With the release of a new Street Fighter movie in theaters, I’ve been brought out of a really regretable period of silence to comment on game movies. The last time Hollywood saw fit to bring Street Fighter to the screen was back in 1994. I remember seeing that movie as a kid and thinking it was awesome if only because all of the brightly colored characters from the game were recreated. Sure, Van Damme as the all-American soldier Guile was laughable, and frail Raul Julia as Bison was a little sad in the “fat girl trying to get laid” kind of way, but in hindsight, that movie has a campy charm that only comes with time. It bombed at the box office, and for good reason. Where were the flashy moves? Where were the fireballs, the sonic booms, the lightning kicks, Chun-Li’s massive thighs? All gone. Instead, we were given a corny action movie filled to the brim with camp.
Some games don’t get the credit they deserve, especially in the music department. Sometimes a really bad game can have an awesome theme thrown in somewhere in the middle that you’ll be humming for hours, even after you’ve cast aside the horrible taste of the game. I’m just going to take a moment here (and hopefully in the future) to acknowledge some of the redheaded step-children of the gaming music world.
The Donkey Kong Country series is famous for its exploration, teamwork, and awesome platforming, but when it comes to music, it usually only tops internet lists because of that horrible DK rap on the N64. However, the original Donkey Kong Country on the SNES has one of my all-time favorite game songs - Gangplank Galleon. The transition from sea-shanty to up-tempo action music is awesome, and both parts of the song are really catchy. Check it out at the vid:
You’ve got to hand it to the marketing geniuses at Nintendo. Back when they were running the world, they had their hands in everything from cereal to movies (like the Wizard, a feature-length commercial). Their influence was also felt in that most sacred of periods - the Saturday morning cartoon. If you grew up in the 80s, you’ve seen Captain Lou Albano sporting the Mario costume and Link spouting “Excuuuuuuuuuu….uuuuuse me, Princess.” Those guys had their own series (technically, Link just had a series of cartoons piggybacking off of Mario) because they were A-listers, but Nintendo, not content to let their B-listers avoid promotion, slapped them all together, threw in a spunky teen, and created Captain N: The Game Master. I have fond memories of this show, but will it still hold up once I removed the rose-tints?
Some games don’t get the credit they deserve, especially in the music department. Sometimes a really bad game can have an awesome theme thrown in somewhere in the middle that you’ll be humming for hours, even after you’ve cast aside the horrible taste of the game. I’m just going to take a moment here (and hopefully in the future) to acknowledge some of the redheaded step-children of the gaming music world.
Ok, so we’ve all heard the Mario theme over and over again, played by flutes, pianos, drums, a choir and reenacted by everyone from high schoolers who weren’t even born when the game was released to barnyard animals. Granted, it’s memorable, and iconic, but enough is enough. However, there is one bit of Mario music that I can listen to all day, every day - the ending music to Super Mario Bros. 2. Intricate in its simplicity, a soft ending to a manic game, easily played by anyone, and catchy as hell. This vid comes courtesy of banksta2 on youtube.
Anybody think of any other underappreciated bits of game music?
