Galbadia Hotel - Song a Day

I mostly picked this one up for the First Stage song but the Last Stage isn’t so bad either. Anyways, Contra - First Stage & Last Stage from the Contra Spirits Soundtrack (A.K.A. Contra 3: The Alien Wars) brings back two songs from the original NES Contra.

The First Stage (Jungle) is something that most old-school gamers are familiar with. The exploding bridges, the limited ability to swim, the stupidly easy boss at the end. This is indeed one of the more classical themes in gaming. Nothing else much to say about it though I wish they didn’t add the reverb effect in it.

The Final Stage (Alien Base if I recall) involved fighting a weird… well, suspended thing and eventually the Final Boss which was just a heart shaped thing that you kept shooting at until it blows up… but at least the music made it more dramatic!

And as a little bonus in the end: The 15 note Stage Complete fanfare. Old-School Contra ftw.

I remember, way back when, borrowing the Icewind Dale II special edition from a friend. The bonus disk included the music, artwork, and bonus stores(?). Anyhow, I put it in the CD player. I got through the first few tracks, and then - this one. The words that come to mind are “boss fight” and “epic”. Sure, this is only the first boss fight, but these goblins have the best boss music in the game. Immediately, there is a heavy drumbeat and deep brass instruments as well. It starts off deep, but quickly rises into a fast early climax. And then the music starts…it calms, but not enough so that you completely relax. It’s very, as I said, boss-like. After a while, it calms more, then picks up again. Somewhere into it, string instruments come into play. Very intense, very well-orchestrated. Perfect for an epic boss fight in RPG Maker.

I think the most nostalgic song for me is Hyrule Castle, it reminds me of going through Hyrule Castle for the first time and not really knowing what to expect, but it kept me going. It has a nice pace to the song and never really speeds up which is what I like. It also sounds very majestic and I think that is why it fits so well. Lastly it sounds sort of mysterious in a way that only a Zelda song can sound.

Acid Tetris is, naturally, a remake of the old Tetris game. The blocks explode a lot prettier, and there’s a smiley face that gasps in wonder if you do good or taunts you if you don’t. However, their remake of the main Tetris song is awesome. Simple Song starts off like the original, and then goes all techno. Then, the original song stops a bit, and a nice beeping beat starts. Meanwhile, these cymbally things are doing a drum beat type thing in the background. Then, it repeats itself again. Overall, it brings you to the nostalgic days of Tetris, modernized.

Fighting Love Cannot Lose was pretty cool back in 1996, it has all the makings of a great j-rock song, except one thing, the lady singer’s voice is good, but it sounds like most of the other Japanese singers! Let’s get some creativity here!! I liked all the crazy guitar parts and the techno feel of the song, but if people like listening to more of an 80’s voice with a somewhat modern sound to it, be my guest.

I remember Doom being the first truly addictive First person shooter in the world. I played it for hours, and everytime I turned Doom on, I would hear At Doom’s Gate. It would get me revved up for the game, that’s what this song does, it revves up whoever hears it! I love this song and I think everybody should remember this song as a great song.

The track “Is Kirite burning up?” from the wondrous album entitled, “Kirite” by Yasunori Mitsuda. Once more Mitsuda returns to grace us with his talented skills in composition. This album is special in the sense that it is not really based on a game, more specifically it is a solo album by Mitsuda to accompany a book by Masato Kato. I must say it is a work of art, Mitsuda’s style has never failed to captivate me, people would say his Celtic style is really getting old, but I believe that even though the genre of most of the music he produces is Celtic, each song has a completely different feel to it which makes me hunger for more from him.
To more specific, the opening song on the album, “Is Kirite burning up?” is accompanied by Eri Kawai’s voice which perfectly fits the mood of the song and also complements Mitsuda’s soothing harmony with her beautiful voice. It is very hard to explain how I feel for this track because it creates a range of different emotions in me. All I can say is that it is simply beautiful and a must have for all Mitsuda fans!

“What? A Pokemon song? But Pokemon sucks ” Not so, my friend. The game has great RPG elements, and good gameplay. However, I chose this song for a reason. It is one of the best battle musics going, in my opinion. And I am wide-versed in games, from Actraiser to Zelda and many games in between. This song is another one that starts with the “fanfare”. As I’ve been doing these reviews, I’ve been consciously realizing that a LOT of game music has opening fanfares. This song is quick and intense all the way through. After the fanfare, there is a succession of beats, followed by a continual rhythm. I do NOT mean this in traditional music sense. I just don’t know the terms for it. Like Final Fantasy music, it starts with an intense beginning, leading into the main song. Unlike Final Fantasy, this stays rapid and intense throughout the entire thing. I’m not dissing Final Fantasy They’re just different. The Gym Leader theme in Pokemon isn’t as good as that in FF for one reason: this was made for the Game Boy Advance, rather than a Gamecube or the like. However, even being GBA music, this is great listening.

Previously, the music to Star Wars games were mostly made up of recycled Star Wars music from the movies. All though I like that music, hearing it over and over again (as it was used with every new Star Wars game that came out) gets old pretty fast. However, when they got to KOTOR, the folks at LucasArts must have finally realized this. The result is a completely original new set of Star Wars music done by the stellar Jeremy Soule.

The “Bad Guy” Music of Star Wars has always been top-notch. I turn to the legendary and infamous “Imperial March” and the music that plays when the Emperor arrives on Death Star II in Return of the Jedi as my primary examples. Therefore, upon agreeing to do the music for KOTOR, Mr. Soule faced the burden of upholding this “tradition.”

Mr. Soule’s continues this tradition with Darth Malak. [Perhaps] Mirroring John Williams’s Imperial March, Mr. Soule also uses a horn-led melody that is responsible for carrying the song’s “theme,” a job which it carries out with distinction. The epic “fanfareic” ending might just be the most dramatic ending to a song, something of which just reinforces the “Bad Guy” Theme. I don’t know about you folks out there, but I would not mind being a big bad Sith with this type of theme!

The main map theme from Ogre Battle 64 is truly a masterpiece. There are two versions of it, the original and the redone. I personally find the redone one slightly better, yet they are almost identical. This song, probably one of the most famous of the Ogre Battle songs, is exciting, yet not too blaring to be battle music. In fact, this upbeat masterpiece is perfect where it is in the game - overland exploration. Another song starting with a brisk fanfare, this follows up with a very melodic tune. It fits in good with the army theme of the game, being slightly like a marching tune. This would be out of place for battle music, being not intense enough. It also isn’t right for a menu screen, being too intense. This song is absolutely perfect where it is.