Official(?) Nintendo Consoles Music Thread v2.0

There's no pressure or anything mate. Take a glance at the year's page on wikipedia and if anything stands out to you, then like you say that must mean it did something special.

Drunkalilly wrote:

I predict Balla will have something to post every time...

You're not far off. I do need some (sober) time to consider this though. HGSS and SMG2 in the same year? That's all of mine...

Whatever, have Melty Monster from SMG2 while I think. Probably won't appear in my top five for the year, but by gum it's magnificent.

I'd probably have posted something from Bayonetta - it retroactively counts as it's basically a Nintendo franchise now - so you've pipped me to the post there. I love the After Burner remix from the first Bayo , so have that as my contribution for this thread.

I'll post something meatier for your next update as I'm a bit drained after giving my thoughts on basically every film I've seen this decade in Balla's 2010 Other Stuff thread.

Balladeer wrote:

Whatever, have Melty Monster from SMG2 while I think.  Probably won't appear in my top five for the year, but by gum it's magnificent.

That's a banger. You can throw a dart at either Galaxy OST and you're more or less guaranteed to land on a quality musical track.
I'll tell you what I discovered, though, preparing for this one: That does not apply to 3D Land. They seem to mostly be remixes of old tunes, or otherwise pretty generic. A shame

JayMoyles wrote:

I'd probably have posted something from Bayonetta - it retroactively counts as it's basically a Nintendo franchise now - so you've pipped me to the post there. I love the After Burner remix from the first Bayo , so have that as my contribution for this thread.

That's another good'n! The Bayonetta soundtracks are pretty special throughout.



Anyway, time for year two!

2011



I turned 21. I lost my first apartment and actually saw in the New Year living on some pals’ sofa for a couple months. It was the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The Arab Spring began in the Middle East. Japan was struck by an awful earthquake and tsunami which resulted in an awful nuclear disaster.
A couple of my all-time favourite videogames came out, although one of them won’t be hitting a Nintendo machine for a good few years yet.

5: Temple of Time – Ocarina of Time 3D
by Koji Kondo

I actually never completed Ocarina of Time until I played the 3DS version. Words upon words upon words have been typed about this game before me, the soundtrack has been discussed and covered ad nauseum. Even on the little screen through those tinny speakers, even having already played later and better Zeldas . . . the Temple of Time was something very special indeed. It’s only so low on the list as I fear it is pretty much the same as the N64 track.

4: Gym Leader’s Final Pokemon – Pokemon Black and White
by Junichi Masuda

I was seven gyms into a replay of Pokemon Black when I stopped because Sword and Shield came out. They were wordier and more linear than I remembered, and the fully new pokedex was a cool idea but does you leave you missing the ol’ classics. Whether or not the game is the best, the music is still absolutely cracking. I’ve waxed lyrical about N’s theme a few times, but this one is pretty special. It really makes the gym battles feel exciting – and a couple of them were tricky, too. It’s been outdone now, I think, but the S&S gym tune is an ALL TIME banger.

3: Groose’s Theme – The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
by Koji Kondo

Man, I really love the characters in Zelda games, and Skyward Sword doesn’t disappoint. Comical Clowns, tragic devils, lovelorn bullies, ghosts with irritated bowels and above all . . . Groose. Hilarious and with a genuinely excellent character arc, he has such a perfect theme tune.
Of course, it really culminates in the heroic version at the end.

2: Missile – Ghost Trick
by Masakazu Sugimori

There are a few funky, tense or otherwise excellent tracks I could have picked from this game, but this charming little tune for a very, very, very, very, very good boy just had to be the one.

1: Ballad of the Goddess – The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
by Koji Kondo

You thought I was just gonna share one song from this masterpiece? Are you kidding me? Skyward Sword was my favourite Zelda and maybe even favourite game until Breath of the Wild landed. The art style? Sumptuous. The gameplay? Flawless. The characters? Wonderful. The soundtrack? Oh my. When I went to the symphony of the goddesses concert, I was loving every track but when they played this one, with the montage of Skyward Sword scenes on the projector  . . . that was when I teared up.
The low-key harp cover was where it was really at, though.

I’ll be back on the 7th to talk about 2012. In the meantime, here’s my (mostly) non-gaming song of the year.

