My 200 Favorite Video Game Themes - Part 4: CATFIGHT!

170.

Gerudo Valley

from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

Composer: Koji Kondo

NIntendo; 1998

The Legend of Zelda series makes its first appearance on this list with the theme from Gerudo Valley from the phenomenal Ocarina of Time.  A fan favorite of the series, Ocarina of Time is a trend-setting, genre-defining Nintendo 64 classic but its soundtrack, while having a few of my favorite themes of all time, tends to land more on the mediocre side as a whole, at least in terms of what Koji Kondo is capable of.  That said, there are a few standout themes in OoT that I would argue easily rank high among the greatest video game themes of all time.  The music from Gerudo Valley is a vibrant Latin guitar piece, adding trumpets and string accompaniment to build the song up.  It is incredibly simple structurally, but remains a catchy and lively tune.

169.

Underwater Bombs

from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)

Composer: Jun Funahashi

Konami/Ultra; 1989

The first TMNT game released on consoles is kind of an oddity.  While it is based on the animated series (which had been out for several years at the time of this game’s release), it is full of loose interpretations of the characters, their roles, and their importance to the story.  Add to that the dreaded water level that this theme supports, and you have a game that is either really hated, or remembered with only the slightest hint of fondness.  That said, this theme from stage 2 is damn good.  The minor key, the definite aquatic sound, and the beat and melody all come together to a delightful whole.  I’m not sure why, but water levels often have some of the best music.  Wave Man, which appeared previously on the list at number 183, and this theme here are just a taste of what is to come in terms of aquatic themes, and some of them rank among my favorite video game tunes of all time, but you will have to stick around to find out what they are.

168.

Intro Theme (US)

from Mega Man 8 (PSX)

from Shusaku Uchiyama

Capcom; 1997

Mega Man 8 has an absolutely stunning soundtrack.  It is unconventional compared to the soundtracks of the titles before it.  It mixes genres, going for a slightly more melodic and instrumental tone over the electronic pop/rock sounds we got from the rest of the series.  The use of real instrumentation was also a big step up for the series and the intro is the first real taste of the change we get from Mega Man 8.  It is a short, sweet mix of rock, jazz, blues and electronica that works so damn well, and it is just a precursor for what is to come in this game’s outstanding soundtrack.  Now, that said, the Japanese version of the opening is another story entirely.  It is an absolutely dreadful, bubbly J-Pop anthem called Electrical Communication that blends all of the worse elements of the genre.  The plucky stylings, the childish vocals, the Engrish; all of it.  So, be thankful that we got this awesome tune to back our opening movie because I’m not sure how many American gamers would have been willing to stomach the game after that other pop monstrosity of an opening.

167.

Stolen Eyes

from Final Fantasy IX (PSX)

Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Squaresoft; 2000

This instrumental rendition of the game’s theme song Melodies of Life is a delightfully soothing piece.  It opens in just the right way.  The strings and harp blend is just beautiful, and the woodwind lead brings the song’s melodic touches to the foreground.  While Melodies of Life is only an okay song in my opinion, this version is great.  It nails home the mood of the song better than the original version, I would say, and it does it without a single lyric.

166.

Izzy Glow’s Theme

from Mega Man X5 (PSX)

Composer: Naoto Tanaka

Capcom; 2000

Megaman X5, people!  This soundtrack…  I would say, of the Megaman X series, X5 would be the second best of all of them, right after the original.  X5 has a stunning assortment of amazing themes and, despite the bizarre decision to give the bosses really stupid names for the US release,  and the constant, intrusive and unnecessary dialogue scenes, it is a pretty solid game.  Izzy Glow’s (Shining Hotarunicus in the Japanese version) level is actually kind of boring, but his song is the polar opposite.  From the opening’s rocking guitar riff, to the chirping synth, to the badass lick that is the main melody, to the bridge, all leading up to the sweet breakdown near the end, it all works.  It is a truly awesome theme.

165.

Aquarius

from Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

Composers: Hidenori Maezawa, Jun Funahashi, Yukie Morimoto, Yoshinori Sasaki

Konami; 1989

Castlevania returns to the list, and this theme comes to us from the excellent Castlevania III.  The last NES entry in the series, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is a game that pushed the beloved 80's console to its limits.  It looked better, played better and sounded better than most games released up to that point and we had not seen all of what the NES had to offer yet at this point.  The soundtrack is also quite stunning and will definitely return to this list again soon.  Aquarius is a tune that is about as “Castlevania” as you can get.  It is intense, melodic, layered and upbeat.  The Gothic organ riff at the beginning ties the song to the series’ trademark style and the catchy melody that follows makes it one of my favorite tunes of the Castlevania anthology.

