Weekly Game Music: Title Screen (Animal Crossing)


New week, new music.  Here’s yet another piano composition from the famed Nintendo music composer, Kazumi Totaka.  The calm, jazzy Title Screen music is quite appropriate for this laid back game, Animal Crossing.

The story behind Animal Crossing is very simple, if lacking.  You (yes, you) decide to leave home and travel to a town full of animals.  As you set yourself for a new, independent life, you encounter the main plot of the game: the local shopkeeper, Tom Nook.  Or, more precisely, the debt you owe for buying one of his houses.  Thus begins your quest for trying to pay-off this sneaky businessman, as he slowly inflates the haunting debt.

Fortunately for you, though, Tom Nook is in no hurry.  As a communication RPG, that’s rather critical.  The majority of the time is spent on talking with your randomly-generated neighbors and taking care of their errands.  The main draw of the game are its collectibles.  It allows you to customize your house with various furniture and accessories.  Since the game grades you on your content, it’s implied that you make it look as pretty as possible!

Animal Crossing was released on the Gamecube in 2001.  Its sequels were released on the Nintendo DS and Wii.  A sequel for the Nintendo 3DS is currently in the works.
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Weekly Game Music: Jinjo Theme (Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts)


New week, new music.  One thing that’s always exciting about sequels are its attempts to modernize previous tunes.  From that perspective, the marching composition, Jinjo Theme from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, absolutely exceeds expectations.  And no wonder: series veteran, Grant Kirkhope knows too well how to make an amazing cartoon theme to fit this comical re-imaging of a popular Rare series.

Banjo-Kazooie starts with one disappointing beginning: Banjo and Kazooie’s arch nemesis, Grutilda, hobbles out of the crushing boulders to get her revenge on the bear-and-bird duo.  As duty calls, our heroes slowly rises up from their television, and grunts all the way to where Grutilda (now only a skull) is squawking.  Before things become more anti-climatic, however, Lord of Games (LOG) appears, declaring this game series as stale and no longer profitable.  He throws the three into a parallel universe, refits them to their athletic conditions, and orders them to resolve their conflict through a new and unorthodox means.

As LOG dictates, Banjo-Kazooie is a mission-based game revolving around cartoon battle vehicles with various collectibles.  His mighty missions that Banjo and Kazooie must endure includes battles, races, and collecting items.  Despite these drastic changes from the previous game, though, the Almighty had the smarts to retain the series key feature: collecting a ton of stuff to reach to the next level.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released on Xbox 360 in 2008.


Extra!

Title: BanjoLand Theme
Game: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Composers: Robin Beanland and Grant Kirkhope

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Weekly Game Music: Morning, Thinker (Armored Core series)


New week, new music.  Lets explore yet another genre I haven’t explored yet: mecha combat.  Here’s a remix of Silent Line: Armored Core and Armored Core 4 music, Morning, Thinker by Mattias Häggström Gerdt and Deia Vengen.  It’s an aggressive techno, best depicting the chaotic, yet strategical nature of piloting a bipedal tank.

The Armored Core series revolves around power-hungry corporations frequently throwing war at each other.  It seems only natural, then, that Silent Line: Armored Core begins after much destruction of the human population.  While humanity is slowly regaining its former glory, scouts discover a portion of the globe where seemingly all communications are lost.  You’re tasked to investigate this mysterious location, the Silent Line.

All Armored Core games revolves around customizing and experimenting with your mech, and putting your construction into practice.  As expected from a future war game, the walking tanks you create must gun through numerous vehicles, artillery, and other mechs.  Special in Silent Core, parts can be damaged individually, and retains its damage between sessions.  This requires the player to constantly replace its weapons and upgrades per session.

Silent Line: Armored Core was released on Playstation 2 in 2003.  It was later ported to the PSP in 2010.  Armored Core 4 was released on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007.
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Weekly Game Music: Jeremy (Granado Espada)


New week, new music.  We need…more MMORPG music!  Here’s Jeremy from Sword 2 (or Granado Espada outside of North America and Europe).  It’s composed by a group of South Korean composers, known as S.F.A.  The dramatic crescendo best portrays the wonders of discovering a new world.

Sword 2 is free-to-play at GamersFirst.com.

Sword 2 is loosely based off of the European colonization on the North American continent.  In the mist of a losing war, the king of Opoluto commands the explorers to Gilbert Granado and Ferrucio Espada to find an ocean route to get its upper hand on its enemies.  Instead, they find a new land, Granado Espada.  The discovery was a big surprise…for the enemy countries.  Soon, many nationalistic people ventures to this new land of hope, not letting the monster-infested land get in the way of their desire for power.

Sword 2 plays similar to the World of Warcraft: click to attack enemies, collect loot, gain experience points, etc.  It does, however, have one distinct twist: instead of controlling one character, you can control up to 3.  This allows for some neat party system, such as allowing the player to devote one character into healing without the need to be defended by their friends.  Surprisingly, this makes it an engrossing experience for even people preferring to play as the lone warrior.

Sword 2 was released on the PC in 2007.
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