NES Euphonies

November 4, 2008

Call me geeky if you must, but I’m a self-professed fan of videogame music. It’s easy to dismiss videogames as mere products of amusement, that what only matter is whether it’s fun or not fun. There’s really nothing wrong with such perception, per se; I just happen to think that good music benefits a videogame as it would a movie. Take Super Mario Brothers, for example. It’s still considered one of the best games of all time, but do you know what else about it is remembered? Yes, the music. I hear people use its compositions as their ring tones. It happens because they are catchy and pleasing to the ears.

 

Anyway, videogame music has come a long way. In their nascent stage, videogames only had intro tracks that went for less than 10 seconds at the beginning of each level, and that’s it. Videogames then were all about how it played, and gamers were given no other objectives than to achieve highest scores; there were no rooms for superfluous things like endings, cutscenes, level progressions, music, or styles. One was more likely to deduce, or maybe interpret, a game’s story by the cartridge art and by the design of the arcade cabinets than by playing the game.

 

It’s when NES had come into being that videogame music began to show some complexity. Although gamers were still hearing 8-bit bleeps, they could hear melodies while they’re playing. Of course, videogame tracks of then looped after a brief amount of time (and to this day most of them still do); still, they achieved their purposes of giving the game distinct feels.

 

This is my 10 favorite NES compositions, in no particular order. Note that I edited all the songs, such that I made them fade out when they’re about to start looping.

 

1. Super Mario Brothers Level 1 Theme

 

Yeah, everyone has heard of it already. Moving on…

 

2. Super Mario Brothers 2 Level 1 Theme

 

Whatever anyone’s opinion of that game may be (“HOW COULD ANYONE CALL THAT A MARIO GAME?!” was the cry of many) it’s hard to deny how infectiously happy the tune is.

 

3. Darkwing Duck New Bridge Theme

 

Disney has always been identified with unforgettable (and in some cases schmaltzy) music, and Capcom manages to give its Darkwing Duck game the same unforgettable quality. What a bluesy tune.

 

4. Batman Level 1 Theme

 

It’s so Batman, don’t you think?

 

5. Kirby’s Adventure Title Screen Theme

 

This one is chirpy and lighthearted, and it may just expedite your next visit to your dentist. Incidentally, I find it funny how the quality of Nintendo games seem directly related to how good their music is. How else to you explain the bland tracks of the equally bland Kirby and Yoshi’s Island for the DS?

 

6. Megaman 2 Bubble Man Theme

 

Though there isn’t any surf-like sound effect, it still evokes the feel of ocean breezes.

 

7. Megaman 3 Spark man Theme

 

No other tunes from Megaman series makes my tap my feet as much as this one.

 

8. Contra Level 1 Theme

 

The only tune bad enough to rescue the president.

 

9. Journey to Silius Level 1 Theme

 

Actually, the soundtrack of the game is rock-solid. It’s interesting to note that Journey to Silius was originally meant to be the Terminator game. Can you imagine this song being played for that James Cameron classic? I can, because I find it just as somber.

 

10. River City Ransom Level 1 Theme

 

A very funky tune. Seriously, we need more of these! What’s more impressive here is that this one goes for almost two minutes before it starts looping. That’s not very common in the NES days.

 


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