164.

Rose’s Theme

from Super Street Fighter IV

Composer: Hideyuki Fukasawa

Capcom; 2010

Hideyuki is a relative newcomer to Capcom’s legacy of excellent music.  He joined the sound team in 2002 as the composer for Onimusha 2.  His work on that project put him in the bid to work on the soundtracks to Capcom’s hoard of fighting games released in the late 2000’s and onward.  He arguably did his best work on the brain-meltingly good Super Street Fighter IV soundtrack.  A stunning series of remixes of classic Street Fighter tunes and new compositions that is so complete, so big, so astoundingly good that fans have lined up to announce many of the remixes as “better than the originals.”  I am inclined to agree with them.  The first appearance of this game on my list comes from Rose’s stage.  Rose, who first appeared in Street Fighter Alpha in the mid 90’s is one of my favorite characters in the series.  She’s a badass fortune teller who will kill you with her scarf, so that makes her pretty metal.  The song is also quite epic, having a very 90’s fighting game sound to it, featuring modern electronic techniques.  

163.

The Temple

from Life Force

Composer: Miki Higashino

Konami; 1986

Oh, Life Force!  I love this damn game.  This game has occupied so many hours of my life it is actually kind of sad.  Released in Japanese arcades in 1986 under the title Salamander, it was a spinoff/pseudo-sequel to Konami’s previous shooter hit Gradius.  Excellent gameplay and level design highlighted this title but for me, it’s always been about the soundtrack.  This game has six stages and every single one of them has an awesome tune.  They did not all make it on this list, but trust me, they are good, and this is not the only time Life Force will show up in my countdown.  The first entry from the series on my list is from Stage 5, an odd Egyptian temple stage that was a late addition to the title for the NES and it is pretty damn good.  The boss is a King Tut head surrounded by a ring of orbiting balls that shoot at you.  It’s really strange.  The song, however, is awesome.  Like the rest of the soundtrack, it is very full, featuring a number of layers creating an echoing twinkle of a melody.  For a game released on the Famicom in 1987, the soundtrack is stunningly sophisticated.  Compared to what other games sounded like at the time, this and a few other standout titles really showcased the audio capabilities of the system during a period when the chiptune medium was just starting to mature.

162.

Cammy’s Theme

from Super Street Fighter IV

Composer: Hideyuki Fukasawa

Capcom; 2010

Just following the appearance of Rose’s theme from Super Street Fighter 4 comes the theme of the ever-exploited Cammy, who can never seem to find a pair of pants.  How unfortunate… Despite her objectification, however, the song is great.  It ended up in close contention with Rose’s theme, so close in fact, that they are almost right next to each other on the list.  This was purely unintentional, believe me.  But I can picture these two beating the Buddha out of each other over whose theme is actually the best.  I like this theme’s guitar heavy, 80’s-stylings and the energy it brings.  It’s definitely a tough-as-nails fighting anthem.

161.

Crystal Man

from Mega Man V

Composer: Mari Yamaguchi

Capcom; 1992

I love the melody of this song.  It’s somber, smooth and has a nice rhythm to it.  It’s a tight groove that lacks a lot of the punch of many of the other Mega Man tunes but it brings with it instead a melodic uniqueness in the series’ repertoire.  Yet another entry from Mega Man V (It will not be the last), this is a slick piece of work with a nice melody, slick pace and, I don’t know, it me it just sounds so… “Chill.”

My 200 Favorite Video Game Themes - Part 3: Short and Sweet.

180.

Centaur Man

from Mega Man VI (NES)

Composer: Yuko Takehara

Capcom; 1993

Odd.  I would describe this tune as “odd”.  Odd in a good way, of course.  There were a million things they could have done with the theme for this stage, but they chose a song that starts off whimsical, then goes straight into a minor key near the end.  It’s one of those tunes that I remember liking as a teenager years ago, and always enjoyed because of how strange it feels hearing that song in that level headed towards that boss.  It has always sort of stood out for me.  The game’s lead composer, Yuko Takehara (often credited as simply “Yuko”), worked on a number of epic soundtracks in the 90’s including a few of the Rockman arcade titles, entries in the Street Fighter series and the freaking Megaman X soundtrack!  This lady has skills.

