'NMPSIHDEOGAME
SOUNDTRACKS
Play editor Henry Northmore presents his pick of the five best videogame soundtracks
HALO As this series goes on. it may divide fans like there's no tomorrow. but the soundtrack has always remained consistent. The uplifting main theme with guitar licks from Steve Vai and booming bass drums suits the hectic war-torn setting of earth and really gets you in the mood to do some planet-saving. (Bungie), Xbox, 2001.
SUPER MARIO WORLD Like riding a bicycle. no one who shared time with this revolutionary platformer forgets the main theme. It has a twee. happy-go-lucky charm that is synonymOus with Nintendo and has spurred on many fans to create videos of their own versions. (Nintendo), SNES, 1992.
STREETS OF RAGE 2 Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashi served up a fitting s0undtrack for gamers whilst they cleaned up the streets by teaching no-good street punks a leSSOn. Hard hitting. thumping bass and zinging electronic samples got the adrenaline pumping and Created a massive online remix community at the same time. (Sega), Mega Drive, 1992.
SUPER SMASH BROS MELEE This soundtrack. as performed by an orchestra hand- picked by Nintendo. features classical renditions of all of the developer's best-loved franchises including Starfox. Kirby. Metroid.
Legend of Zelda and let's not forget a
certain plumber. Each of these rousing tunes warms the heart — a retro fan's dream. ((Nintendo/Hal Laboratories), Gamecube, 2001.
FINAL FANTASY VII Nobuo Uemetsu‘s emotion-inducing score is a thing of legend in gaming lore. Each of the 60 or so tunes on the soundtrack fits the scenes they accompany perfectly and none are more iconic than the epic final battle song 'One Winged Angel' which has been covered countless times but never bettered. (Squaresoft), PlayStation, 1997.
10 THE LIST it; .i..l‘. 3t)”. .h’iiits
Bleep bleep
As the RSNO prepares to play a concert of music from videogames in Glasgow, Dave Cook looks at the history of game soundtracks
ast year in the l'K. \‘ideogames overtook the
music industry in terms of
money made and it looks like the film industry could be next. But today’s gaming technology is working in tandem with these industries in interesting new ways. making cut—scenes increasingly cinematic and soundtracks more atmospheric. Music in particular. has been used as a gameplay tool as opposed to an accompanying l‘eature.
But who could haye l‘oretold. as .I’IUI'IU Brothers creator Shigeru Miyamoto was putting his now iconic 8-bit soundtrack into his game. just how big an influence music in games would hayc on pop culture'.’ Back in the early 80s. music in games was embedded in chipscts incorporating said consoles. technology to produce yarious pitches ol' blips and bleeps that sound distinctively primitiye by today‘s standards.
lloweyer. these songs were composed nonetheless. from the madcap preamble that preceded a game of l’ue-Iliin to the insanely infectious main theme from T/It' Legend rifle/(Iii on NliS. and each composer had a Vision ol‘ how these tunes should sound. Incidentally. both of these songs
haye stood the test ol‘ time and are
used in modern incarnations of
each series.
The ib-bit war between Sega and Nintendo circa l‘)‘)2 was crammed l'ull ol releases boasting superb soundtracks. l'rom Sega‘s dab-hand with multi-layered techno heats a la Sir/ire I/Ie Hedge/mg 2 and Streets (gf'lfil‘ee. to Nintendo‘s penchant for the cute and catchy. This was something of a golden age in composition. with many of these tracks being parodied. covered or remixed by dunes of fan websites and bands ((ioogle and ye shall find). (her the years the trend would continue and a whole new leycl ol‘ orchestrated music scores and licensed soundtracks haye become possible thanks to the adyances in technology.
So here we are in 2008 with a Very special gaming eyent about to hit the (ilasgow Royal (‘oncert Hall. The brainchild of composer
‘WE WANTED TO PROVE HOW SIGNIFICANT VIDEOGAMES HAVE BECOME'
'I‘ommy 'l‘allarico. who has worked on such l’antastic series as Prince o/‘l’ers’iu and .S'p/imer ('e/l. Video (iamcs l.iye is something ol~ an orchestrated coyer gig deyoted to delivering classical renditions ol’ classic yideo game tunes past and present.
‘We really had two goals in mind with Video (iames l.i\'e.‘ says 'l'allarico. ‘()ur lirst was to proye to the world how signilicant Video games have become and how culturally and artistically releyant they are. They are pieces of art. V(il. isn’t just about the music. but about all the other elements of games. Visuals. art. special el'l‘ects. characters. interactiyity. storyline.‘
With the help of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. 'l’allarico will be belting otit music from such legendary scores as l-‘imi/ l-imtus‘y. ()iilrmi and Halo. all set against the backdrop ol‘ a state of the art. synchronised light show. 'l‘allarico concludes: ‘ll' Beethoyen were aliye today. he‘d be a yideogame composer.~
Now that would have been interesting.
RSNO: Video Games Live, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Thu 26 Jun.