Video Game OST Discussion 3 - Brawl Week! Metal Gear, FE, and Zelda

[Lord Raven]

So in honor of Super Smash Brothers coming out on Friday, I'm going to do a smash week.  Unfortunately I haven't played THAT many different video games so I'll do what I've got.

My plan is to go over a bunch of series, link pictures of a stage, and describe the origin and analyze the music around it.  I said I'd post this yesterday, but I'll put around 30-40 tracks on here for three series that I am familiar with.  If anyone wants to write about one of Yoshi/Metroid/Pikmin/Mother/Donkey Kong, please PM me and I will give you some instructions.

Previous threads:

Week 1:  Pokemon Black and White
Week 2:  Radiant Historia


Let me start with Metal Gear!



I don't know how many people have played Metal Gear, but this is Shadow Moses Island, where the entirety of the MGS1 and a fifth of MGS4 takes place.  In MGS1, Solid Snake was sent out to investigate Shadow Moses because they were developing a nuclear warhead overseed by FOXHOUND.  FOXHOUND's goal was to get the body of Big Boss and a billion dollars in exchange for the Metal Gear unit - REX - which would launch a nuclear warhead.  As Snake goes further into Shadow Moses, he discovers the origin of his own birth and the existence of his twin brother, Liquid Snake.

In MGS4, Shadow Moses is infamous for the fight between Metal Gear REX and Metal Gear RAY.  Liquid Ocelot is here (basically Liquid Snake in Ocelot's body) and his goal is to take the Rail Gun from Metal Gear REX and basically assault JD.

Theme of Love is one of the first tracks to actually come out of this game when it was first released.  It's a very epic tune, fast paced, and very dynamic - hitting a sombre point.  But it's also significantly different from its original game which is a much, much more sombre tune sung entirely in Hebrew.  The "Action Version" is what you see in Brawl, and you'll notice a lot of similarities in rhythm but a very different tone.  MGS4's version suits the tone of the entire game, which is very melancholy and it also plays in the background of Snake's famous "War has changed" speech.

Encounter is mainly from the first MGS game, and this is a little different from the original theme because it fits a fighting game more.  The original one gave a sense of urgency but it's also rather low-key because MGS is a stealth game and it played whenever you were caught by guards and they sent their goons after you.  It's definitely a very well-arranged track, and the original track was also solid.

Theme of Tara is from Metal Gear (the original one).  It definitely has a James Bond-esque vibe to it in Brawl, the original was 8-bit and it attempted to convey the same thing, but alas the 8-bit lacks the instruments to do it.  I'm not too familiar with the original Metal Gears but from my understanding this was the original Metal Gear theme.

Yell "Dead Cell" is a very fast paced track and it's not very different to the original theme found in Metal Gear Solid 2.  Dead Cell was the organization in MGS2 whose purpose was to imitate FOXHOUND in order to mindscrew Raiden (it's a long and very interesting story).  Their entire purpose was to carry out the orders of the President (George Sears - aka Solidus Snake) and they eventually joined Solidus Snake into forming the Sons of Liberty to take over the Big Shell, Arsenal Gear, and Metal Gear RAY.  Their entire organization is a series of boss fights in MGS2.


Next up is Fire Emblem.



Castle Siege is the lone Fire Emblem stage representative in this game, and the two characters from the series (in Brawl) were Ike and Marth.  The purpose of this stage is to outline the three typical places where Fire Emblem battles occur; outside of a castle of some sort, inside of the castle, and inside of a volcano (which happens in almost every game I swear).  The stage transitions between the various things.  It is not actually based on any specific area in the series.

Brawl naturally has a nice assortment of tracks from the game.  The first you may all recognize is the Fire Emblem track from Melee, which combines longtime staple Together We Ride (Shadow Dragons version, FE3 version, original version, and FE7 version) with the Fire Emblem Theme.  To this day I cannot figure out what that little transition piece between the two is but it is a very nice medley that definitely helped the series breakout in the west.

Attack is a mix of the regular battle theme, "Strike" and the boss battle theme, "Rise to the Challenge" from FE7.  It's a very good track that actually makes both of these themes sound significantly better, and the transition between the two pieces was quite smooth and well done.

Ike's Theme is a track from Fire Emblem:  Radiant Dawn which is known in that game as "Eternal Bonds."  This track is a map theme that played whenever the different factions of the army (Crimean Army, Greil Mercenaries, Laguz Army, and eventually the Begnion refugees) combined to go against the Dawn Army and the other Begnion Army.  Very powerful track.

Crimean Army Sortie is actually one of my favorite tracks ever.  It's from Path of Radiance unedited, and it plays after Ike is promoted to Lord (and General of the Crimean army), after one of the most emotionally charged chapters in the game.  It's more atmospheric than Eternal Bonds/Ike's Theme but it is a very exhilarating track that represents that moment in the game so well.

