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

Fantastic First Level Themes Vol. 7

They say you never forget your first. First kiss. First car. First level of a video game. We're here to focus on that last one. The first level of a video game can say a lot about the rest of the game. It can be a great way to grab the player for invested play time. For a lot of us, not only do we remember the first level because it is the start of a game, but because the music with that beginning level really stayed with us.

Thunder Landing - Super Contra (ARC)

Is there any better way to enter a level via dropping down from a helicopter? Yeah, probably, but it's still really freaking cool. After your feet are planted on the ground, you get to shoot anything and everything in your path. I've played the first stage of Super C so many times that the music quickly became a permanent part of my memory. The NES version is good, but I find the arcade music to be better.

Universe -Stage1- - Gradius V (PS2)

My personal favorite of the Gradius series, Gradius V is one of the finest shooters on the PS2. The music was handled by Hitoshi Sakimoto, mostly know for his RPG soundtracks, but he's no stranger to other genres as he wrote the score for the Saturn classic Radiant Silvergun. Making your way from base to the void of space, the music flows wonderfully with the transition of the two environments.

Sky Station Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

The Super Mario Galaxy games really know how to reel you in with the first galaxy. The first game kicked things off with Good Egg Galaxy, wowing players with an amazing orchestral piece and Super Mario Galaxy 2 opens up with Sky Station Galaxy, which has a wonderful arrangement of the game's main theme.

Ruins - Undertale (PC)

The fame of Undertale is not unlike that of Cave Story. Both games are indie titled developed by a one man team and both titles gained lots of wide spread attention. Your first area of exploration in Undertale is the Ruins, which serves as a tutorial. It's a pretty humble place as is the music that goes with it.

Outstanding Openers Vol. 4

Not every game immediately thrusts you into the gameplay. While its common place to have some kind of introduction scene in games these days, even before the HD era, we had games that took a bit of time to provide some plot before placing you in control. Outstanding Openers centers around intros that managed to grab my attention, make my jaw drop or say, "Wow, that was neat." Just click on the title of the game to see the opening unfold.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Wii owners, thankfully did not have to wait long for the first Super Mario title on the Wii, which made its debut in 2007, just one year after the Wii launched. Super Mario Galaxy starts off all happy delightful with Mario being invited to Peach's castle during the Star Festival. The good times are short lived as Bowser crashes the party with some of his best acts of villainy ever. He wages a full scale assault on the castle, encasing the Toad citizens in crystal and rather then settling for just Peach, he takes her AND her castle. Yeah, he did it in Paper Mario, but here, it looks so much more freakin' cool. Kamek sends Mario hurtling towards the Earth below where he would have had a not so smooth landing had it not been for the Luma Peach sent to help Mario. I haven't even played the first galaxy and I'm already jazzed after seeing that!

Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES)

One night in the year 2636, in a nameless city, a light pierces the skies, leaving the city below and absolute ruin. The aliens are back and apparently, they are pretty butthurt about those last two Ls they've had to hold from the previous Contra games. Bill Rizer and Lance Bean gear up to take revenge on the invaders, followed up one of the most badawesome title drops accompanied by explosions ever. Michael Bay would be proud.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2, PS3, 360)

The original Budokai is often herald as being the first good DBZ game to hit American shores. Budokai 2 added some improvements but was a disappointment overall with it's single player board game structure. And then there's Budoka 3, which is easily the cream of the crop. We open with a gorgeous anime cut scene where our heroes are facing off against Freeza, Cell and Kid Buu and even Cooler. Goku holds his own while everyone not named Goku gets the snot beat out of them. To take on the rampaging Broly, Goku and Vegeta fuse and form Gogeta and send Broly to another dimension. Just another day in the life of the Z Fighters.

*Note: The Music feature in this intro is from the PS2 version. 

Tekken Tag Tournament (PS2)

Tekken Tag Tournament was originally an arcade game but when it arrived on the PS2, it recieved an extreme graphics overhaul along with some remixed music that outclasses the original score. As is the case with most console versions of Tekken, TTT was given it's own exclusive intro. We begin with Kazuya leaving his office to take an elevator ride. Moving from the Mishima son with serious issues, we see Brian Fury, still up to no good, Lei Wulong still being a cop and Nina Williams is getting all gussied up for who know's what. Capping off the opening, Kazuya has gone outside to deal with his inner demons and in the case of this dude, I mean that quite literally. Title drop!