I've had a look at 2010 and 2011 which as I said is hard for me as I barely touched Nintendo then and any good tracks like Ballad of the Goddess have been done. Maybe when we get to Wii U and Switch along with some ports on them then I will be able to do more than just one game


I feel The Last Story is sorely underrated not as a Wii game but as RPG in general, I hope Fantasian will be good when that comes to Apple Arcade.

(cracks knuckles)


2010

Blooming heck this was not a good year for games for me.  I've managed to scrape a trio of titles together from perusing Wikipedia, two of which are ones you already have.  How spoiled are we with the Switch?  Wow.

First up, we have Ace Attorney Investigations.  Those two words alone should clue you in that it's going to be a good soundtrack.  We have:
- Kay Faraday, basically a ninja thief in training.  YOOOOOO!  An upbeat peppy piece for the series' best assistant outside the obvious one.
- Shi-Long Lang's music makes him sound like the coolest cat (or wolf) on the block.  That's exactly what he is.  Very good character theme.
- Finally, the heartwarming moment when Dick Gumshoe does a good!  Possibly doesn't work if you don't know how grim the downbeat detective's normal theme is, but if you do it is just the most heartwarming contrast.

The other two are both games Drunka's featured.  The first is Pokémon HGSS, and listening to Goldenrod made my heart absolutely swell with nostalgia and joy - but it's nowhere near my top picks:
- Ecruteak City has that real YOOOOOOO feel to it in the remake - originally it had the same piece as Cianwood, but they diverged in HGSS and Ecruteak came out well on top.  Cianwood is... okay I suppose.
- Route 47 was all-new for HGSS, and it's one of my favourite route themes in the series.  If you hear hints of it in LLP's outro, that's no accident.  Bells!
- YOOOOOOOO!  (You think it's bad now, wait until I get to next year...)  Yes, of course it's Vs. Ho-Oh, getting the majestic battle theme the legendary phoenix deserves.  Exquisite.  And I'm actually going to post a remix too.  Banger.

Finally - of course, we have SMG2.  I maintain that the soundtrack isn't as good as SMG1, but there are some belters that haven't been mentioned (the final battle's rocking, natch):
- Sky Station > Good Egg.  Fight me.
- Puzzle Plank is probably my choice of the game.  Splendid chirpy stuff that has me dancing in my chair.
- Stuff it, any excuse.  Buoy Base plays in one star in Space Storm Galaxy so I'm including it here.  Quite simply, one of the gaming tunes of all time.  The original piece is okay too - very ominous.

Not much to say on Drunka's other 2010 tunes: I suspect Deviljho would mean more to me if I'd fought one, and I tend to have an iffy record with lyrics in gaming music.  After Burner's belting though!  Is that in Smash?  If so I need to turn its frequency up!


I will do 2011, and probably at a rate of one tune per game too - but that took a bit of work, so expect 2011 down the line!

I messed up - I knew I was missing something, and sure enough Xenoblade Chronicles was a 2011 game but it wasn't listed on the 2011 wikipedia page because it was 2010 in Japan and 2012 in America. Luckily, 2012 is a big sigh so I'll squeeze it in there.

I'll do a proper listen to yours later, Balls Man, but I'll say this now: Ecruteak is my go-to track when I want to talk about Japan on LLP.

Kay and Shi-Long's tracks were okay - very Japan, very China, surprise DOOM guitars - but they didn't do a huge ammount for me having not played the game and met those characters.

The Gumshoe piece, on the other hand, was something very special. I really hope I get a chance to play the Edgeworth games - even if it isn't until I'm fluent in 日本語

I said already that Ecruteak is my go-to track for a long Japan section on LLP. Route 47 is a good'n too, but Vs Ho-oh is a true great. So much so that I'm gonna pull a Balla and say I didn't care for the remix, and much preferred listening to the OG.

The Galaxy 2 stuff is, of course, all gold. I dont think i have much to add other than that I think your final link is the wrong song, and that the comments on the SMG2 soundtrack make me feel super old. "Memories of my childhood" and stuff. I WAS 19 YEARS OLD. I turned 20 that year. I left home that year!

Yes.  Just the last link.


