VGM of the Day #25 (Dean Edition): Level 1 (Silver Surfer)

Before my time as it were, I can make no claims to have even scratched the surface of the NES library. I may have played a Zelda here or a Mario there, but that is the extent of my escapades into the past. I'm sure there were critically acclaimed titles that I've yet to delve into, grand adventures I've yet to go on, timeless classics I've yet to experience.

This is not such a game.

Silver Surfer was, to summarize the notions of the Angry Video Game Nerd, a fermenting pile of compost riddled with awkward gameplay and controls, most notably obvious during the top-down sequences. The Surfer's board is oftentimes detrimental to navigation in these stages; tight turns and no way to shoot in any direction other than straight ahead of you does not a good cake make.

But yo. The MUSIC.

Tim and Geoff Follin made sure with this piece that, even if the game was the butter in the melting pot of ass, you would at least stick around for the tunes. The Anamanaguchi-esque touches here and there make me smile, strengthening a solid and fast-paced introductory theme. The melody, rising and falling like my motivation, is the heart and soul of the song, and it complements the consistency of the bass and percussion, as well as the mindless shooting the game has to offer.

For the most part I don't regret missing out on the NES age. Surely it has the ups and downs characteristic of every era, but if playing Donkey Kong also means playing Silver Surfer, that's a deal I'll have to refuse. I've never cared to pass the first stage, nor do I plan to, but at least there's SOMETHING I can appreciate about this game.

VGM of the Day #25: Paper Mario New Partner Theme

 
Paper Mario is amazing, isn't it? No doubt about it. If you do doubt it, you're stupid. Paper Mario is one the best RPGs of all time, ranking up there with Final Fantasy and the Tales series. It's just an amazing series with outstanding humor. Though it doesn't have as much character development as many other RPGs, it is still a charming little game for the N64 that will last for a long time with it's simple graphics that look great on the N64. No need for a remake for it for a long time, if ever. Then there's the sequels, The Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario. The Thousand Year Door is an amazing sequel and it evenly matched or even surpasses the original! With it's humor at an all time high, and the chapters becoming very creative, what could beat this? Nothing, that's what. Because Super Paper Mario is balls. The end.

Continuing on, the series has always had an unique combat system including endless badges and strategies you can choose, and partner abilities. Man, the partners in the series always leave an impact on me. They do all the talking for their duo (of them and Mario) so you get to know their personality a bit through their speech patterns. Take Parakarry, for instance. He's a boring old mailman who is boring and old and does nothing but be boring and old. Not really, Parakarry is probably my favorite partner from the first game. The speech pattern thing doesn't really occur until the second game where everybody has their own nickname for Mario (ie. Yoshi's being Gonzales).

But enough backstory already, we're here to talk about the theme! Oh man, the music in Paper Mario is AMAZING. But we're gonna talk about just a small jingle today. Whenever you get a new partner in the original Paper Mario it always plays a catchy little tune that the longer you listen to it the harder it is to get out of your head.

Though only an 18 second jingle, it has a lot of joyfulness that just makes you want to pick flowers with puppies running behind you. As I said above it's a very catchy tune. With beautiful instruments playing the joyous melody and a beautiful usage of the accordion keeping the beat in the background, it really makes you happy about getting a new partner. You're just like, 'Yo I got a new partner, even if I hate him I'm still gonna be friends with him because this song makes me happy," or something. It's a really good track, even though it loops every 18 seconds.

Wait, wtf I'm not Dean, why am I doing this.