Author: Masamune
If music can soothe the soul, then the Super Nintendo’s library is a haven of auditory bliss. Music certainly helps with the enjoyment of a game. If the music is good, it adds to the gaming experience. If it’s bad, you’ll want to turn down the volume!
This article is a showcase for 15 different musical pieces spanning the Super Nintendo system. Undoubtedly there’s hundreds of memorable tunes we can think of, and hundreds more waiting to be heard. These 15 tunes represent what I think are memorable ensembles. This isn’t an exhaustive list, or a top 15 list. It’s just a selection of music that I’ve experienced that stand out to me. Your list may vary. Click on the title of the song to hear the music. Let’s get started! In no particular order:
Magical Pop’n – Cloudy Ice Palace Theme
When importing Japanese titles, this game is on several people’s lists. It’s a platfomer, it’s not necessary to understand Japanese to enjoy it, and it’s just a solid experience. Magical Pop’N also happens to have some really good tunes to go with it.The Cloudy Ice Palace is among them. Yes, the game recycles music throughout the game, but when they are this good, I don’t mind.
Chrono Trigger – Undersea Palace
Chrono Trigger is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. This includes excelling in the sound department. One of the most addicting pieces is the Undersea Palace theme.This is the kind of music that gives goosebumps folks. I have this song on my MP3 player. It’s great to listen to while jogging!
Donkey Kong Country 2 – Arctic Abyss
Donkey Kong Country’s soundtrack was good, but Donkey Kong Country 2 has the more notable music selection in my opinion. I find the Arctic Abyss theme really gets to me on a deep level. This selection is the epitome of epic. If you didn’t know any better you would think this melody would belong to a more serious game.
Chrono Trigger – Magus Theme
Super Mario Kart – Rainbow Road
A Link to the Past – Overworld Theme
Donkey Kong Country 2 – Stickerbush Symphony
I felt compelled to do a double take again. Sometimes you just can’t pick one! With Donkey Kong Country 2, it’s really difficult to pick out just one piece of music. This is another hard to forget track from that game. And like Arctic Abyss, it isn’t the silly kind of melody you’d expect from a game like this. However Diddy and Dixie’s quest is only strengthened by the excellent soundtrack.
Final Fantasy III – Aria Di Mezzo Carattere
Why does this song sound so familiar even before I played this game? Oh I know why. It was in Final Fantasy VII! I played that game right before I played Final Fantasy III (or VI if you prefer). It’s a haunting and sad piece that will go down as one of the finest compositions done by Nobuo Uematsu. Who doesn’t love some opera singing from time to time?
Final Fantasy III – Boss Battle Theme
Final Fantasy games consistently have great battle themes. Final Fantasy III keeps this tradition. It’s important to have fantastic battle theme music in a RPG because the length of these clashes can become substantial. Luckily for us we are treated to a splendid ensemble while we hack away at the sinister boss of the moment.
F-Zero – Mute City
F-Zero was a Super Nintendo launch title that became a best seller. It was easy to see why. Good graphics, gameplay … and music. Mute City stands out to me as the best track in that game. It simply gets you pumped for action. The theme is like adrenaline in instrumental form. The track was so good it was reincarnated in a couple of Smash Bros. games.
Star Fox – Corneria
Star Fox is a game that is really fun to play even today. The graphics haven’t held up with time, but the soundtrack sure has! Corneria is the first stage you play in and its theme sets the tone for what turns out to be a masterful collection of music. If you like high tempo beats, be sure to look into Star Fox’s audio accompaniment.
Super Mario World – Castle Theme
There aren’t a lot of Super Mario World musical selections that instantly pop into my head. However the castle theme does resonate in my memory as being sort of a creepy tune in a scary environment. The theme really gets into its own during the middle of the composition. Who else remembers getting to the other side of the fence by hitting a designated spot while listening to this music?
X-Kaliber 2097 Main Theme
X-Kaliber 2097 was not a great game. It was ok with some highly frustrating areas. But one strength it did have was in the sound department. A band by the name of PsykoSonik lent this game some tracks. I could listen to the main theme time after time. If you like techno-rock, you may like the music in X-Kaliber 2097. Game kind of sucks though. Just saying.
Star Fox – Asteroid Belt Path One
Star Fox’s music is worthy of a space opera. I couldn’t find one track in the game I disliked. And once again I felt the need to go double dipping. The Asteroid Belt theme just makes you feel like a badass as you’re blasting away at Andross’ minions. I used to shoot and barrel roll with the rhythm of the music. How many games outside of Dance Dance Revolution could do that?
Mega Man X Title Theme
Short and sweet. Gets right to the point with any extraneous fluff. Enough said.
What would be on your list of 15 outstanding Super Nintendo tunes? Post your comments and thoughts below.
Great list. You could easily make a top 100 list of SNES tunes!
Magus and the Undersea Palace themes from Chrono Trigger are both exceptional. They really got me pumped when I first played through Chrono Trigger. I remember replaying the Magus battle over and over and the music was a big part of that. I also really loved the Kingdom of Zeal theme!
A couple of my favourites that didn’t make the list are Simon’s Theme from Super Castlevania IV and Red Brinstar from Super Metroid.
Yes you’re right, I could easily make a top100 list. There are so many good music tracks in the SNES alone, even a top 100 list wouldn’t do it justice.
I’ve yet to play Super Castlevania IV and Super Metroid. I missed out on a lot of games!
You can listen to Red Brinstar here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyFcSHHdIQE
The track perfectly captures the atmosphere and loneliness of Super Metroid. The track was even remixed for Metroid Prime 2 (one of the only good things about Prime 2).
Here is Simon’s Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sX3fjpkFwk
Guaranteed to get you pumped for storming Dracula’s castle!
Great list. Sometimes, I think video game music is vastly underrated.
RushDog, I really like that Super Metroid one, very surreal.
Simon’s theme really sounds dated to me and something maybe the NES could almost produce. I do understand Castlevania IV is a launch title though. I wonder what Castlevania IV would have sounded and looked like if it was released in 1997 rather than 1991?
The GBA Castlevania games give a good idea as to what a late SNES Castlevania game would have sounded like (though for my money, they all look worse then the SNES games).
If you think Simon’s theme sounds dated, you should hear its remix in Bloodlines. Keep in mind Bloodlines is a late Genesis game as well (1994). That said, I actually prefer the Bloodlines version, though I’ll admit its not as smooth as the SNES version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI7f5Wb2DAM
The opening “marching” track of FF III/VI is still one of the best game tracks ever created!!
Nice list! Needs more Top Gear and Secret of Mana though!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF55gqzCSWU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz8bl_BikuA&fmt=18
Great list. Good read. It’s staggering how much good music was around within 16-Bit gaming. Whilst this list is golden, I bet you can think of just as many again if you had to expand this list to 30 tracks.
There’s hundreds of games out there if you add in SFC exclusives, so the potential for fantastic music is vast
The Ganbare Goemon games had some excellent tracks but one of my favourites is from the fourth game. It’s on one of Ebisumaru’s levels and it starts off with a rip off of Machine Gun by the Commodores.
I’m going to delve into all 4 Ganbare Goemon SNES games at some point. They look like so much fun.