme used almost exclusively for the game's harder bosses. And he was also responsible for composing the game's final battle theme. Junya Nakano composed two battle themes for the soundtrack. The regular boss theme, Enemy Attack, and the penultimate battle theme, A Contest of Aeons. A Contest of Aeons was also used as the battle theme for Penance, the super boss that was added as one of the bonuses of the International release of Final Fantasy X.
Three vocal pieces were used in the game, an upgrade from the previous three Final Fantasy titles having one vocal piece each. The first one you hear is Otherworld, performed by Bill Muir, lead singer of the hardcore punk band, xtillidiex. This song is heard during the first full motion video when Tidus plays Blitzball in Zanarkand, and again at the very end when you challenge Braska's Final Aeon. The second is the Hymn of the Fayth, arranged in multiple different variations to represent each of the Aeons you recruit, as well as influential figures in the world of Spira like the Ronso race, and Yunalesca. The third vocal track is Suteki Da Ne, performed by vocalist RIKKI. She was chosen to perform the song as she was from the south, and Uematsu wanted a southern voice to match the atmosphere of Spira, while simultaniously symbolizing the romance between Tidus and Yuna. In an interview with RMF Game Music, Rikki talks about touring the Amami Islands with Uematsu and sharing onigiri together surrounded by nothing but nature. Her memories of her trip with Uematsu helped enhance her performance of the song. This song was only performed in Japanese, at the request of Uematsu.
Final Fantasy X was the next evolution for the series. Going from the PlayStation to the PlayStation 2, everything was enhanced. The storytelling, the gameplay, the environment, and the music all reflected on the console generation leap. In 2013, the game was re-released as part of the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster starting with the PlayStation 3, before eventually being released on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. The entire soundtrack was rearranged for the HD remaster. Masashi Hamauzu, and Junya Nakano did most of the arrangement work, which also includes arranging Nobuo Uematsu's pieces. Square composers Ryo Yamazaki and Hirosato Noda helped with the arrangement process as well.
Whether you were one to first play Final Fantasy X on the PS2, or on all the systems the HD remaster was released on, you still got one of the most eclectic experiences, and one of the most evolved Final Fantasy games in the entire franchise.
Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast), composed by Jun Senoue, Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani, and Tomoya Ohtani
Sonic Adventure 2 was a celebration of Sonic's 10th anniversary. It was also Sonic Team's attempt at using Sega's signature franchise to push the Dreamcast to its limits, something that couldn't be achieved with the first Sonic Adventure. The game looked better, the game played better, and most importantly, the game sounded better. In an interview with Sega Scream, primary composer and sound director Jun Senoue expressed how the first Sonic Adventure didn't match the game as well as it could have, and that only the best effort was given. In this game, Senoue aimed for the music in Sonic Adventure 2 to be more than background music. He describes his ideal video game score as being impressive, with good melodies.
Jun Senoue learned to play the piano at the age of 3, and was invested in the rock genre at the age of 12. He joined Sega in 1993, working on various games, including his first job with a Sonic game, Sonic and Knuckles. His work wasn't as well known when compared to other Sega composers, until his work on Sonic Adventure, including that game's main theme, Open Your Heart, performed by Johnny Gioeli, a rock vocalist Senoue had admired for a long time, and wanted to work with. Starting with Sonic Adventure, Senoue and Gioeli would collaborate frequently together, forming their own group called Sons Of Angels, later renamed Crush 40. For this game, Senoue produced five vocal songs. It Doesn't Matter, the theme of Sonic himself, performed by Tony Harnell, vocalist of the rock group TNT, and former member of the group Skid Row. Escape From The City, the first level of the game, also performed by Harnell, as well as Ted Poley, vocalist of the rock group Danger Danger. And the game's main theme, Live & Learn, performed by his Crush 40 partner, Gioeli himself. Senoue has stated in interviews that Live and Learn is his favorite song from the soundtrack. Other vocal highlights include E.G.G.M.A.N., performed by Paul Shortino, who performed with multiple rock bands including Quiet Riot, and he even had a supporting role in the film This is Spinal Tap as Duke Fame. And finally, Believe in Myself, originally produced for the first Sonic Adventure game, rearranged for this game, and performed by Kaz Silver.
As you can see, a large part of what made this soundtrack memorable were the vocal pieces, including Crush 40's songs. Kenichi Tokoi wrote Knuckles' theme, Unknown from M.E. A jazz/hip-hop fusion track originally produced for the first Sonic Adventure, rearranged for this game, and performed by both Hunnid-P and Marlon Saunders, whose previous involvement with Sega was the acapella version of Dreams Dreams from Christmas NiGHTS, and the song We are Burning Rangers from Burning Rangers. Hunnid-P also performed on Tomoya Ohtani's produced pieces Dive into the Mellow, the theme of the aquatic mine, A Ghost Pumpkin Soup, the theme for Pumpkin Hill, Kick the Rock, the theme for Wild Canyon, Deeper, the theme for Death Chamber, and Space Trip Steps, the theme of Meteor Herd. Kenichi Tokoi also produced the track Lovely Gate 3, the theme of egg quarters, featuring vocalized harmonies from Tabitha Fair, which became a recurring signature for the music associated with Rouge. Tabitha Fair is also the performer of Rouge's theme song, Fly in the Freedom, composed by Fumie Kumatani. Tabitha Fair is notable for being one of the co-founders of popular Christian vocal group, Avalon. Other vocal tracks produced by Kumatani include Shadow's theme, Throw it all Away. Rhythm and Balance, the theme for the White Jungle stage. Supporting Me, the Biolizard battle theme. All three of these vocal pieces were performed by Everette Bradly, current member of the rock group Bon Jovi.
