The Waves you Move Me...

Music is such a wonderful thing. Like water it flows and can take the shape of anything it’s poured into. When fused with other media, music enhances. It can bring a smile to audiences in a romantic scene; cue the impending doom of hapless victims in horror; heighten the excitement of an explosive moment in action; and so on. Music by itself elevates to an experience unique to each listener. One person might enjoy the Lady Gaga while another gets a thrill from Cee Lo Brown. If an artist is lucky, their song forever leaves an imprint on culture. Snoop Dog and his cohorts have become household names with his break out song, “Gin & Juice” while Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” receives air play some thirty years later.

Video game music has shaped the imagination of gamers just as much as pop has shaped modern culture. Numerous games from the 80’s have been imbedded into the minds of twenty and thirty-something year olds everywhere. A quick search on YouTube leads to videos of guitarists and singers performing remixed and updated versions of their favorite videogame tunes. Storm Eagle’s stage from Mega Man X has received a multitude of metal incarnations. Castlevania’s Bloody Tears and Vampire Killer have been given rewrites for nearly every title launch and have received about as many covers. Speaking of cover bands, the NESkimos and the Advantage are worth a listen. That’s not to discount the many other worthwhile groups that are out there. Composer Nobuo Uematsu of Final Fantasy fame is honored by the piano and orchestra arrangements made by fans worldwide. The electronic bleeps and bloops gave rise to the chiptune scene where artists compose music on modified equipment and emulators. Whimsical journeys through Vocaloid land have resulted in some weirdly wonderful experiments.

There’s no real point to this post other than to point out some of the awesome things that game music is and has inspired. Over the following weeks I will take my biased driven choices and showcase some of the game soundtracks that have become a part of my life. Not only to give them recognition, but because my interest in seeing who else shares the same thoughts.

This week I want to shine the spotlight on Gremlins 2 for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Right from the start you know you’re in for a treat. The second level takes my favorite spot. It’s what I would call bouncy spooky if that makes any sense at all. Give it a listen below.

Gremlins 2 OST - Ventilation Shaft

Gremlins 2 OST - T.V. Set

Naoki Kodaka was a composer for Sunsoft. Most of their most memorable titles with awesome soundtracks included Blaster Master, Batman, and Return of the Joker on the NES followed by the Albert Odyssey games on the SNES and Sega Saturn.

Naoki Kodaka - Game Composer