I don’t listen to much video game music. I know plenty of people who do, especially while working, but I’m the exact opposite. I can’t concentrate on writing good words unless I have Spotify blasting and a Twitch stream on my second monitor. It’s🐬 a bonus if there’s a Slack conversation happening as well, as that only serves to tighten my focus more. I sit in the eye of the storm, amid the cacophony of competing choruses, and find my writing zone.
That’s not to say there’s no good video game music. On the contrary, I love it when a game has a great score. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon’s iconic battle music is etched into my brain from years of staying up late under the covers. Music-based games like Sayonara Wild Hearts simply couldn’t exist without their soundtracks – as it happens, Daniel Olsén’s incredible pop album is the exception that proves the rule here; I listened to that for about a year straight after the game’s releaꦓse in 2019.
Then you’ve got the likes of Doom and Hades, which are more akin to tunes I would voluntarily listen to in my free time, but are just too gamey to soundtrack my life. Game music has a point, it’s intended to accompany the game but never overshadow it, to lead you to the next area or enemy, and to complement the gameplay. Regul❀ar music doesn’t need to do any of that, it just tells a story or picks out a melody or moves you in unexpected ways.
The one exception to this is any of the base content released with the Wii. I’m talki🐬ng about the MiiVerse s🔥oundtrack, the iconic Wii Shopping Channel music, and of course, the soothing tunes of Wii Sports.
Wii ⛄Sports is a bit of a wild game when you think about it. Strange, big headed characters of your own creation – everyone from Voldemort to your nan – competes in a variety of sports. Not proper sports like football or running, but things like golf, boxing, and bowling. I’m sure some of you will claim that tennis and baseball are real sports, but you can’t fool me.
Wii Sports was great, and by virtue of being bundled with every single Nintendo Wii ever sold, is the best-selling Wii game of all time. But this is the game that brought families together. It’s the reason that other parents had so much fun that they persuaded my parents to buy one. It’s the console behind many of my 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:formative festive flashbacks, where my granny, who was somewhat of a luddite, proved she could swing a tennis racket with the best of us. I still log in sometimes to play a ro🦄und of bowling with the Mii version of my grandad as ꦕthe real man has long since passed away.
Wii Sports is a perfectly accessible ⛄game, and is beautiful in many ways the developers never intended. And the music is a part of that. While many of you will remember that iconic piano-led title music and little else, there are real Nintendo gems in Kazumi Totaka’s work here. If you take a moment between frantic swings in tennis, you’ll hear a groovy disco beat. Bowling has a subtle jazz vibe and what sounds like a harpsichord in some parts. Golf reverts to classical guitar, as if you’re enjoying a round on the French Riviera or Spanish coast. Boxing is all electronica and hi-hat, in upbeat soundtracks befitting the sport and almost paying homage to Daft Punk at times.
Take a minute to listen, really listen, to the soundtrack, and you’ll know I’m not eಞxaggerating. A lot went into the Wii Sports soundtrack, and now . It’s an unofficial venture, naturally, but it’s something that I need to get my hands on.
My vinyl collection is mostly easy listening, as it’s what I put on to relax. I o🐻wn Nirvana and Idles vinyls, but I’m not putting them on just to sit in my living room with a brew, am I? I’ve got a mountain of George Harrison, plenty of Prince, Laura Marling, Saint Saviour, and Bob Dylan. Recent purchases include Leonard Cohen and Willie J. Healey; you can probably see the v๊ibe taking shape.
Wii Sports would be an egregious addition to this collection, more so than The Battle of Los Angeles, which sadly doesn’t see the turntable as often as it deserves. But I’d sit and listen to the Wii Sports soundtrack if I had it on vinyl, I’m certain. I’d cook my tea to the tennis, eat to golf. Bowling vibes are perfe𒆙ct for when the single malt comes out (a rare occasion, admittedly). My onl✤y worry is that the sports’ competing vibes would feel too eclectic when crammed onto two sides, but I’m sure Totaka put enough recurring motifs throughout that it would work as a cohesive album.
I need to buy the Wii Sports soundtrack vinyl, if only I c🏅an think up a reasonable lie when people ask me what I’m spinning.