Videogame music doesn’t get more iconic than the melodies of Super Mario Bros and The Legend Of Zelda, both first composed by Nintendo’s Koji Kondo for the NES. But Zelda arguably has a greater sweeping grandeur that makes its themes all the more special.
“ is very much like a mythological and developer Greg Lobanov. That unique history, with games spanning over three decades where many iconic themes are referred to time and time again and sometimes reinvented is also why he believes its music continues to shine above other games. “Even if a game has a soundtrack that’s just as catchy, and just as well orchestrated, it’ll never feel the same because has the advantage of that history and the way people experienced it in their childhood.” Greg’s first experience of the series in his childhood was , which even inspired him to take up playing the ocarina. Arguably, music has had a special function in the series prior to this too, such as a fast-travel whistle in the very first game or the quest to collect instruments to play the Wind Fish Song in . However, it was that brought music perfectly together with both story and gameplay, as you played songs on the titular instrument, sometimes to unlock dungeons, sometimes to change the weather, or time of day, or even someone’s mood. It’s also a mechanic that was repeated in subsequent games, though Lobanov notes not as successfully.
