A Lot on My Crate🎵

Prologue. The name of this series might be subject to change, but I think it kind of fits. It’s named after that phrase of highlights in the hero shooter I used to play, Overwatch. Obscure game, you might not have heard of it. Because that’s what this series is going to be, highlights. Specifically, highlights of video game music. I’m passionate about music first, but video games have been a huge influence on my life. So, along with all the music new and old, I would also love to talk about video game music. Call me a biased individual, but back then, it felt like the consensus was video game music wasn’t taken as seriously as other forms of music. Whether it’s because video games are considered infantile, I’m not sure. In the past, people were still in deep debate on whether video games were even considered as art. But since the inception of my life, I’ve always considered video game music to be unjustifiably underrated. What makes video game music so enticing is that especially in the past (not the case as often now), video game music goes in a loop as the technology and the demand for more complex structures is not needed if early video games are simplistic. Why go for long overtures when you can just make a minute loop? It gets the job done. As the game industry evolved so did the music. Music is my passion, but I’d say video games is up there. I also intend to discuss about music of games I haven’t even played, since I definitely don’t have time to play the games and listen. That’s an insurmountable amount of time to spend. There’s so much good art out there and I don’t want to exclude a good chunk of art that has a vice-grip hold of my life. So, I want to use this platform to talk about it. I hope people will enjoy this series. End prologue.

When I first saw the trailer of Super Mario Galaxy (won’t talk about the movie) for the Wii, I was astounded at first. Super Mario 64 already has broken boundaries and I was skeptical that Galaxy might just take advantage of their gimmicks and lost the spirit that made Mario endearing. Boy, I was wrong. The game was so memorable in the character design, the level design, the art, and the mechanics just made the Mario game so refreshing. And the music! My God, the music! The soundtrack was iconic to the point that I felt like the ornate style that came in their subsequent games, not just the Super Mario series, has been influenced by Galaxy. Dude, that was 2007 in my college days. I write this as I slowly turn to dust, but I am so down to talk about this game. I want to make Super Mario Galaxy to be the first subject of the “Play of the Game” series, since I do want to make it a Nintendo game and I want it to be a Koji Kondo joint as that guy has been a huge part of a lot of peoples’ childhoods. However in the vast soundtrack, Mahito Yakota has done the heavy lifting as the complete soundtrack (the Platinum version) has 77 tracks done by Mahito Yakota and four of them was done by Koji Kondo. But there are some interpolation of tracks from Super Mario 64, that Koji Kondo has done that made its way on Galaxy. The music was performed and recorded by the Mario Galaxy Orchestra, as the soundtrack was the first to be featured with a live recording as the previous Mario games were produced by samplers of instruments and synthesizers. So, the production of the music behind this game was so damn ambitious, but man I’m glad they pulled all the stops and whistles. I’ll talk about the Platinum version of the soundtrack, but I won’t talk about EVERY track, since you all have stuff to do. There were so many memorable things from those days, but the music still has lived inside my head after all these years. I’m so hyped to be talking about them here on A Lot on My Crate.