The review GamePro did for Sonic Adventure 2 describes the soundtrack perfectly; "An eclectic mix of orchestrated masterpieces, guitar tunes, and melodic hip-hop voices gracefully fill the game's ambiance to a perfect pitch." Everything about this game is eclectic. Everything from the cast ensemble to the music. It all blends together to create a 3D Sonic experience that not only gave the Dreamcast a proper send off, but also paved the way to become the first Sonic game to be playable on a Nintendo system, symbolically ending the Nintendo/Sega feud which had been a staple of 90s gaming.
ICO (PlayStation 2), composed by Michiru Oshima, Koichi Yamazaki, and Mitsukuni Murayama
ICO was different from any other game that came out at the time. The game did not hold your hand, did not tell you what to do, and expected you to play the game yourself. It was presented in a way that older games like Prince of Persia and Another World were presented. A forgotten gameplay mechanic that really challenged gamers to use their own intuition. It was also one of the more often used examples of games being presented as a true form of art, something designer Fumito Ueda intended to do, in a way to appeal to a broader audience.
Koichi Yamazaki and Mitsukuni Murayama collaborated together under the name pentagon. The two of them composed almost half of the soundtrack; prologue, coffin, darkness, heal, the gate, queen, continue, and deja vu. Not much is known about pentagon other their direct involvement with Ico, and their arrangement work on another PlayStation 2 game released in 2001, Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec.
Michiru Oshima composed the other half of the soundtrack, including the game's ending theme, ICO - You Were There, performed by Steven Geraghty, who once sang with London's all-boys vocal group, Libera. Oshima has been composing since the early 80s, and does not limit herself to one form of entertainment. In fact, Ico is only the third of four video games she has composed in her lifetime. In the film industry, she has composed for multiple Godzilla movies in the early 2000s, and the successful 2009 Chinese film, The Messenger. Primarily, she composes for anime. A few of her most notable titles include Hana Yori Dango, Arc the Lad, Magic User's Club, and the first Fullmetal Alchemist series including the movie, Conqueror of Shambala, which she won a Tokyo Anime Award for. Some of her more recent anime works include Little Witch Academia, Night is Short, Walk on Girl, and Bloom Into You. She even did music for a Japanese stage adaptation of the 1953 American classic, Roman Holiday. These are just a small list of examples on how Michiru Oshima is one of Japan's most profilic composers, finding opportunity everywhere she can.
ICO's music reflected how mysterious the game is from both the gamer's perspective, and from the storytelling perspective. It was minimalist all around, and would become a recurring design mechanic with Fumito Ueda's follow-up titles; Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian.
Silent Hill 2 (PlayStation 2), composed by Akira Yamaoka
Silent Hill 2 is described by producer Akihiro Imamura as being a more complex and deeper experience than the first Silent Hill, aimed at a more mature demographic than the what was presented to fans of the first game. It is also a game that isn't a direct sequel to the first, but a completely different story that takes place in the town of Silent Hill. You are James, and you receive a letter from your wife saying she is at your favorite place. But the twist is, James' wife has been dead for three years. There is no searching for a family member lost in the mysterious town, it is solving one significant mystery inside the mysterious town.
Akira Yamaoka returned for the sequel, and stated in an interview with FACT Magazine that "...when SH2 was released it was unheard of for games to explore themes based on euthanasia, terminal illness, guilt, sexual abuse and sexual repression. Taking all of that on at once was unprecedented in 2001." In terms of the music, Yamaoka also states that the game "...was also one of the first games to really introduce rock and industrial music into gaming, especially in Japan, and even more especially in a non-gimmicky way." When the first game was developed, Yamaoka knew that only he could create the experience of Silent Hill instead of simply enhancing the experience. Unlike the first game, Yamaoka composed 100% of the soundtrack. It didn't follow a consistent trend that the first soundtrack did, where most of the soundtrack felt like one giant medley of horror. The soundtrack would go from rock, to industrial, to haunting, to etheral, to some sort of combination of genre's, and back again. Yamaoka's intention for this soundtrack was to envoke emotions that were both surprising, and unsettling.
There are no vocal themes in the game, but one of the actors in the original release is one of today's most notable video game vocalists. Angela Orosco, a supporting character in the game, is voiced by Donna Burke. Donna Burke today is known primarily for her work in the Metal Gear franchise since Peace Walker, but she has been performing since the 90s. In anime, video games like this one, and as the English voice announcer for the bullet train network in Japan.
Silent Hill 2 continues Akira Yamaoka's vision to use the art of music and sound to create the terrifying experience of Silent Hill through alternate storytelling. Like Yamaoka's music, Silent Hill 2 pushed boundaries for how games are presented in the survival horror genre. The ambitious effort helped make Silent Hill 2 one of the most critically acclaimed horror titles, as well as one of the best narratives in gaming across any genre. And once again, none of this could be possible without the unique experience of surviving Silent Hill, created by Akira Yamaoka.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PlayStation 2), composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, Norihiko Hibino, and Rika Muranaka
Metal Gear Solid 2 was Hideo Kojima's way of not just taking advantage of the new hardware of PlayStation 2. It was his way of taking storytelling in a way that had never been attempted before. The hype leading up to Metal Gear Solid 2's release featured Solid Snake in action against the enemy, and sneaking his way around enemy territory. And it seemed like this would be the entire game. However, after release, we learn that Solid Snake is only played during the prologue. After the prologue, we are introduced to the true game, featuring a new character named Raiden. This was done to present Solid Snake from an outsiders perspective in the game, to not force you as Solid Snake to go through tutorials that canonically Snake already knows, and to appeal to female gamers. The story of Raiden was met with a mixed response. But it was the story of Raiden that lead to moments where the expected in storytelling quickly became the unexpected, right to the point where you, the player, were confronted by the enemy through dialogue.