2011

Okay boys, this was a surprisingly good year for Balla's gaming music.  It is a slightly trickier year without the two top tracks from Skyward Sword - seriously Drunka's taken two absolute bangers and I don't remember any others from that game.  (Fortunately Mas picked a 2012 game in the West. )  It also doesn't help that I remember barely anything from Black/White, however epic that piece might be (although N's Bridge is an Ace Attorney Core them through and through); and I'm further thrown by my reluctance to use OoT3D because it's a port, otherwise it would of course be Gerudo Valley all the way.  Fortunately there are still enough great soundtracks for Balla to do a top 5, all from different games, even without those two SS belters.


5. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 - Raymond Shields's theme



Yes, I played this.  I played it on a hacked cartridge with the fanslation patched in.  (You can play the original in English, Drunka - if you're willing to pay £30 for the privilege apparently. )  It remains one of the top Ace Attorney adventures, due to every case being given some measure of overarching importance.  As for music, I can't get beyond Shields - the hat-wearing, smooth-talking, slightly antagonistic part-time assistant to Edgeworth.  This music is him down to a tee.  Look at him!  Look at him and tell me this tune doesn't work!


4. Mario Kart 7 - Neo Bowser City



Or 'Koopa City' in PAL versions, because sure, that sums up the level of cool of this circuit.  It's Blade Runner but Bowser, and the music, pumping electro, perfectly reflects that.  One of my favourite Mario Kart tracks. #pun


3. Okamiden - Thundercloud



(deeeeep breath)  YOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Aye, none of you played this, didya?  You were all busy being taken in by the game-light launch of the 3DS, or you believed the reviews that said the DS just couldn't handle the size of the world.  That last part was... kinda true, but you know what it could handle?  A belting soundtrack.  This piece is the best to my mind, a mixture of rock and good ol' YOOO that got me pumped for ascending this celestial structure.  For other top musics you've never heard, how about Ryoshima Coast redone?  Or Shinshu Field?  Cracking series, cracking music.  Okami 2 wen?


2. Xenoblade Chronicles - Gaur Motherf**king Plains



I'll leave the other songs for Drunka to thumb through (hint: Mechonis Plains), but this.  This is the belter.  It plays at the point that the game opens up, and there has never been a better 'game-opening-up' theme than this.  It's got a long loop (4 minutes) and development cycle too, but the key part is that opening.  It chills the spine and raises the spirit.  Sublime.


1. Kirby's Epic Yarn - Outer Rings



From a long loop to a very short one, but I don't care.  I love many videogame tunes, but very few can make my heart swell like this.  It should be the theme song for the Kirby anime.  It should be the theme song for every anime.


Just missing out were Tales of the Abyss' Meaning of Birth, a banging tune from a boring game; and Cabanela's theme from Ghost Trick, heradling the coolest character in gaming since 2004.  Missile's cute - it ain't got nothing on this.

Balladeer wrote:

5. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 - Raymond Shields's theme

Yes, I played this.  I played it on a hacked cartridge with the fanslation patched in.  (You can play the original in English, Drunka - if you're willing to pay £30 for the privilege apparently. )  

Yeah, I  remember us finding a copy in Game or CEX during the first meet. I will need to acquire a copy somewhere down the line.
The track is fun but, like the other two character themes, it needs context. If you're trying to lure me with an AA soundtrack, you need those pursuit themes!

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4. Mario Kart 7 - Neo Bowser City

Fair enough, this is a good'n. It doesn't feel quite as strong, having since listened to the Mario Kart 8 version, but I'm always on board for some sci-fi synths.

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(deeeeep breath)  YOOOOOOOOOOOOO

You gotta stop that man. Once it was a bit eyebrow raising, but you keep doubling down. You gotta walk it back or youre cancelled bro.

As for the song, its great. I loved the okami soundtrack and this feels like more of the same. I hadn't played Okami when 'den released, and it kind of feels like you need both.

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2. Xenboblade Chronicles - Gaur Motherf**king Plains

G*D FUCKING D**N IT! I'm such a st**id cunt and now you've pipped me to one of the clear actual songs of 2011. Huge belter. It slaps, it bangs, it pops. The messiah will be conceived to this music.

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1. Kirby's Epic Yarn -uter Rings

On the other hand, Im very surprised to hear this one from the Man O' Balls. It feels like tge kind of light, fun athletic theme you often say you struggle to tell apart. Its fun, i like it.

