The Often-Overlooked World of Video Game Music.

By Nic Holson

 

 

I have played video games pretty much my whole life (look at the damage it has done to me…), starting with sonic on the Sega Master System II back in the 90s.

Besides the sheer enjoyment of playing games, exploring exciting worlds and discovering fascinating stories, I have always loved and been drawn to music in games. There is so much music that I feel is overlooked by a lot of people and so I thought I would take the opportunity in this blog to explore some of my favourite pieces of music from games as well as pieces and composers that influence my own music.

In no particular order, here are some of my favourite pieces of music from computers that I could think of at the time of writing.

 

1. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 – Chemical Plant Zone

Released in 1992, Composed by Masato Nakumura

Listen Here: https://youtu.be/-LYB7iLZNWE

As mentioned, Sonic was one of the first computer games I ever played, and the music was somewhat a soundtrack to my childhood. I have many fond memories of playing Sonic with my brother. I remember he used to wake me up on a Saturday morning, we would sneak into our parent’s bedroom where the Sega Master System was kept in a box. We would take it downstairs and spend the morning running through the exciting worlds of Sonic The Hedgehog. There is so much great music across all the Sonic games and for those that have played the games, of course the Green Hill Zone music is brilliant but there was always something about the groove in Chemical Plant Zone that caught my attention.

Check out Masato Nakumura’s band Dreams Come True to hear more of his work.

 

2. Sonic R – Work It Out

Released in 1997, Composed by Richard Jacques and performed by TJ Davis.

Listen Here: https://youtu.be/V9XYsm3c28U

If you take the music away from Sonic R, rather than having a soundtrack for a game, what you are left with is an incredible 90s pop album. This soundtrack is packed with hit after hit and I remember I would just leave my brothers Sega Saturn on so that I could listen to the songs over and over.

There is a song that I have composed for The Passing Sages that is heavily inspired by this track and the rest of the songs in the game.

 

3. Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core – Under The Apple Tree

Released in 2007, Composed by Takeharu Ishimoto.

Listen Here: https://youtu.be/eb6MF0IfsvQ

I am a huge fan of the Final Fantasy and have been hooked on the games ever since watching my neighbour Stephen play Final Fantasy IX.

For many, FFVII is regarded as the best (I am currently playing through it again as I never completed it the first time, I played it). The game is packed full of amazing pieces of music written by one of my all-time favourite composers Nobou Uematsu.

Crisis Core is a spin off to FFVII and the soundtrack contains several of the tracks from the original FFVII score, as well as brand new pieces composed by Takeharu Ishimoto. I absolutely love this track, “Under The Apple Tree”. I find it so relaxing and I could just listen to it on repeat for ages!

 

4. Final Fantasy IX – A Place To Call Home, Village of Dali

Released in 2000, Composed by Nobou Uematsu.

Listen to “A Place To Call Home” Here: https://youtu.be/iBGgUtd7EdA

Listen To “Village of Dali” Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49fGKi3aECg

As mentioned, FFIX was the first Final Fantasy game that I saw and the first that I played. This is one of the reasons why it is my favourite, but also because I love the world and the characters created. The world and the characters would not be nearly as impactful if it was not for the amazing score, written by Nobou Uematsu. I love his work and he has inspired so much of the music I create. He has been a huge part of my life. All the way through school when studying for exams I would have soundtracks that he wrote playing and he was also part of my university application when we had to talk about artists and composers that influenced us.

There is so much great music in FFIX (140 pieces actually) that it was hard to pick one and so I have gone for two. “A Place to Call Home” and “Village of Dali”.

Uematsu has said that medieval music was a major influence for the FF IX score and “A Place To Call Home”, that is played as the game is loading, perfectly creates the medieval fantasy world of FFIX.

I remember the first time I arrived at the Village of Dali and heard its theme. I froze where I was sitting and was completely enthralled. I sat there for ages and just listened to this beautiful piece of music loop on repeat. I created an extra save file just so I could return to this part of the game whenever I wanted to. This was a time before I could just easily load up YouTube on my phone and play the track.

 

5. Final Fantasy X – To Zanarkand, The Sight of Spira (Spira Unplugged)

Released in 2002, Composed by Nobou Uematsu.

Listen to “To Zanarkand” Here: https://youtu.be/h-0G_FI61a8

Listen to “The Sight of Spira” Here: https://youtu.be/fTptg9nedlM

The opening music to Final Fantasy 10, “To Zanarkand” is such an evocative piece of music that creates a sense of melancholy. The player won’t learn until much later in the game what this looming despair is, but this piece beautifully foreshadows the story.

