It’s only a fiddle in the south.
One of the best things about video game music is when it’s redone. One way of redoing it is with a full-blown orchestra. It adds something special to the original composition, especially for older games or ones on systems who’s musical capabilities are very limited.
Noriyuki Iwadare - Gyakuten Saiban - Courtroom Suite Gyakuten Saiban Orchestra Album ~Gyakuten Saiban Meets Orchestra~ From the Gyakuten Saiban series (Phoenix Wright in America), this orchestral version of the soundtrack is amazing to say the least. The music takes on a whole new persona with the full-bodied sound that only an orchestra can provide. This song in particular becomes an epic masterpiece by itself. You can just imagine yourself in a courtroom as the drama unfolds before your eyes.
Yoshihiro Arita With His Band, Seiko - The Song of Epona Mario & Zelda Big Band Live CD This interpretation of the Epona theme from Ocarina of Time does such a good job of recreating the feel of the song. The performance throws the song heavily into the Country genre, but that’s where it belongs to begin with. Even those who aren’t fans of the style might enjoy this track.
London Symphony Orchestra - LILIA Symphonic Suite Falcom Neo Classic From Studios in London City Whether you’ve played a Ys game or have even heard of Falcom is not important here. What is important is that the music to their games is generally in the higher end of the spectrum, and this piece helps prove that. This 10+ minute suite is beautiful to say the least. It’s almost hard to imagine that it came from a game, but it did.
Now with 16 bit action!
After the Final Fantasy Piano post, I’ve decided that I’m going to start doing themed posts more often. Today’s theme is simple; “Retro.”
Hirokazu Tanaka, Ryoji Yoshitomi, Kazumi Totaka - Monkeys Mario Paint Original Soundtrack The soundtrack to Mario Paint is strange to say the least, but it fits with a very strange game. This song has an upbeat, jazzy feel to it and is really quite enjoyable for being an old SNES song. It doesn’t change that much throughout the song, so don’t expect an epic build-up. It’s just a simple little song that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Yasunori Mitsuda - To Far Away Times Chrono Trigger Original Sound Version Listening to this song gives me the same feeling of accomplishment that I got when I first beat Chrono Trigger. Luckly, for those of you who haven’t played the game, the song is still an excellent example of using the limited musical capabilities of the SNES to it’s full potential. Like many songs from the early years, it relies on a strong, catchy melody with a couple of backing instruments and other sounds.
Alph Lyla - Guile Super Mega Drive Fan Vol.2 It’s hard to listen to this song without wanting to pick up a controller and play Street Fighter again. The music for the Street Fighter has always been entrancing, and this track from Street Fighter II Dash Plus (a.k.a. Street Fighter II: Champion Edition) is no exception. This Mega Drive verison starts strong and keeps going until the end, the way a Guile theme song should.
All about the piano
Since the Final Fantasy albums are a major area in the world of VGM, it only makes sense to give them some space on the blog, and today is going to be about the Piano Collections.
Shiro Hamaguchi/Shinko Ogata - Fisherman’s Horizon Final Fantasy VIII: Piano Collections Already a beautiful track from the original soundtrack, the piano rendition is wonderful. The soft, whimsical tone puts you at ease quickly. It captures of feeling of relaxing on a dock with a fishing pole and the warmth of the sun very well.
Masashi Hamauzu/Aki Kuroda - Traveling Company Final Fantasy X: Piano Collections Like Fisherman’s Horizon, this song is a soft, atmospheric track. However, instead of intending to capture of feel of fishing, its purpose is to create a peaceful enviornment inside a shop. A simple task, but Traveling Company exceeds in all categories.
Reiko Nomura - Tina Final Fantasy VI: Piano Collections This piece is nothing short of a classic. From the last Nintendo Final Fantasy until Crystal Chronicles, the music in VI was phenomenal, and this theme was no exception. It has a very epic feel to it. Though some of it is lost in the translation to solo piano, it still holds up as a wonderfully performed and composed piece.
Shiro Hamaguchi/Seiji Honda - One Winged Angel FINAL FANTASY VII: Piano Collections Another classic Final Fantasy track, this piano rendition does a great job of keeping the dark tone. The piece never lets up, and unfolds like any great epic song would. For those of you who have heard the original, you can almost hear the choir chanting “Se-phi-roth” in the background as the hammers of the piano slam against the strings with a great intensity.
All tracks originally composed by Nobuo Uematsu except “Traveling Company”, which was composed by Masashi Hamauzu.
Just a meager flame will do
COIL - Soft Machine (Opening Theme) Gitarooman As the opening track to this unique rhythm game, it does a good job of setting you up for what’s to come without giving too much away. It’s a fun song, with a catchy melody even though the vocals can sound a bit nasally at times. COIL performs most of the tracks on the album, and does an excellent job. It’s definately a diverse soundtrack, though not quite on par with the ecclectic nature of some others (Katamary Damacy for example).
Hirokazu Tanaka - Title BGM (Metroid) Famicom 20th Anniversary Original Sound Tracks Vol. 1 Featuring many different classic NES titles on this album, this is one track that I’m sure many older gamers will recognize and are sure to love. Being the first gimpse into the world of Metroid, the track quickly sets the mood with a dark tone and a rather minimal approach. Instead of trying to push the NES’ musical capabilities, Hirokazu, instead, made something that was more atmospheric than melodic.
Sixto Sounds - Made in the USA (Ken Stage) Blood on the Asphalt: Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo As a tribute album to the music of Street Fighter 2 Turbo, the people of OCRemix put this album together with some of the best versions of the tracks ever created. Sixto Sounds’ version of Ken’s Theme is one of the greatest, though, as it completely captures the feel of the character by combining the solid melody of the original with an almost Survivor-esque sound, making the track what that fine line between cheesy and great.
First of probably a couple
I’ve decided since I have a vast VGM collection and a lot of disc space/bandwidth, I should try my hand at a music blog. So to start out, I’ll give you a couple of my favorites and one that I’ve really enjoyed from a soundtrack not to many people think about.
Yasunori Mitsuda - One Who Bears Fangs at God (Xenogears) Being from one of my favorite soundtracks and favorite VGM composers of all time, this track is wonderful. The quick-tempo mixed with some creepy digital-sounding choir sets the mood well for the piece. Because of the age of the music (PSX era), it does have a very synth sound to it, but that really doesn’t detract from it at all. The melody’s tone sounds similar to his later work on Xenosaga, and is a clear example of where it began to form.
Norihiko Hibino, Cynthia Harrell - Snake Eater -abstracted camouflage- (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater) As the original version of the theme song to Snake Eater released, I found this version to be much better (I quickly bought the single after it was released). It has more of a Bond/70’s feel to it, and creates an excellent atmosphere. You can almost see the female sillouettes dancing around as Naked Snake points his PP7 at you.
Chris Vrenna - Flying on the Wings of Steam (American McGee’s Alice) Formerly of Nine Inch Nails, Chris Vrenna was commissioned to create the soundtrack to this game, and it has become an “underground” classic, if you will. A wonderfully composed piece, this creepy composition gives a very distinct feeling of a world a couple notches off, giving the world of Wonderland a feeling that was lost in the Disney movie, and so beautifully restored through music.