LogFAQs > #975295226

Sure I'll rank them and also be opinionated because why not, you can't stop me. Only my personal opinions contained within, I care not for your foolish 'objective' merits

Yay!

1. Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Northeast Frost Street (10)

Kirby's always been a close-second favorite vgm series for me (behind classic Mega Man) and Forgotten Land is my favorite ost of the decade so far. Funny that we get a Kirby retiree and it's not even one written by Ishikawa or Ando but I'm not complaining - this is a beautiful tune that fits the Kirby vibe perfectly with a soaring climax that threads the needle of not getting too sappy. Worth revisiting often, like the rest of this game.

2. Final Fantasy VI - Dancing Mad (9.5)

Probably the most overdue retiree in all of vgm. There is no One-Winged Angel without Dancing Mad. Probably the most ambitious piece of vgm yet written at the time of the game's release, I don't think anyone really had the idea to create an epic symphonic organ piece for a final boss theme until Uematsu did it here. The third movement is my favorite - it's just a really, really well composed fugue.

3. DEEMO II - Un Deux Trois (9.5)

Absolutely delightful, my favorite discovery in this year's bracket. A cut above all the other vocal tracks due partially to the performance which is cute without being cutesy, partially due to the composition which is immediately catchy and singable, and partially due to the absolutely sick rhythmic hook that's more creative than most vocal stuff in this contest. A gold standard other "cute songs sung by girls" songs should be trying to meet.

Cool

4. Professor Layton and the Last Specter - The Last Specter's Theme (8.5)

It's Layton so you know exactly what you're going to get: it's time for the accordion player to bust out their accordion and get way into some SICK ACCORDION JAMS. Sometimes a sick accordion jam is just exactly what I want to hear.

5. Super Mario 64 - Staff Roll (7.5)

Probably wouldn't be here (on my list, or in the retirees at all) if it wasn't SM64, to be quite honest, but I've never believed in this being a pure meritocracy anyway. I've seen a lot of memes recreating music with a SM64 soundfont, which I don't really get because this game doesn't really sound that great, but this song still wins a lot of points for me for being instantly iconic and memorable. It's a jaunty little tune that perfectly closes out a great game.

6. Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter - PowerOne (7)

Pleasantly surprised to see this one retire just because this is probably the least melodic track in the bunch by a mile, and it's unusual to see slightly more environmental, vibes-based stuff go anywhere. PowerOne's neat. I feel like there should be more of a climax here to pay off the buildup but it's a minor complaint.

7. The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince - Moonlight Concert (7)

It's growing on me. Maybe just because the characters in this game are REALLY CUTE? A well-deployed pan flute is a guilty pleasure. The uptempo waltz rhythm of this track gives it a little bit more energy than a lot of other vocal tracks and that goes a long way. I could see myself wanting to play this game due to the music.

Sure

8. Chrono Trigger - To Far Away Times (6.5)

I'm mostly putting it this high out of respect for Chrono Trigger, one of the great masterpieces. To Far Away Times isn't the track I would have picked. It's a serviceable ending theme but it's not half as memorable as pretty much any other music in the game, just sort of a middling recapitulation of the game's other amazing themes. Gets a lot of leeway for me by association though because, yeah.

9. Sonic R - Back in Time (6)

Went into it expecting not to think much of it, ended up appreciating it as a minor guilty pleasure. I prefer it a fair bit over its counterpart for no particular reason given how similar they are - this one doesn't annoy me, Sunshine does.

10. Final Fantasy XIII - The Sunleth Waterscape (6)

It's standard pop-ballad anime-opening fare, but it's Final Fantasy so they successfully class it up a little bit. Well constructed and high quality but nothing I'll remember or revisit.

11. Destiny Child - Ragna Breakers (6)

Pretty typical japanese pop-prog rock - an entertaing crowd pleaser, but more shallow than its flouishing guitar solos and brass sections imply. It's a crowd pleaser, but it's far from bootylicious.

12. Cleopatra Fortune - SHININ' QUEEN (5.5)

I feel like I should like this one more than I do, given that it's like the second or third oldest track out of the retirees, but I don't really "get it." It's pleasant, but sort of bland? I already don't remember it. I want to like it more than I actually do.

13. SimCity 4 - Epicentre (5)

That violin hook at the start is really cool and memorable - damn, they're going this hard in a SimCity song? - but then the whole thing kinda doesn't really build on that and just sorta futzes off in another direction entirely and never finds its feet. If I just listened to the first 30 seconds I'd be convinced it's cool as hell but based on the whole thing I'm not really sure why it's here. It's perfectly fine as ambient music for a SimCity game but difficult to sit through the entirety of.

Meh

14. beatmania IIDX 20 tricoro / jubeat saucer - Rainbow after snow (4.5)

Doesn't do anything wrong but does absolutely nothing for me. Just another beatmania track in a sea of things that sound exactly the same as this.

15. Sonic R - Can You Feel the Sunshine? (4)

I honestly have no idea why I don't really like this track much. Just find the main chorus sort of cloying in a strange way. The song is talking about sunshine but the melody sounds really 'dark' and it kinda throws me off. Can't say I'm a huge fan but I might be being sort of unfair towards it.

Boo

16. Iseki-jima to Nanatsu no Mahou - Banbard (Piano Version) (1.5)

I wasn't sure if this was a joke when I first heard it or not. The bagpipe lead... really sounds like that? It sounds like a MIDI that they accidentally exported with the wrong instrument data. Aside from that, some serious MIDI disease in the composition; it's okay to NOT play a note, sometimes. I get that this is probably meant for a rhythm game so it's supposed to be a bit of a notestorm but that doesn't have to mean I have to like it. A really difficult listen.