When I was a young gamer in the early 90s, one thing that I quickly found myself attached to were the soundtracks of games. From Final Fantasy II, to Mega Man X and everything in between - gaming music quickly became my form of classical music. As I grew up and found myself listening to more and more music, I'd always find myself putting video game music into my life in one way or another. I remember fondly jumping on my bed and making up words to the Mega Man X Ending Theme, or feeling the mysterious wonder of the Kingdom of Zeal's theme in Chrono Trigger. While I can't say for sure, I'm pretty positive video game music helped me appreciate themes as well as the nuance of music just that bit more. I'd like to take you on a journey, one that goes through my personal history of the soundtracks I adored growing up and even now - ones that never leave my brain and give my thoughts on the impact these soundtracks had on me back then while giving my impressions today.
I'll try to link soundtracks where available so you too can hear the songs that I grew to love over time. Before that however, I'd like to take a step back and look how far we've come over the years as Americans listening to video game music and how that has changed and improved over time. It's very easy to take for granted the fact that we haven't always had access to as much music as we do today - and I see us in sort of a renaissance of game music today.
Let's start with the basics. I've been gaming for some 35 years now, and in that time I've seen a lot of trends. Over time, I'll discuss other aspects of gaming that I've come to appreciate and what not, but for now let's focus on game soundtracks themselves. In the early 90s, gaming soundtracks were often seen as just something to set a mood or fill empty soundscapes. While games like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and even some platformers like Super Mario World or Super Mario 3 had great music, us as Americans could really only enjoy the music while we played the game. Every now and then a game would thoughtfully include a sound test mode that let you listen to the music in the game whenever, but what happens when you want to go on a long car ride? How could you possibly listen to the music that instantly brought memories of some of the best parts of a game you enjoyed? Music has the opportunity to trigger parts of our brain to instantly remember what we associate that particular piece of music with - which is why video game music is so powerful in the first place. However, in Japan things were quite different. Squaresoft themselves offered soundtracks on vinyl as far back as their days making the first Final Fantasy. However, whenever we would get soundtracks (if ever) we would simply get a CD with a few tracks as a preorder sample bonus. One of the first soundtracks I remember owning was coincidentally the Final Fantasy Anthology bonus disc released on the Playstation. This made me realize that video game music could be found on mediums other than the cartridge or game disc itself (even though there were secret bonus tracks on some playstation discs back in the day but that's a story for another day...) and so it led me to start seeking out more game soundtracks. One such soundtrack was the Final Fantasy IV Celtic Moon disc. It was music from Final Fantasy IV done in a Celtic style.
This was a turning point for me as well as it introduced the idea of arranged soundtracks for me. I remember going to a local animé store to pick that up, as animé was also gaining popularity in the states with shows like Dragon Ball Z reaching American shores around that time. However, one problem was most stores like that would stock bootlegs from places like Ever Anime and the like, but to be fair this was the only way for us to get these soundtracks that I knew of at the time.
Another thing that happened around this time was the rise of the internet and being able to find "midi" versions of songs. These were the literal piano compositions done by pianos hooked up to a midi port on a PC and saved for relistening. Some software could read these midi files and since they were instrumental you could more or less enjoy the songs from the game. Another benefit was due to their small size you could download them quick on a 56k modem. I would try to find all my favorite SNES soundtracks at the time and listen to them while doing homework or other tasks and it felt like life couldn't get any better - until it did. At the turn of the millennium- file sharing services like Napster became more and more popular. When this happened, music that was seemingly out of reach for Americans suddenly hit our hard drives faster than we could realize what was happening. MP3 players were also seeing a surge in popularity and as a result, I could listen to my favorite soundtracks as they were intended to be heard without any loss of quality or compromise in composition. I would load my 128mb MP3 player with my favorite songs at the time and listen to them on the way to and from school. It was a very groundbreaking time as the borders and boundaries that once held me back from listening to my favorite music were quickly crashing to the ground.
I would be remiss to discuss other changes at this time. For you see, growing up as a young kid really into games I was always seen as a dork or nerd. But around this time in high school, a lot of things were changing in the gaming landscape. More and more people were turning to gaming as a hobby due to Sony pushing more adult games, and Microsoft decides to soon enter the gaming race as well. This took gaming from a niche hobby to one where more and more people of all ages started to enjoy gaming and didn't just see it as something for kids. This had a ripple effect where companies were soon trying to push everything they could to strike while the iron was hot, and as a result we got more and more and more merchandising based on games. There was always SOME merchandise based on games like Mario or Zelda stuff but usually that was found in toy sections and marketed towards children. Now however, we were seeing more and more aggressive and adult oriented advertising and merchandise pop up in not only gaming magazines but also more adult magazines and tv channels. It made gaming look cool to all sorts of different audiences and once enough time passed and games like Grand Theft Auto 3 and Metal Gear Solid started coming out it was basically game over for it to be seen as a strictly "nerdy" hobby. Soon there were even whole channels dedicated to not just gaming but the growing culture gaming had started to cultivate.
