Video game music was my first true love.
I've been obsessed with music for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until my early teens that I had the money, resources and knowledge to start chasing down bands and buying records. Instead, being a prolific gamer since I was about 4 years old, the first music I was exposed to that I truly fell in love with was that which was in the games I played.
Don't knock it. For a couple of decades, video games had better compositions than most films. Before games could incorporate that miracle of voice acting, stories were presented in text rather than audio. That meant that manipulating a player's emotions rested entirely on the strength of the score. I still love it, too. Song-for-song, I have more of Nobuo Uematsu's work (the composer for the Final Fantasy franchise) than any other artist in my library. And despite a relative decline in musical quality since soundtracks and voice acting became more commonplace, the industry is still cranking out impressive scores every year.
Far and away, the best moments in gaming music are when the soundtrack is in sync with the action. Great composers like Uematsu, Koji Kondo and Harry Gregson Williams could make you mourn the death of a great character, create the tension of an epic battle and express the exhilaration of entering a new world. Like film scores, the most indelible mark game music can leave is that which is associated with a big moment. So in light of that, my contribution to this project will be five of my favorite moments in gaming in which the soundtrack really shone through, and created memories of gaming experiences I can't forget.
There is an important amendment to make here. This is by no means a comprehensive list. At only five entries, it couldn't possibly be. And because it would easily take up about three to four fifths of the list if I allowed it on here, I'm excluding all Final Fantasy titles and reserving them for their own list in the future.
So, those minor tidbits out of the way, let's begin.
5. The One They Fear
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a triumph in modern gaming. It is a game that allows you to create almost any character you want from scratch, train in whatever skills you wish to have, and send it out to freely roam what may well be the most beautifully realized world in gaming history. And whether you chose to be sneaky thief, an armored bruiser or a spell slinging mage, the result is always a badass character doing badass things.
Of course, you don't start out that way. When you first enter the world, you're a weak, blank slate with no describable skills. And just about the time you're learning how to stick them with the pointy end, the game pits you up against your first dragon; a gigantic, obscenely powerful, fire-breathing hell-monster that you'll spend much of the game in fights to the death with. And despite being vastly inferior to it, eventually you'll whittle it down to a place where killing it becomes possible.
That's when the music starts.
It's a faster, more bombastic version of the game's main theme. It plays exclusively as you kill dragons. And the first time you jump on the head of one and bash it in with a mace, or the camera pans to you firing the killing thunderbolt, the music trumpets your victory, making you feel powerful for the first time in a world that's tried to kill you since you walked into it. It's a moment of cinematic geniusn, and the stuff that gaming euphoria is made of.
4. Frog Clears the Way
Frog, for those of you who've never played Chrono Trigger, is the game's resident badass. Sure, he's a anthropomorphic animal (it makes sense in context), but it doesn't change that fact that he's a gallant, honorable knight who can fuck up bad guys like nobody's business. He has an awesome theme, too; a triumphant bit lead by woodwinds and powerful brass.
The two come together in what was, for me, the greatest moment of the game. En route to face one of the big bad guys, Frog takes up the legendary sword from which he draws power, reveals his true name and speaks a eulogy to his fallen comrades. His theme song is trumpeted as he lifts the blade, summons his power and cleaves a fucking mountain in two. Though it might sound silly to anyone who hasn't played the game, those that have will remember the swell of pride they felt at that moment, and the epic events that happen shortly after it.
3. "Can't let you do that, Fox"
Star Fox 64 was an instant classic when it came out back in 1997. A fast paced, high action space simulator, it was one of the only games of its kind available for the platform, and revolutionized the way that console fighter games were made. In it, you play a rag tag band of military pilots fighting to stop a would be dictator. Most of the game consists of you dodging obstacles while you shoot down mooks, because your squad is easily the most talented in the game's universe.
Except for the Star Wolf Squad, anyway.