But what about the soundtrack? The soundtrack to the game was Hideo Kojima's first true step towards connecting his projects with the Hollywood personalities he has always admired. Kojima and sound director Kazuki Muraoka came up with the idea to recruit Harry Gregson-Williams after watching the 1998 film The Replacement Killers, which Gregson-Williams provided the score for. Kojima then proceeded to send Gregson-Williams a mix CD of select pieces he had worked on. Flattered by the effort placed in the mix CD, Gregson-Williams joined production of the game. Gregson-Williams had been a film composer since the 1990 film, Revenge. Since then, and up until the release of Metal Gear Solid 2, he had received awards for his scores on the films Antz, Enemy of the State, Chicken Run, and Shrek. Perhaps Gregson-William's most popular contribution to the Metal Gear franchise is his arrangement of Tappi Iwase's main theme for the first Metal Gear Solid, which in itself is controversial due to accusations of the original piece being a plagarism of Georgy Sviridov's The Winter Road.
Norihiko Hibino composed the majority of the in-game music. Hibino started his music career as a Kansas City jazz musician. His first involvement with video game scores came with the Game Boy Color Metal Gear game, Ghost Babel. He worked with Kojima again on the game Zone of the Enders, before signing on to be the primary Japanese composer for the game. Unlike the previous Metal Gear Solid game which was credited under Konami's in-house band as a group. Rika Muranaka, who provided Konami with vocal themes for games like Symphony of the Night, Silent Hill, and the first Metal Gear Solid, returned to the Metal Gear series to write the game's jazz vocal ending theme, Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday, performed by the late Carla White.
From a storytelling standpoint, and a composers standpoint, Metal Gear Solid 2 did things that had never been done before in video games. That was how Hideo Kojima operated. He was not afraid to take risks with his games. And after the release and success of Sons of Liberty, he would continue to find ways to bridge the gap between Hollywood films and Japanese video games.
Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox), composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori
Since 1997, GoldenEye was the standard for the console first person shooter experience. First person shooters on consoles either only came close to GoldenEye's legacy, or became busts along the way. In 2001, Microsoft, a company primarily known for their Windows operating systems and Office software at that point, launched their own video game console, the Xbox. At the time, it wasn't known if Microsoft could even compete with Nintendo, Sony, and Sega. But Microsoft and Xbox had a major ace up their sleeve for their launch line-up, Halo: Combat Evolved. Since 1997, Bungie, a small company at the time, had been working on Halo. It was originally announced by Steve Jobs of Apple as a game that would simultaniously launch on Mac and Windows. Then in 2000, Microsoft acquired Bungie, and became an exclusive Xbox game.
Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori collaborated together frequently under the production company TotalAudio. Before composing for video games, Martin O'Donnell wrote music for commercials in the 80s. He wrote the music in commercials for Mr.Clean, and Flintstones Chewable Vitamins, which his kids helped perform. Michael Salvatori didn't have as much experience as O'Donnell did before composing for video games. He wrote music for a band he was apart of in college, then moved to Chicago where he met O'Donnell, and the two made their first collaboration together, an independent film score for a friend. Through a family friend, O'Donnell became inspired by the soundtrack of the 1993 game, Myst. He met with some of the Myst developers, and would join the staff of Myst's sequel, Riven, as a sound designer. During development of Riven, the staff would occasionally play Bungie's Marathon. O'Donnell and Salvatori later joined Bungie to work on the music for Myth: The Fallen Lords, Myth II, and Oni.
Then came Halo, which both composers worked on equally. The first piece completed was the self-titled Halo. A piece that combines orchestra, monk chants, Qawwali vocalization, and heavy percussion. All of which was partially inspired by The Beatles song Yesterday. It would become a recurring leitmotif for the entire franchise, and it was completed in three days, from the writing process to the recording process. This piece was recorded for the 1999 Macworld Confrence and Expo reveal of the game. The rest of the soundtrack was composed throughout 2001 in Chicago. Some of the music was synthesized, some of the music was recorded with live instruments and vocalists in Chicago. Parts of the soundtrack were arrangements of the Halo piece. The music was presented dynamically, to fit with the action presented, and the story being told, rather than just placing music in the background of the level you were in.
Halo: Combat Evolved was a game that didn't just evolve first person shooter combat. It evolved storytelling, it evolved audio production, and it helped present Microsoft's Xbox as a legitimate console in the video game market. At least until 2003, Halo was something that could only be experienced on the Xbox. And part of that experience came through Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori's dramatic and exciting approach to using music to enhance the gaming experience.
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube), composed by Hirokazu Ando, Shogo Sakai, Takuto Kitsuta, Tadashi Ikegami, and the Orchestra Melee
Super Smash Bros is a fighting game crossover featuring many of Nintendo's iconic characters fighting each other in various stages inspired by Nintendo's history, to music inspired by Nintendo's history. The series is essentially a celebration and collaboration of all things Nintendo. From the characters, to the stages, and of course, the music. Super Smash Bros. Melee was used to help Nintendo introduce their newest system, the GameCube. The opening FMV which was first shown during E3 2001, was the development staff's way of showing people the graphical leap between the Nintendo 64, and the GameCube. The first Super Smash Bros was a moderate success. Game director Masahiro Sakarai put pressure on himself to deliver a quality sequel, to the point where he would sacrifice weekends and holidays just to devote time to the development of the game. As a result, everything about the game was much bigger than what was on the Nintendo 64.
In the previous game, Hirokazu Ando was the sole composer. In this game, he serves as the game's music director. and like the previous game, music was carefully selected to fit each of the stages. Much of the music were arrangements, or medleys of older Nintendo pieces. But there were some original pieces composed for the game. Like the main theme, the bonus stages, the multi-man melee fights, and the battle's against Metal Mario, Giga Bowser, and the franchise's quote en quote "main antagonist" Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Much of the original music borrows the motifs of the main theme for their pieces. And this became a pattern for future Smash titles. One piece would be composed as the main theme, and then the majority of that game's original pieces would be partial or complete arrangements of that main theme.
