Official Nintendo Consoles Music Thread (Thanks for Listening!)

Balladeer's Music Week

It was Christmas, and I'd been neglecting Music Weeks, so I did this. Christmas tunes. Stu can fill in the KEY-shaped gapes (KEYholes?) when I'm done, but for now:

Shivering Mountains, Wario World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oRJHGICDHU



Frappé Snowland/Sherbert Land, Mario Kart 64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WSqi8I9Fls



And my personal favourite... Freezeezy Peak, Banjo-Kazooie! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKv9WeS8BOs




(Also Boggy's Igloo.)

Any I've missed out? (Answer: yes. Stu, and Smurf duly provided them.)

Balladeer's Brass Monkey Music Week 25: Phendrana Drifts, Metroid Prime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbbUv1hz6mE



Not the annoying wubstep version - just beautiful, snowy ambience, and possibly nightmares of Baby Sheegoths. It didn't hurt that Phendrana itself was absolutely beautiful. It also contained the Chapel of the Elders, another beautiful one. That title theme is worth a mention too.

Balladeer's Green-and-Black Music Week 26: Star Maze, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmD9WnLYR5I



For the most part, the original SML had the better music of the two, which wasn't just remixes of the same (admittedly fun and chirpy) theme; but this music is the one I really remember. And it seems like certain other people in Nintendo remember it too... (Hint: I was playing Paper Mario: Sticker Star at the time.)

Balladeer's Magical Happy Music Week 27: Silent Seabed, Kirby's Power Paintbrush: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIV04axllos



PP is one of those weird games where I could remember the music being brilliant, but couldn't remember any of the tunes. But then, it was a pretty weird game in its entirety. After a bit of browsing on Youtube, I think this (a.k.a. Butter Building) is my favourite of the tunes. It's so cheerful! I'm feeling so happy, I'm giving you the Paletto Polis music as an extra.

Oh Kirby. Why does your music have to be so much better than your gameplay?

Thanks to everyone who voted for this thread in the 2012 Awards! (All two of you.) This may be shamelessly milked on the front page. Or maybe not. I couldn't say. Ahem.

Balladeer's Award-Winning Music Week 28: Super Smash Bros. Mêlée

As with the original SSB, I'm including one all-new track and one updated. Er, by which I mean three updated. Oh come on, they're so good! In no particular order:

Mother (Onett): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwbM5IxPIdA



Edges out the alternative track for my favourite, especially when the 8-bar tune kicks in. Wonderful, magical, bizarre - like the Mother series itself. (Mother 4 for UK release let's get it.)

Fire Emblem (Temple): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9z-k_Bo63g



(If you squint, you can see Marth.) The first time I realised that you could hold down the shoulder button on the Temple to get this epic piece, I didn't ever want to go back (even if in retrospect the other tune was pretty nice too). Tell me you don't feel like a god at 1:15. I dare you.

Dr. Mario: Fever (Mushroom Kingdom II): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OF9BsRQ_t8



(Just imagine Dr. Mario's in the shot.) Why is it all the secret tracks that I remember? Who knows. All I care about is this Dr. Mario remix, a wonderful update of a retro song that's lovely and buoyant. (Although in hindsight, the squeaky bit does sound a bit odd.) Shame the stage was rubbish though. And getting a randomly distributed trophy in order to unlock it? That's just silly. Still, great music.

Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN8q2OoqIks



Best track in the game? Could well be. Utterly epic, with a brilliant intro sequence to match. Lots better than the Latinised Brawl one - and with a bit of adaptation, it made a brilliant fight song too!

You may now (and should) post! And by "you" I especially mean Jaster, who was ruthlessly messed about by my admin. powers. He gets an Easter Egg in week 20 to compensate. Sorry Jas.

It'd be funny to not post now Nice easter egg though.

*ahem* Deja Vu

I have to post the Cave story Medley again............its soooo good especially when Balrog's theme kicks in.

Video embedding! Argh, missed opportunity. Nice spot Jas (and nice medley too, if rather long!).

Fantastic transfer work, Balla! It really does look spanking. Yay for future updates!

Balladeer wrote:

Video embedding! Argh, missed opportunity. Nice spot Jas (and nice medley too, if rather long!).

....but great to listen to while posting on GNamer.

Balladeer's Mario RPG Music Week 29: Beware the Forest Mushrooms, Super Mario RPG: https://www.youtube.com/v/wj8zw8rrUhM



We were lucky enough to get this game on the Virtual Console, after being denied it for more than a decade, so us Brits could finally see what the fuss was about. And hear. This song was an absolute standout, which almost made it into SSBB... but didn't. (Squeenix... ) But that hasn't stopped certain people (ahem) remixing it (turn the volume up on the controller before listening to that) or even making flash animations based around it.

Big week next week!

...and let me emphasise, especially to the people who weren't around on NGamer, that this is not just my thread. Anyone can and should post links to brilliant tunes, like Jaster has done!

