Tragically Overlooked Game Music
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:
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Andy February 9th
This tune was NEVER overlooked by me. Love the DKC soundtrack. Don’t forget the shanty/swing version from Rattle Battle on DKC2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT9w3zk5vsc
Gregg Santee February 9th
Huge fan of the pre-N64 Donkey Kong soundtracks!!!
2Three February 10th
I was a big fan of this track too. Brings back memories of being jumped on by that fat @ss K.Rool.
richtaur March 23rd
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This ENTIRE soundtrack was remixed on OverClocked ReMix. It’s on the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong_Country
Also, it’s the FIRST Google result for “donkey kong country remix”: http://dkcproject.ocremix.org/
Saying the music is tragically overlooked really dismisses the hard work by the talent over at OCR on the DK project. FFS give it a listen and link to it to spread the word.
I appreciate what you’re trying to do here but maybe pick some ACTUALLY obscure/underappreciated games??
Eliot von Braun March 23rd
If the heading for the post was “Classic Music, Remixed”, I could see how I would have missed a huge opportunity, but that wasn’t really the point. It was about highlighting a song that wasn’t the Mario, Zelda, or Tetris theme, in its original form.
That said, even mainstream popular games can have underappreciated music. In an earlier post, I comment on the end music for Mario 2. Popular game, well known game, but the song doesn’t really get much recognition. I admire the work done at OCR, but this isn’t about the creativity people can do with a classic, which is admirable, but about addressing the original. It’s the difference between talking about making a tie-dye shirt and talking about having gone to Woodstock. One is more “classic” than the other. Again, sorry you didn’t like the piece.
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