This game is also notable for raising awareness of the Fire Emblem franchise to audiences outside of Japan. The fighters Marth and Roy, from Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem The Binding Blade respectively, were originally meant to be exclusive to the Japanese release of Melee. However, the North American localization team had so much fun playing with Marth and Roy, that they were kept in the game. The game also includes a Fire Emblem medley composed by Shogo Sakai to be occasionally played on the Great Temple stage. It was only titled "Fire Emblem" in the game, but in the music menu for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Switch, the Fire Emblem piece composed for Melee is officially titled Story 5 Meeting. Fire Emblem's representation in Melee paved way for the first Fire Emblem game outside of Japan to be released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance.
Super Smash Bros. Melee was a landmark title for Nintendo, a solid game for the GameCube's launch year, and a game that helped celebrate Nintendo's history through gameplay, and music. The sequels to Melee would continue to pay homage to Nintendo's history by adding more characters, and by significantly increasing the soundtrack with each game release, including new arrangements, medleys, and even the original recordings of classic Nintendo pieces. It may have begun with Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64, but it was Super Smash Bros Melee that truly set the bar for how Nintendo's allustrious history was commemorated in a single game.
Rez (Dreamcast/PlayStation 2)
The game doesn't use a single composer. Instead, music coordinator Masakazu Hiroshi connected game director Tetsuya Mizuguchi with musicians in Europe that would best bring Mizuguchi's vision to life. Tetsuya Mizuguchi was inspired by large and popular music festivals like the Zurich Street Parade, and Burning Man. He was inspired by the music, the crowd, and the production effort behind the performances. Mizuguchi wanted to combine his personal experiences with these shows with games like Xevious, and Xenon 2 Megablast. With these combined inspirations, he invisioned a shooter game where enemies were shot down to the beat of electronic music.
The way music was tied to the gameplay was through the call and response technique as performed by a DJ. The gameplay is compared to when a professional DJ operates their mixer to the music, and the way the music is played changes drastically without making the change seem abrupt or jarring. Mizuguchi wanted to build on that. He called this process "quantization." The music from each stage was gradually being built by your actions. You weren't playing the gameplay to match certain parts of the music, like in traditional music games. Instead, the more successful actions you performed, the more the music grew and evolved. Performers for the Rez soundtrack were Mist, Europe's 1997 dance video of the year winner Ken Ishii, Joujouka, Adam Freeland, Coldcut and Tims Bran from the band Dreadzone, EBZ, Oval, and Sega composer Keiichi Sugiyama. When Rez was rereleased in 2016 as Rez: Infinite, it introduced a new level called Area X, with music by the group Hydelic. The group would later collaborate with Mizuguchi again for the 2018 game Tetris Effect.
Rez played like a music game, but it is not a music game. Instead, it is a game that it built by the music in the game. But in order for the music to be built, you have to put in the effort. It isn't a case of music enhancing the gameplay experience. Instead, it's the gameplay experience that is enhancing the music. And when the music is enhanced, Rez becomes that much more of an experience.
Conker had one of the strangest development journeys in gaming. Staring in 1997 as Conker's Quest, which was later renamed Twelve Tales: Conker 64. It was hyped and promoted as a Rare platformer that could be accessible and appreciated to all kinds of families. Conker even made it to the Game Boy in 1999 as Conker's Pocket Tales. And while Conker did arrive on the Game Boy after having a cameo in the 1997 Diddy Kong Racing, the fate of his solo Nintendo 64 game was not known until 2000, when it was revealed that the would-be family platformer became the mature Conker's Bad Fur Day. The game was so mature, Nintendo refused to promote it in Nintendo Power. In North America, it was primarily promoted in Playboy magazine. And in Europe, the game had to be published by THQ, because Nintendo of Europe wouldn't publish it themselves.
Not only was the game composed by Robin Beanland, it was also co-writen by him. The game was primarly written and directed by Chris Seavor, who also was the voice for nearly the entire cast of the game. Robin Beanland's experience with the Nintendo 64 consisted of the games Killer Instinct Gold, parts of GoldenEye 007, and Jet Force Gemini when he filled in for Graeme Norgate who had left Rare. This was his first game as a primary solo composer since Killer Instinct Gold.
The music in the entire game ranged from cutsey platformer, the kind expected in your typical Rare platformer, to sweeping dramatic scores, the kind you would expect to hear in movies like Reservoir Dogs, Saving Private Ryan, and The Matrix....just some of the movies that were parodied by this game. You even got a musical number from a giant evil monster made entirely of poop. The Great Mighty Poo was voiced by Rare programmer Chris Marlow, the only male character not voiced by Chris Seavor.
Conker's Bad Fur Day capped off Rare's memorable line-up of titles released for the Nintendo 64. A game like this was nothing that was released on a Nintendo system at the time, but it wound up being one of the last memorable titles released on the Nintendo 64 before the system got phased out in favor of the upcoming GameCube. Conker's Bad Fur Day would be remastered in 2005 for the Xbox as Conker: Live and Reloaded. The original N64 game was included in the 2015 compilation title Rare Replay for the Xbox One, which also features original music from Robin Beanland, who still remains with Rare as of this production.
Gitaroo Man (PlayStation 2), composed by Tomohiro Harada, Sadayoshi Okamoto, and Yosuke Sato
Gitaroo Man initially slipped under many radars, resulting in the game becoming a rare collectible in parts of the world. But overtime, Gitaroo Man became a cult hit. Known for its catchy music, crazy storyline, and its difficult gameplay. In this game, you are U1, a boy who just wants to impress the girl of his dreams, Little Pico. But suddenly, U1 comes across a dog Puma, who bestows upon him the power of Gitaroo Man, telling him that he is the last of the Gitaroo's, and that U1 must save the planet of the Gitaroo's from the evil Zowie. True story. In the game, U1 as Gitaroo Man is challenged by enemies represented by Zowie to music duels. The enemies use different styles of music to challenge U1, who is always represented by hard rock.