179.

Battle Theme

from Final Fantasy IX (PSX)

Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Squaresoft; 2000

This theme is among my favorite regular battle themes in the series.  The loop is pretty long, keeping the song from repeating over and over in a single battle.  This is important seeing as how you will hear it over, and over, and over again throughout the course of the game.  It is also kind of a stand-out theme in this game in-particular because it forgoes much of the title’s old-world style for a more energetic, cinematic attitude.  It’s a great theme and one that brings back a lot of memories.

178.

Ending Theme

from Gunstar Heroes (Genesis)

Composer: Norio Hanzawa

Treasure/Sega; 1993

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I think Gunstar Heroes is a masterpiece.  This theme that plays upon the game’s completion is an encouraging and lively piece.  I cannot recall when exactly it was that I actually beat Gunstar Heroes for the first time.  It would likely be sometime around 1996 or 1997, because I believe it was before High School.  I finally got a used Genesis  (with a broken RF-Adapter) from a family member, and remember wearing the Start button out because I would have to quickly pause the game to jiggle the cable behind the console to get picture back to the screen.  I played the crap out of that console, though, and Gunstar Heroes was one of the titles I spent a lot of time on, though I never owned it, I had to borrow it from a friend.  When I finally completed the game, I was rewarded with this memorable tune and, honestly, I was struggling with its placement.  I was trying to move it higher, but I did have to be honest with myself, and reason that if it was pushed back here, because other things were moved up, it is likely only because this is where it stands with me.  Still, this is a strong piece, and one that is quite nostalgic for me.

177.

Sigma- Stage 1

from Mega Man X2 (SNES)

Composer: Yuki Iwai

Capcom; 1994

This is one awesome song!  The fast riff breakdown at the end put it on this list and it excellently captures the level’s intensity and the mood of the stage.  I would say that, among the Megaman X titles, X-2 has one of the best soundtracks, probably right behind X5 and the original Megaman X.  The song is a short loop though, which pushes it back quite a bit in spite of how awesome the melody actually is.  It plays over and over through the stage and can seem a little repetitive.  But hey, we will not really start getting to the truly “perfect” songs until the top 100, and we still have a ways to go.

176.

Opening Title

from Street Fighter II (Arcade/SNES/Genesis)

Composers: Yoko Shimomura, Isao Abe

Capcom; 1991

This song is just about half-a-minute long and it’s on here purely for nostalgia reasons.  This song played daily in my house, with me and my friends playing hours of this game every weekend.  “I’m playing winner!”  Was the battlecry of these marathon fighting game sessions, and every time the game started, the famous Capcom logo would chime in, followed by this little piece of early-90’s ephemera.  I love the music here, but it is really short, which keeps it from ranking higher.  However, this tune just triggers so many memories and has played in my head for so many years that leaving it off the list just because it is short would simply be dishonest.

175.

Zanarkand

from Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2/PS3)

Composers: Noriko Matsueda, Takahito Eguchi

SquareEnix; 2003

Final Fantasy X-2 has an underrated soundtrack.  There!  I said it.  As derided as this game is by fans, I find it to be a strange little piece of marketing that stands alongside oddities like Legend of Zelda CD-i titles and the Rambo animated series as a little piece of crap that is so bizarre, its existence so confounding, that I kind of find it a little endearing.  The fact that the battle system was a lot of fun did not hurt either.  Everything else, though… Well…  The music was good!  Yeah!  There you go!  This game has a great soundtrack.  Seriously.  Many hardcore JRPG and Final Fantasy fans have unfairly dismissed this soundtrack simply because they hate the game, but it is worth a listen and it has a few more entries on this list to come.  The Zanarkand theme, like most of the music in the game, abandons the mournful mood of the first and replaces it with a well-composed, upbeat piece.  Nobuo Uemastu stepped aside for this project, but the compositions created by his replacements, Matsueda and Eguchi, were a solid stand-in.

174.

Stage 1- Paradise ~ Distant Mountain

from Touhou: Perfect Cherry Blossom (PC)

Composer: ZUN

2003; Team Shanghai Alice

Touhou returns to my list and, like other entries in the series, this is an energetic piano-heavy anthem.  Paradise is one of those songs that just catches my attention when I hear it.  It is a strong tune and has a feeling of building pressure.  It does everything right, in my opinion.  As the series makes more and more appearances on my list, you will find that many of them have this same upbeat, piano-tech vibe to them.  It is what makes them really stand out to me.

