Official Nintendo Consoles Music Thread (Thanks for Listening!)

GNamer Music Month Fortnight 134: Too Much Water

Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire



Athrun covered these games himself a while back, but that didn't have the officially-sanctioned music period-of-time seal on it (available only on request from me or Drunka), and in any case our lists likely won't be the same anyway.  To a blast of MIDI trumpets, Ruby/Sapphire got updates, and although with the updates came a drastic reduction in the difficulty, they were still great fun.  

The originals were the first game in this thread, so highly did I think of their music.  Do the updates hold up as well?  Read on for cases where they do... and where they don't.  Oh yes, and I'm going in SPOILERS swinging, so be warned.







5: Encounter! Zinnia



OH GOD THE FANART.  Who is this mysterious character?  Why does the Internet love her so much?  Why does she have all the violin in her theme?  Here, we're only interested in the last one: because it sounds great.  That is the answer.


4: Diving



So peaceful underwater... unless you're rocketing along on a Sharpedo.  Either way, I like what they did to the theme.  The original for comparison - too fast, too tinny.


3: Soaring the Sky (Night)



Moved almost to tears?  Why yes I am, thanks for asking.  It's much more triumphal during the day, but given that almost nothing happens while you're soaring, night time for me every time.


2: Mt. Pyre



Give them their credit: Game Freak's sound bods tried their hardest to butcher the best tune in the original, and it feels much more spectral and less... good than the original.  But quality will shine through, and this is still a blinder of a piece.


1: Battle! Wally



So let me go into a bit of detail on this one, for the unfamiliar.  SPOILERS, natch.

Wally's your rival, of a sort.  He's a whiny asthmatic kid, and you help him catch his first Pokémon in an excruciating sequence at the beginning.  He crops up once on your adventure, with a Ralts you should easily be able to topple at that stage.  Then you don't see him again for a long time.

He finally appears again at the end of Victory Road.  He's standing in a field of red flowers, and this is playing.  The little asthmatic kid you helped out made it all this way (including, as a surprisingly non-awful YouTube comment reminded me, through Route 113, and an ash smog that would certainly have this asthmatic choking up).

Then he challenges you, and this plays.

Out of nowhere, he's got a five-monster team, and a Mega Gallade.  Even if he's a little easy (par for the course in this game), it's a brilliant story of a boy overcoming his own weaknesses and becoming... badass.  The music tells you that, if the cape-wearing Mega Pokémon didn't.  Almost makes that tedious segment at the start worthwhile.  Almost.

My thoughts on updates:

The diving music is a favourite of mine from ORAS - brilliant update in pretty much every department. But what on earth did they do to poor Route 113?

I'm not sure why it has sucking effects now either.

The clicking? It's bizarre.

I can't be the only person hearing some Guar Planes in Zinnia's one, surely?

...Well you're not now...

Found this. Works in some parts, doesn't in most. Confirms that they sound similar though!

This lady knocks Mas' favourite into a Link's hat! Although it's less a straight rendition, more a violin concerto based on a theme, so may appeal mostly to music buffs like m'self.

I think I'd seen that before, but it was amazing. Saying that, I then clicked on her channel and found versions of so much stuff I love: Halo, Mass Effect, Last of Us... and more Zelda than you waggle a Wii remote at!

May as well plug this: over on me Twitter, which is actually active while I'm being an ML for NaNoWriMo, I'm posting fifteen different videogame soundtracks to write to, evoking different moods. Pieces that are good to write action scenes to, for example (like the current one).

So, I'm using Twitter? Hooray?

GNamer Music Month 135: Tip My Hat

Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Path

I've been talking this game and its fanslation up in the Games Wot We've Finished thread.  All of the other PW games got their time in the sun: now it's this one's go.

Raymond Shields: Joking Motive



It's not easy to make a sympathetic ladies' man in gaming.  Too often they come across as a smug prick.  But Ray Shields, despite trying to "hug" every single girl he meets, fits the bill nicely.  Probably because most of them shoot him down, but also because he's got a real heart of gold.  He's everything Larry Butz should be.

