EDIT: IT'S THE THIRD GAME. UGH I don't know why I didn't think before my stupid mouth said that. Thanks for the correction! 1986 saw the release of The Legend of Zelda, quickly followed up in 1987 with The Adventure of Link. Totally blanked on that one.
Aw, stopped just shy of the Hyrule Castle theme...dang. That was the moment for me. That theme. That moment of little kid me feeling the eyes dilate, the goosebumps rise, and the long exhale...I knew I was in for a treat with this game then. Melody carried by the double basses I'm pretty sure.
I wonder if he'll ever cover it. Admittedly I only know the Temple theme from Zelda 2 but it's so good man, fucking dark link in melee was rock'n that shit circa 2001.
I LOVE that intro cutscene song. It's so nostalgic, and gives such a deep and somber sense of the depth of time in the lore. It fits perfectly with a story about ancient sages sealing off a great power.
Holy hidden leitmotif batman! Not only is the chord ascent in the opening story intro a precursor to Ganondorf's theme, but the chord you play at 3:47 is LITERALLY the exactly same chord and same key as the opening chords to the Ocarina of Time opening. Never realized that before until you played it just now
I've been playing this game off and on for thirty freaking years and I had the same epiphany, don't know how I missed it. You actually hear it in this game to right before the fight with Ganon.
Koji kondo is so good at leitmotifs - he works the melodies into jingles everywhere! I don’t know if he was just a “exec producer” type credit on Super Mario Odyssey, but that has a wonderful original theme referred to again and again
I find it interesting how just by him figuring out the notes to a song from ALttP, Charles is accidentally playing other songs from across the Zelda franchise. 3:04 briefly becomes Zelda's lullaby. 3:43 begins exactly like the title theme of Ocarina of Time. And immediately afterwards at 3:48 he's playing all the correct notes for the beginning of the Song of Healing from Majora's Mask.
Zelda's Lullaby is from this game. I guess you didn't mean to imply it isn't, but many people don't seem to realise that (along with Fairy Fountain and lots of other themes reused in later games).
One really cool thing about the Great Fairy Fountain theme discussed around 11:40 is that it was very clearly based off of 70s-80s Japanese jazz fusion/city pop. Two good examples are Tatsuro Yamashita's "Morning Glory" and Maria Asahina's "Kokoro no Mamani". Super cool. A Link to the Past has such good music that still holds up today. The game was released 32 entire years ago, and its soundtrack still remains a favourite for me. The Great Fairy Fountain theme could easily put me to sleep. The music played during the ending credits makes me weep (and I'm in my thirties). A great game with a wonderful soundtrack.
That particular descending riff is far too common and predates the Japanese who probably took it from jazz. It goes as far back as the song 'the glow worm' by the mills brothers or even Chopin Fantasie Impromptuo. I did an analysis of the music of Zelda if you wanna check it out
For me it's gotta be the final track that only gets played when you've won the game and the credits role. Such a satisfying and feel good track that brings back themes from earlier in the game, as little cut scenes play out with the relevant characters or places, just such a perfect wrap up to the best Zelda game ever.
@@greenfox7657 That's something special about these tracks too, they're relatively short loops and there's not many of them, and yet they NEVER get boring
Seal of the Seven Maidens is literally one of my all time favorite Zelda songs, and nobody ever talks about it. I’m so glad you’ve given it the attention it deserves!
3:45 this chord seems to come up a lot in Zelda when making depressing songs. First thing that comes to mind (because it’s in the same key) is the song of healing from Majora’s Mask
First! Love your content Charles. The attention you gave streets of rage was awesome. Zelda has amazing music. The composers really used the SNES technology to push great music for Link to the past, Final Fantasy IV, chrono trigger, Super Castlevania, Act Raiser, Super Metroid, etc. My father loved playing Link to the past.
The introductory cutscene track, which I’ve seen referred to by several names but I always stuck with Seal of the Seven Maidens, might even be my favorite song in the game. Obviously it could be argued that this is the game with the most iconic soundtrack in the entire franchise, laying the foundation for the majority of the series’ recurring themes, but even still I absolutely love this track and I feel like it’s one of the less talked about ones.
For some reason the dark world theme in a link to the past always stuck out to me as something special. It's a driving minor key heroic march that really drove home that you were in a wild dark place that you were just thrown in to without warning. You have to come out alive and master both the light and dark worlds to be the hero, and the music always amp'd me up
I still remember the day I got the game on release day. Plugging it in after school then hearing this intro song. The graphics, the music, the thunderstorm. It was magical.
@@_demitri honestly Zelda 2 is super underrated as a game. As a Zelda game it misses the mark because it tried to differentiate itself too far from Z1, but if you think of it as an NES sidescroller or Castlevania-type game, it's a great game. Definitely a bit undercooked, though, the progression is a bit too linear and there's clearly some stuff that they had to edit due to limitations on the NES, but it's a very fun game once you get the controls down.
This was my first Zelda game. The song starts with Ganon’s theme, then morphs into the into song when you first boot the game and you get the story introduction cutscene.
Link to the Past was my favourite game as a kid. The music made you feel like a hero going through foreign lands. Great Fairy Fountain was also one of the first songs I ever learned on the Guitar and was the entire reason I started to play it in the first place.
Haven't finished the video yet, but I hope you'll cover other Link to the Past tracks, mainly Hyrule Castle and Dark World Theme! VG music is my favorite and I really dig your content. Cheers!
This was my first game growing up. I remember replaying it as an adult and crying the first time I heard the music. The entire soundtrack is incredible, but you should definitely check out the Dark World theme and Battle with Ganon. The arpeggios in Battle with Ganon in particular are kind of insane.