I’m going to go over the tracks in order of the notes laid in the official playlist via the Wiki. Again, I won’t go over every track, either they’re too brief or they’re not as memorable melody wise. It’s generally a symphonic, contemporary classical, or ambient when it comes to the space stuff. Starting with the “Overture”, which is our title screen basically spells the vibe of the whole soundscape of the soundtrack. It has ornate winds and strings, but is accompanied by a beautiful piano and this synthesizer that sounds like a call to a satellite. We are in the cosmos, boys and girls. “The Stardust Festival” gives us the hours of peace before Bowser attacks with this march that sounds very familiar from Super Mario Bros. 3 named “Attack of the Airships”. This is going to be one many interpolations from past Koji Kondo works that were given a new coat of paint, but the dignity and spirit of each track, I would argue, stays intact. So, Peach gets kidnapped! AGAIN. As our mustached hero ventures forward and you get hyped with this cavalier and grandiose piece that is “Enter the Galaxy.” As I also feel that this soundtrack is basically cavalier and grandiose for the most part. Then we plunge into one of my favorite themes and one of the few that was done by Koji Kondo, “Egg Planet”. This track was used in the trailers and you know why. It’s so uplifting. Whenever the string and harp melodies send off, it really feels like your younger spirited self can do anything. One of the most iconic and memorable themes that does good for the ones with heart. I beseech you, if there’s one track you should listen to, it’s “Egg Planet”. I linked a YouTube video of the track at the bottom. We have “Rosalia’s Comet Observatory”, but I’ll loop back to it later, since that track shows up in variations, three times. Moving on, this whimsical track that is “The Honeyhive”, has all these percussion instruments coming together accompanied with brief licks from this guitar to give a tropical feel, while make it playful as it can be. Marimbas and xylophones bouncing up and down just making it so much fun. “Space Junk Galaxy” feels like you’re in orbit with these mellow piano scales and these enchanting synthesizers. It doesn’t try to stand out, but it makes us look at this world in a lens. “Battlerock Galaxy” is so epic in their staccato supporting strings and the chords sounds very Arabian in its melody along with its marching percussion. A must listen to feel like you’re in a grand, suspenseful adventure. And if you want a break from your intense adventure, “Beach Bowl Galaxy” is the oasis along your tough trek. It sounds like an actual party with the festive brass and this flute-like lead melody that goes very well into the accordion passage. It really feels like you’re at the beach just shutting everything down as your worries wash away.

“Buoy Base” sounds like a cavalier march into war or launch into a rocket ship as the dramatic horns and space electronics. “Gusty Garden Galaxy” is upbeat and keeps us in high spirits. The vibe is definitely similar to “Egg Planet”, so I still welcome it with open arms. The melody when the horns come in is always a hoot. So, “Rosalia’s Comet Observatory” has three variations that is spread out through the soundtrack. Listening to the three in sequence is like the theme is evolving of course with the one melody intact. It’s a simple melody that just feels oh so comforting. It’s a waltz that just adds grandeur and luxury to where one steps foot in. There seems to be one or two instrumentals playing at a time in the first one so they don’t overpower one another. It’s minimalist unlike the next two. The second one sounds much more classical as all the symphony strings deliver the melody and you visualize characters dancing with each other. Then number three being my favorite of course, sounds much more high spirited with the winds coming in. The lovely melody is still present. The whole symphonic orchestra just making number three feel oh so alive. It’s such a great tune to come to. I remembered being lost to this tune as you unlock more and more of this hub where this track is present. It’s one of the most magical feelings I have experienced in a video game for sure and I have very fond memories on how the three variations came together. In one of last moments, “King Bowser” just comes out swinging with the suspenseful orchestra just dynamically becoming this epic, grandiose gathering of all the instruments coming together with of course the timpani and these Gregorian-like choir sounding like a battle. “Melty Molten Galaxy” and “Galaxy Plant” all sounds like buildup to the big battle. And the big showdown arrives with “Final Bowser Battle” as we get Gregorian chants that sounds like something from Final Fantasy along with an aggressive orchestra with a sparkling yet lurking drum machine beat. It has each element getting their own spotlight during each arc of the track. They go at it! Blood, tears, and sweat! And then……”Daybreak-A New Dawn” comes up. It’s a beautiful and uplifting interpolation of “The Stardust Festival” as we go back doing a 180 to peace. Saved the princess and saved the universe. The conflict is over and we hear this soft piano ballad that is “Birth” that they only play thirteen seconds of in the game, however this is a must listen if you want them to pull your heartstrings to completion. And you beat it! The credits roll that is titled “Super Mario Galaxy” and it’s a grand medley of past themes that makes you look back at all the good you’ve done as a hero! But the rest of disc one is “Purple Comet” (a track that seems to be on a timer with this sense of urgency), a familiar blast from the Mario past with “Blue Sky Athletic”, and a funky version of the Mario theme on “Super Mario 2007”. If you’ve known how the game ended, I’ll elaborate on that, when we get to finish disc 2 of the soundtrack. Yeah! We got loads to go!

