1996 Archives - The Greatest Game Music

Diablo Soundtrack – Review

Diablo Soundtrack, Matt Uelmen, 1996

When Blizzard announced Diablo III at the 2008 Blizzcon Worldwide International, they chose a simple way to do so. All guitarist Laurence Juber had to do was to play the first few chords of the original Diablo’s signature tune. Of course, the piece in question was Matt Uelmen’s immortal “Tristram”. And according to Diablo III’s lead composer Russell Brower “over 10,000 people in the room knew EXACTLY what was coming”. Such is the power of a truly classic soundtrack composition that it can become the most memorable and thus quickest reference to the game or film it accompanied. That makes it all the more remarkable that it took 15 years for this composition – and the rest of Diablo’s music – to get a soundtrack release.

No wonder that “Tristram” is still fondly remembered by millions of gamers. In short, Uelmen’s composition is a masterpiece of subtly evoked atmosphere. Those opening strummed guitar chords herald a piece that still remains fascinating for its ambiguous, multi-layered atmosphere.

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Enemy Zero Soundtrack – Review

Enemy Zero Soundtrack, Michael Nyman, 1996

Few video game auteurs have left an oeuvre as intriguing – and divisive – as Kenji Eno. Eno fittingly came to prominence during one of experimental game design’s heydays – the mid 1990s. His company Warp became best known in the West for its D series of horror games: D, Enemy Zero and D2. Only very loosely connected with each other, these games proposed innovative gameplay and story ideas – arguably to various degrees of success. However, these titles did ultimately cement Eno’s name in game history for their unbridled audacity.

It’s certainly not Enemy Zero’s story line that is its most innovative component. The game’s narrative – a spaceship is overrun by murderous xenomorphs – takes entire portions of Alien and mixes in bits and pieces of other sci-fi classics such as Blade Runner. Far more interesting is the game’s central game play mechanic. The rampaging aliens are invisible and the only way to find and shoot them is to rely on a sonar-like system that indicates their location through changes in pitch and frequency. It was an ingenious idea that some reviewers found was implemented less smoothly than it should have been, making for one hell of a difficult game.

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Formula 1 Soundtrack – Review

Formula 1 Soundtrack, Mike Clarke / Stuart Ellis, 1996

If you developed a racing video game in the mid-90s, there was apparently little choice other than to score it with electronic beats. And few companies knew this rule as well as Psygnosis. After all, they actually helped write this musical law with their enormously successful Wipeout franchise. Those games helped to take video game soundtracks into the mainstream like few other titles before.

Keeping this in mind, it’s surprising that 1996’s Formula 1 received a straight out, pure-bred hard rock/metal score. The masterminds behind Formula 1‘s revved-up beauty of a soundtrack are Mike Clarke and Stuart Ellis. While Ellis joined the project as a session guitarist, Clarke’s name will be more familiar to game music aficionados. As Psygnosis’ Sound Director, Clarke had mainly worked on Amiga titles before leaping into the CD console era. He would later return to work on the less remarkable Formula One 99. However, more helpful musical references for Formula 1 from Clarke’s career are Lifeforce Tenka and Destruction Derby Raw.

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Gokinjo Bouken Tai Soundtrack – Review

Gokinjo Bouken Tai Soundtrack, Akihiko Mori, 1996

Gokinjo Bouken Tai is one of those 16-bit games that could have only come out of Japan – and of course was never released anywhere else. It’s a joyous, upbeat adventure, befitting its protagonist – young kindergartner Mana, who lives in a small Japanese town with her family. What makes Mana special is her ability to see and interact with youkai – Japanese spirits, gods and demons. Gokinjo Bouken Tai’s gameplay arguably hews closely to traditional JRPG tropes. However, its anime-inspired, unusual setting and the obvious love and care that has gone into creating its colourful world turn it into a small, largely undiscovered gem.

Approaching the end of his sadly short career – and coming off the creative triumph that was Mystic Ark – composer Akihiko Mori turns in another outstanding effort, once more expanding his stylistic palette while maintaining the strengths that had made previous works so outstanding. Given the game’s quirkiness and its kindergarten-aged protagonist, it’s no surprise that the Gokinjo Bouken Tai soundtrack is more overtly child-friendly than a magnum opus like Mystic Ark or a whirlwind action score like Shien’s Revenge. But this is children’s music done right – with just as much care for substance and attention to detail as any great work of art, regardless of genre.

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Heroes of Might and Magic II Soundtrack – Review

Heroes of Might and Magic II Soundtrack, Steve Baca / Rob King / Paul Romero, 1996

Even decades after its release, the Heroes of Might and Magic II soundtrack stands apart as a unique experiment. The score for Heroes of Might and Magic had clearly articulated Paul Romero and Rob King‘s immense ambition to create game music with the gravitas and impact (and cultural cache) of classical music. The result was a resounding artistic success. It’s no surprise then that Heroes of Might and Magic II‘s music amplifies its predecessor’s already lofty aspirations. But how do you make convincingly symphonically-styled music like that of Heroes of Might and Magic even more grandiose?

Romero and King – joined by King’s band mate Steve Baca – found a logical answer. They added vocals – and not just any sort of vocals. In other words: a large part of the Heroes of Might and Magic II soundtrack consists of full-blown opera arias. These days, underscoring a game with opera arias would be highly unusual. Proposing such a thing in 1996 was revolutionary – and probably a bit mad.

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