The first thing we hear can usually be the most memorable
One of the most influential moments of a game for me is when we first boot it up and are treated to a title block. The game logo, the copyright, the START or CONTINUE — these combine to let us know that we’re about to enter a new world. But the part that really gets us going, and perhaps the most memorable and most influential in how an experience is portrayed to us, is that title intro music. That glorious, wonderful soundtrack sets a mood and expectation, often sticking in our heads as we play through the game. In many of our cases those title tracks stay with us for years or decades.
Being a child of the Eighties and Nineties, those title sequences ushered huge worlds, ideas and concepts that I still value and cherish today, and still make me perk up when I hear them. I can hum these tunes in my sleep, I can immediately be thrown back to the playthroughs or important moments of my life when I first heard them.
My collection below is of some of the most important ones to me, in the versions that I first experienced them (if I could find them) and that still hold effect. I’ll have a few other varied personal lists this week, but what better way to intro those than with an intro list of all-timers?
I’ll be updating this list throughout the week, and have a playlist available too, for those that just want to jam along in the background.
Super Mario Bros.
Though my first game experiences were arcades, and we had an Atari 2600 for a while, the NES is where title music really took off for us. It was an incredible time, and hearing the Super Mario Bros title theme for the first time in 1985 really meant something special. It’s arguably the most famous video game theme of all time, and one that turns us into kids right away.
The Legend of Zelda
Oh boy, who could NOT get ready to go on an adventure when this track comes on? The OG Zelda theme is still a special, wonderful piece of art, and it’s the core of the series’ experience. You cannot have a good Zelda game without great Zelda music.
Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior
Serving as a pack-in for our first Nintendo Power issue, the game’s title music was bombastic and happy, and signaled an adventurous anime world was about to be entered. This track eased me into RPGs, where I’ve stayed a fan ever since.
Mega Man 2
There is possible no greater tune that sets up a near-ish future game than Mega Man 2’s intro. The track is fast, it uses great technological themes, and it feels like we’re in the late 21st century listening to it. It sets up the game perfectly, and is possibly one of the most important pieces of video game music ever created.
Maniac Mansion
I first was exposed to Maniac Mansion on the Commodore 64 in elementary school, and the way it approached that intro, with a sort of swanky jazz, let me feel that this sci-fi game was going to be something very different. It mesmerized me for what the Adventure game genre could be, from a music standpoint, and how just the opening tune could break the stereotype for video games.
Space Quest
Speaking of Adventure games, Sierra On-Line will still be the most formative PC game company of my youth, and sitting on top of that would be Space Quest. The first game, which we played on a Tandy 1000HX computer, contains every space movie cliche possible. And that opening sequence, with its ultra-minimal bleeps and bloops, somehow was able to get our little minds going as we imagined the instruments that the single track midi was meant to imitate. But it was everything that WASN’T in that track, that the processor couldn’t handle, that somehow made the audio more impactful.
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
What a weird, wild game this was — one of Lucasfilms’ weirdest — and its intro track gives off that vibe completely. Once again on our Tandy this music seemed like an explosion of sounds, and one that told us that sci-fi can continue to evolve.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
When this music first kicks in we feel regal, we feel like we’re in Hyrule’s court, and we feel like we can TOUCH the TriForce as it glistens in front of us. The build up to the trumpets is still pretty phenomenal. This track was the first time that I thought I was about to enter a cinematic game experience — and yes, it was.
Final Fantasy IV
It’s impossible to talk about what this specific song means to so many people. For me, it was weekend rentals for years, it was mysticism, it was magic. This music especially gave us emotion, as it has a taste of sadness in it that sets up so many events in the game. It’s the quintessential fantasy music track, and it’ll always give me goosebumps.
Actraiser
I’m about to take on the world. That’s what this track says. The magic of the SuperNES’s audio chip is showed off here in full force. This tune is the equivalent of old Hollywood sword & sandal movies in 16-bit form. It’s epic, in the truest of words.
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