Game music updates.

[Isaac]

I'm always amazed at how a new version of an old game can be good in so many ways, but fail on remaking the theme music. Maybe this is just me becoming an old fart, hating change. But tell me if I'm right or not.


Here's an example.

Old simple theme:


New stylized theme:


Sure, one has better sounding instruments. That's not what I'm debating. I'm talking about the composition and speed. Imagine each being directly converted to piano. The first one would sound better.

[Sirius]

I don't think it's supposed to be a replacement. NES/GB music had a very limited gamut of instruments they used, and so were composed to make the most of that; it's not surprising that a song of that sort would sound better when converted to piano. The new one could have been the same pace, but it's not; I figure it sounds more "dreamy" on purpose. I don't know what it's set to, though, so I can't tell you whether it's appropriate or not.

[Isaac]

Agreed. Context should be considered. On the other hand, I think judging how a theme song stands on its own is ok, because is should be more than just background sound.

FFL2 Orignal:


SAGA2 Remake:


FFL2 did stuff with music beyond what I thought a gameboy was capable of at that time, like crescendos, vibrato, with creative melodies. SAGA2 tried to port that game to the DS, making something I'd love to buy some day. I hate the music for SAGA2, however. The one linked above isn't the worst, but it's pretty bad.

I mean, John Williams knows how to keep melodies simple with more realistic sounding instruments (they are real... mostly). So why mish-mash a good melody just because the DS's midi is supported by better hardware? I just don't get it.