Board 8 > Mega Mana Mega Ranks More Music! (No-minations)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Credit: NFUN for part of the topic title!

As much as Mega Mana might like to hear more mega music, today is a different tack. While going through old rankings and finding my old wordpad I kept my nominations for other users in, about a month ago, I decided to have a nice fun April Fools' topic! No new nominations; just decade-old ones, and all ones I sent to other people! It's completely biased, makes me question my tastes of a decade ago, and also makes me question the tiers of some songs I've held in either high or low regard for a while now.

Here's how the format's gonna go:

#Placement From 1-110. Title of song
Artist/Game: The track's credited artist or the game the song comes from
Nominated: Who I nominated this song for (Month & Year of their topic)
Score: If I recorded a placement on their list [#Placement/#The Nominated's Month & Year's Number of Songs]
Standard/Games Rank: x/49 or x/61
Time: Duration of Track
Link: Youtube Link

There are also Remix ranks for game music remixes, and 'Note:' for descriptions added to nominations for one user.

These nominations were taken from topics from 2012 through 2015 plus whenever Raetsel's first ranking topic opened up.

I'm not going to post a list... mostly because I forgot to set one up, the one I did originally set up is horribly formatted for copy-pasting over, and I only added the six I did for Rae's later when I realized 110 > 104. It's too late for lots of editing.

But I can post the unorganized playlist!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5kFEfbeZqe_P5aZ3sIb66q2vbQXXizHa

Have fun and happy April Fools' Day!

#110. Weapon X Facility (Action)
Game: X-Men Legends
Nominated: Ed Bellis (June 2012)
Score: #95th [3/3]
Games Rank: 61/61
Time: 3:58
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hdrZ73DqYg

I just want to start off by saying that I am glad I did not embarrass myself nominating VGM for rwlh's current 300 VGM Ranking topic. There will be a lot of these that I am kind of embarrassed by, and one person in particular I did a massive disservice to with my nominations.

As for this, the only reason I can think I nominated this was that I wanted to represent X-Men Legends somehow? The other two nominations aren't atmospheric, and I don't think I was trying for last place as this might actually be the best track in that game.

I enjoyed X-Men Legends quite a bit back in the day, perhaps more than Marvel Ultimate Alliance if we take out the Magma mansion sections. I remember I had the Archangel, Beast, and Nightcrawler wallpapers on my desktop at different times, and kept the strategy guide around for the pictures. It took me over a decade to finally play X-Men Legends 2, and that was a better but less memorable game. But there's no reason this should have been nominated if I wanted to do well.

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#109. Desert
Game: Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage
Nominated: CelticGuardian7 (January 2013 - For Worst Song)
Score: #59th [4/4]
Games Rank: 60/61
Time: 2:43
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mRQjRhzqmk

Now this was nominated for worst song, but didn't make top half. It's a really dull atmospheric track from an objectively poor game. I love Aidyn Chronicles and still need to beat it, but it's not a good game. Listening to this song, while ranking at the very very very bottom, is giving lots of nostalgia and desire to find my N64 and spend a week or two playing.

Someday, if I ever get the confidence and focus, I want to make a D&D campaign for my friends partly based on Aidyn Chronicles with influences from Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Evermore, Everquest, Secret of the Stars and other nostalgic underplayed games. We had some extra time a few months ago where I did my first sort of improv behind the DM Screen of my two friends searching for Kendall and ending up fighting the goblin poisoner. It was... scary, but I wasn'[t completely put off. Oisin Forest is a great early map to get totally lost in. Mmm...

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#108. Go Ninja Go Ninja GO!
Artist: Vanilla Ice
Nominated: Bospsy (January 2013)
Score: - [6/6]
Standard Rank: 49/49
Time: 4:26
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_K6971WmAs

I nominated a few TMNT songs here, and while I have no idea how this did, it better have been towards the bottom. This NINJA NINJA RRRAP is awful. "Lyrics... fill in the gap." At least Vanilla Ice seems super into this insanity and is giving it his all.

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#107. Secret Star
Game: Mario Paint
Nominated: CelticGuardian7 (January 2013 - For Worst Song)
Score: #37th [3/4]
Games Rank: 59/61
Time: 1:08
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rm-CF_g08Y

This sounds like being on Star Hill during a meteor storm. Just constant stars spinning and crashing, blasting out Galaxy-style star bits that someone is constantly collecting in your ear.

I don't remember the star in Mario Paint. I remember the mosquito game, the sounds cats and dogs and pigs make, and making some pretty... okay Secret of Mana sprites.

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#106. Men in Black
Artist: Forever the Sickest Kids
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (April 2012)
Score (Out of 100): #21st [5/5]
Standard Rank: 48/49
Time: 3:05
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScendFzCBkY

...

I have no memories of this song, or why I thought it would be a fun song to nominate... or how it scored so high in tazzy's rankings. 2012 was a different time for sure. The chorus sounds great, but everything else is cringey.

#105. Theme of Dr. Doom
Game: Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Nominated: Kenri/CelticGuardian7 (May 2012)
Scores (Out of 30): CG7 - #16th, Kenri - #9th [3/3]
Games Rank: 58/61
Time: 3:51
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcQ853ibg08

Why did I nominate Doom's theme? No, really, why? I know I was super-duper-hyper-turbo into watching Wednesday Night Fights of MVC3 for months, but surely there was a better character theme to nominate, right? On the Marvel side? Spider-Man? Magneto? She-Hulk? Taskmaster?! Why didn't I nominate Taskmaster's theme?! Ultimate was out by now, what about Rocket? I just don't... don't get it. It's a great intro and fits Dr. Footdive, but I can't last more than twenty seconds without getting sick of it.

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#104. It's Morphin Time
Artist: WillRock
Nominated: KamikazePotato (June 2012 - Remixes)
Score: #86th [5/5]
Games Rank: 57/61
Remix Game & Rank: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - 'Area 2', 9/9
Time: 4:56
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZBkiR7FET4

I swear, I was just trying to get a Power Rangers song on the list. Gokaiger ended in February 2012, the first Rhode Island Comic-Con wasn't until November 2012 (where I met Jason David Frank, David Yost, and Walter Jones), and I was probably watching Zyuranger then. I was deep into Power Rangers off and on around this time. Like, binges whenever I wasn't at work or playing whatever.

This isn't a strong OCRemix. It's got some nice guitar, but I really only nominated it because it has the 'Go Go Power Rangers' ditty at one point and I have shit taste.

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#103. Horteka Stomp
Artist: Asterin
Nominated: KamikazePotato (June 2012 - Remixes)
Score: #63 [4/5]
Games rank: 56/61
Remix Game & Rank: Skies of Arcadia - 'Kingdom of Ixa-taka', 8/9
Time: 4:13
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf3Y2b9UtPs

This was actually offensive to listen to. I obviously chose it just to choose a remix to nominate and I wanted to represent Skies of Arcadia, and this is so much less than the original tune. This disappoints me greatly. I was hoping for something most impressive. Bummer.

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#102. Let's Go Away
Game: Daytona USA
Nominated: CelticGuardian7 (January 2013 - For Worst Song)
Score: #78th [2/4]
Games Rank: 55/61
Time: 4:16
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVlcADaT94o

DOO DO DO DO DOO DO DOO DOOOO!!! I feel bad for any arcade workers who were stuck with this playing full blast for years and years. It's great, but it can get annoying fast. But my god, what a catch. Like "Cool Cat" in my most recent rankings, if I took any more time listening extensively, this would rise and rise up the ranks.

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#101. Braincooler
Artist: Rozovian
Nominated: KamikazePotato (June 2012 - Remixes)
Score: #61st [3/5]
Games Rank: 54/61
Remix Game & Rank: Mega Man X - 'Chill Penguin', 7/9
Time: 4:52
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_n7lgjWEF4

'Tis a very chill remix with a bit of nightclub vibe. It's okay. I have zero nostalgia for it, and don't really like how it sounds at 3:45 and on.

#100. Chinese
Game: Seven Kingdoms
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012) & Kenri (January 2013)
Scores: --- [10/10] (tazzy) & #34th [5/5] (Kenri)
Games Rank: 53/61
Time: 4:40
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMMYMKK493Y

Mmm, such nostalgia. Seven Kingdoms was my Age of Empires, my most often played PC RTS. I love playing the Chinese or Persians or Vikings and just playing for hours and hours. Frythan hunting, sending spies to sabotage enemies forts, stealing towns out from under other countries' noses, building lots of Cannons and pouring on the offense. This song is probably best of the seven race themes.

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#99. Mario Circuit
Game: Fortune Street
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012)
Score: --- [9/10]
Games Rank: 52/61
Time: 1:24
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3MHH7Lz-JE

Fortune Street was a fun Monopoly game with stocks and Mario characters and Dragon Quest characters. I loved playing it, and mom goes on Fortune Street binges every other year, and this captures both nostalgia for that game and for Mario Kart in general.

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#98. Fire Aura
Game: The Impossible Game
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012)
Score: --- [8/10]
Games Rank: 51/61
Time: 3:32
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvugACvVqGk

Remember The Impossible Game? That first track slapped even as it restarted a hundred times in a row. Getting to the end of the song and the level was so cathartic. A decade removed and the song and bass beat rhythm slap hard still. Perhaps they may even slay.