Cabanela's theme was my next choice but it feels neutered without the animations accompanying it.

Thing is, I'm not sure that the AAI Objection and Pursuit themes are all that.  Maybe it's because they're not set in a courtroom?  Here's Pursuit from AAI and here it is from AAI2.  They're both good, because of course they are - but even without the character behind it, I think Shields' theme is just really solid and hummable, more so than those two.

As for Outer Rings, I think the chord progression, and maybe just the piano? sway it for me.  It does feel much more like an anime battle scene or a magical girl transformation than, say, Super Bell Hill or a Mario athletic theme. #weeb

Balladeer wrote:

Thing is, I'm not sure that the AAI Objection and Pursuit themes are all that.  Maybe it's because they're not set in a courtroom?  Here's Pursuit from AAI and here it is from AAI2.  

That AAI2 in particular is smashing.
I actually didn't know AAI doesn't have court stuff. Huh.




Anyway, time for day three!

2012



As we all know, the world ended in 2012, as predicted by the Mayans. Nintendo were similarly doomed, thanks to the underwhelming launch of the Wii U. Still, at least Americans got Xenoblade and could listen to tunes like this.

5: Snake Eater – Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D
by Norihiko Hibino, Cynthia Harrell

The greatest song of a generation. Stunning, emotional, perfect gorgeous. Only so low on this list as it was from the previous decade.

4: Over the Smokestacks, Over the City – Little Inferno
by Kyle Gabler

An oft-forgotten plaything of a game, this, which was overpriced and underappreciated. Nonetheless, it did have a surprisingly emotional soundtrack, with this final piece in particular really sticking with me.

3: Only You – Batman: Arkham City
by Mark Hamill

The Arkham games do have full orchestral soundtracks which capture the cinematic equivalents really well but it was this spoilerific moment from the end which really made the soundtrack special.

2: Main Theme – Nintendo Land
by Ryo Nagamatsu

People seem to have forgotten Nintendo Land. It was a great little game and it manage, right there on day one, to show off the Wii U better than anything that followed.

1: An End, Once and For All – Mass Effect 3
by Sascha Dikiciyan, Sam Hulick, Chris Lennertz, Clint Mansell and Cris Velasco

People who complain about Mass Effect 3's ending seem to forget that the whole game is one long ending for the trilogy. Subsequently, the game has a very melancholy tone, from Leaving Earth right at the beginning until this refrain at the end.

Please enjoy this violin cover from the amazing Taylor Davis.


I’ll be back on the 10th to talk about 2013. In the meantime, here’s my non-gaming song of the year.

This is going to be a bastard of a year for me isn't it?  Four of those are splendid (the 'best' is probably Snake Eater, but Nintendo Land had me dancing in the kitchen so is probably my favourite); number 3 is like the Ace Attorney tunes I posted where you need the character/context, but much more so.  (Also: you may want to take the timestamps off those links.  I know I have no real ground to stand on when it comes to getting links wrong though.)  Mas' TLS submission is also tremendous, as well as being by far the best thing about that game.

oh gosh I just hit the build-up in the ME3 piece


2012

This was, surprisingly, not a bastard of a year for me.  I found a good selection of tunes across three consoles - not, you may or may not be surprised to hear, including the recently-launched-at-this-point Wii U.  (There were probably some other banging Nintendo Land tunes, but I just didn't remember them to the extent of any of these pieces.)  Granted, I didn't play two of the games. Let's have at it, then!


5. Pokémon Conquest - Normal Battle



YOO- (That's enough of that.)  This is the first of two Pokémon games this year that I didn't play.  Credit to former green-texted forumite Silver_light for posting a bunch of Pokémon Conquest tunes in the old version of this thread, including this utter banger.  Could have come straight out of Okami, and there are few higher compliments than that.  Might have ranked higher had I played the game...


4. Gunman Clive - Fly Me to the Moon



Clive > Bayo.  This was a tremendous little title with a tremendous little soundtrack, which I've linked to in full up there.  Every piece was pint-sized excellence - nowhere more so than this track, heralding Clive or his belle's journey into space.  Ridiculous and sublime in equal doses.


