Podcast Episode 29 - Kingdom Hearts

After 15 years I return to Kingdom Hearts to see if I still like it as much as I used to. As much as I like to dunk on the series now, I still love it.

Memorable Melodies: Dearly Beloved from Kingdom Hearts

Song: Dearly Beloved

Game Kingdom Hearts

Composer: Yoko Shimomura

I like to talk a lot of mess about the Kingdom Hearts games after the original. I do it, because I truly love the original Kingdom Hearts. It was pure, it was new. I could argue that once Sora became a teen and the game got filled with angst its innocence was lost. That's not to say that I dislike the series now. In fact I am anxiously awaiting the release of Kingdom Hearts 3. It'll probably be a solid game, but it will never live up to the original. 

The mobile game Kingdom Hearts Unchained came out recently and I've been playing it quite a bit. It's an average mobile game, but as the title suggests it features Kingdom Hearts characters. While playing through it I've been filled with the urge to go back and play the original. I know that one of my friends has the final mix version for PS3, and I might go borrow it from him after writing this. This is where the song choice for this week comes from.

Whenever I think back to the original release of Kingdom Hearts the main menu music Dearly Beloved plays in my mind. Most people probably think about Simple and Clean, but Dearly Beloved is used in almost every Kingdom Hearts game on the main menu. When I hear it, it's comforting. Not only because of the serene piano, but because it makes the game feel like home. It lets you know you're playing a Kingdom Hearts game. 

The video I featured above is the version of the song featured in the original game. Below I will post another video that goes through every iteration of the song used throughout the series. 

*sigh* Man, I really want to play the original Kingdom Hearts now.

Memorable Melodies: Lucca's Theme from Chrono Trigger

Song: Lucca's Theme

Game: Chrono Trigger

Composers: Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu

Chrono Trigger is my favorite video game of all time. Most people who know me are keenly aware of this fact. I could go on and on about how much I love Chrono Trigger and why it's so near to my heart, but I won't. For this feature we're here to talk about music, so that's what we're going to do.

Nobuo Uematsu is arguably one of the most well knows and lauded Japanese composers in the video game industry. Yasunori Mitsuda is similarly well known, but to a lesser degree. I personally think that the both of them do marvelous work, so it's no surprise that when they came together for the Chrono Trigger soundtrack something magical happened. One of the many reasons I love Chrono Trigger is because all of the music is so memorable. Most video game soundtracks are released once, but the Chrono Trigger soundtrack has been remixed and re-released several times over the years. It's a well loved soundtrack.

I want to try to go as long as I can before repeating games in this feature, which is why I've waited to long to bring Chrono Trigger into the picture. I remember every song from this game and still listen to them almost weekly. After much deliberation I decided that I had to go with Lucca's theme. She's the best friend of the game's protagonist. She's way into science and has purple hair. 

The reason I chose Lucca's theme is because it also acts as the fanfare when you win a battle. It's something that you'll hear a ton over the course of the game. It's almost impossible not to remember. 

Whenever I hear this song I immediately get pumped up. It's very up tempo and has a killer underlying drum beat. It sends a message to the player. It wants you to feel good and get pumped up for whatever is to come next. It's motivational in a way that most video game tracks simply aren't.

Memorable Melodies: Seaside Town from Super Mario RPG

Song: Seaside Town

Game: Super Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars

Composer: Yoko Shimomura

Last night after streaming Inazuma Eleven I hunkered down to play Metal Gear Solid V. I kept getting the nagging feeling that I was forgetting something, and I was! The fact that I hadn't posted Memorable Melodies came to me earlier today at work when I started whistling a delightful video game tune. I have now snapped out of my Metal Gear Solid induced haze to deliver you the newest edition of Memorable Melodies.

As you may have imagined Seaside Town from Super Mario RPG is the song I was whistling all day at work. I don't know why, but I have a rotation of video game songs I like to whistle. Seaside Town in particular is fun, because it's a jaunty sea shanty. There's no real rhyme or reason to it either. I just feel the need to whistle and something comes out!

There are numerous songs from Super Mario RPG that I adore, but I figured I'd start with this one. Seaside town is a coastal resort village, which is inhabited by weirdos when you first get there. The villain Yardovich took all the villagers and stuffed them in a shed while he and his minions pretended to be them in order to trick anyone who visited. Obviously Mario figures it out and beats him to a pulp, and the town returns to normal. There's a bit more story in between, but that's unimportant to this feature.

I know I'll never forget Seaside town, even if the only two sea related things in it are a wooden anchor at the entrance and this enchanting sea shanty. I just can't help but think of this song playing through some saloon doors down by the docks in a pirate infested world. Obviously Mario RPG isn't totally infested by pirates, but you do fight a pirate shark, so that's close enough I guess.

I hope that listening to the song has given you the urge to whistle! If you do make sure you do it loudly and proudly! Look forward to more dope tracks from Super Mario RPG in the future.