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by Jeffrey
Nothing outside of attempting to pierce a Capri Sun on the first try brings me back to my childhood quicker and harder than some of the following OSTs from some of my personal favorite Super Nintendo games. As I was compiling this list, I also realized how much these soundtracks influenced my music taste, especially as a musician. Some of these songs are incredibly jazzy, funky and even mathrocky with time signature changes and poly rhythms. Let's rock.
Super Castlevania IV
This is exactly what I'm talking about. Replace the synthesized horns and strings with distorted guitars and bass and it would totally rip. As a kid, I would clear the stage and wait to move on just so I could finish the track. The drum track is especially amazing. The double kicks and the fills rule. There was no reason to go this hard, but I'm not complaining.
Donkey Kong Country
This song definitely had quite the renaissance lately. And for good reason. The instruments, the effects and the use of music theory create an environment that is unmistakably a 'water level'. I've even seen a few pro musicians break this one down, because it's actually kind of deep and complex. If you played this game 30 years ago, and you haven't looked back since, you're about to be moved on a deeper level 😂
Vortex
Vortex is one of the few other 3d SNES games besides Starfox. Not many people really bring this one up anymore, and that's because the game play couldn't be any clunkier. The music on the other hand couldn't be any CHUNKIER. The driving bass lines are perfectly mixed, and give the impression of a higher quality studio production. Speaking of studio production...
Plok!
Now this game has a soundtrack that does a great job at sounding like a real studio production, you know, if you squint your ears. The tracks have so many varying genres between them, and they often are just full of surprises. Time changes (the one that kicks in at :50 in this track kills), key changes, screaming guitar solos, jazzed out synth chords. Side note: what even is Plok supposed to be? Like, as a character? I'm somehow more confused by what Plok is than what Grimace is.
Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3D
JimPower is one that is entirely new to me. I'm not sure how I didn't run across this over the last 30 years, but I'm kind of sad that I haven't. Same story here as with the rest of the tracks so far. It's ROCKIN dude. And not in an absolutely cheddar cheese filled way either. The title track is over 6 and a half minutes long with plenty of variation, and it just keeps driving the whole way. It's special when you feel nostalgia for something you've never even heard or seen before, because it's just such a distilled product of that era.
The Secret of Evermore
A game that is so so close to my heart and always will be. Yet another title that my family would gather around to play and watch with my mom at the helm. The game itself is based around the idea of accidentally time traveling to different eras, and different parts of the world, with the variety of music to match. This being one of the more nostalgic games from my childhood. The sound effects. The story. The puzzles. The DIFFICULTY. This track specifically just builds perfectly, and captures the juxtaposition of hope and despair, of being lost in a land and a time so far from home.
This list was hard to make. I could've easily added another 40 soundtracks to this list from the SNES era alone. Let me know if you'd like to see more content like this! Especially from other eras of gaming.