Against the Black Knight is another one from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn which plays when you fight, well, the Black Knight.  Black Knight killed Ike's father, Greil, early in Path of Radiance and he shows up all over Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn as what basically amounts to Ike's rival (because they both learned swordsmanship under Greil).  Definitely a very foreboding piece for one of the most important and mysterious characters in the series.

Preparing to Advance is from Fire Emblem:  The Sacred Stones and it's the theme for the preparations menu, where you pick which characters go into battle and arrange their equipment accordingly.  I'm glad that they put this one in out of all of them, because it's actually one of the better tracks.  They also made it more fitting in a fighting game by replacing the tympani and bass drum with bells (giving it a much more lively tone than as opposed to more of a military-esque tone).

[Lord Raven]

And finally!  Onto Zelda.  This will be the meat of this update, since mostly everyone has played Zelda, and there are three stages worth of music to pick from.



Bridge of Eldin is where a good amount of fighting occurs in Twilight Princess, against King Bulbin who kidnaps some villagers.  Link fights them mounted on Epona, although they blow up the bridge a couple times!  ~_~  At any rate, elements of that are seen on this stage, where king Bulbin comes in, throws a bomb, and eventually the whole middle of the stage is reduced to nothing.  Then some twilight comes around and brings the bridge back, just like in the game.

Ocarina of Time Medley, I could start from the top and go with the main Zelda theme, but I think that should be saved for later.  Besides, this is a very good remix of all of the ocarina themes - it starts out very light with Zelda's Lullaby, which is nice and innocent (while the Sun Song plays in the background, giving it more of a light feeling).  Then we move onto the Song of Storms, which is a fan favorite because it's so catchy and lead to the ultimate time paradox in Ocarina of Time where a guy taught you a song in the future...  that you go back and play in the past to screw this guy up (and it also has Epona's Song playing in the background for a nice effect).  Afterwards is a darker theme, which is the Song of Time that you used initially to gain access to the chamber of the Master Sword.  And afterward, we get a very heavy rendition of Saria's Song that's epic and everything, because Saria's Song was a fan favorite.

Dark World is vastly different from the A Link to the Past counterpart.  The former is very much a calming piece despite it being, you know, the Dark World (though I guess it gets the "Sacred Realm" part across better) whereas A Link to the Past's version is much more of a military style march - presumably because you're up against Ganon's army at that point in the game.  The contrast is real, but the Brawl version is very soothing and overall a good track and re-arrangement.

Hidden Village has a very spaghetti western type ambiance to it which is very cool because it plays in the Hidden Village.  In the hidden village, you basically fight in a shootout with a bunch of Bulblins to help out Ilia.  It's implied that this is also the hidden village of the Sheikah, which makes this theme a little unfitting considering the fate of the Sheikah...

Midna's Lament is another track from Twilight Princess, and it's definitely not fitting of a figthing game, but it is a very nice and melancholy track that fits in the original game given the context.  Basically, Link is reverted to his wolf form and Midna is at the edge of death, so they seek out princess Zelda to see if she can do anything - and eventually Zelda gives her life to make sure Midna stays alive and Link can fight against Zant (and eventually Ganon).  It's very sombre because that part in the game seems hopeless, much moreso than any other moment in Zelda history.



Pirate Ship is a nice stage...  said no one ever.  Lots of traps on this stage, including a bombs that randomnly hit the stage, the front of the ship will kill you instantly, and randomly you get flown away.  You can also drown in the water if you're not careful, although the King of Red Lions eventually appears.  You also crash into an island randomly (and if you're caught between the ship and the island...  gg) where you get some extra space to fight...  and evnetually you're caught in a random hurricane where you're fighting purely in the air.  Annoying stage, but fun to play on.

Dragon Roost Island is one of the catchier pieces in Brawl and the series in general.  Dragon Roost Island is the first dungeon in the Wind Waker, full of the descendents of the Zora known as the Ruta.  On the island is a volcano that's going nuts and beating up on their dragon god.  It definitely has that vibe that it's a tropical volcano type of island.

The Great Sea is another Wind Waker piece that would be better if it didn't piss off every Wind Waker player out there due to how often you're on that slow ass ship.  It's a very nice theme for voyaging and gives a more ocean-y vibe than your typical Zelda overworld theme, especially with the cellos at the beginning and the fact that it's more flowing than your regular Zelda overworld theme - kinda like the ocean, right?

Gerudo Valley is another fan-favorite that made its way into brawl.  Gerudos are an all-female warrior race with a male born once a century (and in Ocarina, that male is Ganondorf).  It's a very odd theme because it gives more of a Spanish vibe than an arabic vibe like you'd see from desert tracks, but it's a very nice and melodic theme nonetheless.

