1997 Archives - The Greatest Game Music

Blast Corps Soundtrack

Blast Corps Soundtrack, Graeme Norgate, 1997

Developer Rare arguably rose to fame and world-wide success with its Donkey Kong Country trilogy. However, it’s usually the Nintendo 64 era that is considered Rare’s golden age – no surprise, as the company seemed incapable of not churning out classic after classic for a while. That winning streak began with Blast Corps, released just in time for the console’s launch in Europe. The title was based on an idea by Rare founder Chris Stamper, who for years had wanted to make a game about destroying building – simple as that. Beginning production in 1996, a team of just four developers (sometimes expanded to seven) fitted a gameplay concept around this idea: a nuclear missile carrier was out of control and steamrolling ahead on autopilot. The player controls an array of sometimes bizarre vehicles (including a giant one-armed robot with a rolling attack) to clear the way.

The result was met with almost universal acclaim. Blast Corps was a beautifully idiosyncratic game, combining puzzle, racing and all-out-action elements into a wholly original package. Sales – around one million copies – ended up lower than the development team had expected. However, Blast Corps remains one of the most fondly remembered N64 games, thanks to its flawless level design and tough-as-nails yet always fair difficulty curve.

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Dark Law: Meaning of Death Soundtrack

Dark Law: Meaning of Death Soundtrack, Satoshi Nagano / Michihiko Shichi, 1997

By 1997, software supply for the SNES has dwindled to a trickle – but intriguing new games for the ageing console still popped up here and there. One such title was developer Sakata SAS’ Dark Law: Meaning of Death, the sequel to 1991’s Dark Lord. While the premise of its fantasy narrative was fairly pedestrian (ancient evil returns – and kidnaps the damsel in distress!), Dark Law surprised with its unexpected take on RPG gameplay tropes. Focused less on combat and more on exploration and puzzle solving, Dark Law was considerably less linear than most other JRPGs. Instead of following a clearly delineated path, gamers would select from a series of short stories or scenarios that ultimately all turn out to be connected with each other. And true to its ominous name, Dark Law: The Meaning of Death dealt with unusually sombre subject matter (at least for a 16-bit RPG).

To craft the game’s soundtrack, Sakata SAS hired a team of game musicians going by the name of Target Laboratory. Led by veteran composer Yusuke Takahama, Target Laboratory had been active since the mid-1990s. Four of its members worked on Dark Law – Takahama himself as sound producer and Nobuo Horie on sound effects, while Satoshi Nagano and Michihiko Shichi handled composing duties. Both artists – fairly new to the industry – had collaborated on previous Target Laboratory projects such as 1995’s Kat’s Run: Zen-Nippon K Car Senshuken and Tokimeki Card Paradise: Koi no Royal Straight Flush. Nagano’s career seems to have trailed off after a few more Target Laboratory games. Shichi joined developer Omega Force and became sound designer and director of their Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors franchises – before joining tri-Ace and sound directing high-profile titles such as the later Star Ocean games and Resonance of Fate.

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GoldenEye 007 Soundtrack (Nintendo 64)

GoldenEye 007 Soundtrack (Nintendo 64), Grant Kirkhope / Graeme Norgate, 1997

It’s no exaggeration to say that GoldenEye 007 was a game changer. By the mid-1990s, games based on movies had (justly) developed a disastrous reputation, and the fact that GoldenEye 007 was released a full 18 months after the movie didn’t help matters. And of course, this was a first-person shooter designed for a console, rather than for a PC – back then the natural home for FPS titles. But in the end, none of this mattered. GoldenEye 007 went on to sell more than eight million copies, becoming one of the most successful games of its console generation. Its reception among reviewers was just as enthusiastic and there’s no doubt GoldenEye 007 has left a lasting legacy – who could forget its legendary multiplayer mode? Not bad for a title developed by an inexperienced team that spent a full three years completing the game.

Like the game as a whole, creating the GoldenEye 007 soundtrack was no easy feat – after all, this was one of Rare’s first Nintendo 64 titles. Initially, Graeme Norgate was tasked with writing the score, having previously worked on Rare’s Killer Instinct and Donkey Kong Land. However, Norgate was also working on Blast Corps at the same time and it became obvious that additional resources were needed. Thus Grant Kirkhope – while still working on Donkey Kong Land 2 – was drafted to join Norgate on GoldenEye 007 (he left before completion of that project to work on Dream). The challenge for both composers was to write music for a console that for the first one and a half years of the game’s development didn’t exist yet.

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Little Big Adventure 2 Soundtrack

Little Big Adventure 2 Soundtrack, Philippe Vachey, 1997

Little Big Adventure had won gamers’ hearts with its charming, open-ended fantasy world. Fans didn’t have to wait too long for a sequel to hit store shelves. In May 1997, Little Big Adventure 2 was released and even better received than the first game. Gamers hoping for a title that was bigger and better still than Little Big Adventure were duly rewarded. Little Big Adventure 2’s world was significantly larger than that of its predecessor and even included multiple planets.

Philippe Vachey’s score for Little Big Adventure had turned out to be a milestone of Western orchestral game music. If there were any complaints, it would have been that the soundtrack was rather short. The larger scope of Little Big Adventure 2’s world would suggest that a more extensive soundtrack was the logical result. However, the Little Big Adventure 2 score is even a smidgen shorter than its predecessor. Mind you, it’s not a substantial issue – Vachey’s writing is at least as strong as it was on Little Big Adventure.

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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Soundtrack

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Soundtrack, Ron Jones / Brian Luzietti, 1997

The Star Trek: Starfleet Academy soundtrack is a prime example for how – and why – the conventions of Hollywood film music have been so deeply ingrained in orchestral game music right from the start. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was part of the short-lived craze surrounding games based on full-motion videos in the mid-1990s. And if your game looks like a film, it makes sense to also make it sound like a film.

And so, developer Interplay decided to use a live orchestra to record Starfleet Academy‘s soundtrack. In 1997, this was quite a novelty. Still, a live orchestra was integral to capturing the Star Trek franchise’s trademark romantic spirit of bold spacefaring. Interplay even went one step further and hired Ron Jones to write the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy soundtrack. Jones had done outstanding work on Star Trek: The Next Generation and would be able to maintain the Star Trek franchise’s characteristic sound.

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