At the start of 2016, I recorded a guitar version of the piece that was taken from the arrangement by Nobuyuki Hirakura that I then tweaked slightly and added a bass guitar part to. I was then amazed when the number one Final Fantasy podcast, Final Fantasy Union, agreed to play my recording on their show!

You can listen to my version here - https://soundcloud.com/nic-holson-guitar/to-zanarkand-nobuo-uematsu-guitar-cover-by-nic-holson

Another of my favourite tracks from the game is “Spira Unplugged”. In my third year of uni I took a piano arraignment of this piece and rearranged it for solo guitar as part of my performance exam. I really need to go back and re-learn this!

 

6. Kingdom Hearts – Dearly Beloved (KH2 Version), Simple and Clean (KH1), Sanctuary (KH2)

Composed by Yoko Shimomura and Utada Hikaru

Listen to “Dearly Beloved” Here: https://youtu.be/gUQuBBBzx-I

Listen to “Simple and Clean” Here: https://youtu.be/UigzN-4JR14

Listen to “Sanctuary” Here: https://youtu.be/HTUq3Ik1GHM

Kingdom Hearts, the game series with possibly the most confusing overarching story line of all time. Story aside, Kingdom Hearts is basically a mix of Final Fantasy and Disney. The hero, Sora, travels to different Disney worlds with his sidekicks Donald and Goofy to save the universe from an evil known as heartless. On the way, as well as meeting and working alongside some of the most well-known Disney characters, several Final Fantasy characters also turn up to lend a hand or make things difficult for you.

There are so many great pieces of music from the whole series but 3 of my favourites are “Simple and Clean” from KH1 which was written and performed by Utada Hikaru. “Dearly Beloved” from KH2, this track which was composed by Yoko Simomura actually appears in a number of KH games, but my favourite version is from KH2. “Sanctuary” from KH2, also written and performed by Utada Hikaru.

 

7. Halo – Halo Theme MJOLNIR Mix (featuring Steve Vai)

Released in 2004, Composed by Martin O’Donnell.

Listen Here: https://youtu.be/ZSdusPHBR6U

Halo 3 was my first big introduction to online multiplayer and since then, the ominous monk chants of the main theme have been a soundtrack to my gaming life. How do you make the main theme of Halo even better? You add in one of the greatest guitarists ever in the form of Mr Steve Vai and that is exactly what Marty O’Donnell did for Halo 2 along with some help by another of my guitar heroes, Nile Rodgers.

 

 

8. Age of Empires 2 – Tazer

Released in 1999, Composed by Stephen Rippy.

Listen Here: https://youtu.be/kh39AXVCGQk

I have predominantly been a console gamer however I haven dabbled in a few PC games over the years. Again, I have my neighbour Stephen to thank for introducing me to Age of Empires 2, a game that I still play today thanks to it’s definitive edition release through Xbox Game Pass last year. For some reason, this game and it’s soundtrack always reminds me of cold and wet Sunday afternoons as a child where I couldn’t go outside and play and so would sit and play Age of Empires 2 on the PC at the back of the living room whilst my Mum and Dad watched a movie.

 

9. Crash Team Racing – Menu Theme

Released in 1999, Composed by Josh Mancell.

Listen Here: https://youtu.be/zed6jpQzC_Q

Crash Bandicoot just brings back so many happy memories of playing the PlayStation One, my first own console. The music in all the Crash Bandicoot games is some of the best and most memorable of that era and for me, Crash Team Racing is my favourite Crash Bandicoot game. Whenever I need a nostalgia hit, this soundtrack goes on.

 

10. Pokémon Red and Blue – The Road to Viridian City: From Pallet Town

Released in 1998, Composed by Junichi Masuda.

Listen Here: https://youtu.be/TX7UBHF63rI

For those in the know, the mainline Pokémon games always release two versions at a time. My brother got Blue and I got Red (I wonder if this is where my love of the colour red began…?). What still amazes me to this day is that Junichi Masuda was able to create incredibly complex and beautifully composed pieces of music with such limiting technology. “The Road to Viridian City: From Pallet Town” is the music you hear when you first step out on your big adventure to travel the world and become the greatest Pokémon trainer. This music creates this idea of adventure and excitement and whenever I hear it, I am immediately transported back to a simpler time when it was just me, my Game Boy Colour and 151 Pokémon to catch.

 

Thank you for taking your time to go on this little journey through the great world of video game music. Of course, there are millions of other great pieces of music and many of my favourites that I still have not mentioned here. Maybe we will have to go on this journey again at some point.

What are some of your favourite pieces of music from video games? Let us know in the comments.

Cheers

Nic