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#97. Right Behind You
Game: Team Fortress 2
Nominated: Kenri/CelticGuardian7 (May 2012)
Scores (Out of 30): CG7 - 21st, Kenri - 4th [2/3]
Games Rank: 50/61
Time: 1:41
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciL7OKWSu10

'Meet the Spy' was an incredible entry into the Team Fortress 2 videos that were highlight mini-events like Smash Bros. Dojo was around the same time. This song starting to play pictures of Scout's mother spill out of the dossier and Blue Spy goes over all the ways the Red Spy could've infiltrated them... ahhh, such nostalgia, such rich lore, so much blood. I'd hop in to Team Fortress 2 more if 95% of the time the random server I joined didn't have Auto-Aim cheaters, criticals turned up to max (though much love to Critfest friends, twas a great hangout server), or an inventory quickly and constantly filled up with key-crates.

It's like pulling weeds in Animal Crossing. It's a part of the game that just keeps me from coming back once I've already been gone too long.

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#96. The Katamari for Everyone's Souls
Artist: Ed Bellis
Nominated: Icon (June 2012)
Score: --- [3/3]
Games Rank: 49/61
Remix Games & Rank: Persona 3 - 'The Battle for Everyone's Souls' & Katamari Damacy - 'Katamari on the Rocks', 6/9
Time: 2:50
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R0hETw1epQ

Ed Bellis!!! It's a fun mashup and I appreciate the Katamariness greatly. It loses me about fifty-five seconds in as The Battle becomes more pronounced, and when the aria starts around 1:40 I'm out. It becomes too much of a mess for my ears when it did start out interestingly! I still have not played Persona 3, but now that it's on Steam, I might soon!

I was gonna suggest ranking the tracks sent to like Tazzy but this works too

Mega_Mana posted...

These nominations were taken from topics from 2012 through 2015 plus whenever Raetsel's first ranking topic opened up.

2018, apparently. Also, tag.

Mega_Mana posted...

#102. Let's Go Away

It's "Go Away"? All this time, I thought it was Roll Away, like Rolling Start.

NFUN posted...

I was gonna suggest ranking the tracks sent to like Tazzy but this works too

There are quite a few tracks I sent to tazzy here. Quite a few.

And I apologize (to tazzy)

#95. Calling to the Night
Game: Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops
Nominated: Raetsel (1st Ranking)
Score (Out of 199): #20th [6/6]
Games Rank: 48/61
Time: 3:12
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXkgn3QUA2w

There's a lot of Metal Gear Solid I really enjoy, but for some reason, this has done nothing for me. If it had in the past, I have no recollection of it doing so. I'm glad it got a perfect 10 from Raetsel (my first of seven in her rankings!), but it's so slow and plodding. It's my only Metal Gear Solid nomination and I'm disappointed in myself for not picking something more atmospheric or bombastic.

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#94. Phendrana Drifts
Game: Metroid Prime
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: --- [25/25]
Games Rank: 47/61
Time: 3:50
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbbUv1hz6mE
Note: 'Solitude.'

Welcome to winter, hope you enjoy the peace and cold. Very atmospheric and conjures up memories of that great icy expanse. Metroid Prime is such an incredible game with so much to do and explore, one of the most immersive games ever made. The stages and their music selections were a huge part of that. Phendrana Drifts is wonderful, but for some reason I remember more in it than is here? Like a 'Dire, Dire Docks' situation where it's pretty and calm and grounds you in the area with its atmosphere but starts picking up the melody and rolling like a Katamari into something so much more, and this feels less than what I remember. It shouldn't rank this low, but it does disappoint me a little.

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#93. Wings of Kynareth
Game: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Artist: Jeremy Soule
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012)
Score: --- [7/10]
Games Rank: 46/61
Time: 3:30
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkypBTH8hQQ

I don't remember too much of Oblivion's music fifteen years past, but randomly hearing this tune wandering Cyrodiil was always a pleasant and welcome experience. Jeremy Soule does wonderful atmosphere, and we'll come back to him in a bit. I've yet to become a Hero of Kvatch, advancing the early story enough so that gates open, because I enjoyed roaming all over far too much. One day, I may try again and shovel forward through the main quest so I'd never have to worry about gates later on; Skyrim became much more fun when I did the main story first and worried about all the sidequests and exploring later. Mmm, listening to it gets me into a n exploring mood. Urge to play Everquest rising some more.

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#92. Satorl, The Shimmering Marsh / Night
Game: Xenoblade Chronicles
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012) & Kenri (January 2013)
Scores: --- [6/10] & #40th [4/5]
Games Rank: 45/61
Time: 3:21
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA7pFI4pEv0

Another impressive atmosphere that surprises and delights upon first arriving. I don't think I've played Xenoblade Chronicles at all in over a decade. I still have very fond memories of the game and its characters and the vibrant worlds atop two massive sentinels, and the soundtrack is incredible. I know I don't have the time or patience to hop back in without getting sidetracked by all the sidequests and social links I want to accomplish and nurture again. I wonder how common it was with others to avoid equipping certain armors because of their aesthetic?

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#91. Voices
Artist: Sahaj Ticotin
Nominated: ahirsch101 (February 2015)
Score: #66th [4/4]
Standard Rank: 47/49
Time: 3:25
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3r1c6ueN1M

Ah, Wrestlemania XXX~ To think they were really trying to sell Randy Orton vs. Batista as the main event after all that's happened since summer with the rise of Daniel Bryan and the dumping on him by Orton and the Authority. I liked these acoustic promo versions of themes they had for Orton and Batista, but it's not really that great unless I'm in a mood for Firefly or some such.

#90. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)
Artist: Chuck Lorre & Dennis C. Brown
Nominated: Bospsy (January 2013)
Score: - [5/6]
Standard Rank: 46/49
Time: 0:59
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Iv-_JHDa-w

I don't know what it is about the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon that... has like anti-nostlagia for me? Well, anti-implies a negative reaction where this is just more of a void. I have so much nostalgia for so many other things back then, and I should have for this song and cartoon. I owned (and enjoyed!) the NES game, I had a number of random Ninja Turtles action figures, I had a VHS of some of their episodes, and I'm sure I watched a lot of it, but it's... when I'm looking for these memories in my memory banks I run into playing River City Ransom with my cousin, a New Kids on the Block coloring book, Thanksgiving sleepover at my house with my cousins, "The Daily Muppet" episode of Muppet Babies, the Eureeka's Castle episode with wishes coming true, going down to a Newport mansion for one long weekend with family and doing charades and playing hide and seek around this dark gnarly tree. It's a great deal of welcome memories, sure, but there's a notable absence of the shellheads I'm searching for.

As far as the theme song goes, it's a classic.

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#89. The Skull Fortress
Artist: Juan Medrano / Sixto Sounds
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (April 2012)
Score: #12th [4/5]
Games Rank: 44/61
Remix Game & Rank: Mega Man 9 - 'Flash in the Dark (Wily Stage 1)', 5/9
Time: 4:26
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5nMWTR7wb0

The highest ranked of the five AprilTazzy nominations is nice. I think this is a solid remix theme. I don't remember it, or the song it is remixing, at all and as all these entries came from me, I know or can quickly recognize most of them. This does nothing for me in that way, but it is wonderful to listen to.

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#88. West Karana
Game: Everquest
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012) & Kenri (January 2013)
Scores: --- [5/10] & #28th [3/5]
Games Rank: 43/61
Time: 2:01
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYWhQK1pIb0

Somehow a shot of pure nostalgia despite the song playing, iirc, only when running near the southern coast of the zone when 99% of the time I'd be sneaking around much higher up and exploring the mountainous and bandit-fileld north. Holy Rainkeeper, I do miss my days in Karana's lands from Surefall Glade to Highpass. I spent so many hours and days in His regions. Qeynos was the home city of the majority of my longest-played characters, and I spent much time trying to jump up into places we weren't supposed to go (done again a lot later in LOTRO's Bree, playing The Moon with other Board 8ers from random rooftops). Toiling away for hours and hours hunting giant field rats for their rare whiskers to complete my Ranger (Druid?) armor set. Slaying nearly as many Gnolls in Blackburrow as I did running away from Elite Gnoll Trains to Zone entrance!!! Finding level-appropriate places to hide in West Karana on my first server, which was PvP, since too many assholes roamed Qeynos Hills and started tracking me down in the Qeynos Aqueducts. Spending far more time in Western Karana than was level-appropriate because the Giants and Griffins in North Karana terrified me.

This list is inducing old itches and scars I want to scratch at and return to, and yet the past remains the past. Pre-Luclin servers exist with Everquest '99, and yet there are people who know the ins and outs of everything for about twenty-five years now and it's such an intimidation. I would love to go back to when everything was fresh for everyone else and play in those busy, chaotic times again. So many quick friends and lost companions. Such a wonderful experience.

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#87. Merchant in the Cave
Game: Secret of Evermore
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012) & Kenri (January 2013)
Scores: --- [4/10] & #65 [2/5]
Games Rank: 42/61
Time: 2:14
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CiO3mfphLk

I love how mysterious and haunting it is around one of these odd merchants living alone out in the wilds. The barebones melody and its echo over a deep, dark gusty cavernous noise is such strange atmosphere. Secret of Evermorei s one of my favorite SNES games and still in my top fifty games of all-time. I adore the immersion and exploration and sound and sight of this game and wish there was much more of it or like it. Oh, and the amazing atmosphere in this game? Jeremy Soule again, as seen doing Oblivion's great atmosphere! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to budget my Talons for either a new suit of Dino Skin or some clay and crystal for launching Hardballs.

