Harmonies of the Past
By: Disco Matt
  
    

The thundering bass and softhearted treble can be heard as you trek through the rolling hills of Hyrule. A techno bounce whimpers in the background as you smash a goomba in oblivion. All the majestic sounds of video games accumulate, creating a symphony of epic proportions. Music, in everyday life as well as on TV and movies add a certain climactic appeal that can be found no where else. Video games rely on the soothing beat of a tune most of all. Like a crutch, they lean on it to allow support of game play and the rest. Music is the clothesline that supports the game. Each melody captures the soul and keeps the heart burning for more. Whether or not the game is any good, someone can be heard walking down a street, whistling a familiar theme from the game they just played. Music integrates itself in to the game, creating a new character that makes a game what it is.

Without music, what would a game have? It could be the most perfect game in the world, but without the music backing it, there is nothing to give it life. It adds so many feelings. Suspense, rage, fun, redemption, remorse, attraction and love, every emotion that could be expressed in normal human nature is controlled like a puppet. Each movement creates a new depth to the game. What would the death of Crono be without the dead silence and the remorseful music following? Nothing. What would it be like when you had a new character join your party in Earthbound with out the triumphant music? Nothing. Music constructs emotions to fuel a game to the end. No ending in video game history would be as huge as it were without the plucky theme that goes with. No matter what you say about a game, music is key to success. The enigmatic requiems that go hand in hand with the characters of the same type would not be as mysterious. Each character type has it's own theme and it takes the character to the next level.

Zelda is a perfect example of how music makes a game great. You could not feel as if you were there without the music. Whether you are lost in the Lost Woods or falling into the river below Gerudo Valley, you feel the beat coursing through your mind. It drills itself into you, scorching that place forever in your memory. You cannot tell me that the Windmill would be the same without the techno accordion music in the background. Each score depicts the areas perfectly. The quite, tranquil Kakariko, the eerie, desolate graveyard and the echoing serenade of the Water Temple. Each score makes the place what it is. The Water Temple would be nothing but a maze. All you would hear is the clicking and clacking of those stone ball things that turn to metal when close and the jumping spider-like monsters. The graveyard would not be as spooky and frightening if the music was not there. Kakariko Village would be a boring stop in now where. Music adds the illusion of what the area should be but really is
not.

Music constructs a reality that you can only experience once. Like an infant with a new stuffed animal, a gamer is that of music. The feeling it first brings you disappears when you hear it again. You know what has happened and no little things matter anymore. Progress is all you are concerned with but that is ok. The little picture on the wall of Link or the rat curled up in the corner is not as amazing as when you first saw it. As is music. When you first hear that tune, it eats at you like an acid. All the notes and accents bring the void that you are in to life. The butterfly that soars by makes sense when it is accompanied with the sensual beat of a trombone. Everything falls into place, like a million puzzle pieces that made no sense before. Now the picture matches the box. Now everything is one. All music flows from one scene to another, building up to an ever-lasting zenith in the game. Without it, the game would die before you put it in.

An explosive revelation is made when game a score mix. Each note takes on the game and gives it a new artistic value. Most games these days have monoliths of epic game play but a silent cry for a good score. Final Fantasy 6 (Final Fantasy 3 in North America) was a game that spliced music and substance to create an entity. An entity of sheer, mesmerizing beauty that it encompassed all before it and everything after. It was the last. Video games cry for music, some would die for it. Without any music, a game would decrescendo in nothing and fades from our memory.