When you think of “The Legend of Zelda”, there’s plenty of things that come to mind. From the epic scope of the world you are in, to the fast-paced action-adventure and puzzle-solving, the colorful characters – good, bad and everyone in between – the Zelda games seem to have it all. And nowhere is this more prevalent than in the music itself. And with the 30th Anniversary soundtrack album I bought months ago, it’s very obvious that the Zelda music, much like the Mario music has a magic all its own.
The album starts with the tunes from the original NES games, with the first game’s intro being what kicks the whole thing off. Interestingly enough it is the version from the Famicom Disk System so it is slightly different yet the theme still keeps the melody intact, and going into the Overworld and Dungeon theme you more than get a sense of the mood of the place you are in, and it helps immerse you into the game more.
This continues as the soundtrack gets to the themes from Zelda II and once again, the music builds off of the original and adds new themes that sound both familiar yet new all at the same time. For example, the castle you start at you hear the original Overworld theme that has most of the familiar notes but with a few tweaks.
The next set of tracks go into the 16-Bit era with the Super NES, which allowed for more creative possibilities music-wise, and as such “A Link to The Past” had more of an orchestral feel that really helped compliment the gameplay more, and give more of that adventurous, fantasy scope.
Now you’d think the soundtrack would go to the 32/64 Bit era, but hold it right there, because instead the following tracks switch from the 16-Bit SNES era to 8-Bit with the Game Boy title “Link’s Awakening”. And while the game may have looked a little simple compared to the SNES, the music still made its mark and grabbed your attention, plus having the familiar overworld and dungeon themes helped anchor me into the game, while taking me on a new journey like the “Tal Tal Mountain Range” theme.
After that fun detour, we finally fast forward to the next set of tracks that more than lived up to the Nintendo 64 tagline, “Games will change. The 64 will change them.” And boy did it with the now classic epic “Ocarina of Time”. Because while “Super Mario 64” did a great job with its own music, OoT took things to a whole new level, with themes like the Shop Theme, Zelda’s Lullaby, and Gerudo Valley to name a few. Even the few themes from Majora’s Mask more than stood out, namely the intro theme because whereas Ocarina of Time which gave the beginnings of another grand adventure, Majora’s Mask gave a sense of dread/impending doom. Although I was disappointed that there weren’t a few more tracks from the game on this compilation.
So you’d think I would be venturing to the GameCube era after that, but wait! Because I found myself going back to the chiptune era with the Game Boy games “Oracle of Ages/Seasons”. And the trio of tracks once again prove that even with music evolving during that time, chiptunes still have that magical touch.
Finally I got to the GameCube era with tracks from Windwaker, and right at the start you are treated to a new set of music yet it still feels like you’re in the Zelda universe. And themes like “Outset Island” and “Grandma” still keep a sense of grounding for your Link as I guide him through his journey.
(Seriously, I dare you to hear the “Great Sea” theme only once.)
The next game turned out to be “Four Swords Adventures” which at first sounded like a throwback to the N64 days but yet still added something new and different, like the “Village of the Blue Maiden” theme and “Navi Trackers: Course 3”.
After going through those tracks, I got to some music from a game that I remember anticipating – as a lot of Arcaders did – a great deal: Twilight Princess!
From the trailer music to the intro, you knew that you were in for something that had been a long time coming, and now it was finally here at the end of the GameCube era, but what a way to go out, as well as a way to usher in a new era with the Nintendo Wii!
The best part of the music for this game was the fact that some of the tracks had some orchestration, which showed that Nintendo wasn’t playing around and was willing to take things to the next level musically.
Next on the soundtrack was Phantom Hourglass which took me back to the Wind Waker era with the cartoon style. But again, the themes help immerse you, and even convey hints about the characters’ personalities like Linebeck’s theme.
Following PH I got to some music from “Spirit Tracks”. While I never had a chance to play it, the music still gave a sense of adventure but with a sense of fast pacing, as the “Train Overworld” showed.
Skyward Sword was the next one on the soundtrack listing, and what I like about these tracks was that you once again get treated to that sense of a grand adventure, but this time with an undercurrent of being in the skies, as the game conveys. Plus the game sounds even more orchestrated than previous ones which only adds to that scope.
“A Link Between Worlds” still keeps with the orchestration, but this time it feels more…down to earth, where this time you still feel like you’re on an adventure, but now it’s more of a smaller scale which befits the 3DS title, notably with themes like “Kakariko Village” and “Meeting Princess Zelda”.
“Tri Force Heroes” rounds out the entire soundtrack, and with this one there’s more of a sense of fun yet fast-pace all at the same time, namely with “Woodlands” and “Big Boss Battles”.
In all, this was a compilation that was truly worth the purchase. While it isn’t all the tracks from all the games, it still gives you the best of what the Zelda games are about, and as you listen you definitely feel that sense adventure to a degree that you almost wish you were in Hyrule with Link. And with Koji Kondo’s genius along with other talented folks that came along, the Zelda themes more than captured my attention and amplified my love of music in video games. Naturally the music has grown and evolved from how they originally started out as simple chiptunes over the years. But even with that the melodies still stayed true to the essence of what made the franchise stick around for so many years, and a lot of those themes ended up becoming staples that we all hear to this day. And when it came time to do a Zelda title for the system, we all knew we were in for a treat!
While I had played the original NES title in the mid 90s, it wasn’t until the N64 era that I really started getting into the Zelda franchise. And as time went by they more than added to my own desire for adventure as I played them. And in my opinion these games more than show that adventure can be found around the bend, and that even great music can come from video games as much as movies can, and that in many ways we are all Link, because we all have the courage to do amazing things. It’s okay to feel scared, but keep stepping forward with courage no matter how small, and you will find treasures that go beyond material things, but something deeper.
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