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#86. Freestyle
Artist: Chip Tha Ripper
Nominated: Icon (June 2012)
Score: --- [2/3]
Standard Rank: 45/49
Time: 1:50
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIfSaDNVjXI

It wasn't until writing this up that I realized "Interior crocodile alligator, I drive a chevrolet movie theater" makes perfect sense in the context of his freestyle as the last few verses were all about his pimped out Chevrolet. Still hits, still memeworthy. Internet Hall of Fame tune.

#85. The Road is Full of Dangers
Game: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Nominated: jcgamer107 (May 2012) & Kanzaris (January 2013)
Score: #42nd [5/5] & --- [4/4]
Games Rank: 41/61
Time: 1:37
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yherY7rJGvs
*NEW* Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p2UGG0be9I

As jcgamer wrote up, in the only write-ups I kept, "The road is full of dangers alright. When I hear this song I immediately think, "Oh God, help, I'm in danger. Danger everywhere". You're silly, Nintendo."

A very jaunty start to adventure, not very dangerous at all, really. It does feel very 'person leaves town to go off on adventure for the first time!' More EverQuest desire popping in as I'm only thinking about leaving Qeynos and venturing in the Qeynos Hills and fighting goblins and rats and gnolls for the first time, being careful not to upset any willowisps, bears, or skeletons that are surprisingly high-level and spellcasty by those really eerie ruins. I think it's the fire beetle colors. Red & yellow matching the font. I should probably talk about Croco, but nah. EverQuest.

P.S., @jcgamer107 have you played another Mario RPG besides Super Paper Mario in the past dozen years?

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#84. Lagu Untukmu
Artist: Meet Uncle Hussain
Nominated: VincentLauw/Menji76 (May 2012)
Score: #79th [7/7]
Standard Rank: 44/49
Time: 3:40
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsn5vPTk3dI

This was almost assuredly a nomination because looking back through 2012 Rankings I saw I put Lagu Untukmu in as an example of how much I disliked the 2012 list of songs. The year before, Lagu Untukmu was the midway point at 24/47, and I would've ranked it 23rd out of 100 songs in the new list. And looking at 2012.... yeah, there's a lot of songs on there I'm glad I've never heard again. Top five slaaaps, though. "Explosive" by Bond, "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit, "Punching in a Dream" by The Naked & Famous, "Little Talks" by Of Monsters & Men, and "On Melancholy Hill" by Gorillaz. There's also a few other songs from this list I nominated elsewhen. As for Lagu Untukmu itself, it's a nice night cruising song. I can picture travelling across Boston to this song, and I don't do that often. The Bunker Hill Bridge, specifically. Lots of pretty lights.

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#83. 2525/2011
Artist: Asoaka Hilton
Nominated: PrestonStarry (October 2012)
Score: #57th [5/5]
Standard Rank: 43/49
Time: 15:29
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBI2uPjDyWk

I never got into NicoNico, though 2012's rankings had quite a number of them nominated. This was the highest one I ranked from Natwaf_akidna at #11. It is fun to listen to every now and again, but it's soooooo daaaaaamn long. There is a great deal of nostalgia in here from nyancat to Okkusenman, Gingaman to Kakuranger, general nostalgic vibes from listening top this over and over and over again over a decade ago. I think 4:10-5:23 is my favorite section besides Kakuranger's appearance at 9:55, It wasn't my intention to put my two 2012 ranking nominations together like this, but there were some other songs between them I bumped up. (This write-up comes a full week after the previous one.)

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#82. Bailamos
Artist: Enrique Iglesias
Nominated: ZeroSignal620 (April 2015)
Score: #118th [5/5]
Standard Rank: 42/49
Time: 3:35
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sye_VxmNZA

Yeah, this song's aged like milk. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't hit nearly as hard as I remember it doing when it came out. I mean, even then it wasn't high up on my list, but there was a time where Enrique and the Latin Explosion were so so big. Lou Bega, Ricky Martin, Santana, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira. I think I would nominated a lot of their songs over Bailamos these days.

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#81. The Inner Light
Artist: Jay Chattaway
Nominated: ahirsch101 (February 2015)
Score: ??? [2/4]
Standard Rank: 41/49
Time: 6:42
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyYhbC0MXlY

It's a beautiful tune, but I have no memory nor nostalgia of this. Am I certain I did not nominate the Next Generation theme or the one that played in the Motion Picture? No? It's the same link here as it was a decade ago? Hm. It's a beautiful tune.

#80. Hush
Artist: Kula Shaker
Nominated: ZeroSignal620 (April 2015)
Score: #91st [4/5]
Standard Rank: 40/49
Time: 2:54
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh7r_f_rw0c

I have no recollection of ever nominating this nor why I would. It's a good song and upbeat cover of Deep Purple's hit, but unless it was in a bunch of commercials or some television episode, the only place I can think of would be Kingsman: The Secret Service? Yeah, probably Kingsman. I need to watch that movie again; it was excellent. Sequel was disappointing, but I should try it again, and I never tried The Kingsman.

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#79. Ghost Ship (Dragon Quest III)
Game: Fortune Street
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012) & Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [3/10] & - [24/25]
Games Rank: 40/61
Time: 3:02
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yOSs_dLiWg
*OLD* Link (DQIII): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb4DV62j5hA
*NEW* Link (DQXI): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XClpykYN13I
Note: 'Dragon Quest III has one of my favorite overworld themes, and the Fortune Street rendition is the only reason I can continue to play Ghost Ship's ****ty map. I prefer the NES chiptune to the SNES version as well.'

I've already stated my enjoyment of Fortune Street at #93, so let's talk Dragon Quest. DQIII was my first and favorite Dragon Quest game for forever. I spent countless hours running a loop on the first boss with his Goons trying to earn Gold Medals in the GBC version as I watched Starcraft matches in the early 2000s and Marvel vs Capcom 3 matches in 2010-11. I've beaten the game a few times and absolutely adore it. Dragon Quest XI is *chef's kiss* one of my favorites games and I am so proud to have completed it 100%. I really should go back and play again, even if I don't have whatever Definitive Edition S it is after the initial release. I played I, II, IV, V, and VI on my phone a few years back; played DQIX on my DS until I lost it with some other DS games; loved Dragon Quest Heroes and Dragon Quest Builders; and despite all that, still haven't tried Dragon Quest VIII! One day. Been wanting to play DQVI again. When I have the time.

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#78. The Secret of the Forest
Game: Chrono Trigger
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [23/25]
Games Rank: 39/61
Time: 4:43 (Or halved; it plays twice I think)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKex3QoPc8A
Note: 'Beautiful and quiet.'

R.I.P. Akira Toriyama. A beautiful ethereal track with that high whistle that gets you in a proper somber mood, setting up an incredible game filled with even more amazing tracks. I dunno. Objectively, it should be higher, but subjectively... I like it but not overly much. It doesn't carry as much nostalgia as a lot of other games tracks to come (and a lot of games tracks already fallen).

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#77. Military Facility Dungeon
Game: Skies of Arcadia
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012) & Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [2/10] & - [22/25]
Games Rank: 38/61
Time: 3:57
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9dObaks7mQ
Note: 'When I think Skies of Arcadia music, it almost always ends up as this one.'

I don't know if that's true these days. I always think about "Vyse's Theme" or "Kingdom of Ixa'taka" or the Battle themes. Am I certain I wasn't thinking of "Battle 1" when I wrote that and just used Military Facility Dungeon because I couldn't remember? It's an excellent track with great nostalgia, but it's nowhere near the top of songs I'd nominate from this amazing game. And my tazzy nominations for August are already down nine out of ten songs? I'd like to formally apologize for my past self. I nominated some really poor choices of video game music.

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#76. The Painted Future Set Upon an Easel
Game: Wild Arms XF
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [21/25]
Games Rank: 37/61
Time: 3:18
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVoAHR0nQMw
Note: 'Just an amazing son to listen to again and again.'

I forget which VGMC I was big into the nominations & brackets for, but it was either 3, 4, or 5. This and another on the list I only knew from VGMC, and I really liked them. This is a nice brassy song, but I have almost zero recollection of it, and nostalgia trumps a lot with this list.

#75. National Aerobic Championship Theme
Artist: Ty Parr
Nominated: ahirsch101 (February 2015)
Score: #97th [3/4]
Standard Rank: 39/49
Time: 2:30
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7kFlkW-qN8

Remember how viral the Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship clip was in 2011/2012? From the "Shake It Off" dub to the Key & Peele sketch, this was huge. I genuinely love listening to this song and watching the video still, maybe once a year.

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#74. Roll With the Changes
Artist: REO Speedwagon
Nominated: VincentLauw/Menji76 (May 2012)
Score: #46th [6/7]
Standard Rank: 38/49
Time: 5:36
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT0Zz6_8KFk

Cabin in the Woods! Still one of my favorite movies, and I rolled with all the twists and changes and the 'turned pages on the same old story' four times in theaters. Still the best movie-going experience I've ever had was watching this for a fourth time with my friend seeing it a third time and two friends who knew nothing about it and there were only two other couples in the theater and one of those couples was vocally reacting throughout the movie, and while one of my friends usually pisses me off with how often he talks during a movie, this time I was relaxed and encouraged it with the encouragement of the other theatergoer, and it was amazing hearing their reactions as everything went nuts. We left the theater, chatted about it for like ten minutes, then hopped into the midnight release of The Avengers and got a double-dose of Chris Hemsworth starring in two awesome movies.