So, disc two has a bunch of tracks that may seem to be extras, brief themes, cutscene tracks, or side gigs for Mario to confide in. There are some space gems here among the 53 tracks that is on disc two. So, I’m not going to go through all of them, just the ones that caught me, so I’ll be quick as I can. Your friend and ally, Luma, has their own theme “Luma”. It’s featured on here as this music box, lullaby-like jingle. It’s very brief, but exudes innocence. “Astronomy Dome” has that elusiveness about it without giving much away in its instrumental, it’s just touches of synths that come in and fade out and this bizarre effect that mimes a spaceship. “Big Bad Bugaboom” is a fun variation of the “The Honey Hive” with a higher tempo and the instruments just dance lively with one another like the xylophone, flute, and mandolin all have places to be. “Aquatic Race” sounds so kooky and off, that it just makes me laugh my gasket off. The broken horn is just hilarious circus confetti and I’m all here for it. “Space Fantasy” sounds just like its name, with the synths imitating winds and gives you this feeling like you’re in the cosmic ocean. “Beach Bowl Galaxy – Undersea” is a variation of…of course, “Beach Bowl Galaxy”, good job, class! But it really does bring out the playfulness of the track as it is more percussive than the original. Fans who played Super Mario 64, will recognize “The Fiery Stronghold”, as it was Koji Kondo’s baby, that is “Bowser’s Road”. This version is much more orchestrated with the drums and these sitar flourishes. Mahito Yakota made this already fire theme sounding more fire. Speaking of fire, this hot tune that is “Dusty Dune Galaxy” definitely feels like a desert theme with its sitar lead melody, but I love how they turned up the bass coming in on certain parts. Whole thing sounds mysterious and tense. I like how eccentric “Heavy Metal Mecha-Bowser” is while giving a sense of danger to person coming to its gates. The chord progression on the strings really sells it. Lastly I want to talk about, getting into “A Wish”. If you’ve played the game, this track is when your friend who has been with you gives their life to save the galaxies. The whole track is 42 seconds and is featured even shorter in the game cutscene, but it those few seconds there is an emotional impact that is prevalent than a lot of music that’s out there. It took me a while to appreciate this sorrowful goodbye, but after so much fun and time flying, a good bye is inevitable.

Going down memory lane with this music, I’m not going to lie, I found myself in tears writing a couple passages. Like other songs or albums, this soundtrack was a big part of my youth. Super Mario Galaxy does not only felt like this grandiose adventure, but a constant reminder that there are still a lot of moments of wonder…out there. I get goosebumps with some of these tracks and it was a pleasure to have relistened and some tracks I’ve appreciated more with repeated listens today. Beautiful arrangements. Beautiful instrumentals. All giving different emotions. It’s what good art does. You can even implement this music among many scenarios. The more I think about it, the more I think this might be my favorite Mario game. Relevant to space travel, they say “it’s all about the journey, not the destination”, which I agree. In this game, they’re also thinking about all the reprieves too.

FAVORITE TRACKS: OVERTURE, THE STARDUST FESTIVAL, EGG PLANET, ROSALIA’S COMET OBSERVATORY, THE HONEYHIVE, SPACE JUNK ROAD, BATTLEROCK GALAXY, BEACH BOWL GALAXY, ROSALIA’S COMET OBSERVATORY 2, GUSTY GARDEN GALAXY, ROSALIA’S COMET OBSERVATORY 3, FINAL BOWSER BATTLE, DAYBREAK – A NEW DAWN, BIRTH, SUPER MARIO GALAXY, LUMA, ASTRONOMY DOME, AQUATIC RACE, SPACE FANTASY, BEACH BOWL GALAXY – UNDERSEA, THE FIERY STRONGHOLD, DUSTY DUNE GALAXY, HEAVY METAL MECHA-BOWSER, A WISH