The majority of the music was produced by Sadayoshi Okamoto and Yosuke Sato, collectively known as COIL. In addition to rock, genre's covered by COIL are blues, and reggae. Arguably, COIL's most popular contribution to the soundtrack is the acoustic version of The Legendary Theme. This piece is played when U1 and Little Pico share a quiet moment together. When compared to the rest of the game, it is very slow paced, easy to play, and is a relaxing change of pace from what the game threw at you before. The Legendary Theme is reprised near the end of the game when U1 duels Kirah, who bares a striking resembelance to Little Coil. He plays this in an attempt to win Kirah to his side so that the two can fight Zowie together.
Tomohiro Harada's contributions to the soundtrack cover other variations of rock not covered by COIL. Like slow rock, and gothic metal. Harada also produced the track, Flyin' To Your Heart, the game's one pop song. It is performed by YUAN with lyrics written in English, Chinese, and Japanese. In the Playstation Portable port, Gitaroo Man Lives, Flying to your Heart is performed entirely in English by the same group.
Gitaroo Man is also notable for being the first game designed by Keiichi Yano, who would later go on to develop the signature music game series for the Nintendo DS, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, as well as the Western version, Elite Beat Agents. Gitaroo Man was not afraid to be obscure. The story was ridiculous but fun, the characters were crazy, and some of the gameplay mechanics ranged wildly from relaxing to frustrating. But overall, Gitaroo Man remains a top tier music game among fans of the genre.
Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2), composed by Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and Junya Nakano
Nobuo Uematsu had been a main stable of the entire main-entry Final Fantasy games since the beginning. Final Fantasy X would be the start of Uematsu's slow decline in involvement with the series. *Instead of one composer for a main entry Final Fantasy, we now have three.* The games Masashi Hamazu was a primary composer on before Final Fantasy X was Chocobo Mystery Dungeon, and SaGa Fronteir 2. Hamazu grew up in Germany with music in his family. His Mother taught piano, and his Father was an opera singer. He was influenced by Koichi Sugiyama's score for the Dragon Quest series, and was inspired by the effort Square placed in the scores for their video games. The games Junya Nakano was a primary composer on before Final Fantasy X was Treasure Conflix, Another Mind, and Threads of Fate. Nakano began his career at Konami after being inspired by the 1979 arcade game Lunar Rescue. Because of Konami's stance on having their staff go by aliases in games, Nakano left Konami in favor of Square, who wasn't so anonymous with their recognition of staff. Nakano's co-composer, Masashi Hamauzu, is cited in an interview with RocketBaby as the composer he admired the most at Square.
The first time you hear Uematsu is through the game's memorable title screen music simply titled Zanarkand. A single piano piece that sets the tone for the mysterious world that would challenge the main protagonist group, while in the game's story, sets the tone for the final part of their journey. Zanarkand was originally a piece that was composed for a friend's recital. However, Uematsu shelved it as he felt it did not suit the recital. He gave the Final Fantasy X development staff that piece for use in the games soundtrack.
The responsibilities of the soundtrack were evenly split. However, after composing many memorable battle themes from previous Final Fantasy games and having them help define his career, Uematsu only composed two battle themes. The regular battle theme, and the battle theme played during your last battle against primary antagonist Seymour. Masashi Hamauzu composed most of the game's battle themes. Peril, notably used as the battle theme for Sinspawn Gui. Assault, the music played when you rescue Yuna from her forced wedding with Seymour, as well the main battle theme played when you fight Sin once and for all. Servants of the Mountain, while technically not a battle theme, it was still used as a battle theme between Kimari and his rivals Biran and Yenke. Challenge, the battle theme used almost exclusively for the game's harder bosses. And he was also responsible for composing the game's final battle theme. Junya Nakano composed two battle themes for the soundtrack. The regular boss theme, Enemy Attack, and the penultimate battle theme, A Contest of Aeons. A Contest of Aeons was also used as the battle theme for Penance, the super boss that was added as one of the bonuses of the International release of Final Fantasy X.
Three vocal pieces were used in the game, an upgrade from the previous three Final Fantasy titles having one vocal piece each. The first one you hear is Otherworld, performed by Bill Muir, lead singer of the hardcore punk band, xtillidiex. This song is heard during the first full motion video when Tidus plays Blitzball in Zanarkand, and again at the very end when you challenge Braska's Final Aeon. The second is the Hymn of the Fayth, arranged in multiple different variations to represent each of the Aeons you recruit, as well as influential figures in the world of Spira like the Ronso race, and Yunalesca. The third vocal track is Suteki Da Ne, performed by vocalist RIKKI. She was chosen to perform the song as she was from the south, and Uematsu wanted a southern voice to match the atmosphere of Spira, while simultaniously symbolizing the romance between Tidus and Yuna. In an interview with RMF Game Music, Rikki talks about touring the Amami Islands with Uematsu and sharing onigiri together surrounded by nothing but nature. Her memories of her trip with Uematsu helped enhance her performance of the song. This song was only performed in Japanese, at the request of Uematsu.
Final Fantasy X was the next evolution for the series. Going from the PlayStation to the PlayStation 2, everything was enhanced. The storytelling, the gameplay, the environment, and the music all reflected on the console generation leap. In 2013, the game was re-released as part of the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster starting with the PlayStation 3, before eventually being released on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. The entire soundtrack was rearranged for the HD remaster. Masashi Hamauzu, and Junya Nakano did most of the arrangement work, which also includes arranging Nobuo Uematsu's pieces. Square composers Ryo Yamazaki and Hirosato Noda helped with the arrangement process as well.
Whether you were one to first play Final Fantasy X on the PS2, or on all the systems the HD remaster was released on, you still got one of the most eclectic experiences, and one of the most evolved Final Fantasy games in the entire franchise.
Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast), composed by Jun Senoue, Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani, and Tomoya Ohtani
Sonic Adventure 2 was a celebration of Sonic's 10th anniversary. It was also Sonic Team's attempt at using Sega's signature franchise to push the Dreamcast to its limits, something that couldn't be achieved with the first Sonic Adventure. The game looked better, the game played better, and most importantly, the game sounded better. In an interview with Sega Scream, primary composer and sound director Jun Senoue expressed how the first Sonic Adventure didn't match the game as well as it could have, and that only the best effort was given. In this game, Senoue aimed for the music in Sonic Adventure 2 to be more than background music. He describes his ideal video game score as being impressive, with good melodies.