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#73. I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)
Artist: Kenny Loggins
Nominated: Bospsy (January 2013)
Score: --- [4/6]
Standard Rank: 37/49
Time: 3:47
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWGQLabBnj8

The bass and percussion set the mood for a wonderful Footloose track. Pure 80s nostalgia.

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#72. Dragon Roost Island
Game: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012 - CHANGED)
Score: - [7/7]
Games Rank: 36/61
Time: 2:29
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtcgZGp3FGs
*NEW* Link (BOTW Rito Village): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgKMf2r96o0
Note: Pleasant and simple tune with a great blend of percussion, the whistling flute, and subtle strings.

Yep, Ed Bellis' September 2012 saved nominations is actually 32: 25 I officially nominated and 7 I changed out. I figured I'd give them their own separated ranking. It's Dragon Roost Island. It's atmospheric, tone-setting, and a wonderful track in a wonderful game. I think my favorite recent thing about the track was hearing it in the Rito Village theme 0:39 seconds in (along with the opening screen of Ocarina of Time at 0:24). It's not as good as the original, but the most memorable score in BOTW that I can think of.

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#71. Suck a Sage (Chipp's Theme)
Game: Guilty Gear X2
Nominated: Kenri/CelticGuardian7 (May 2012)
Scores (Out of 30): #30th (Kenri) & #27th (CelticGuardian7) [1/3]
Games Rank: 35/61
Time: 3:06
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJcXNDk-5F8

The Guilty Gear soundtrack rocks. I've never played the games, and only slightly played Blazblue, but I used to love listening to the soundtrack on loop. A mainstay back when Windows Media Player was open 24/7. This is the lowest of four Guilty Gear X2 nominated songs.

#70. The A-Team Theme
Artist: Mike Post & Pete Carpenter
Nominated: VincentLauw/Menji76 (May 2012)
Score: #87th [5/7]
Standard Rank: 36/49
Time: 1:33
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MVonyVSQoM

I've maybe seen one or two episodes and a few compilations, but the theme song is so action-packed and wonderful. Mike Post is a BEAST. Believe it or not, if you watched a television show made in the 1980s, there's like a 50% chance Mike Post made the theme song. Magnum P.I., The Greatest American Hero, Hill Street Blues, Quantum Leap, Doogie Howser, NYPD Blue, and, one of the biggest contributions to television themes in history, Law & Order among at least dozens upon dozens of others. The A-Team Theme song is absolutely iiconic.

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#69. The Freshmen
Artist: The Verve
Nominated: Kanzaris (January 2013)
Score: --- [3/4]
Standard Rank: 35/49
Time: 4:32
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1umEXpGHc0E

A really depressing song about a girl who took her life after an abortion, and the stages of grief and how life hits you fast wear a helmet. It's a gorgeous, terrible, pure 90s song.

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#68. King of Birds
Artist: R.E.M.
Nominated: ZeroSignal620 (June 2015)
Score: --- [5/5]
Standard Rank: 34/49
Time: 4:10
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASokyb7oqdM

Nostalgia-bomb. I'm surprised I can sing-a-long to half the lyrics, but that's how much I listened to R.E.M. in my teens and early twenties. I'm not quite sure why I picked King of Birds. Document's a weird one (to me here in 2024) to nominate a song from if it's not the obvious "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" or "The One I Love" or even "Exhuming McCarthy." Something strange was going on that night. Was I trying to clear the floor to dance? It wasn't my finest of hours.

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#67. Moon Mountain / Forest Theme
Game: Harvest Moon 64
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (August 2012) & Kenri (January 2013)
Scores: - [1/10] & #86th [1/5]
Games Rank: 34/61
Time: 2:06
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gvR_-xXAvg

DOUBLE-KILL. Wow, none of the nominations I gave to tazzy/Kenri made my top half, but it's neat to note that my favorite of the five I sent Kenri was Kenri's least favorite. Harvest Moon 64 is the game that brought me to GameFAQs in the first place and I have a deep-seated love and nostalgia for that game, despite only reaching the end party one time (my first time). This is probably my favorite track in the game, but I adore listening to almost all of them. Game was just so fun to play... until you and everyone else got married and there seemed to be no new dialogue with anyone and the bar was completely empty every night and the greenhouse was a huuuuge obstacle in the enjoyably quick pacing of the days. But the soundtrack was fun and memorable!

[CRYPTIC ANSWER] See? I probably deserved the poor nominations after all I subjected you to, @tazzyboyishere

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#66. Danger
Game: Secret of Mana
Nominated: CelticGuardian (January 2013 - Worst Songs)
Score: #51st [1/4]
Games Rank: 33/61
Time: 2:13
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0IJPzf4mO0

You might be thinking to yourself, "How the hell is this song so high? IT'S A WALL OF EAR PIERCING NOISE!" Yes, yes it is. It really gets you amped up and hits the panic button with a giant boss suddenly taking up the screen and you have to fight it with your rusty sword. You have to figure out the boss' defenses, avoid it's many attacks, hope not to die as it rolls across to the other side of Elinee's Castle, make sure you bought enough Cups of Wishes and Faerie Walnuts to keep everyone healed and buffed. But as you figure out the patterns of attacks and you start targetting those weaknesses... the music joins in with a ray of hope. You start to feel confident and the music boosts that confidence. You begin to soar about with charged attacks and giant rock slides and the music is just hitting those giant triumphant swells. On its own, yeah, Danger can be grating, but I can't think of too many better tracks that feel like literal Bardic Inspiration.

#65. Round & Round
Artist: Ratt
Nominated: ZeroSignal620 (June 2015)
Score: - [4/5]
Standard Rank: 33/49
Time: 4:25
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u8teXR8VE4

One of my received nominations, it still comes into my head often. The music video is a lot of fun and I often watch that more than I actually listen. When I do, it's like the song that never ends. It goes round and round will love find a way just give it time.

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#64. Once in a Lifetime
Artist: Talking Heads
Nominated: tazzyboyishere (April 2012)
Score (Out of 100): #38th [3/5]
Standard Rank: 32/49
Time: 3:44
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IsSpAOD6K8

And you may ask yourself, why is this classic so low? It induces a bit tooooo much anxiety for my liking. Video especially. The dancing reminds me of a nightmare I had as a kid, and I don't want to ask myself things where the water holds me down.

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#63. The Next Door
Game: Street Fighter IV
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [20/25]
Games Rank: 32/61
Time: 4:26
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJUjX-uQrJw
Note: Part of it is sheer enjoyment, part of it is Contest Nostalgia. DAT VOTE BARRIER, IN-DES-TRUC-TI-BLE!

https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(4)Albert_Wesker_vs_(13)Ken_Masters_2010

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#62. Heartbeat, Heartbreak
Game: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Nominated: jcgamer107 (May 2012)
Score: #101st [4/5]
Games Rank: 31/61
Time: 2:17
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ue1JPFXEU

My first time playing Persona 4 was at my friend's house in 2011-2012. Three of us would hang out and watch tv and movies and eat out and play games together and some nights I'd be allowed to sleepover in the basement and play games. I'd stick to Uncharted 2 and Persona 4 at super low volume settings, but I'd still hear what I could of the soundtrack and it and other tracks were burned into my brain from midnight to 7am when I'd help wake him up because he sucked at responding to his alarms.

It doesn't affect me nearly as much as when I nominated it, and I've still yet to finish Golden after... like five or six years? Still I get nostalgic for a nice cloudy day running about town.

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#61. Points of Authority
Artist: Linkin Park
Nominated: PrestonStarry (October 2012)
Score: #79th [4/5]
Standard Rank: 31/49
Time: 3:20
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoCD5wZEgo4

Hybrid Theory and Meteora were my teenage angsting albums. Solo summer days playing Harvest Moon 64, Aidyn Chronicles, and especially Perfect Dark while blasting this, not knowing what to do with myself now that summer day camp and town soccer were in the past. I can still blast these albums and enjoy, but I'm not quite sure why I chose this as my nomination. It would be different these days. "Easier to Run," "Breaking the Habit," or "Pushing Me Away" would by my choices.

#60. Smile Bomb
Artist: Matsuki Mawatari, Sara White
Nominated: profDEADPOOL (March 2015)
Score: #96th [5/5]
Standard Rank: 30/49
Time: 2:56
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVEgY5kugUA

Yu Yu Hakusho is an anime I finally watched long after Toonami. Not even during when it aired. Tom had already signed off and told us to stay gold (bang) in 2008, and I don't think I got onto it until 2011/12. I'm 90% sure I finished at least Sensui when Toonami came back for that one magical April Fools' (and I was looking forward to The Room having seen it twice in theaters by that point). I remember trying to wake my friends up for the midnight madness and share my excitement. I needed to feel a touch of a friend. I can't believe it's been twelve years now. I should check out current anime or watch Yu Yu Hakusho again. At the very least the end of the Dark Tournament. Kuwabara might've made one of my favorite moments across all of media.

Relevant Links:
Final Broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY30uYE47Ts
April Fools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6X9IHKbEqk

*goes off on a long Toonami-watching tangent*

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#59. A View to a Kill
Artist: Duran Duran
Nominated: ZeroSignal620 (June 2015)
Score: --- [3/5]
Standard Rank: 29/49
Time: 3:33
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkuUnnlAPZk

I'm more than a bit disappointed this isn't a-ha's "The Living Daylights," so much that my brain starts playing that everytime I look at this nomination. Dancing into the fire isn't bad, and the opening crawl of a neon pink manicure slowly opening a zipper is more mesmerizing for me than anything in any other Bond intro, but it doesn't resonate for me. Like, the words "A View to a Kill" are just tacked into a different song completely so it can be used as a Bond theme. I'm rambling because the chorus is awesome and I'm trying to justify putting songs I have more fondness for higher. I am so, so, so sorry 'Smile Bomb.'

