Music and sound design are elements of storytelling that can make or break a movie’s impact on the viewer’s emotions. There are Oscar awards dedicated to highlighting the original songs and soundtracks in movies that highlight this truth best. Within the landscape of video games, music functions in various ways. Intensely orchestrated ensemble pieces may signify a change of pace within the story or introduce a boss fight. A sudden BANG! may help incorporate a jump scare during a lull in a horror game to ramp things up again. Within the story of Super Mario Galaxy, the main protagonist Mario is tasked with obtaining numerous powerful stars from various galaxies to ultimately save his princess. One galaxy, dubbed “Gusty Garden Galaxy” is aptly named for its beautiful greenery and high gusts of wind of which Mario must take advantage of to travel. Upon soaring through the air to introduce the player and Mario to their new task within this particular galaxy, an arrangement of brass and string instruments loudly proclaims the entrance in triumphant unison.
When asked about his process in score creation, composer Koji Kondo reveals that the most impactful element while composing is being able to play and experience the game first-hand. He says that being able to feel the emotion within the game inspires his work. Also, he finds that the rhythm of the gameplay itself helps him marry the game with the music:
“I really need to be able to play the game in order to make the proper score so [the game] has to be completed or very close to completion and I’ll play it and then I can get down to the nitty gritty of actually composing the music for it.”
Kondo’s work in these Nintendo IPs are proof of how closely intertwined a video game’s story, music, and gameplay must be. This sort of intentionality and collaboration between creative teams bring vibrancy and character to the project.
Click below to both hear the music and watch Koji Kondo’s interview on composition.
Speaking of Mr. Kondo, his genius work in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time signifies the zenith of his composition prowess. Aside from the iconic theme of the Lost Woods or the catchy tune found within the game’s Item Shop (themes of which are still enjoyed in today’s mainstream media), Kondo was challenged with developing the gimmick of the game itself: playing the Ocarina. Throughout their journey, protagonist Link and the player utilize an ocarina to perform 12 different melodies to achieve different goals, alter the world around them, or even time travel. The heavy limitations of the N64 hardware and software alike challenged Kondo to create distinct and memorable melodies with just 5 treble clef notes: D, F, A, B, and D. This feat of video game composition revolutionized the way composers approached score creation. Without this musical element of storytelling throughout Ocarina of Time, the game may not have captured the mysterious nature of the world around Link through this D minor chord.
For a more intentional look at this achievement in music composition, click the link below. I will also attach a beautiful piano medley of the Ocarina of Time soundtrack for those interested.
Taking a look at Koji Kondo’s work in Super Mario Galaxy and Ocarina of Time gives us a glimpse into the importance of music within video games. It is the incorporation of music that pulls at our heart strings, amps us up as we prepare to take down monstrous enemies, or fills us with wonder as we explore new worlds. Oftentimes, musical elements in video games can come up in more subtle ways. Perhaps a simple piano melody can be attached to a certain character, as is the case with Aerith in Final Fantasy VII. Composer Nobuo Uematsu revealed that this sad piano theme was intentionally “a kind of sad but beautiful tune” to relay the idea that “she wasn’t a very happy character. She was really innocent and pure but had a tragic kind of life.” The goal of this particular theme is to force the audience to attach such sorrow to the character’s profile, and a tinge of melancholy fills the atmosphere whenever it plays. Of course, these are just some of the ways that music design and composition are utilized to create environments of triumph or sadness. There are plenty of ways that music composers play with music in their games, and that is the beauty of video games as art forms: they meld visual, auditory, and literary elements to create a sort of 3D experience of immersion.
Video Games as Literature 