Going back to video game soundtracks, with the sudden flood of merchandise for games - naturally video game soundtracks would also start becoming more widely available. It wasn't so unheard of anymore to see various soundtracks in with movie soundtracks or available to purchase online. In fact, if you look today soundtracks are a booming business with many companies offering soundtracks for their games on CD, Vinyl, and even cassette in some cases. It's been a long and wild ride to see how gaming and its music has reached such a wide and accepting audience and I couldn't be happier. So without further ado, I'm going to go through some of my favorite games and the soundtracks that would keep me going for years to come. Some of these are available on streaming services so I implore you to go check them out, add them to your library and really take in the soundtracks if you like these games. So in my best Mario voice: Here we go!
Chrono Trigger
Not just one of my favorite video games of all time but also one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. I've listened to so many different soundtracks and arranged versions of these songs, it's ridiculous. With this being Yasunori Mitsuda's first real video game project, I'd say he knocked it so out of the park - it's unbelievable that this was his first time with a project like this (with assistance from Final Fantasy maestro Nobuo Uematsu near the end). Some of my favorites are:
Corridors of Time - To me, this is one of single best pieces of music ever made. I can't even begin to describe the way this song makes me feel. Mysterious, foreboding, sad, and transcendent are the few words that come to mind. This comes from the DS soundtrack which is still a great way to hear these tracks. Apple Music
Secrets of the Forest - You hear this song early in the game and I think it sets the right mood for the overall ambiance of the game as a whole. The version I'm showing off here is the TPR version which, another aspect of gaming music that's great is how many different interpretations of the soundtracks there can be. Apple Music
BONUS: Gato’s in Love - One of my absolute favorite things is the mashup album Chrono Jigga - it takes music from American Hip Hop artist Jay-Z and mashes it up with Chrono Trigger music. I selected this one as it's a pretty recognizable song and the remix is just so well done. I highly recommend checking the whole album out by 2Mello as he did such excellent work with this. Youtube
Undertale
I was very resistant to this game when it came out. I honestly took it for granted, but after I started playing - the game was awesome but realistically for me the soundtrack was the star for a lot of this game. It doesn't hurt that Toby Fox used soundfonts from the SNES era to develop this soundtrack.Bonetrousle - I feel like this song, while goofy is very well done and gives off the energy it intends to and is a good entry point for the soundtrack in my opinion. Apple Music
Core - Another great upbeat song that gets the mechanical aspects of the area you're in across and definitely gives robot factory vibes. Apple Music
Hopes and Dreams - One of my absolute favorite songs on the album. Also of note: Anamanaguchi does a cool cover of this song that I've linked below. Apple Music
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Maybe this is a cop out but OoT has one of the best soundtracks for a Zelda game. I remember getting the Gold Cartridge for Christmas the year it came out and I truly felt like I was playing a game from the far off future.
Title Theme - Real talk, I would sometimes just leave my N64 playing on the title screen because I loved this song so much. The galloping sound while this melody plays is something to behold and I'm jealous for people in the future that experience this for the first time. (If I ruin that with this, I apologize in advance). Apple Music
Lost Woods - Another great piece that helps set mood. This was my favorite song from OoT for a long time, but I go back and forth between this and the Title Theme. Apple Music
Great Fairy Fountain - This is another great piece, it's so great in fact that Edgar Wright asked Nintendo for permission to use this in Scott Pilgrim as he felt it was the "nursery rhyme of this generation" ...fair statement I'd say. Apple Music
Final Fantasy IV
I promised myself I wouldn’t put a ton of Square Enix games on this list, but I have to at least add one of my favorite games/soundtracks. I feel it would be a disservice to omit this game as there’s so many great tracks to enjoy.The Red Wings - Other than the prelude at the beginning, this is the first song you hear when you actually start a new game. It’s a powerful anthem that really gives a glimpse into the world of Final Fantasy IV. It immediately helps you understand the gravity of what’s going on and is such a wonderful track to start with. Apple Music
Theme of Love - This track is a stark contrast to the song above, and in my opinion kind of foreshadows the internal turmoil that Cecil the main character is facing as it’s clear he’s someone who is feared by his enemies but loved fondly by people close to him which causes a stark contrast in him as a character. (I can legit go on and on about FFIV and everything that goes on in its story - and I may one day when I review FFIV PR). Apple Music
Battle With the Four Fiends - One of my favorite boss themes of all time. There’s been so many good versions of this song that really make the stakes feel high and really drive home how powerful this foe you’re fighting is. Apple Music
These are just a few examples of my favorite soundtracks - I think that we are in a Game soundtrack renaissance of sorts with new fans and old being able to see what makes games great beyond just graphic fidelity. Hopefully this made you want to check some of these out and definitely feel free to drop your favorites in the comments below. Don’t be afraid to really drive home why the soundtrack resonates with you!
Hopes and Dreams still lives on my playlist. I have a certain nostalgia for the pokemon game music, but especially the champion themes. It always felt like the climax of a grand adventure.
chrono trigger really is all-time great…I wrote about its music along with FF around that time and secret of mana recently in substack convos (i think with chris dalla riva) basically presenting it as the golden age of video game music