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#58. You Will Know Our Names
Game: Xenoblade Chronicles
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [19/25]
Games Rank: 30/61
Time: 2:23
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7yNyhLOIa4
Note: Rockin' battle music. Could you want anything more?

It's just too much. There's too much noise, too much going on. It's a great and dangerous battle theme, but I'm out of love with this.

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#57. AVALANCHE (Lost Perception Remix)
Artist: Random (Mega Ran)
Nominated: profDEADPOOL (March 2015)
Score: #106th [4/5]
Games Rank: 29/61
Remix Game & Rank: Final Fantasy VII - 'Let the Battle Begin!' and 'Barrett's Theme,' 4/9
Time: 4:45
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1eK-c0BfJw

"A-V, A-L, A-N, C-H-E THAT'S WHO WE BE." The whistle tune in the fight music with the excellent excellent lyrics match so well, and I've totally forgotten about the album. Need to listen again. And while I feel like Barrett's Theme drops away, just like Barrett's Theme is a drop in the soundtrack, it's hilarious. "I just always keep the faith and I always have a handgun. No I mean it literal cause I have a hand gun."

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#56. In My Room
Artist: The Beach Boys
Nominated: VincentLauw/Menji76 (May 2012)
Score: #48th [4/7]
Standard Rank: 28/49
Time: 2:13
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l71pbhqnvNM

The first ten seconds has me scrolling up my wordpad to see how far back I'm inserting it, then the harmony and music kicks in and again I'm reminded how brilliant the Beach Boys are. Back before our living room had the family computer and long before it had the family tv, the main features were a record player and cassette player. We had Beach Boys on vinyl, but I would listen to the Greatest Hits cassette most often (because there were other cassette players around the house, obviously). Disney cassette storybook tapes of Winnie the Pooh's Blustery Winds-day and Br'er Rabbit? How about some Alvin & the Chipmunks? Various Eagles and Steppenwolf and The Grass Roots tapes? Nope, most played until my teens was Beach Boys. In My Room is still a classic piece for nostalgizing and decreasing anxiety levels.

#55. Your Affection
Game: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [18/25]
Games Rank: 28/61
Time: 2:52
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-x3ojOGWa8
Note: Unintelligible lyrics and a bit of light piano trance playing from midnight to 6 in the morning make yourself a herooooo.

So hypnotic day after day~ I miss how fun it was running around town with semi-random themes. Much preferred over combat and dungeon exploration! I've been finding the same as I play through Trails. I'm much more entertained talking to people and seeing what they say every day than putting in the work to make sure peace reigns.

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#54. Nightmares (1st Ver.)
Game: God Eater
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012 - CHANGED)
Score: - [6/7]
Games Rank: 27/61
Time: 2:51
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ2zJC7kf-s
Note: How hasn't this retired in the VGMC yet?!

The nomination is listed as "An Approaching Nightmare Acoustic (Gods Eater Burst)" but I couldn't find any evidence that is a thing outside VGMC, and after going through a bunch of God Eater tracks, this sparked memory so I'm going with this. I also can't find any evidence it retired. As far as current me is concerned, it's an alright track. I enjoyed it okay enough to make top half. Never played the game.

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#53. Underworld
Game: Terranigma
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [17/25]
Games Rank: 26/61
Time: 3:02
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NFmgQqLmSo
Note: Chilling, adventurous, and secretive.

I've gone back and forth on where this one should place. It's a really excellent track for first getting out into the world and seeing that it's nothing like the sunny little village Ark grew up in, and feels weighted by recent Crystal Blue persuasions. It has the beautiful SNES grain. There are about twenty songs before it that it probably shouldn't beat, but the nostalgia is extremely strong for this track even if I didn't end up liking Terranigma much more after the Underworld.

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#52. Mother 2 [Earthbound]
Game: Super Smash Bros. Melee
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [16/25]
Games Rank: 25/61
Time: 3:13
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgbeFTvpFDU
Note: 'Excellent Earthbound medley. I believe in roses kissed with dew...'

The best part of waking up is Folgers in Pollyanna's cup!

Deciding whether I want to binge the Super Smash Bros. Brawl soundtrack for nostalgia or to hit up Bound Together album. This song is carrying me away from write-ups on a Pokefloat in the shape of Mr. Saturn...

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#51. Radioactive
Artist: Lindsey Stirling & Pentatonix
Nominated: ahirsch101 (February 2015)
Score: #31st [1/4]
Standard Rank: 27/49
Time: 4:24
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2GCa-_nyU

Eleven years. Eleven years. Somehow Lindsey Stirling & Pentatonix doing an incredible cover of Imagine Dragons feels... like its still far too recent to be eleven years ago. This was peak internet. Great production, beautiful music, insane collaboration. Eleven years!!!

And I can't fit this in the top 50?!

#50. dir
Game: Umineko No Naku Koro Ni
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [15/25]
Games Rank: 24/61
Time: 1:55
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSKWf_20Lkg
Note: A rollercoaster of a song, just incredibly amazing.

A short rollercoaster, but one that crashes into the Golden Land and bring a quadrillionth of a percent of hope. Episode 4 was a tough read, long and meandering and weaving between past and present and future and fantasy and it just seemed to drag. I never realized its purpose until a lot, a LOT, later. And "dir" keyed in to Episode 4 turning a corner and becoming even more of an epic tragedy. Remember your sin of six years ago. Idiot.

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#49. Dr. Wily's Castle
Game: Mega Man 2
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [14/25]
Games Rank: 23/61
Time: 2:30
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJRoRt155mA
Note: Admittedly the first taste of the song I had was "Okkusenman" and that has a large bearing on why I think it's amazing, but besides inwardly singing 'ulturaman, ulturaman seven!' the song is great.

Twelve years later? Yeah, it's still a man missing his childhood friends and times he would run around with spoons over his eyes longing for past days... kind of like I'm doing with this April Fool's Day ranking, huh? I have minor memories of playing Mega Man games at a friend's or cousin's house when I was really young. I remember the room a little bit: lots of that 80s brown and the TV was kind of hiding around a corner yet in the middle of the room, like there was so much in there and only so much room to walk around. He had Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3, maybe Mega Man 4, and I played a bit but wasn't any good. I rented the games a few times later on, but by then my main focus was on Super Nintendo games and later Nintendo 64. I miss the video rental store. I miss the standees and the box art and walls of video cassettes to rent for a few nights. It was probably my most visited place outside of home and school for a couple years. Even if I'm looking back, I can't ver go back to these tims...

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#48. Lonely Rolling Star
Game: Katamari Damacy
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [13/25]
Games Rank: 22/61
Time: 5:44
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_QydNXI_ok
Note: The chorus is what gets me everytime. One of the few VGMs I can't help but dance in my seat to.

Once upon a time, I weas obsessed with this song for about two weeks. Non-stop. I am happy the past has stayed in the past in this case. It's a beautiful song once it gets going about 1:25 in, but these strange not-quite-bouncy lulls between choruses do so much less for me now.

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#47. Travelling Through a Dream
Artist: Hadyn
Nominated: jcgamer107 (June 2012) & KamikazePotato (June 2012 - Remixes)
Scores: (Out of 105) #26th [3/5] & #55th [2/5]
Games Rank: 21/61
Remix Game & Rank: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - 'Special Stage,' 3/9
Time: 4:41
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUtOZV5iudQ

...but I can enjoy the reminiscing! The OCRemix 'Hedgehog Heaven' album was a WinAMP staple, and this might've been my favorite of the mix. If I still had my old computer, I think this would have the most plays of the album followed by FFmusicDJ's "Hidden Palace Future," analoq's "Next My Generation," and Jayson Litrio's "Hill Top Heaven." Sonic 2 has a lot of fond memories. I played over at my cousin's house whenever we went over, was one of six games I owned with a Sega Genesis picked up at a flea market, and almost almost almost beat the game house sitting with some kids while all the parents attended a wedding. Stupid 'A' Button meaning 'Cancel'

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#46. Sleepyhead
Artist: Passion Pit
Nominated: PrestonStarry (October 2012)
Score: #99th [3/5]
Standard Rank: 26/49
Time: 2:53
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThbJtOAkHy4

2012's silver medalist, nominated to me by tazzyboyishere. Let's just copy that write-up:
- Wow, this sounds familiar. I thoroughly enjoy this, especially the slightly ethereal high-pitched background singer.
- Wow, I had forgotten all about this song. As soon I heard the first few notes, my eyes lit up.
- Wow, everything is going to the beat. SLEEPYHEAAAAAAAAD
- ****, I really want this at number one. Why does another song have to hit me on a physical level?
- I think this is the only song on the list I've completely rocked out to. I've danced a bit, bobbed my head, sung along, but nothing quite intense as when this gets to "SLEEEEEPYHEAAAAAAAAAAD."

And while it hasn't maintained a strong power over me in the years gone by, I still enjoy it even as it gives me a bit of a headache. I liked it so much I bought Passion Pit's CD. It was so long ago, and yet I think I've only bought maybe two or three physical albums since then. YouTube & Spotify have truly taken over how I listen to music.

