It was revealed today that Video game soundtracks will be considered alongside TV and Movie music for the "Music for Visual Media" section of the Grammy Awards. This section, formally known as "Film, Television and Other Visual Media" represents three separate awards, Best Compilation Soundtrack, Best Score Soundtrack and Best Song.
With this in mind lets have a look back at some of the iconic video game songs that might have competed for these awards in years past.
Koji Kondo - Level 1-1 (Super Mario Bros.)
The opening level of Shigeru Miyamoto's 1985 Super Mario Bros. sported one of, if not THE most recognisable theme tunes in video gaming history. Koji Kondo was responsible for all six themes used in the game, but it was the the theme tune for world 1-1 that would become the games calling card. Using the Nintendo Entertainment Systems 8 bit processor (the NES didn't have a dedicated sound chip) Kondo created fun, light hearted and original tunes that were instantly recognisable as being from the Nintendo mascots first Platform adventure. Kondo was given complete freedom to compose the music for Super Mario Bros. as he saw fit, but was keen to collaborate with Miyamoto, familiarising himself with the Game directors musical tastes.
A unique aspect of Super Mario Bros soundtrack is the way that it speeds up when the countdown timer reaches the 100 second mark to audibly hurry the player along, something that platform games after it's release would copy to varying degrees of success. At GDC 2007 Kondo stated that the theme "reflects the action-oriented game play of the series, and that he didn't know if he could make a song that was catchier than the world 1-1 theme but he would "Like to try"
This song is so iconic that it featured in many other Mario Games such as Super Mario Bros 2 and the Super Smash Bros. franchise. It also appeared on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show where WWF wrestler/manager Captain Lou Albano sang along to the tune that had been dubbed "Do the Mario"
It's as inseparable from Mario as those spiffing red overalls he's been sporting for the last 25 years, they could probably use a wash by now couldn't they?
Masato Nakamura - Green Hill Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog)
In 1991 SEGA welcomed the new poster child for their company into the fold, Sonic would replace Alex Kidd as the face of the company and was exactly the opposite of Nintendo's Mario in almost every way.
Mario was Red, Sonic was Blue.
Mario was Slow, Sonic was Fast.
Mario was Human, Sonic was a Hedgehog.
Sonics last name was different from his first.
They both had one thing in common with each other though, they both had iconic music to jump around to (well okay, they were a little podgy around the belly too).
Penned by Masato Nakamura from J-Pop group "Dreams Come True", the Sonic soundtrack made the most of the SEGA Genesis' Yamaha YM2612 sound chip delivering music and sound effects in stereo. Nakamura wrote several tracks for the game, but just like Mario's début six years previously it would be the first track that everyone would associate with the spiky blue mammal. The song would appear in numerous other Sonic games through the years, it was touched up slightly in Sonic Adventure 2 and remixed in the Sunset Hill zone in Sonic Advance 3.
Koji Kondo - Opening Theme (The Legend of Zelda)
Sometimes a theme, or more accurately a motif, is so iconic that you can't imagine a character without it, While Mario and Sonic might well fit that description there is a young man in a far off land that could well lay better claim to that position.
In 1986, just a year after he capture lightning in a bottle, Koji Kondo did it again by creating the theme song for what would be one of the most beloved Nintendo games franchises of the next 25 years. Legend of Zelda felt like a time of swords and sorcery in no small part because of the music that accompanied you as you explored hyrule. It feels optimistic, heroic and energetic, in a sense it makes you understand what Link is all about and highlights the emotional state that he's in as he sets off, eyes sparkling with wonder, on his quest to save fair maiden from danger. It's good to know that even though he would lose all his equipment and forget everything he had learned time and time again over the years he would always have the song to cheer him up, the daft git.
It's little surprise that the basic outline of the main theme has survived 25 years to this day ("Links Theme" in Wind Waker and "Final Preparation" theme in Spirit Tracks)
For my money though, the "Link to the Past" Overworld theme is the best version going...
Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy VII Soundtrack
If Nobuo Uematsu wasn't on this list i would rightly have to take a very long walk off of an exceedingly short piece of timber. Of all the artists on this list, he is the most likely to be awarded the Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack simply because the quality of his work throughout games such as Final Fantasy VII is so impeccable. I may have chosen to embed a link to "One Winged Angel" to demonstrate his ability as a composer but someone else might have chosen "Aeriths theme", another would have thought the "Final Fantasy Overture" more deserving. That's why he is so great at what he does, Uematsu writes scores that speak to gamers on a personal level.
Considering the technology he was using to create these pieces of music, that really is something.
To hell with it, here's another of his remarkable songs.
Harry Gregson-Williams & Tappi Iwase - Metal Gear Solid Main Theme (MGS2)
Not far behind Nobuo Uematsu is British Composer Harry Gregson-Williams. A Grammy award Nominee and protege of Hans Zimmer, Gregson-Williams has had a long career composing songs for Hollywood blockbusters. The Rock, Armageddon, Shrek, Phonebooth and The Taking of Pelham 123 are all on his CV and demonstrate his ability to write stirring, breathless orchestral pieces that instantly draw the viewer into the action. He was drafted in by Game director Hideo Kojima to remix the Metal Gear Solid theme which was originally composed by Tappi Iwase for the original game released in 1998.
The result is astounding.
Often times a good piece of music will inform you of certain things, whether that be the type of person that a certain character is, their motivation, mood, even what they're thinking. The opening theme of Metal Gear Solid 2 encapsulates all that Solid Snake is, it tells you that he's the hero, that he will sacrifice everything to complete his mission, and more importantly that the game itself is EPIC. In a time when gaming became more a cinematic experience, especially true of Kojima games, this score suited the game perfectly. It gave MGS2 the feel of a big motion picture, and alluded to the scale of the story that lay ahead.
And for anyone that remembers Metal Gear Arsenal, you know the scale we're talking about here.
Martin O'Donnell - Halo Theme (Halo: Combat Evolved)
There's something quite charming about the Halo theme song. It's got undertones of Irish folk music and monastic chanting throughout and all the while it's building and building to a grand crescendo. The song makes everything seem ancient and yet current/futuristic at the same time, an idea that many sci-fi games have shared throughout the years and which Halo succeeds at.
Martin O'Donnell, the games audio director has gone on record as saying that "Music is best used in a game to quicken the emotional state of the player, and it works best when used least" This is why the Main theme works so well, it sets you up for the game ahead of you, impressing on you the weight of the story and then it leaves you alone with the game, only ever giving you the odd flicker of music here and there. It's a theme song in the grand tradition of action movies through the ages, it get's you pumpedup for what's to come.
The Halo theme is iconic enough that it featured as a downloadable bonus for Owners of the 360 version of Guitar Hero 3
I should also point out that the Rock version of the song is awesome.
So there we have it, Games are that much closer to getting mainstream recognition and credibility on a par with TV and Movies. Maybe if the Acadamy wants to capture the young viewers they tried so hard to pander to with Hathaway and Franco they should consider following the Grammys lead. Just a thought...
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