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Game, Song & Dance

Music is everywhere! There is music in adverts, in films, and there are even songs used in bingo games. However, today we will focus on those tunes that have got us humming along while playing our favorite video games. The most memorable games in my memory featured music that moved my spirit. A fantastic video game song binds a game together, whether melancholy or upbeat. Here are what I believe to be the ten best theme tunes in video games.

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1. Super Mario Bros. – With its chirpy opening, Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. theme grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. Nobuo Uematsu regarded Kondo as one of the industry’s top video game composers. That’s praise of the highest order.
2. The Legend of Zelda – The entrance soundtrack to The Legend of Zelda captures the essence of the game’s exploration and adventure. After a long rise, the piece rapidly transforms into a triumphal Hyrulian fanfare suited for the hero Link is destined to become. Not only is the song memorable in its own right, but its influence can also plainly be heard in following Zelda games, and Koji Kondo’s composition remains excellent.

1. Final Fantasy – When listening to this song, which originated in one of the longest-running game franchises, a variety of emotions are evoked. Final Fantasy as a series contains several famous tunes, including one that could be considered an iconic theme, “Prelude.” However, there’s something about “Final Fantasy” that rings all of the proper bells in terms of outstanding music.

1. Silent Hill 2 – With influences ranging from classic rock to alt and ambient industrial trip-hop, Silent Hill 2’s soundtrack is rich in music and concepts. Silent Hill 2’s soundtrack, like the game itself, deserves every ounce of praise we can give it.

1. Doom – The original Doom soundtrack by Robert Prince changed the way composers approached video game music. Prince’s tracks were pummeling and ruthless, extracting every last ounce of aggression from the rudimentary sound equipment of the day.

1. The Last Of Us – On the surface, The Last Of Us is a post-apocalyptic zombie story, but at its heart is the story of a friendship that develops between an orphaned girl and the father who lost his daughter several years before. The Last Of Us is justifiably celebrated as a watershed event in video game storytelling, writing, and acting. Still, Santaolalla’s introspective score is equally significant, demonstrating that a little more musical nuance in blockbuster games might not be such a bad idea.

1. Minecraft – When Daniel Rosenfeld (C418) and Markus Persson (Notch) were producing music for and developing Minecraft, you had to wonder if they had any idea what they were getting into. With over 230 million purchases, it’s challenging to think of another game with as many human hours carefully poured into it as Minecraft. However, it’s also challenging to envision people returning for thousands and thousands of hours without C418’s exquisite, delicate compositions soundtrack their building experiences.

1. Demon’s Souls – Demon’s Souls is a brutal fantasy role-playing game with a dramatic opening song depicting how powerful and frightening evil has become in the universe. With this song, it dives right into the action.

1. Tetris – What began as a Russian folk song called “Korobeiniki” has become one of the most well-known video game themes of all time. “Type A,” composed by Hirokazu Tanaka for the inaugural Game Boy release in 1989, is inextricably linked to the puzzle game and its subsequent versions. There is no better theme for “Tetris.” It’s lively and catchy and gets stuck in players’ heads whenever they hear it.

1.  Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out – Listening to the exciting soundtrack between bouts as boxing protagonist Little Mac trains like a pixelated Rocky Balboa is a great way to get revved up. This gripping theme, composed by Yukio Kaneoka, Akito Nakatsuka, and Kenji Yamamoto, is a real 8-bit symphony with tension surges.

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