He's also got this excellent signature tune.  The jazziest, "coolest" track in the series since Godot's, it works perfectly with Shields' slouching walk and his attempted cool-guy behaviour.

Haven't contritbuted anything for a while, but with Twilight Princess' upcoming HD release getting me back in to ZREO's Twilight Symphony project, a stunning orchestra rendition of every major part of the game's music, I just have to.  Stunning stuff, simply stunning!  The game totally deserved this treatment.  

Take this rendition of Ganondorf's final battle, Dark Lord Ganondorf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPIeuw2z7og

Simply exquisite.  The chorus truly elevate it to the next level for example.

Gerudo Desert also deserves a mention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqbKqe1aaco

Oh how I wish Nintendo would do something like this themselves for their games.  Top quality music can really elevate something up a notch or a dozen. The entire score deserves a listen, a labour of love. Those who like Midna's Lament will be happy to know it was kept to a mostly piano track, too.

Fingers crossed they'll orchestrate the soundtrack for the HD release. For now, I'll give that a listen after work. I loved TP's soundtrack.

Coincidentally, I'm actually chilling out to Zora's Domain right now.  As one Youtube commenter put it, "Most relaxing porn music ever "

Er.

That Ganondorf piece feels a bit overdone with the chorus.  The Gerudo Desert one's top-notch, though. Their Hidden Village piece gave me goose pimples, too.

It's pretty close to the original to be honest, most of the extra power imo comes from the fact it's done with actual instruments and vocals. Personally I've always loved hearing themes from games that used minor midi effects taken and given amazing arrangements with either actual instruments or high quality synthetic ones.

I love how they basically tell the whole battle in music form, the first two minutes being the sword fight between the champions of good and evil which it sets the tone of so nicely, the next thirty seconds having Link get a second wind and stabbing Ganondorf in the chest, finally ending as Ganondorf dies. Absolutely beautiful in my opinion.

It might sound a bit better when followed on from the whole section of the soundtrack though, which was four tracks that start with the arrival and ascent of Hyrule Castle, to the confrontations and battles in the Throne room, to the war on horseback, to the final battle. It's a really amazing set of music, and shows what a labour of love it was.

Twilight Symphony has also completely melted what was once a sense of apathy I had to the game, and honestly got me completely pumped to revisit it early next year.

...I may have got my mother to play Xenoblade, of all games, just by playing the Satorl Marsh Night music while she was around. The power of a good soundtrack!

Here's a tune from Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash that I don't think would be out of place in Mario Kart 8.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJbF5rHPlbs

I desperately want to put that photo of Efe Ambrose playing the saxaphone up, but I can't find it.

That is indeed an excellent tune, but I wish someone had told me it was 29 minutes long before I sat and listened to 10...

Wait - they only have one piece for both Game and Set Point this time around?  Bah, another area of cutbacks!

Here's game point for Mario Tennis, and here's set point.  No separate match point, granted, but then the MTUS match point song ain't all that anyway.  No suspense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmdnpbmM4pc

What better theme to fight monsters known as Tyrants to?  Amazing that they could improve on its predecessors equivelant!



Actually I think You Will Know Our Names sort of sucks and is a largely incoherent mess with a hype beat but anyway. . .

I don't like YWKON either! Overhyped majorly in my opinion. The Titan theme is brilliant though, it's true.

This is amazing. Miror B's Pokémon XD remixed with various champions' themes (with visual aids to tell you which theme. Also, dancing Ludicolos, because it's Miror B.

So I've rattled through the first two cases in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and holy shit, the music in this is phenomenal. Cornered is a particular favourite of mine so far - there was a moment in the second case where the case seemed to be resolved, the music had went silent only for Edgeworth to jump in with an objection and for this music here to start up again. Amazing. This is a cracking game thus far.

The PW series have some absolutely great tunes, agreed. Especially the objection and cornered/pursuit themes.

Just listened to the Water Temple track from Triforce Heroes. Oh my god, it's gorgeous. What a lovely bit of music.