Jun Senoue learned to play the piano at the age of 3, and was invested in the rock genre at the age of 12. He joined Sega in 1993, working on various games, including his first job with a Sonic game, Sonic and Knuckles. His work wasn't as well known when compared to other Sega composers, until his work on Sonic Adventure, including that game's main theme, Open Your Heart, performed by Johnny Gioeli, a rock vocalist Senoue had admired for a long time, and wanted to work with. Starting with Sonic Adventure, Senoue and Gioeli would collaborate frequently together, forming their own group called Sons Of Angels, later renamed Crush 40. For this game, Senoue produced five vocal songs. It Doesn't Matter, the theme of Sonic himself, performed by Tony Harnell, vocalist of the rock group TNT, and former member of the group Skid Row. Escape From The City, the first level of the game, also performed by Harnell, as well as Ted Poley, vocalist of the rock group Danger Danger. And the game's main theme, Live & Learn, performed by his Crush 40 partner, Gioeli himself. Senoue has stated in interviews that Live and Learn is his favorite song from the soundtrack. Other vocal highlights include E.G.G.M.A.N., performed by Paul Shortino, who performed with multiple rock bands including Quiet Riot, and he even had a supporting role in the film This is Spinal Tap as Duke Fame. And finally, Believe in Myself, originally produced for the first Sonic Adventure game, rearranged for this game, and performed by Kaz Silver.
As you can see, a large part of what made this soundtrack memorable were the vocal pieces, including Crush 40's songs. Kenichi Tokoi wrote Knuckles' theme, Unknown from M.E. A jazz/hip-hop fusion track originally produced for the first Sonic Adventure, rearranged for this game, and performed by both Hunnid-P and Marlon Saunders, whose previous involvement with Sega was the acapella version of Dreams Dreams from Christmas NiGHTS, and the song We are Burning Rangers from Burning Rangers. Hunnid-P also performed on Tomoya Ohtani's produced pieces Dive into the Mellow, the theme of the aquatic mine, A Ghost Pumpkin Soup, the theme for Pumpkin Hill, Kick the Rock, the theme for Wild Canyon, Deeper, the theme for Death Chamber, and Space Trip Steps, the theme of Meteor Herd. Kenichi Tokoi also produced the track Lovely Gate 3, the theme of egg quarters, featuring vocalized harmonies from Tabitha Fair, which became a recurring signature for the music associated with Rouge. Tabitha Fair is also the performer of Rouge's theme song, Fly in the Freedom, composed by Fumie Kumatani. Tabitha Fair is notable for being one of the co-founders of popular Christian vocal group, Avalon. Other vocal tracks produced by Kumatani include Shadow's theme, Throw it all Away. Rhythm and Balance, the theme for the White Jungle stage. Supporting Me, the Biolizard battle theme. All three of these vocal pieces were performed by Everette Bradly, current member of the rock group Bon Jovi.
The review GamePro did for Sonic Adventure 2 describes the soundtrack perfectly; "An eclectic mix of orchestrated masterpieces, guitar tunes, and melodic hip-hop voices gracefully fill the game's ambiance to a perfect pitch." Everything about this game is eclectic. Everything from the cast ensemble to the music. It all blends together to create a 3D Sonic experience that not only gave the Dreamcast a proper send off, but also paved the way to become the first Sonic game to be playable on a Nintendo system, symbolically ending the Nintendo/Sega feud which had been a staple of 90s gaming.
ICO (PlayStation 2), composed by Michiru Oshima, Koichi Yamazaki, and Mitsukuni Murayama
ICO was different from any other game that came out at the time. The game did not hold your hand, did not tell you what to do, and expected you to play the game yourself. It was presented in a way that older games like Prince of Persia and Another World were presented. A forgotten gameplay mechanic that really challenged gamers to use their own intuition. It was also one of the more often used examples of games being presented as a true form of art, something designer Fumito Ueda intended to do, in a way to appeal to a broader audience.
Koichi Yamazaki and Mitsukuni Murayama collaborated together under the name pentagon. The two of them composed almost half of the soundtrack; prologue, coffin, darkness, heal, the gate, queen, continue, and deja vu. Not much is known about pentagon other their direct involvement with Ico, and their arrangement work on another PlayStation 2 game released in 2001, Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec.
Michiru Oshima composed the other half of the soundtrack, including the game's ending theme, ICO - You Were There, performed by Steven Geraghty, who once sang with London's all-boys vocal group, Libera. Oshima has been composing since the early 80s, and does not limit herself to one form of entertainment. In fact, Ico is only the third of four video games she has composed in her lifetime. In the film industry, she has composed for multiple Godzilla movies in the early 2000s, and the successful 2009 Chinese film, The Messenger. Primarily, she composes for anime. A few of her most notable titles include Hana Yori Dango, Arc the Lad, Magic User's Club, and the first Fullmetal Alchemist series including the movie, Conqueror of Shambala, which she won a Tokyo Anime Award for. Some of her more recent anime works include Little Witch Academia, Night is Short, Walk on Girl, and Bloom Into You. She even did music for a Japanese stage adaptation of the 1953 American classic, Roman Holiday. These are just a small list of examples on how Michiru Oshima is one of Japan's most profilic composers, finding opportunity everywhere she can.
ICO's music reflected how mysterious the game is from both the gamer's perspective, and from the storytelling perspective. It was minimalist all around, and would become a recurring design mechanic with Fumito Ueda's follow-up titles; Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian.
Silent Hill 2 (PlayStation 2), composed by Akira Yamaoka
Silent Hill 2 is described by producer Akihiro Imamura as being a more complex and deeper experience than the first Silent Hill, aimed at a more mature demographic than the what was presented to fans of the first game. It is also a game that isn't a direct sequel to the first, but a completely different story that takes place in the town of Silent Hill. You are James, and you receive a letter from your wife saying she is at your favorite place. But the twist is, James' wife has been dead for three years. There is no searching for a family member lost in the mysterious town, it is solving one significant mystery inside the mysterious town.