#45. Rewrite
Artist: Asian Kung-Fu Generation
Nominated: PrestonStarry (October 2012) & Bane Of Despair (November 2013)
Scores: #16th [2/5] & --- [3/3]
Standard Rank: 25/49
Time: 3:47
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmeudwRMrsU
Intro Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPg1J79sgkQ

Fullmetal Alchemist was the shit. I loved reading the manga and watching Brotherhood, and even the live-action movie on Netflix a few years back was pretty good. And FMA & FMA:B had a bevy of amazing OPs. This, "Ready, Steady, Go," and "again" will forever be alchemically imprinted in my mind, able to conjure the characters and setpieces easily. Yet, despite loving this opening, I'm 100% sure I never watched the latter half of the original FMA. I should watch the original FMA.

I tend to forget Fullmetal Alchemist when I look back at anime I watched. Despite loving Brotherhood and comparing its worldbuilding, character work, and long-term storytelling to Monster in scope and consequence, it's so in-between my Toonami teens and the present day where nothing seems to stick long. Perhaps the closest I've come to finding something even like those two in the past five years has been The Stormlight Archive. A wide swath of characters dealing with trauma and mysteries and affecting each other and, for FMA, some cool magical system involved. Playing Trails of Cold Steel III right now, I wish the Trails games stayed tighter like these, though Zero & Azure scratch that itch extremely well.

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#44. Goldeneye
Artist: Tina Turner
Nominated: VincentLauw/Menji76 (May 2012)
Score: #70th [3/7]
Standard Rank: 24/49
Time: 3:34
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hGQ97tCTOs

The amazing theme from one of my four favorite Bond films (as in Casino Royale, OHMSS, Goldfinger, and Goldeneye any of which could be #1 depending on the day) . There are better Bond theme songs. "You Know My Name," "Goldfinger," "The Living Daylights," "Live and Let Die," and "Skyfall" come to mind immediately, but this is deeply nostalgic. As are a lot of things associated with the movie and the game. Just for fun, and because I saw it in old documents...

MARCH 23rd 2016 (sans Spectre) [And No Time to Die obviously]

1. Goldeneye (+1)
2. Goldfinger (-1)
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (--)
4. Casino Royale (--)
5. From Russia With Love (--)
6. Dr. No (--)
7. The Spy Who Loved Me (--)
8. You Only Live Twice (--)
9. The Living Daylights (--)
10. Skyfall (--)
11. Moonraker (+1)
12. Licence to Kill (-1)
13. A View to a Kill (+1)
14. Octop**** (+1)
15. Diamonds Are Forever (-2)
16. For Your Eyes Only (--)
17. The Man With the Golden Gun (--)
18. Die Another Day (--)
19. Quantum of Solace (NEW)
20. Thunderball (--)
21. Never Say Never Again (-2)
22. Live and Let Die (-1)
23. The World is Not Enough (-1)
24. Tomorrow Never Dies (-1)
25. Casino Royale 1967 (NEW)

Spectre would be in the bottom eight somewhere, No Time to Die would be somewhere in the middle, The World is Not Enough would go about ten-twelve spots higher, You Only Live Twice would drop about five or six.

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#43. Central Highway
Game: Mega Man X
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [12/25]
Games Rank: 20/61
Time: 3:11
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F2jf0NRl2Y
Note: One of the best opening tracks to a game. Pumps you up and delivers you right into the action.

Load up the game and get dropped right into this beast. It doesn't have to go as hard as it does, but we are all the better for it. This is one of the best "it's the 90s now, let's make things extreme" transitions of the era, highlighting how Mega Man X is a whole new gaming experience. The entire soundtrack, from Storm Eagle to Boomer Kuwanger, is boss.

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#42. Still in the Dark
Game: Guilty Gear X2
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [11/25]
Games Rank: 19/61
Time: 3:30
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_S43AP1tgc
Note: I've got a fever and what I need is more Guilty Gear!

Still haven't played, still don't know what's so special about "Millia Rage vs. Eddy (Zato-1)-Type EX's Theme" and how it gets its own insanely awesome theme. Love the soundtrack. There's still two songs left to come!

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#41. Another Winter
Game: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [10/25]
Games Rank: 18/61
Time: 2:33
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtyWhHwCXIU
Note: Winner of the "**** YEAH" award.

*no write, just vibe*

#40. Katamari on the Rocks
Game: Katamari Damacy
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [9/25]
Games Rank: 17/61
Time: 5:57
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMH49ieL4es
Note: Fun, energetic, and insane. No wonder I like it!

hotdogturtle's topic currently has two spots left at the time of this write-up, so hopefully it's in his top two and has a better write-up than I can give it! I've had writer's block since Friday for this entry. It's nostalgia, it's fun, it's representative of the wild gameplay and world and story of Katamari Damacy, it's a meme, it's what it is. I need to not worry and do my best! Let's keep these write-ups rolling along!

I've just started posting the April Fools topic! The Katamari has begun to roll! Six hours until midnight! Let's go!

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#39. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 Theme
Artist: Sebastian Evans II
Nominated: Bospsy (January 2013)
Score: --- [3/6]
Standard Rank: 23/49
Time: 1:02
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAPPW6H3tRw

Young Justice, Green Lantern, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The final block of Saturday morning cartoons I've ever experienced. Even if it might've been Sunday? I forget. Another co-worker at the theater and I would discuss these with each other if it wasn't too busy the following day, and going through the first seasons of TMNT and Young Justice was an absolute treat. This theme is probably my favorite Turtles-franchise song over the 1987, 2003, video game, and movie music. It's got a great bass, great energy, pulls off homages to both the original cartoon and original movie, and doesn't just do the old thing all over again (*coughPowerRangersSamurai/Megaforcecough*). Great cartoon, and I wish I stuck with it for later seasons a little bit because it looks like it went wild.

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#38. Fresh Goes Better
Artist: Peppermint Park
Nominated: Raetsel (1st Ranking)
Score (Out of 199): 4th [5/6]
Standard Rank: 22/49
Time: 3:06
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYluaWIpoX8

Rae, I know you gave this a 10/10. And I really liked your enthusiasm for the Big Red "Kiss A little Longer" campaign, and this went a lot higher here than I thought. It's a classic, it's pure 80s/90s, it harkens back to TGIF and sunny sick days watching game shows and lots of other advertisement campaigns like Apple Jacks, Lite-Brite, Pine-Sol, Folgers, the singing Pepsi girl, popsicles ("the colors , Duke, the colors!") and many more. Hell, add Roundball Rock to the mix of pure '90s anthems. Let's keep revisiting this jingle!

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#37. Fear of the Heavens
Game: Secret of Mana
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012 - CHANGED)
Score: - [5/7]
Games Rank: 16/61
Time: 1:44
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGna-qHdg-k
Note: Melancholy and nostalgia give way to resurrection and hope.

Secret of Mana was my first RPG experience and one I cherish though have fallen out of a lot of nostalgia for, at least compared to some other SNES games that remain way up high in my game rankings. Someday, I wish this could get a proper and good remake where the intentions of the developers and artists and workers on these games could implement things they had to scrap due to scrapped plans like the Sage Joch storyline playing out a lot better, more Empire/Republic stuff.. see this topic: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/588646-secret-of-mana/48441805

I was a little disappointed when I got to this song because I misremembered it as one of the later Flammie songs (Prophecy & The Dark Star), but all is well because the introduction song is really, really good.

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#36. Dream Chaser
Game: F-Zero X
Nominated: Ed Bellis (June 2012) & Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Scores: #17th [2/3] & - [8/25]
Games Rank: 15/61
Time: 3:37
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUSxabS5_qM
Note: A fast-paced thriller with awesome riffs.

Too bad! You lost your machine! I thought this would be higher up! For how often I backed this the few times I nominated for VGMC, and I'm sure I gave this song boost power for that 1000 VGM topic on another board we flooded with Umineko tracks, I thought top 25. It just doesn't hit me like it used to, and I can understand a bit more why it never really got much backing besides me. It can get a little annoying. I still love it dearly, and have my Wii still plugged in so I can drive around Silence every once in a while.

Mega_Mana posted...

#38. Fresh Goes Better
Artist: Peppermint Park
Nominated: Raetsel (1st Ranking)

I think IhatethisCPU nominated this at the first topic; I have you down as nominating it at the second... though it doesn't really matter and I still love this song.

Fluttershy_Pony posted...

I think IhatethisCPU nominated this at the first topic; I have you down as nominating it at the second... though it doesn't really matter and I still love this song.

I just went with my gut on what A B C meant

Thought id have this all done a week sgo.

The ranking is done. The writeups ate not

#35. Halls of Collosia, Chamber 1
Game: Secret of Evermore
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [7/25]
Games Rank: 14/61
Time: 2:52
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukeV1P00FP4
Note: A quiet, haunting tune. Absolute love.

If Flux were still a tier, this would be The Last Supper. I originally had this fairly low with the rest of my atmospheric drops like Wings of Kynareth and The Shimmering Marsh, but I really enjoy the haunting spirit and ancient reverence this track bestows. Unlike Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore (and the unrepresented Illusion of Gaia) maintain top twenty-five spots in my all-time game love and Jeremy Soule's music lend so much to the eerie, secretive, mystery of Evermore itself. Describing it now, Secret of Evermore was the Myst of the SNES: a strange lived-in world you find yourself trapped in, seeking escape through antiquity, jungle, futuristic settings, and more. Not nearly as many puzzles though.

