Hello everybody, Thunderbird here again for another installment of my Top 100 Video Game Songs! I've tried to write as much as I can about each game, but sometimes the music will speak for itself. If you missed entries 100-96, it's here: http://screwattack.com/node/27612 If you missed entries 95-91, it's here: http://screwattack.com/node/27851 If you missed entries 90-86, it's here: http://screwattack.com/node/28198 If you missed entries 86-81, it's here: http://screwattack.com/node/28450 If you missed entries 80-76, it's here: http://screwattack.com/node/28725 So without any further rambling, let's get into it. 75). Corneria Theme – Super Smash Bros. Melee Yes, the Corneria stage music is better in Super Smash Bros. Melee than it originally is in Star Fox. Deal with it. But let’s look at the actually differences in the two tracks. The original Corneria stage sounds like a backing track to some strange 80’s song. A lot of keyboards in front of a very stagnant techno sounding beat. Now contrast this with the melee Corneria music. The song starts off right away with a bang, and a descenting pattern that draws the listener into the excitement. It’s very good fighting music. The snare drums that provide the beat give the song a sense of urgency that works very well here. Also, it always seems like some part of the song is moving frantically, and never really settling. The melody is constantly going at a very fast pace, and even in the relatively slower sounding chorus part of the track, the beat is still chugging at the same tempo. Basically, my main reason that this song is so much higher on the list than the original Corneria music is because this is epic, fitting for one of the greatest fighting games ever made, fitting for all the great memories we all have with the game it’s in. The original track is not. Maybe it’s because I didn’t love the original Star Fox that much, but while the track is good, it just cannot compare to it’s reinventing for Super Smash Bros. Melee. 74). The Milkman’s Den Has Been Breached – Psychonauts Good lord, if you thought the Smorgs music was crazy… you’ll probably think this is just as crazy. From the vastly underappreciated (except by the inner gaming community) Psychonauts, this track is so insane, it almost doesn’t even sound like music. There are definitely musical instruments, and notes, but the composition as a whole just sounds like every single instrument was practicing something different at the same time. Well, not exactly that, but you get what I mean. There is very little rhyme or reason to this song, but that’s why it’s so freakin’ great! If you’ve played Psychonauts, you realize how this song perfectly matches the insanity of the Milkman. Now, as far as why it’s still kind of low on my list, I’ll explain. One thing is that I just prefer songs with more emotion. Songs that are beautiful or just epic. Sure, really catchy, upbeat songs are great, and you will see some songs like that very high on the list. But they aren’t epic enough to beat out the great songs. Now this song is great, but it’s just hard for me to really love it. It’s great, but just not great enough. But as far as mimicking the character it’s based on, and just being completely insane, this track is right up there in the top. Another reason it’s low is that it isn’t the best song in the game, but we’ll get to that later. For now, The Milkman’s Den has Been Breached is a great pick for this spot on the list. 73). Enhasa – Chrono Trigger It was only a matter of time before some Chrono music came up on this list. Now I just talked about how I love epic sounding music in video games, and when I said epic, this is exactly what I meant. Now, this isn’t the most epic track, not by far, but it’s a perfect example of the epicness that I love so much. This track is another in a gigantic line of perfect examples of the Super Nintendo’s capabilities in terms of music. I can’t think of another system that has as many great songs in its library. But getting back on track, Enhasa starts with a very strange beat that sounds like it’s coming out of a xylophone or something, and then the melody comes in around to provide an atmospheric sound that just sucks you in to the music. It’s a perplexing song, one that leads me to lift one eyebrow as if to examine the music on a more intellectual level. And all that is just more reasoning to why this song is awesome. 72). Love is in the Air – Yoshi’s Story Before I get into talking about this actual song, let me backtrack a little. When I was collecting songs for this list, I was looking through the Yoshi’s Story song library, when I noticed that with a few exceptions, all the music had the exact same melody, except it was all played in different styles and keys depending on the level. So I knew I could only pick one song, and I picked Love is in the Air. It’s just the best, whether it’s the great acoustic guitar opening and continued ambience, or the violin/chello playing the main melody, but this track has a certain sound to it that few other songs can replicate. It actually sounds like real music, which is more than I can say about all video game music. There’s nothing really bad about this song that keeps it at this point on the list, just it not being as great as the songs above it, that’s all. But Love is in the Air is a great song, and part of the reason that Yoshi’s Story is such a freakin’ great game. 71). Kolima Forest – Golden Sun If you like panflutes, you’ll love this song. They are riddled throughout this song from Golden Sun on the Game Boy Advance. Whether they are providing the melody like in the opening of the song, or stepping aside to provide the backing for other instruments to take the melody, you can’t escape that haunting sound in this track, it seems to be surrounding you the entire time. And yes, I know I’m just talking about pan flutes here, but I actually think that those instruments are really cool, and should be used more in game music, because of the atmospheric sound they can produce. Now this isn’t the best song in Golden Sun, but it’s a pretty good one. It almost sounds like a more depressing Dire Dire Docks, in the atmosphere it produces. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? Well if you do, then you’ll know exactly why Kolima Forest is here, and even if you don’t understand me, how could you disagree with this pick. It’s haunting, beautiful, interesting, and unique, all rolled up into one package. What more could you want in video game music?