Zelda Music - Memorable, Quality or Both?

[Spirit]

I liked the earlier music from earlier games even as far back as AoL, back in the days where games had 'themes' rather than music. Like Vanitas, i want memorable music to play while I'm gaming. I want to remember the wonderful time i had sailing in WW and have fond memories of every aspect of the game itself, the way it played, the way it looked and the way it sounded. Really there are too few Zelda games where i remember the music with any fondness and fewer still that i remember at all.

A Link to the Past had themes that will stay with me to the grave.

Ocarina of Time had music that actually moved me such as the title screen with that melancholic piano, not to mention the menu theme, hyrule feild, castle town, temple of time and of course Zora's domain.

Twilight Princess had a wonderful soundtrack which i kind of view as the pinnacle of MIDI and my god again, the title screen theme, damn i wish it had been orchestral with a choir... Lake Hylia, Rutela's Theme, Midna's Lament, the battle music and a lot of remade classics particularly from a Link to the Past were so powerful in their updated state.

Wind Waker will forever brighten my day whenever i hear it and will always be a much bigger part of that installment than any other Zelda game for me becuase it was such a perfect fit, really the change in style really helped inspire the music here, something that recent Zelda games didn't achieve..

Outside of those games though i really find it hard to recall any decent or indeed memorable music to make Zelda stand out, but then, there are worse franchises out there as far as music is concerned. I'm a big fan of the Prince of Persia games and i can't recall a single piece of music from the 5 games i have played in that franchise, the same goes for a lot of the Final Fantasy games too.

though if we want to mention a franchise with music that i do remember in great detail then come on, its Kirby <3

 

[Skywaker]

I personally love all of the music, it doesn't matter to me if it's memorable, quality, etc. The reason why I like them all is because they're catchy; they can stick in my head for years. I like both the orchestrated and 8-bit beeps and boops.

An example of MIDI is TP. God, I love the songs from that game so much. Especially the Trailer theme.

Other games with that 8-bit feel, such as LoZ, have those catchy tunes such as the Overworld theme (of course) and the Dungeon theme. It also reminds me of the old days where the 2D games were considered high-res back then. xD (I didn't live back then though, it was my dad who told me since he's played Zelda before. xD(

MM and OoT have tunes that I very much love. That's what makes 'memorable' tunes imo.

Then, we have orchestrated, taking SS as an example. I wasn't a huge fan of SS music but I could still listen to it if I was forced to. ^^

 

[Donutwizard]

yes memorable and quality. just look at saria's song (Lost Woods theme) if you don't believe me.

 

[nano5896]

I can only remember Sealed Grounds and Batreaux's Theme. The music overall is, but not really memorable in my opinion. I prefer musics to be memorable.

 

[CynicalSquid]

all i care about is KOJI KONDO

 

[TheRizardon]

All of the Zelda music is good but the most memorable ones for me are Ballad Of The Wind Fish, Saria's song, Gerudo's Valley, Song of Time, and Prelude of Light.

 

[athenian200]

I like all of the Zelda music, personally. I like the memorable tunes, although I like the remixed versions better than the originals if the originals were 8-bit or low quality for some other reason. So, I like Zelda music that is both high quality and memorable, or in some cases, just Zelda-inspired music. It's hard to describe music in words, so I'll just give examples of the kind of music I like.

Zelda II based:

Favourite VGM Top 35 #20: Super Smash Brothers Melee - Palace Theme (Zelda 2) - YouTube

ALttP based:

Hyrule Castle Orchestrated - YouTube

LA based:

Overworld Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - YouTube

OoT based:

Ocarina of Time Gerudo Valley Theme Orchestrated (Z.R.E.O.) - YouTube

MM based:

Zelda: Majora's Mask (Music) - Astral Observatory - YouTube

WW based:

Dragon Roost Island Orchestral Remix - YouTube

Hopefully this helps you get a better idea of what I'm looking for in Zelda music, because I don't know quite how to articulate it.

 

[Ventus]

I honestly don't care what the music sounds like, it just needs to be memorable and fit the area. Memorability far outweighs sound quality for me, and the music fitting the area is much the same. You see, if I don't remember what a particular track sounds like, how can I talk about it or even enjoy it? The best of music could sound amazing, but if it isn't something I can keep with me or even close by, there's practically no point in even listening to it -- just mute the game or something. As for fitting the area, this is a tough one. Since people are cultured to think such and such music is the theme of such and such area, things would get tough when discussing this. I suppose all I could properly say is "serious" music should be in "serious" areas, and "casual" music should go to "casual" areas. That's how I see it, for the Zelda series.

 

[Vkn1981]

A link to the Past had some amazing music all the way to the end of the credits. Oh and does anyone remember the flute boy?