Favorite Tunes #116: Schools Out

Well, this is the month of June and you know what that means. Graduations and summer time. Time to hit the pool, the beach, go sky diving, spend more time at the arcade or whatever fun activities have you. As they say, schools out for summer.

Credits - Splatoon (Wii U)

If you managed to tear yourself away from Splatoon's highly addictive online multiplayer mode and finish the single play campaign,  you not only picked up some handy tactics to use while you make people dye online, but were also rewarded with this oh-so-chill theme.

Eternal Empire - Suikoden (PS)

They play the same old song at high school graduations. You know the one I'm talking about.  Yes, I understand tradition, but I think it doesn't hurt to mix things up every now and then, which brings us to this theme. This glorious. accomplishment inspired theme. I think if this were played at a graduation, most probably wouldn't even be aware of it's origins.

Slammin' Sea - Mega Bomberman (GEN)

Mega Bomberman is actually a port of the TG-16's Bomberman '94 and is, to my knowledge, the only Bomberman game to have graced the Genesis. Some like to argue that Jun Chikuma's compositions don't translate as well on the Genesis hardware, but I think some of the tunes sound better on SEGA's 16-bit baby.

Pac-Man's Park - Pac-Mania (ARC)

This 1987 arcade release was quite different from the original Pac-Man. The isometric view really shook things up. Mazes were bigger than a single screen. New ghosts were introduced and Pac-Man could jump, giving him more options for evading his super natural pursuers. Musically, this game has some of Pac-Man's best jams with this theme being remixed along with Block Town in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Main Theme - NBA Jam (SNES)

Why was NBA Jam such a big hit in the mid 1990s? Easily accessible, fun arcade gameplay, the NBA license and that crazy announcer with his catch phrases like "BOOMSSHALAKA!" Nothing against sim sports titles but I love just being able to jump into a sports game without having to worry about all the super realistic mojo. The game's Main Theme sounds even better on the SNES sound chip than it does in the arcade.

Koopa Beach - Super Mario Kart (SNES)

You think Mario Kart games cause rage now? Well, back in my day, the cheating AI of Super Mario Kart was the original Blue Shell! In all seriousness, Super Mario Kart is a super fun racer that is not without it's flaws, the main one being the high unbalanced AI. Written by Soyo Oka, who was inspired by Koji Kondo's infectious compositions, its no wonder Super Mario Kart's soundtrack is so memorable. I'd love for her to come back and write some music for future Mario Kart games.

Favorite Tunes Database