3. Paper Mario: Sticker Star - Gooper Blooper Battle



The best part of this relative shiter was its soundtrack, nowhere more so than in this battle.  Gooper Blooper literally slaps to the beat, with its thumps becoming more erratic the more injured it gets.  Finally hit it with (of all things) a chuffing sponge sticker and the classic Mario tune bursts out, and it is glorious.

That's not the only excellent bit of music from this dubious source, however.  Snow Rise is a splendid snowy tune; this belter randomly plays in the middle of a haunted mansion and I wasn't complaining; and I was delighted to hear this jingle when you play the Boombox.  Sound familiar?  Perhaps they should have asked the composers to do the whole game...


2. Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise - Monkey Watch



The Wii's last great game that I played, a tremendous little rhythm offering that is for the most part so infectiously happy that it has me humming all the way to the bank.  Nowhere is that more true than in this lovely little piece, which used to annoy Nupkin no end and probably still does (should test that...).  If you want to see what else I loved from BtBRP, for once all the links from Music Week 10(!!!) still work!  (That was the 300th post on the forum, numbers fans...)


1. Pokémon Black 2/White 2 - Champion Battle (SPOILERS!)



I'm guessing that the statute of limitations on spoilers isn't quite up for this one?  Also battles in the BW games were so dynamic that any shot of them's going to look a bit bobbins.  Ah well, here's another game that I haven't played - but the Champion theme's one of my go-to pieces to listen to while writing, or doing anything else.  It's going to fire me up in all but the glummest moods, it's just so darn happy while still maintaining that epic feel.  It sits happily along a similar-mooded piece taking my top spot from last year, actually.  I have a type I guess.


Missing out was Dark Pit's theme from KIU.  KIU is a game with a strong place in my heart that I, and GNamer as a whole, found difficult to remember things from: that extends to the music as a whole, sadly.  (I do like the bit where you're a dog as well.)  Missing out too was Mysterious Flower from the credits of Layton and the Miracle Mask, pretty impactful because the game was happy to kill off a character at the end for the first time, I think, for the series; but with marks deducted for fobbing us UK people off with the instrumental version.  It was tougher to narrow down than I thought, this year!

Balladeer wrote:

5. Pokémon Conquest - Normal Battle

For a guy obsessed with two things, Pokemon and Japanese history, it is pretty bonkers that I haven't played this game. That music is convincing em that it is everything I want it to be. I wonder how much it can be on Amazon . . . not that much surely?

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4. Gunman Clive - Fly Me to the Moon

This is a great piece of music, and has done more than anything I've seen, heard or read to convince me I should have a go on the Clive games, but . . .

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Clive > Bayo.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

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3. Paper Mario: Sticker Star - Gooper Blooper Battle

This was pretty fun, but from your description it sounds like it really works best in context. Same for the next one, too.

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1. Pokémon Black 2/White 2 - Champion Battle (SPOILERS!)

Another Pokemon I've not played, although this tune isn't as exciting to me as the other one you posted. Champion battles in Pokemon games are among the best music in games, and this one is just okay.

Actually, I'd proper list those five songs you listed in literally the reverse order. Which I guess tells you about the difference in our musical tastes.

From 2011, give me Driftveil City from Pokémon Black and White any day of the week. It's such a catchy tune and deserves the title of banger any day of the week.

Ah go on, have another B&W theme - Team Plasma are easily the best villain team in years. Big filthy hypocrites, but they at least made you think about their purpose unlike the ridiculous goals of the likes of Team Magma or Aqua. It's a theme that has you pumped up to smack down your enemies.

Nothing for me from 2012 - I spent that year playing Persona 4 and countless battles in Tekken 3, so nowt to contribute from me there!

JayMoyles wrote:

From 2011, give me Driftveil City from Pokémon Black and White any day of the week. It's such a catchy tune and deserves the title of banger any day of the week.

A banger indeed. It's making me want to do a big, dumb, elaborate dance around my apartment at 1am. Top stuff, i think we can all agree.

I'm not gonna get into evil teams just now, but Plasma's theme tune does indeed slap.