173.

Freya’s Theme

from Final Fantasy IX (PSX)

Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

2000; Squaresoft

One of the better themes from Final Fantasy IX, Freya’s theme, which also plays when you enter her home city of Burmecia, fits the mood of the events perfectly.  The brave dragoon Freya returns home to see her lover only to find her city has fallen to the evil Kuja, who begins a campaign to destroy practically every city in the world.  It’s raining, and there is this grey coloring to everything.  It is pretty perfect, really.  This song just fits here, and it is also a damn good composition on its own, too.

172.

Wily- Stage 5

from Mega Man 10 (PS3/360)

Composers: Capcom Sound Team

Capcom; 2010

This one has a very sci-fi sound, even for a Mega Man theme, taking the player into space for this final stretch of Mega Man 10.  I’m not sure what really caught my ear on this one because when I first heard it, I didn’t like it.  However, when I played through Mega Man 10 again, I couldn’t get the theme out of my head.  It is one of those themes that lingers with me and I would always find myself humming it or playing it back over and over in my mind.

171.

Pray

from Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX)

Composers: Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata

Squaresoft; 1997

This relaxing little tune from the beginning of Final Fantasy Tactics is an example of why I love Hitoshi Sakimoto’s compositions.  It is moody, moving, captivating and very memorable.  As stated in a previous entry, I could not really get into Tactics much, but I did like the music I heard when I played it.  Pray is just a nice, relaxing piece that I would argue is an underrated Final Fantasy Music gem.

My 200 Favorite Video Game Themes - Part 2: Bullets Everywhere!

190.

Ideal

from Ikaruga (Arcade/Dreamcast/Gamecube)

Composer: Hiroshi Iuchi

2001; Konami

Konami has had a good run over the years with their shmups.  Expect to see a few more tunes from their entries in the scrolling shooter genre on this list.  First, however, is Ikaruga.  If you have not played, or even heard of this amazing game, it would take an entire entry’s worth of explaining, so I’ll just call it an excellent shooter with a unique and fun mechanic.  Oh, and the soundtrack is AWESOME!  Going back to the Gradius Series, Konami has a great track record for providing great music for their scrolling shooters and Ikaruga is no exception.  It opens with an anthemic horn piece followed by a thumping electronica/orchestral theme that will likely get stuck in your head.  I know it does for me, anyway.

189.

The Decisive Battle

from Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX)

Composers: Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata

1997; Squaresoft

Final Fantasy Tactics is not one of my favorite games, really.  The turn-based strategy genre is just one I never really could get into, as many times as I’ve tried.  However, there is one thing about this game I do like, the soundtrack.  Sakimoto and Iwata did some great work here, and Sakimoto himself would later go on to work on the astounding Final Fantasy XII soundtrack.  So, his first of several appearances on this list is this battle theme, heard early in the game, in the Dorter Slums.  It is tense and has this ominous vibe to it, which works in the favor of battle themes, and has a nice rhythm, which is created by the thundering timpani and assisted by the syncopated strings.

188.

Intro Stage

from Mega Man X2 (SNES)

Composer: Yuki Iwai

Capcom; 1994

Yuki Iwai is one of the most prolific and stunning talents in the industry’s history.  A former employee of Capcom, she worked on classic soundtracks in the Rockman X and Street Fighter series, and many more.  Occasionally composing under the pseudonym Sato, or going by her other monomonimal title Yuki, Iwai worked her ass of to make the first two Rockman X soundtracks the classics they are and it shows.  The Intro Stage theme from Rockman X2 is just awesome.  Keeping with the hard rock vibe of the series’ soundtrack norm, the fact that this is a 16-bit soundtrack just blows my mind.  Whenever I listen to this or any other theme from this spinoff series I forget that it is just analog beeps and buzzes that are layered and modified to sound like guitars, synth keyboards and drums.  You could have fooled me because when I was a kid playing the very first Megaman X title on my Super Nintendo, I could have sworn there was a rock band living inside of my TV.

187.

Save Yellow

from Gunstar Heroes (Genesis)

Composer: Norio Hanzawa

1993; Treasure/Sega

Gunstar Heroes is an awesome shooter/platformer released on the Sega Genesis in 1993.  Treasure, its developer, managed to make a stunning action title and bring with it an awesome soundtrack.  Save Yellow is one of a number of themes in the game with a bouncy, synth aesthetic to it.  There is nothing organic about this music, and that is JUST fine with me.  The electronic nature of this theme, along with its bouncing beat and “take charge” melody is really all I needed to put this on my list.  As I was not a Sega player back in the day, mainly because me and all of my friends were Nintendo kids, I missed this one originally and it was not until years later that I got a chance to play this masterpiece.  I would have been around twelve when it came out, and it would have been right up my alley.  The pace, the menace, and the energy of this excellent game is all present in this song.  It is all just so glorious.