Well, in the days of yesteryear I posted Humilau City:



In the days of today, I'm going to add my favourite tune from Super Castlevania IV:



Got a little shiver when it started up for me to check that it was the right one! I love how varied it is - from energetic to dark and creepy and back again. There are a few remixes of it throughout that fourth level but none as smashing as the first one, in my opinion.

Short and simple but it evokes so much fear knowing the SA-X is close by.




EDIT: just found its theme

Great going! I have to say, JRPGs get far more than their fair share of brilliant musics. I've never played RH before, but that's some beautiful music, especially 18. As for Xenoblade... 1:08. Just... 1:08.

Okay, let's begin this anew.

It's time for Jay's VGM Picks of the Week!

Week 1: The Title Theme Week



A fantastic opener to a fantastic game. That repeating techno hook, the general feel of the track, it sets up you so well for what's to come.



I can't not include this, I just can't. I challenge you to listen to this and not feel a ripple of nostalgia as you remember your first time playing Ocarina.



I don't know what it is about this - if it's the choral voices adding to the tension of this being the finale, the way it apes previous Prime title themes or that ominous fade out - but whatever the reason is, this an excellent title theme.

My ranking: MP3 > OoT > NMH. I just wish the rest of MP3 had been as good as its title song...

Balladeer's Third Special Edition Music Week 30: Banjo-Kazooie

There aren't many games where every single piece of music is great. Even Super Mario Galaxy had the slightly disappointing Baron Brr theme. B-K, on the other hand, is a Rare exception. (Oh ho ho.) Seriously, I can't think of a single piece that doesn't make me want to hum it. So this is going to be a harder music week than most. Also, I'm going back to links, as they make the pages look nicer. (Hint due to ambiguous colours: the title of each song is a link.) Here we go, bearing in mind I never actually finished this (after I deleted my save file by accident, and then my sister deleted my save file by accident). God bless Grant Kirkhope.

5. Treasure Trove Cove



Remember how you could fall all the way down from the lighthouse back to the beach? Yes, me too.

4. Gobi's Valley



This must be my most-played-on-the-piano piece of videogame music. Apart from maybe...

3. Click Clock Wood (Spring)



...this one. Good until 0:43; then brilliant!

2. Spiral Mountain



The patented Rare Eyes make an appearance, sparking much mockery in N64 Magazine.

1. Mad Monster Mansion



A late favourite, I couldn't even remember how the tune went until fairly recently. I think that when I first played this level, I was too scared to make much progress, and the music certainly doesn't help with that! But it's a classic, and deserves to be remembered as such.

Great stuff! Oh have you read the Grant Kirkhope interview over on Nintendo Nation? http://www.nintendo-nation.net/a-rare-breed-part-1-nintendo-nation-talks-to-grant-kirkhope/

No: thank you! I especially like this piece they link to in it. Such a shame the game got canned. The Viva Piñata version just isn't as good.

EDIT: It also links to this great medley of B-K and B-T tunes from Nuts and Bolts.

Had a couple of themes in my head this morning while dishing out sharp-knife justice to the 400kg of Salmon we got in (bloody promotions) today at work, and I came to the realisation they are probably two of my most recent favourites :



Super Meat Boy - Hospital Theme Probably my favourite theme in the entire game.



Pac-Man CE DX BGM 1 Again, my favourite tune on this game, and suits the manic on-screen action perfectly - especially the last thirty seconds of the tune which winds everything up in spectacular fashion.

The music in Pac-Man Championship Arcade. *dribbles a bit*

Balladeer wrote:

No: thank you! I especially like this piece they link to in it. Such a shame the game got canned. The Viva Piñata version just isn't as good.

EDIT: It also links to this great medley of B-K and B-T tunes from Nuts and Bolts.

Yeah, despite having not played any of those games I really enjoyed the music while reading that interview.

I think we can all agree that Mando is a much bigger fan of "da beat" than I am. I preferred the hospital music out of the two, though - more melodic.

Balladeer Actually Plays Sports Games Sometimes Music Week 31: Peach's Castle, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZDrmnRjLwU



The music from Toadstool Tour was pretty okay for a golf game. It was all chill clubhouse tunes, as one might expect, with a substantial calypso influence. This one is my favourite: it not only contains a remix of the Peach's Castle music, but the main theme is pretty hummable as well.

I have a list of all my games with memorable musics in an Excel document, and the Gamecube has many many more entries than any other Nintendo console. Truly a golden age.

mandlecreed wrote:

Super Meat Boy - Hospital Theme Probably my favourite theme in the entire game.

I love the Meat Boy music. But speaking of hospitals,

Earthbound hospital - it's pretty awesome in that there's not much Dub in SNES-era videogames; and also Earthbound was ahead of its time in terms of deliberately making remixes of music from earlier games as a homage rather than a copy/paste. See also: the save selection screen that's a mini-keyboard version of the School theme from Mother.