2013

2013 was a dark year: the first calendar year with no NGamer. A grand old tradition of unofficial UK Nintendo mags on store shelves and in my letterbox ended. ONM would keep ticking on for a while longer, with Matthew Castle leading a stellar team of names like Joe Skrebels, Kate Gray and Gav Murphy in what really was pretty much NGamer by another name by the end. Still, the age of good Nintendo mags was ending, and with it my reasons to stay in the UK.

Some good games did come out, mostly for the 3DS. There certainly weren’t enough Wii U games to fill any publication’s pages.

5: Lumiose City – Pokemon X & Y
by Junichi Masuda

X and Y are probably the Pokemon games about which I’ve forgotten the most. Partially that makes me excited to revisit them soon, but it also does leave me feeling dubious whether I’ll find anything worth returning to. A scroll through the playlist, though, did reveal a typically stellar sountrack with some absolute bangers. This one is a real nice, solid, Pokemon town tune, the sort of thing that gets properly stuck in your head.

4: The Wonderful 100 – The Wonderful 101
by Rei Kondoh

I know I’m in a minority for liking game songs with lyrics. Usually, they’re extremely corny and cheesy. This one leans into that hard, giving us the greatest Saturday morning cartoon theme that never was. This is one of the last Wii U exclusives that hasn’t been brought to Switch, and much as I’d love for more people to experience it, a part of me is so glad it’s an obscure little curio that I enjoyed and the world then forgot about.

3: Zinogre Theme – Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
by Tadayoshi Makino

Now this is a tune, and this was the first Monster Hunter game I played. The 3DS and Wii U cross-save stuff was great and pretty much what convinced me the Switch was a good idea when we first started hearing NX rumours. I didn’t get super far with this one, as I started playing at a point when pretty much everybody I knew was already in the super endgame. It whet my whistle, though, and started me on the path to Monhan Madness.

2: Sprawling Savannah – Super Mario 3D World
by Koji Kondo

I can just about understand how Balla feels about 3D Land, but for me that just didn’t apply to World. Gorgeous to look at, full of fun and inventive levels, and with joyfully chaotic multiplayer. No, Mario didn’t feel quite as nice in the hands as he does in 64, Sunshine, Galaxy or Odyssey, but he still controlled better than most game avatars, and this was still an absolute joy to sit down and play.

Actually, I’m typing this and as I do it I’m realising it was only three years between Galaxy 2 and 3D world? Those two games seem worlds apart. Man, the Wii U was a weird time, huh?

Oh yeah, the song. While I couldn’t find much that was special in the 3D Land OST, this one is full of bangers. And this is the banger of bangers. Or something. Its good!

1: Return of the Hero – The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
by Koji Kondo

I suppose this one kind of needs the cutscene, the story, the twist and the moment. . . but it is just brilliant and triumphant and memorable music from a great scene in a great game with a great soundtrack. I could have easily filled this year’s 5 tracks from the milk bar alone . . .

I’ll be back on the 13th to talk about 2014. In the meantime, here’s my non-gaming song of the year.

You already picked Lumiose City which is the only track that comes to mind from X and Y to me, so I thought I wouldn't have anything to add until I saw that Dual Destinies was a 2013 game!

So, here's the Pursuit track from Dual Destinies. After a game out of the limelight, it was ace to hear this track fire up in Phoenix's big return case. It's bombastic and heart-pumping, which ticks the boxes for a pursuit track in my mind. I'm not the biggest fan of DD as a game, but it still has something special about its soundtrack.

Athena might have been shafted hard across Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice (especially SoJ), but her objection theme is a cracker too. I still think I prefer the chiptune stylings of the old AA soundtracks, but the instrumentation in these tracks is still lovely.

That'll do for me.

Remember when I said 2013 was the best year for gaming this decade well if we count ports but the OG release such as Bayonetta then dam this is a good year

First up is Gone Home which has a great OST and really sets the mood of the game.

In a similar vein we have another top indie with Brothers

A game I've talked about a lot Dust

Hey remember the 3rd game of the RPG's that came to Wii

Best game ever about a Square

Please no not more of this

More of this though

On themes here's the best 3DS game

The HD version was this year

It was out in 2013 in Europe

Does that... count as commentary?

I think I've been usurped on a lot of goodies!  Let's start in 2011: Driftveil's definitely a foot-tapper, but I don't really care much for any of the evil team themes (apart from Skull's to an extent) and Plasma is no exception.  At least their outfits are nifty.  Their Neo form's boss had this at least.