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#34. Kaizokuki wo Agero
Artist: Project.R
Nominated: VincentLauw/Menji76 (May 2012)
Score: #56th [2/7]
Standard Rank: 21/49
Time: 2:09
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTyhQMz3AeY

One of the problems with rankings these is getting caught up watching like twenty videos of nostalgia. Anyway,

The first time this song plays is 5:37 into the first episode as the Gokai Galleon sweeps into the Zangyack fleet surrounding Earth and busts through in some of the better CGI Megazord action until this point in sentai. It's used often when the heroes are making their comebacks, enhances dramatic speeches, and often accompanies the team almost as often as the main theme and the Gokai Change theme whenever they appear in an anniversary, usually as their dramatic entrance. Kaizokuki wo Agero is one of many tracks I adore from the 35th Anniversary season of Super Sentai, my favorite Sentai/Power Rangers series, and something I recommend to anyone with a love or nostalgia for the franchise. It's a great heroes song and I hope it does extremely well in paulg235's upcoming rankings.

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#33. dead angle
Game: Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012 - Replaced Nom)
Score: --- [4/7]
Games Rank: 13/61
Time: 6:36
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVP09lhSPm4
Note: 'As Regaro once said, "Dead Angle is pretty much perfection in BGM form."'

This is indeed some great background music. And while I initially placed it at #78, it got so much better as I re-read the end of Episode 1. Such an amazing finale scene, waves of tension but also this... feeling of stability or inevitability. This is not a danger tune or a call to action. This is a feeling of malaise coating the surroundings as fate's been set. This is a dead end. Whatever you were trying to do to prevent this no longer has any bearing on the outcome you've reached. This is a track without hope, without despair, it is settled acceptance of defeat. It continues to play an important part of the visual novel throughout the rest of the series, particularly in Episodes 3 & 4 iirc. I'm too crunched to go back over ProfessorProf's archived Let's Play again.

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#32. Pelagic II Exploration
Game: Perfect Dark
Nominated: Ed Bellis (June 2012)
Score: #56th [1/3]
Games Rank: 12/61
Time: 4:11
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2_A7YzqYvU

One of the many, many cool options in Perfect Dark's Combat Simulator was being able to customize your soundtrack for multiplayer fights. Pelagic II Exploration & its X variant were always on and always welcome facing down bloodthirsty Sims from easy Meat to deadly Dark. Datadyne Extraction, Chicago Stealth, Villa, Maian Tears, Alien Conflict, Air Base X, and End Credits were up there too, but nothing touched Pelagic II Exploration.

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#31. Sonic Boom
Game: Sonic CD
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [6/25]
Games Rank: 11/61
Time: 3:08
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnVboYhEe5Q
Note: So freaking epic, it's a super sonic flight.

I've never played Sonic CD, but I did play Sonic Mega Collection. And half the time I had the disc in my Gamecube or Wii, I'd divert from pulling up Sonic 2 or Mean Bean Machine to play the Sonic CD intro in the Extras section. It's just so good.

#30. The Way It Goes
Artist: Katie Vincent
Nominated: Raetsel (1st Ranking)
Score (Out of 199): #177th [4/6]
Standard Rank: 20/49
Time: 3:19
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIuqdM1hy6w

Like "Pink Dazzled 45" and "Smoke Too Soon," a girl & a guitar can just hop up higher than expected. Katie's a friend of a friend and I was invited to the premiere of this movie for its small theatrical run at a local cinema. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and got to work on her next short film, "Windblown," a year or so later (which used Ex-Norwegian's "Page To" I nominated for Raetsel's third ranking getting 127th). This just hits right, and the nostalgia isn't very strong despite fond memories and actual personal life attachment.

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#29. Braving Tal Tal Heights
Artist: disco dan
Nominated: KamikazePotato (June 2012 - Remixes)
Score: #32nd [1/5]
Games Rank: 10/61
Remix Game & Rank: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - 'Tal Tal Mountain,' [2/9]
Time: 5:46
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yYFEI_SSDA

Another track I thought would be higher, but doesn't quite do it for me as much as it used to. IIRC, it was in my top five most played WMP songs in however we used to share and track those songs as a board back in the day. Love the remix, love the game, love those sweeping violins~

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#28. We Need a Hero
Artist: Ron Wasserman
Nominated: profDEADPOOL (March 2015)
Score: #95th [3/5]
Standard Rank: 19/49
Time: 5:29
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW7OqO_lXTI

As much as I love Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has deep hooks. It's the first show I remember having a fandom for, the Green With Evil saga taking place while I was in first grade with myself and others fighting to be the Green Ranger, wearing a homemade White Ranger costume for Halloween, and continued enjoyment carrying me to various friendships, my first con excursions for the first two Rhode Island Comic-Cons, and just enjoyment in general I guess. I'm a complete mark for when I see Ranger actors get booked in other projects like Walter Jones in Space Cases and an episode of Buffy, Erin Cahill as Ted Mosby's sister, Anna Hutchinson flirting with Thor in Cabin in the Woods, Archie Kao in CSI & Chicago PD, Daniel Southworth in the first episode of Revolution, Jorge Vargas retroactive mark-out for Higher Ground's Augie (stellar cast! Hayden Christensen, A.J. Cook, Jewel Staite, Kyle Downes, Kandyse McClure, Meghan Ory), Eka Darville as Jessica Jones' neighbor, Adelaide Kane in Reign, Rose McIver in iZombie and Ghosts... man, RPM's cast is stellar. That's not even counting all the voice acting I rarely catch, particularly by Johnny Yong Bosch in practially everything, most notably Joshua Bright and Yu Narukami. In those long midnight-til-morning hours of Persona 4 playing, I don't think I'd yet realized the person shouting "PERSONA!" was Adam Park.

We Need a Hero in Adam Park.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evfYPM8cu-8

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#27. T.I.M.E.
Artist: Neil Cicierga
Nominated: Raetsel (1st Ranking)
Score (Out of 199): #10th [3/6]
Standard Rank: 18/49
Time: 4:37
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsoCe7C4Kmk

Ack! I should've added this to the remix list. Oh well, topic started already, too late. Neil Cicierga is a low-key internet legend. He was the genius behind Potter Puppet Pals and the flash-animated Animutations like the Japanese Pokeraps with Mr. Bean & Colin Mochrie's faces. Since those wonderful days, he's put out four amazing remix albums Mouth Sounds, Mouth Silence, Mouth Moods, and Mouth Dreams. "T.I.M.E." is an insanely mesmerizing combination of the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." and Hans Zimmer's "Time" from the Inception soundtrack. While most of his songs are funnier or have a gimmick to them that can get absurd (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klQTj76Qo9k - "Alanis" from Mouth Sounds, which is also where I got inspired to nominate the perfect scoring Gracie Films Logo for Raetsel's 4th Ranking), "T.I.M.E." is... transcendant. With the vocals removed away from disco dancing pop energy and added over the deep and foreboding Hans Zimmer, you can really hear and feel and understand the "Y.M.C.A." lyrics and their urgency to help others, help people, get people food and shelter and care where they don't have to be alone on the streets or in deep depression. It fills my soul. If you listen to anything you haven't listened to on this list, I recommend this one the most despite its relatively low ranking.

P.S. I know I didn't save multiple nominations after 2015 because I nominated this for Raetsel's topic solely because it ranked second-worst in another person's topic!

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#26. Broken Promises [Dreams]
Artist: Joe Boyd Vigil
Nominated: Raetsel (1st Ranking)
Score (Out of 199): #103rd [2/6]
Standard Rank: 17/49
Time: 2:15
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLwF_0Z2KHY

Space. A boy has the right to dream. There are endless possibilities stretched out before him.
(You have to trust in your own power.)
(Whatever happens from now on, you stand firm and face your destiny without fear but with courage.)

What awaits him down the path, he will then have to choose.
(No one's going to give you a map; you've got to walk your own path.)

Children leave their homes in search of this quest.
(What is thy desire?)

As they search, they are always asking questions. Whats out there? Whats waiting for me?
(Why was I made? Who made me? And what did they make me for?)
(Are you going to go up into space with your old man or not?)
(Maybe I'll never get over this...)
(I've lived my life following my dreams, and I don't have any regrets.)

[You gonna just keep running away?!]
[Just keep running away? ......I'm not running. >_>]

8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...

Believe in yourself, and create your own destiny. Dont fear failure.

<3 <3 <3 Only Toonami. <3 <3 <3

#25. Run Around
Artist: Jasan Radford
Nominated: PrestonStarry (October 2012)
Score: #6th [1/5]
Standard Rank: 16/49
Time: 2:12
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg9ksIrSyOY

Digimon! Absolutel love for Digimon Season 1. I loved it better than all other cartoons for a good year or two, including Pokemon, X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman Beyond, Recess, Monster Rancher, Animaniacs, Rugrats, Angry Beavers, Rocket Power, Hey Arnold!, The Kids From Room 402, Angela Anaconda, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Ed Edd and Eddy, Scooby-Doo... um... yeah, pretty much everything until Dragonball Z & Toonami took over my life (see #26 above). The movie was a trip, and Digimon Season 2 had some great things going for it... but I fell off completely with BlackWargreymon and the Dark Spires. I must've tried three or four separate times and never got more than a few episodes further despite really enjoying the new kids and Kari's heightened role. Never gotten into later seasons despite hearing how good they were, or even Tri.