186.

The African Mines

from Duck Tales (NES)

Composer: Hiroshige Tonomura

Capcom; 1989

There will be another song from this game much higher on this list.  If you do not know what it is, then I just can’t wait until you hear it, because if it is your first time hearing that tune, then it will change your life!  Okay, maybe that’s overstating it, but the Ducktales soundtrack has gone down in nostalgia as one of the best game soundtracks really on the weight of just one song, that said, the theme from the African Mines stage is not anywhere near as good as its more famous composition, but it is definitely a classic.  This song does not really invoke “Africa” for me, but it is still a smooth-sounding, upbeat tune that does flow with the level very well.  Shortly after the release of Ducktales, composer Hiroshige Tonomura would pursue other projects at Taito, leaving Capcom for good.

185.

Science is Fun!

from Portal 2 (PS2/PC/360)

Composer: Mike Morasky

Valve; 2011

As far as songs that fit the game’s mood, atmosphere and tone well, this phasing electronic piece nails it.  Playing over the game’s official trailer as well as at a few points in the game, Portal 2’s instrumental theme is one of those songs where, even if you have never seen a single frame of either game, you can at the very least get a feel for the mood and pace of the game.  The excellent Portal 2’s soundtrack is filled with gems like this, and this game will make another appearance later on the list.

184.

Granas Sable

from Grandia 2 (Dreamcast/PS2)

Composer: Noriyuki Iwadare

Game Arts/Enix; 2000

I love Grandia 2.  Sure, it’s flawed, but I have played a lot of JRPG’s and this series, and Grandia 2 has some of the best combat of any entries in the genre, in my opinion.  The soundtrack is okay.  It’s not great, not astounding, just… okay.  Still Granas Sable, which plays in several areas of the game, is a great composition on its own.  It has a very adventurous feel to it, setting the mood for what be a fun and entertaining quest.  The mood the song invokes matches the game perfectly, well, at the very least it does up until the game’s massive tonal shift about two thirds of the way through.  Its composer, Iwadare, has worked on dozens of games as lead composer, including a majority of the Grandia games, entries in the Lunar series as well as Phoenix Wright.  He is a classic composer in his own right and deserves proper recognition.

183.

Wave Man

from Mega Man V (NES)

Composer: Mari Yamaguchi

Capcom; 1992

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Wave Man’s theme is one of my favorites.  It does not top my list, obviously, but it does bring back a lot of memories.  I love Megaman V’s soundtrack.  It is one of my favorites in the series and you can expect more from this game to show up on this list in the future.  Wave Man’s theme is another that fits the level well, with rising and lowering water levels that seem to dance to the music.  The ripples bounce to the beat.  It all just works so well.  

182.

The Young Descendant of Tepes

from Touhou 6- Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (PC)

Composer: ZUN

2002; Team Shanghai Alice

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This series…  Legendary for its difficulty, as well as its soundtrack, Touhou is a series of independently-developed PC “Bullet Hell” games that has began in the 90’s and is still seeing releases to this day.  The characters have become as iconic and recognizable as the games’ countless, mind-boggling gameplay videos on Youtube.  The game’s lead designer, artist, programmer and composer, ZUN, makes his first appearance on my list with this piano-heavy orchestral rock piece from the sixth official entry in the Touhou series.  Stage 6 is a rough gauntlet leading to some pretty insane boss battles.  This song ends right before the big fight of the stage, but the tune is really the level’s highlight for me.

181.

Go Straight!

from Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)

Composers: Yuzo Koshiro, Motohiro Kawashima

1992; Sega

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The first level theme of this excellent Sega brawler is a catchy synth dance number, which is pretty much the description for any song on the soundtrack.  Go Straight plays for the first half of the first stage and is an endlessly-catchy, upbeat piece.  It’s memorable to the series’ fans (myself included) and has really held up well given that the game is more than two decades old!  It definitely has a touch of hip hop in there, as much hip hop as you could get out of an early-90’s video game, anyway.  Mix that with the gritty streets in the game and you have a solid tune from an awesome game.