Onto 2013; and Drunka's proved that our tastes aren't always that different.  He's nabbed the best theme from SM3DW, the one I know from any MonHun game there is, and a rare piece with lyrics I actually like for just the reasons he states.  Then Jay's gone and nicked the two themes I think of first from Dual Destinies!  That's before I hit Mas' wall of links... oh God:

Not actually as many as I'd thought when you strike out all the ones that didn't appear on Nintendo machines that year.  The PT (not that one) theme is pretty lightweight for a JRPG's final boss, oddly; the Fire Emblem one is not and is an utter belter; Animal Crossing had a low-key magical soundtrack and definitely counts; and WW is WW and is mostly splendid, although I'll always prefer DRI.

What does that leave me with?


2013

It leaves me with bloody loads.  Of that lot I think The Wonderful 101 tune might actually have made it into my list.  Mas is right: this was a very good year for gaming music.


5. Pokémon X/Y - Champion Theme (SPOILERS!)



I spent a while thinking about which piece to put up for this duo (Luminose, chirpy though it is, was never in the picture).  Should I opt for Professor Sycamore's very French theme, or (spoilers?) Team Flare's boss' crackling tune?  No: I should do another champion battle.  Bells!  Epic!  Bells!  Grace and style!  BELLS!  It's not as good as last year's, but it's still excellent and I much prefer it to the last few unremarkable efforts (USUM aside).


4. Rayman Legends - Mariachi Madness



ARRIVA!


3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - Lorule Field 2



Possibly this doesn't work without hearing the more upbeat version of Lorule Field first.  Yes it's a remix of the Dark World; yes it's as splendid as it was in LttP's day.  The real magic, to my mind, happens when you're ready to make your assault on Lorule Castle (best Zelda final dungeon piece until... well, the next one), having finished all the dungeons in Lorule.  You step out onto the field, and this triumphal version plays, stirring the blood.  Does it need the context?  Maybe.  Does it do everything it possibly could with that context?  Sweet Farore yes.


2. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy - Airship Chase



As Professor Layton's games swelled to a climactic conclusion (stop it), so did their soundtracks.  One puzzle had you shooting down drones while this banger tinkled away in the background.  Piano, violin, 'cello?  Sign me right up!  


1. Bravely Default - Baby Bird



It was never going to be another 2013 game.  Bravely Default was merely a good JRPG, sacrificing its entire second half on the altar of an admittedly good plot; but it had phenomenal music.  Whether that's the rocking normal battle theme, the sublime final boss music, or anything in between, BD was in very good hands with the Japanese music supergroup Revo.

Nowhere was this quality clearer than in the special move themes.  This belongs to brash warrior princess Edea; but elevated shepherd Tiz, skirt-chaser Ringabel, and UNACCEPTABLy wet priestess Agnès all had belters.  That's before you get to the live vocalised versions with full orchestra.

There were many better games released in 2013 than Bravely Default.  No soundtrack from that year is worthy to rosin its bow.  Accept no substitutes.


Shoutouts to the Luigi's Mansion 2 theme, a unifying theme being a thing I didn't realise I loved about the series until it was gone; and this beauty from Knytt Underground that Jim posted until I was really quite taken with.  It's probably better than at least two of my top five, to be honest...

It is sort off but he did say I'll appear randomly one day where I've almost or tried to be every year.

Yeah some weren't out on Nintendo in 2013 but Drunka set a precedent with Bayo.

You're right, that's an awful precedent. Much like the US.


...I am genuinely quite sorry for that.

Bloody hell, guys, you're all getting involved and now I'm gonna have to go and listen to all these tunes!

Balladeer wrote:

You're right, that's an awful precedent.  Much like the US.

To be fair, the US is responsible for setting quite a number of awful precedents.

Balladeer wrote:

You're right, that's an awful precedent. Much like the US.


...I am genuinely quite sorry for that.

I will point out that I do think just doing Nintendo to look back at a decades is bobbins, so being able to talk about Video Games that's good.

I will point out that you're welcome to go to another thread and/ or shove an Xbox up your arse.

I could but don't want to come across as look it's Mas copying Drunka, just there are a lot of great tunes and gaming history not being talked about.