Love hearing the og vgm through Charles's ears - and then hearing it translated to piano. Explains how bands like The Consouls turn vgm into amazing jazz 💖
I’ll compromise and say SNES era was the golden era of vgm as it was the perfect blend of limitations to really push creativity and not just rely on samples just carrying the music. Good composition during this era was still mandatory, as it was integral to immersion and selling the game. Revisiting these classics lights a light in my soul as these are the games I grew up with. As an aspiring composer, Chrono Trigger, LttP, SMW, FFMQ-FF6, MMX, SoM, long list of others from this era all hold special meaning to me and “were the best” in their own ways - I look at the music in this era as the soul of the games they were in.
For me it's the intro that always get's me, that rundown and buildup is so epic.... the main reason i started playing piano is zelda and nintendo music in general. There's one specific video that made me want to play 'Zelda piano Medley, by the channel gluecks'.
That prologue theme you broke down is one of my favorite themes in all of Zelda. So poignant; there's pain and loss and beauty and love in it. A great theme for the backstory of link to the past that makes you feel what was lost.
Little-me experiencing Link to the Past and Actraiser for the first time is what instilled in me the desire to tell stories through video games and music. Some of my foundational childhood memories.
Broooo~ This game has so many good tracks! The castle dungeon, the overworld, and the Dark World themes all are so good and I can totally see you making this kind of video for each!
You really found one of the best videogame soundtracks to analyze! There is so much in this game! My favourite songs in this game are: The intro (that you analyzed) The Castle theme The Dark Forest Theme The Ending theme (which is so epic that I used it as the walk-out song when I married my wife) You should do some more analyzing of music from this game. I would love that! :)
0:19 This reminds me of the castle theme in Super Mario Bros 3 in Super Mario All Stars for the SNES….the SNES would always have that cool reverby crunchy trumpet sound that made the mighty scary castle type sound. It’s amazing.
@@Elisio_ This is more a signature of the SNES's SPC 700 sound chip. It had very little RAM (64K) in which you had to store all the sound samples, the music sequence itself, _the program to play it_ , AND the buffer memory for the built-in delay DSP effects. So the "reverb" you could apply was more of a very short delay with feedback.
This has and will likely always been my favorite Zelda game. I have played so much of this game and never really thought about the music before. Fun to watch you break it down.
I love watching you hear for the first time a piece I've heard literally hundreds of times, and anticipating the parts that are gonna make you lose your mind 😄
One of my favorite Zelda pieces is the temple boss music from Majora's Mask, which has an A section that alternates 3/4 and 4/4, a B section mostly in 4/4 but wrapping up with three bars of 11/8 and one of 7/8, and a C section that has the alternating 3/4 + 4/4 baseline from the A section but a pattern of held chords above it that alternate six beats and four beats.
I can't remember a time when I didn't know the way this piece sounds like the back of my hand, so the journey it goes on has always been totally obvious to me. Thanks for reminding me how beautiful it is
I feel like you can kinda hear the foundation for the song of healing! So cool to try and imagine how the composer thought to bring that section and repurpose it with some changes!
This was my very first Zelda game and has a special place in my heart. Great music, great gameplay and even has fully customizable randomizer programs for it.
The SNES has so much good music from so many games it is just silly. The sound chip on that console was so good for it's time. It was also sample based, no more square waves, noise channels, etc. Even a lot of games that weren't that great had some incredible music. What a rabbit hole to go down, tell Alice I said "hi"
If you get a chance, you should definitely do a break down of the Hyrule Castle theme. It's first iteration is in A Link to the Past, but you can hear it in several other newer Zelda games. In fact, a lot of the recurring theme songs start here with this game.
Great Video Charles. I can really recommend you to check out Splatterhouse 2 - Unholy Crystal Boss. You WILL have a blast with it. It's a rather difficult theme play I assume, but I think you'll knock it out of the park. Cheers.
I have exactly zero idea what you're talking about with the music, I'm just here for the enthusiasm and love for the craft. (And the video games. PLEASE DO MORE CHRONO TRIGGER.)
If I could pick one game that I could play again "for the first time", this is always the one I pick. An absolute masterpiece in every single aspect, and such a huge part of my childhood.
Favourite LttP track has to be the ending epilogue music. Its just so triumphant with its midi trumpets but knows when to calm it down and slow it so that that final blast at the end just hits so good with the midi timpani's!
Link to the Past music is a great example of music being the emotional lead in such a simple game. Falling rain with the story telling melody at the beginning of the game is a special kind of nostalgia for sure. My favorite part of the soundtrack has to be the intro of the dark world. To have the game blow open after a boss fight and leave you feeling both capable and anxious of what's to come. That and the cue to play is the music itself, once the music hits after the dialogue you know it's your moment and you go down the steps.
Let's gooo, A Link to the Past!! One of my favourites Zelda games and the Dark World theme is also one of my favourite overworld themes of all time ❤️. I hope you make more videos of this game in the future.
I never forget the first time I played it back in 91. Or the first time I played Donkey Kong in 1981 on the portable game & watch console. The music and sound from those games stay with you forever.
I've always loved the intro theme to A Link to the Past, such a masterpiece. As for other songs I enjoy from the soundtrack, I'm def a fan of the Light World dungeon theme and the Dark World theme
6:16 - It's wild how Kondo had these incredibly rich chords in mind when he composed for a system in 1990. The guy really knew what he was doing. Charles illustrating it wonderfully here on his piano. I had no idea the opening piece was so simple/complex. I will ALWAYS get a kick out of CC going way back in time and pulling out the chord progressions in these games. I get to hear them in a whole new light! Keep going buddy!
those chords from the seconds after you time stamped are used literally in the order he played them, the way he played them, in botw and totk as mipha and sidons theme. wild