As far as soundtrack goes, Digimon: The Movie soundtrack goes hard. It captures early 2000s breezy cheesy skater-pop sunny Saturday morning vibes. If you could use it to sell a Capri-Sun, it was worth listening to. And exploring Japan's music with Brave Heart and Butter-Fly? *chef's kiss* This is probably me favorite track of all. It just pumps up the good adrenaline, like the best part of Secret of Mana's "Danger" but the entire song.

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#24. DORCHADAS
Game: Shikkoku no Shirnoth
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012 - CHANGED)
Score: - [3/7]
Games Rank: 9/61
Time: 4:36
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkrsspsU1fI
Note: Hopeful winner of this year's VGMC.

VGMC! Someone else's nomination that I loved and supported for the two or three VGMCs I paid any attention to. DORCHADAS is a jaunty night at the local tavern. It's a journey, it's camaraderie, it's three cheers and a round of beers as the local band plays on a wooden stage. It's just such a good feel.

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#23. thanks for being born
Game: Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [5/25]
Games Rank: 8/61
Time: 3:09
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiHA7Aw2GiE
Note: It's a bittersweet symphony, that's life.

GRETEL! Just... all the Chapter 4 feels right here.

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#22. Holding Out For A Hero
Artist: Bonnie Tyler
Nominated: ZeroSignal620 (June 2015)
Score: --- [2/5]
Standard Rank: 15/49
Time: 4:44
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWcASV2sey0

How is this song so epic? I thought before I started that it was going to be middle-to-low. Then I heard it again and it was so bombastic that it travelled up, but not too high. And then when I was eliminating... like it's not a favorite that I would slot in out of nostaglia, but it's too damn good to now have high. It's so epic, the video is insane, her voice is amazing, and Shrek uses it so well years from here. AHHH! AHHHHHH!

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#21. The World is Just Awesome
Artist: [Discovery Channel]
Nominated: Icon (June 2012)
Score: -- [1/3]
Standard Rank: 14/49
Time: 1:00
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0

It's been so long since Discovery Channel was as good as this. Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, Man vs. Wild, Deadliest Catch, etc. And this commerical was on par with a Toonami for grabbing your interest and promoting the channel so well. I love the way Bear Grylls says 'arach-a-nids,' Stephen Hawking's presence, and how it feels so global. It makes me remember that one guy, Matt, who had the video on Youtube where he just did a goofy dance everywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

Mega_Mana posted...

Somehow a shot of pure nostalgia despite the song playing, iirc, only when running near the southern coast of the zone when 99% of the time I'd be sneaking around much higher up and exploring the mountainous and bandit-fileld north. Holy Rainkeeper, I do miss my days in Karana's lands from Surefall Glade to Highpass. I spent so many hours and days in His regions. Qeynos was the home city of the majority of my longest-played characters, and I spent much time trying to jump up into places we weren't supposed to go (done again a lot later in LOTRO's Bree, playing The Moon with other Board 8ers from random rooftops). Toiling away for hours and hours hunting giant field rats for their rare whiskers to complete my Ranger (Druid?) armor set. Slaying nearly as many Gnolls in Blackburrow as I did running away from Elite Gnoll Trains to Zone entrance!!! Finding level-appropriate places to hide in West Karana on my first server, which was PvP, since too many assholes roamed Qeynos Hills and started tracking me down in the Qeynos Aqueducts. Spending far more time in Western Karana than was level-appropriate because the Giants and Griffins in North Karana terrified me.

This list is inducing old itches and scars I want to scratch at and return to, and yet the past remains the past. Pre-Luclin servers exist with Everquest '99, and yet there are people who know the ins and outs of everything for about twenty-five years now and it's such an intimidation. I would love to go back to when everything was fresh for everyone else and play in those busy, chaotic times again. So many quick friends and lost companions. Such a wonderful experience.

This brings back memories. I started with a human druid from Surefall.

azuarc posted...

This brings back memories. I started with a human druid from Surefall.

Half-Elf Ranger!

Mega_Mana posted...

Half-Elf Ranger!

My very first experience was creating my character, falling into the pond in Surefall, and not knowing how to swim. I very slowly sunk under the water and drowned without ever figuring out how to pan up.

Then the respawn point was outside in QH, and because I was a human, I couldn't see through the tunnel to get back. It was...a dubious start. I was a really crappy druid, though. When I was around level 30, I started a cleric, and I was WAAYYY better at pure healing than a healing hybrid that isn't good at anything (except the soloing that I didn't enjoy.)

Yeah, Druid was only good for SoWing and taxiing iirc. I wasn't much better as a Ranger. I gave up and made a Warrior and that was even worse. I don't think I ever got a handle on playing until I made a Barbarian Rogue, and that's the character I enjoyed playing the most. I didn't have the patience to be a spellcaster once components were more involved.

I loved cleric. I got a strange satisfaction out of healing.

Fast forward a few years to WoW, and I didn't really enjoy it as much. I still did it, off and on, but for some reason there was something about EQ's system (or maybe where I was in life) that allowed me to appreciate the mechanics involved. Was it that the health bars had very visible "bubbles" that I could measure by? Was it the careful balancing of mana consumption? Or the low effort of not having to go anywhere while the group camped in one spot? Don't know. But healing as a druid wasn't fulfilling and cleric was, well before getting CH at 39. And somehow, I didn't mind that I was staring at walls the entire time to prevent my system from lagging. (Except in Velk's Lab. I swear my eyes still hurt from the white walls in that place.)

dorchadas retired a long time ago in VGMC...

junglegirl posted...

dorchadas retired a long time ago in VGMC...

The 'note' is from a blurb in the actual nomination back in 2012. I'm happy to hear it retired though!

#20. Gaur Plain
Game: Xenoblade Chronicles
Nominated: jcgamer107 (May 2012) & Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Scores: #30th [2/5] & - [4/25]
Games Rank: 7/61
Time: 4:19
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDJtsfR51To
Note: In a game with plenty of amazing tracks, this is currently my favorite. No doubt things can change with further and more extensive perusal.

Xenoblade had already been large. A big starting town in a large lake surrounded by huge walls and tons of wildlife. But like Final Fantasy VII, the first town can be stupidly large and take up the first few hours no problem. And also like Final Fantasy VII, leaving town for the first time and seeing just how vast the rest of the world is... is huge. First you get the real first sight of sky and dimension leaving that cavern, then you hit Gaur Plains and... my goodness. It's so vast with so much wildlife and monsters that do not cater to the player's level, AND THE MUSIC. One of the best tracks in a video game, IMO, and it accompanies just how real an adventure you're finding yourself on.

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#19. Blue Water Blue Sky
Game: Guilty Gear X2
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [3/25]
Games Rank: 6/61
Time: 2:57
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhpisRcYuZw
Note: It's like travelling through a dream, racing towards the light. One of the most upbeat and soul-filling songs I've had the pleasure to listen to.

Still is. This is what I picture cruising along towards the beach on a day of sun and surf and hakuna matata to be. It's summer adventure and blue skies on the open road. I still love this song, and will always love this song.

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#18. A Simple Life
Game: Guilty Gear X2
Nominated: Ed Bellis (September 2012)
Score: - [2/25]
Games Rank: 5/61
Time: 3:07
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yklYElgOyN4&
Note: Thanks to Satai_Delenn for turning me on to such an amazing soundtrack. This song is awesome.

I always forget how this goes, and coming at this write-up a month after I put it above BWBS, I have to rediscover why. Oh, it's even more wonderful and road-trippy! The guitar sings in this track~

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#17. Uptown Girl
Artist: Billy Joel
Nominated: ZeroSignal620 (June 2015)
Score: --- [1/5]
Standard Rank: 13/49
Time: 3:22
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuMWrfXG4E

The music video is captivating, and the music is incredible. A beautiful throwback to 50s rock and roll, Billy joel is an amazing singer. How can you not tap your toes, sing into wrenches, or do half-shirted pop-and-locking when this comes on?

.

#16. On Melancholy Hill
Artist: Gorillaz
Nominated: Bane Of Despair (November 2013)
Score: --- [2/3]
Standard Rank: 12/49
Time: ~3:55
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04mfKJWDSzI

The best song on Plastic Beach, one of the best Gorillaz songs, so ethereal and hopeful. There's a few songs I have shortlisted in my brain to pull me out of a depression spiral, and this is at the top of what I think of.

And that's where I left off a month ago.

Songs Remaining:

Barenaked Ladies, "Some Fantastic" (Bane_Of_Despair 11/13; ZeroSignal620 4/15)
Bill Conti, "Going the Distance" (tazzy 4/12)
Bruce Falcouner, "SSJ3 Ascension" (tazzy 4/12)
Dave Koz, "Faces of the Heart" (Bospsy 1/13)
Dave Matthews Band, "Two Step" (Kanzaris 1/13)
Lindsey Stirling, "Roundtable Rival" (profDEADPOOL 3/15)
Mariah Carey, "Fantasy" (ZeroSignal620 4/15)
Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch, "Good Vibrations" (Bospsy 1/13)
R.E.M., "Harborcoat" (VincentLauw/Menji76 5-6/12; Kanzaris 1/13; profDEADPOOL 3/15)
The Cranberries, "Linger" (ZeroSignal620 4/15)
The National, "Exile Vilify" (Ed Bellis 9/12)
Third Eye Blind, "Motorcycle Drive-By" (Raetsel's 1st)
virt, "Get on the Bus" (jcgamer107 5/12)
Yutaka Minobe, "Kingdom of Ixa'taka" (Ed Bellis CHANGED 9/12)
zts, "discolor" (Ed Bellis CHANGED 9/12)