Song of Storms is an earworm that made its way into Brawl.  It stays very true to the original which is not worth linking because it's basically the same, but it basically plays with a dude who has an accordion in a windmill.  It's also one of the stranger time paradoxes in the Zelda series, where Link learns the song in the future, travels back in time, and plays it to the guy who taught it to him.  It also ends with a rendition of the Ganon's Castle theme, randomly, but the transition is seamless enough that I'd allow it...  then finally ending with the Serenade of Water.



What is it with Zelda stages being annoying?  Hyrule Temple is the most annoying of them all - there are grand memories of people going down below and living through beatdowns of 300% or massive stall wars where people keep running away from each other.  There's all of two tracks on here, but I'll play the one that's new to Brawl, which is this one.  It stays much truer to the original version than the Melee version did.  I like the opening because it's nice and then it eventually turns into a nice, smooth melody.  A very good track and it fits the stage incredibly well.


And finally, the Main Theme of the Legend of Zelda in all its orchestrated glory.  I don't need to say much about this, we should all know this by now.

[Richard and Blaziken]

Never played Metal Gear, so I have nothing to really contribute to that. I will say that I never liked Snake being in Brawl, it seemed very unfitting on many levels, and the fact that he was literally broken (both in terms of competitive level and not functioning as intended) made me dislike his presence even more. I know a lot of people love Metal Gear and Snake, but I'm just not one of them.

Fire Emblem is a series I've only gotten around to playing one game in (the GBA game "Fire Emblem"), and I love that game, but since I have no experience with any other FE games, I can't connect to the pieces in that way. I will say that the Fire Emblem music in Smash always seems to get me pumped for fighting though, they picked some great tracks. That first one in particular man, it's so fitting for a fighting game. Great variety here.

Zelda is one of my favorite game franchises, but I have to confess... I hate Twilight Princess (and Skyward Sword, but that doesn't pertain to this discussion), so the inclusion of TP Link in Brawl and the new Smash game has been somewhat disappointing, especially when SS Link with new weapons would have made more sense and been a much needed improvement over Link's tired repertoire that has landed him low spots in every Smash tier list.

Nevertheless, onto the music. The Ocarina of Time Medley is wonderful. With Ocarina of Time being my favorite game of all time, this track drums up memories and feelings that bring me right back to being 9 or 10 years old.

Don't really care for the Dark World melody, and also don't care for the Dark World in ALttP either. Guess it's something you had to be there for at the time, but while I did finish ALttP, the Dark World was something that I didn't enjoy, similar to how I didn't enjoy the Twilight Realm in TP.

Hidden Village is weird. Maybe I should just write all the reasons I hate TP.

Midna's Lament is a beautiful song, one of the standout tracks from TP, and definitely a memorable moment. I agree though, this is an odd choice for a fighting game.

Dragon Roost Island sums up the experience of Windwaker - FUN! Very catchy song and works well in a fighting game.

I must be in the minority here, because I love the open sea exploration of Wind Waker and never felt bothered by crossing the large sea. It gave me a sense of adventure, and there were tons of islands and side-quests that you would just stumble upon and didn't have to do! This track reminds me exactly what made Wind Waker so special.

Gerudo Valley is cool. It definitely had a feel in Ocarina and was a pretty memorable location. The song definitely helped add to the feel of the location too.

Song of Storms is one of those songs that still gets stuck in my head now, even when I haven't played Ocarina of Time in ages. 10/10 would paradox again.

I don't like Zelda 2 at all, and it's not because it breaks the formula, it's because Link's sword has a ridiculously small reach and forced grinding to make it through this insanely brutal quest is just not worth it. HOWEVER! This is an awesome track that makes me wish I could tolerate the adventure. Such a mysterious vibe to it.

The main theme of Zelda is... that. It's awesome and I love it.

Sorry if I rambled more about the games than the music, but since Zelda is one of my two favorite video game franchises, hearing the music obviously holds a lot of memories, both good and bad. Great list of songs here, Muhed. You gonna cover more Smash/Brawl tracks next time, or just sticking with these?

[Kerou 犠牲]

I've got to disagree with Rich here about Twilight Princess, I found that to be a really enjoyable game and loved the introduction of some of the music and the Link costume. The LoZ games have always been pretty on the ears so I could never really complain about the introduction of it.

But yeah, great read as usual. I always have memories of Hyrule Temple from Melee and how much I loved playing on that map (although I'd always avoid the bottom area for the reasons given haha), especially with that Fire Emblem theme since it'd always hype me up when I played as Roy.

[Lord Raven]

Twilight princess was my favorite Zelda game but Midna's Lament was definitely a fish out of water here.  I don't know what the Brawl guys were thinking when they put it in.