Akira Yamaoka returned for the sequel, and stated in an interview with FACT Magazine that "...when SH2 was released it was unheard of for games to explore themes based on euthanasia, terminal illness, guilt, sexual abuse and sexual repression. Taking all of that on at once was unprecedented in 2001." In terms of the music, Yamaoka also states that the game "...was also one of the first games to really introduce rock and industrial music into gaming, especially in Japan, and even more especially in a non-gimmicky way." When the first game was developed, Yamaoka knew that only he could create the experience of Silent Hill instead of simply enhancing the experience. Unlike the first game, Yamaoka composed 100% of the soundtrack. It didn't follow a consistent trend that the first soundtrack did, where most of the soundtrack felt like one giant medley of horror. The soundtrack would go from rock, to industrial, to haunting, to etheral, to some sort of combination of genre's, and back again. Yamaoka's intention for this soundtrack was to envoke emotions that were both surprising, and unsettling.
There are no vocal themes in the game, but one of the actors in the original release is one of today's most notable video game vocalists. Angela Orosco, a supporting character in the game, is voiced by Donna Burke. Donna Burke today is known primarily for her work in the Metal Gear franchise since Peace Walker, but she has been performing since the 90s. In anime, video games like this one, and as the English voice announcer for the bullet train network in Japan.
Silent Hill 2 continues Akira Yamaoka's vision to use the art of music and sound to create the terrifying experience of Silent Hill through alternate storytelling. Like Yamaoka's music, Silent Hill 2 pushed boundaries for how games are presented in the survival horror genre. The ambitious effort helped make Silent Hill 2 one of the most critically acclaimed horror titles, as well as one of the best narratives in gaming across any genre. And once again, none of this could be possible without the unique experience of surviving Silent Hill, created by Akira Yamaoka.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PlayStation 2), composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, Norihiko Hibino, and Rika Muranaka
Metal Gear Solid 2 was Hideo Kojima's way of not just taking advantage of the new hardware of PlayStation 2. It was his way of taking storytelling in a way that had never been attempted before. The hype leading up to Metal Gear Solid 2's release featured Solid Snake in action against the enemy, and sneaking his way around enemy territory. And it seemed like this would be the entire game. However, after release, we learn that Solid Snake is only played during the prologue. After the prologue, we are introduced to the true game, featuring a new character named Raiden. This was done to present Solid Snake from an outsiders perspective in the game, to not force you as Solid Snake to go through tutorials that canonically Snake already knows, and to appeal to female gamers. The story of Raiden was met with a mixed response. But it was the story of Raiden that lead to moments where the expected in storytelling quickly became the unexpected, right to the point where you, the player, were confronted by the enemy through dialogue.
But what about the soundtrack? The soundtrack to the game was Hideo Kojima's first true step towards connecting his projects with the Hollywood personalities he has always admired. Kojima and sound director Kazuki Muraoka came up with the idea to recruit Harry Gregson-Williams after watching the 1998 film The Replacement Killers, which Gregson-Williams provided the score for. Kojima then proceeded to send Gregson-Williams a mix CD of select pieces he had worked on. Flattered by the effort placed in the mix CD, Gregson-Williams joined production of the game. Gregson-Williams had been a film composer since the 1990 film, Revenge. Since then, and up until the release of Metal Gear Solid 2, he had received awards for his scores on the films Antz, Enemy of the State, Chicken Run, and Shrek. Perhaps Gregson-William's most popular contribution to the Metal Gear franchise is his arrangement of Tappi Iwase's main theme for the first Metal Gear Solid, which in itself is controversial due to accusations of the original piece being a plagarism of Georgy Sviridov's The Winter Road.
Norihiko Hibino composed the majority of the in-game music. Hibino started his music career as a Kansas City jazz musician. His first involvement with video game scores came with the Game Boy Color Metal Gear game, Ghost Babel. He worked with Kojima again on the game Zone of the Enders, before signing on to be the primary Japanese composer for the game. Unlike the previous Metal Gear Solid game which was credited under Konami's in-house band as a group. Rika Muranaka, who provided Konami with vocal themes for games like Symphony of the Night, Silent Hill, and the first Metal Gear Solid, returned to the Metal Gear series to write the game's jazz vocal ending theme, Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday, performed by the late Carla White.
From a storytelling standpoint, and a composers standpoint, Metal Gear Solid 2 did things that had never been done before in video games. That was how Hideo Kojima operated. He was not afraid to take risks with his games. And after the release and success of Sons of Liberty, he would continue to find ways to bridge the gap between Hollywood films and Japanese video games.
Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox), composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori
Since 1997, GoldenEye was the standard for the console first person shooter experience. First person shooters on consoles either only came close to GoldenEye's legacy, or became busts along the way. In 2001, Microsoft, a company primarily known for their Windows operating systems and Office software at that point, launched their own video game console, the Xbox. At the time, it wasn't known if Microsoft could even compete with Nintendo, Sony, and Sega. But Microsoft and Xbox had a major ace up their sleeve for their launch line-up, Halo: Combat Evolved. Since 1997, Bungie, a small company at the time, had been working on Halo. It was originally announced by Steve Jobs of Apple as a game that would simultaniously launch on Mac and Windows. Then in 2000, Microsoft acquired Bungie, and became an exclusive Xbox game.
Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori collaborated together frequently under the production company TotalAudio. Before composing for video games, Martin O'Donnell wrote music for commercials in the 80s. He wrote the music in commercials for Mr.Clean, and Flintstones Chewable Vitamins, which his kids helped perform. Michael Salvatori didn't have as much experience as O'Donnell did before composing for video games. He wrote music for a band he was apart of in college, then moved to Chicago where he met O'Donnell, and the two made their first collaboration together, an independent film score for a friend. Through a family friend, O'Donnell became inspired by the soundtrack of the 1993 game, Myst. He met with some of the Myst developers, and would join the staff of Myst's sequel, Riven, as a sound designer. During development of Riven, the staff would occasionally play Bungie's Marathon. O'Donnell and Salvatori later joined Bungie to work on the music for Myth: The Fallen Lords, Myth II, and Oni.
