Favorite Tunes #175: Flashback

You know those annoying anime episodes that recap the events of past episodes? Yeah, I'm not a big fan of them either. And yet, here I am, doing a Favorite Tunes that features music from past Favorite Tunes. It can be difficult to keep track of all the songs I've listed over the years and I've always wanted to give songs I've mentioned in the past even more recognition. With that said, this probably won't be the last time old favorites get used again but it will be done sparingly.

Battle Scene - Final Fantasy (NES)

The very first Final Fantasy battle theme. Battle Scene's first six seconds would go on to get reused in the next five Final Fantasy entries and return in Final Fantasy IX. Of course there's more to Battle Scene than those first few seconds. The song paints such a perfect picture of battle that even if someone heard it without context, I think the intent of the song would be quite clear. Even on the old NES hardware, Nobuo Uematsu crafted an intense battle theme and it is still one of my favorite battle tracks he's ever written.

Gusty Garden Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Mario's seventh generation console debut game did not disappoint, treating gamers to an out of this world experience. Who would have thought running around planets no bigger than a house could be so much fun. Sure, Spring Mario is a sucky power-up that needs to die in a fire, but Super Mario's pros far outweigh the cons. The orchestral score is certainly one of the game's biggest pros.

The Shinobi - The Revenge of Shinobi (GEN)

One cannot discuss great Genesis soundtracks and not mention Yuzo Koshiro's fantastic Revenge of Shinobi score. The Shinobi makes you feel like a badawesome ninja beginning his mission by infiltrating the enemy base, killing in stealth when needed.

The Road (Theme of Ryu) - Street Fighter Alpa 3 (Multi)

Ryu's Street Fighter II theme is so iconic that if often gets remixed in other Street Fighter and crossover games. I love his stage theme, but I was happy to see the composers of Street Fighter Alpha 3 break away from it and try something new. The result is The Road, a high energy theme that reflects Ryu's endless drive to improve himself through battle.

Eight Guitars (Sand Ocean) -F-ZERO GX (GCN)

Insert comments about how much one misses F-ZERO and how we need another entry here. In all seriousness, I'd love for Nintendo to just give us another F-ZERO. Even if it is a ball buster like the last console entry, F-ZERO GX, I'd be fine with that. Sure, GX was merciless, but it was a darn good racer to boot. I'm saddened that Eight Guitars, easily one of my top favorite tracks from GX, didn't make the music cut in Super Smash Bros. Brawl or the Smash on Wii U.

Rasdan - Threads of Fate (PS)

Released during a time where Square was more willing to take risks, Threads of Fate was allowed players to choose between Rue and Mint, each with their own story. The soundtrack was scored my Junya Nakano, who wrote Final Fantasy X's more atmospheric tracks. His work on Threads of Fare is still some of his best with Rasdan easily being my top pick from that score.

Favorite Tunes Database