A rival gang of mercenaries, Star Wolf gives you a run for your money every time they show up on screen. Their presence is only ever announced by a shift from whatever level music is playing to the the epic, John Williams-esque action theme of the squad. And from the moment you hear those iconic opening brass notes, you know that shit is about to get real. The arrival of Star Wolf only happens three to four times through the course of the game, and each time it does, the entirely combat experience is turned on its head. The skill of the Star Wolf pilots forces you to take on the advanced techniques the game teaches you, lest you be obliterated quickly. Combined with the dramatic nature of the theme music, it really drives home the experience of being in a fight to the death with the most talented pilots in your league. Those moments, when that music starts playing, represent standout pacing on the game's creators. And every one of them is extremely memorable in its own right.
2. No Fortunate Sons in Columbia
The dark horse on my annual album of the year list was the Bioshock Infinite soundtrack. By re-recording popular songs to stylistically fit the game's turn-of-the-century setting, Infinite was able to create some great renditions of songs. And in classic Ken Levine fashion, they show up at the most appropriate times possible.
The game takes place in the flying city of Columbia. Hyper nationalistic and racist, Columbia left the United States because it was simply too American for America. The unfortunate Irish, black and Hispanic denizens of the city are relegated to a slum, where living conditions are terrible, poverty is rampant and people struggle to get by on the meager wages offered by their white overlords. Tensions eventually come to a boil during your visit, and a battle breaks out there. The rebels fighting against the established regime eventually take control, and the scene that ensues is captivating.
The ghetto is in flames. Rebels with makeshift weapons are rounding up police and executing them in the streets. Bodies are littered everywhere and people are fighting to the death over the food pouring out of ransacked shops. And through the smoke and blood, a young black girl stands on a street corner singing a capella, Delta blues version of CCR's Fortunate Son. The purity of the music, the frustration of the lyrics and the carnage taking place around her creates a vivid parity between the celebration of the supposed freedom fighters and the regular people who suffer the consequences of their extremism. It highlights the game's theme that extremism in any form or fashion is destructive and harmful, even to those it seeks to elevate. It's a beautiful, striking moment on par with some of the better film scenes I've ever witnessed. Moments like this, which would have been impossible to duplicate on older gaming hardware, truly represent the best that games have to offer as an artistic medium. And they give me hope that the best days for video gamers are ahead of them rather than behind.
1. Oh, My Heroes
Remember, reader, how I said that I would't include any Final Fantasy?
And I'm going back on my word because, when it comes to a video game's music making the moment, there is no single moment in gaming history that even compares to the ending of Final Fantasy VI.
Final Fantasy VI is a classic among classics. Think of it as a Cassablanca of games. Despite the limitations of the SNES, it paints a vivid, compelling story filled with heartbreak and triumph. And at the heart of that story is the fourteen playable characters that enter your party by the game's end. Every single one of them is loving and memorable in his or her own right (except Gogo and Umaro. Fuck them). And if you took the time to collect them all once they're separated in the game's post-apocalyptic back half, you're rewarded to the single finest ending sequence in all of gaming.
In the twenty minute sequence that closes the game, each of the fourteen gets to flex some last minute heroics. And as the game pans from character to character, a gorgeous medley of each character's theme plays in the background. Like the action on screen, the transitions are seamless. Each theme gets enough of a makeover to stand out in epic fashion, while retaining enough similarities to the original as to be recognizable. Several moments stand out especially. The beautiful rendition of Celes's theme as she nearly dies, and its transition into Locke's heroic fanfare as he rescues her is killer. So is the touching moment between an elder grandfather and granddaughter in the party. Woodwinds and piano comprise the theme, saving what were originally two fairly bland compositions. They transition into a resoundingly beautiful rendition of Shadow's theme that, if you played the game without a guide on your lap, puts a haunting exclamation mark on one of the most heart wrenching scenes in the game. The song climaxes in loud, proud, orchestral rendition of the Final Fantasy franchise theme. And that is how you end a fucking video game.
The ending is a beautiful conclusion to the journey that is FFVI. It provides all the necessary closure and leaves players on a high note that is bittersweet in some places and resoundingly victorious in others. And the music that plays over it is a fabulous composition in its own right that people can enjoy with or without the context. Put the two together, however, and you get a sequence of gaming that is absolutely made by its music, and a piece of music that is absolutely made by the action of the game. It's the perfect medley, and that's why it topped my list.
So there you have it. Five of my favorite musical moments in gaming. For the other works participating in the project, please visit the following:
More Links will be available when I receive them.
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