Then came Halo, which both composers worked on equally. The first piece completed was the self-titled Halo. A piece that combines orchestra, monk chants, Qawwali vocalization, and heavy percussion. All of which was partially inspired by The Beatles song Yesterday. It would become a recurring leitmotif for the entire franchise, and it was completed in three days, from the writing process to the recording process. This piece was recorded for the 1999 Macworld Confrence and Expo reveal of the game. The rest of the soundtrack was composed throughout 2001 in Chicago. Some of the music was synthesized, some of the music was recorded with live instruments and vocalists in Chicago. Parts of the soundtrack were arrangements of the Halo piece. The music was presented dynamically, to fit with the action presented, and the story being told, rather than just placing music in the background of the level you were in.
Halo: Combat Evolved was a game that didn't just evolve first person shooter combat. It evolved storytelling, it evolved audio production, and it helped present Microsoft's Xbox as a legitimate console in the video game market. At least until 2003, Halo was something that could only be experienced on the Xbox. And part of that experience came through Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori's dramatic and exciting approach to using music to enhance the gaming experience.
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube), composed by Hirokazu Ando, Shogo Sakai, Takuto Kitsuta, Tadashi Ikegami, and the Orchestra Melee
Super Smash Bros is a fighting game crossover featuring many of Nintendo's iconic characters fighting each other in various stages inspired by Nintendo's history, to music inspired by Nintendo's history. The series is essentially a celebration and collaboration of all things Nintendo. From the characters, to the stages, and of course, the music. Super Smash Bros. Melee was used to help Nintendo introduce their newest system, the GameCube. The opening FMV which was first shown during E3 2001, was the development staff's way of showing people the graphical leap between the Nintendo 64, and the GameCube. The first Super Smash Bros was a moderate success. Game director Masahiro Sakarai put pressure on himself to deliver a quality sequel, to the point where he would sacrifice weekends and holidays just to devote time to the development of the game. As a result, everything about the game was much bigger than what was on the Nintendo 64.
In the previous game, Hirokazu Ando was the sole composer. In this game, he serves as the game's music director. and like the previous game, music was carefully selected to fit each of the stages. Much of the music were arrangements, or medleys of older Nintendo pieces. But there were some original pieces composed for the game. Like the main theme, the bonus stages, the multi-man melee fights, and the battle's against Metal Mario, Giga Bowser, and the franchise's quote en quote "main antagonist" Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Much of the original music borrows the motifs of the main theme for their pieces. And this became a pattern for future Smash titles. One piece would be composed as the main theme, and then the majority of that game's original pieces would be partial or complete arrangements of that main theme.
This game is also notable for raising awareness of the Fire Emblem franchise to audiences outside of Japan. The fighters Marth and Roy, from Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem The Binding Blade respectively, were originally meant to be exclusive to the Japanese release of Melee. However, the North American localization team had so much fun playing with Marth and Roy, that they were kept in the game. The game also includes a Fire Emblem medley composed by Shogo Sakai to be occasionally played on the Great Temple stage. It was only titled "Fire Emblem" in the game, but in the music menu for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Switch, the Fire Emblem piece composed for Melee is officially titled Story 5 Meeting. Fire Emblem's representation in Melee paved way for the first Fire Emblem game outside of Japan to be released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance.
Super Smash Bros. Melee was a landmark title for Nintendo, a solid game for the GameCube's launch year, and a game that helped celebrate Nintendo's history through gameplay, and music. The sequels to Melee would continue to pay homage to Nintendo's history by adding more characters, and by significantly increasing the soundtrack with each game release, including new arrangements, medleys, and even the original recordings of classic Nintendo pieces. It may have begun with Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64, but it was Super Smash Bros Melee that truly set the bar for how Nintendo's allustrious history was commemorated in a single game.
Rez (Dreamcast/PlayStation 2)
The game doesn't use a single composer. Instead, music coordinator Masakazu Hiroshi connected game director Tetsuya Mizuguchi with musicians in Europe that would best bring Mizuguchi's vision to life. Tetsuya Mizuguchi was inspired by large and popular music festivals like the Zurich Street Parade, and Burning Man. He was inspired by the music, the crowd, and the production effort behind the performances. Mizuguchi wanted to combine his personal experiences with these shows with games like Xevious, and Xenon 2 Megablast. With these combined inspirations, he invisioned a shooter game where enemies were shot down to the beat of electronic music.
The way music was tied to the gameplay was through the call and response technique as performed by a DJ. The gameplay is compared to when a professional DJ operates their mixer to the music, and the way the music is played changes drastically without making the change seem abrupt or jarring. Mizuguchi wanted to build on that. He called this process "quantization." The music from each stage was gradually being built by your actions. You weren't playing the gameplay to match certain parts of the music, like in traditional music games. Instead, the more successful actions you performed, the more the music grew and evolved. Performers for the Rez soundtrack were Mist, Europe's 1997 dance video of the year winner Ken Ishii, Joujouka, Adam Freeland, Coldcut and Tims Bran from the band Dreadzone, EBZ, Oval, and Sega composer Keiichi Sugiyama. When Rez was rereleased in 2016 as Rez: Infinite, it introduced a new level called Area X, with music by the group Hydelic. The group would later collaborate with Mizuguchi again for the 2018 game Tetris Effect.
Rez played like a music game, but it is not a music game. Instead, it is a game that it built by the music in the game. But in order for the music to be built, you have to put in the effort. It isn't a case of music enhancing the gameplay experience. Instead, it's the gameplay experience that is enhancing the music. And when the music is enhanced, Rez becomes that much more of an experience.
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