Final Fantasy – JC Cawley

Kong’s T’day Tune #35

J.C. Cawley — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 16:19:38 +0000

I’ve put together a list of 60 tunes that have stuck with me through the years, inspired by Jeffrey Canam (@GrahfMetal)’s Twitter rundown of his top 100 favourite video game tracks. I’ve attempted to limit myself to a couple songs per game, but there are exceptions.

I’ll post them here and on Twitter every Tuesday and Thursday using the hashtag #KongsTdayTunes.

#35

The second track in Final Fantasy theme week is the tune that plays in the Temple of Fiends. You get to hear this song early in the game, and then it pops up again later. It has a similar structure to “Matoya’s Cavern” from earlier this week, with a soaring melody accompanied by an upbeat rhythm.

Even though there are a couple more great songs in the game, this is going to be the last we’ll see of Final Fantasy in this list. Fortunately, there are a lot of entries in the series I haven’t mentioned yet…

Track: “Chaos Temple” (YouTube Link)
Game: Final Fantasy (NES, 1987)
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Kong’s T’day Tune #36

J.C. Cawley — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 21:00:02 +0000

I’ll post them here and on Twitter every Tuesday and Thursday using the hashtag #KongsTdayTunes.

#36

Final Fantasy sets the pace for the rest of the series by having a bunch of great tunes on the soundtrack. This isn’t quite the best song in the batch, but it’s a memorable one, and a solid example of Uematsu’s approach on this whole game; it’s got a strong main melody supported by a bubbly rhythm track.

I’m going to have to make this a theme week and put up another Final Fantasy track to compare and contrast on Thursday. Happy winter holiday, everyone!

Track: “Matoya’s Cavern” (YouTube Link)
Game: Final Fantasy (NES, 1987)
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Kong’s T’day Tune #42

J.C. Cawley — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 19:19:14 +0000

I’ll post them here and on Twitter every Tuesday and Thursday using the hashtag #KongsTdayTunes.

#42

One of the most climactic moments in an already quite dramatic game. The whole Final Fantasy VI soundtrack is phenomenal as it is, but this track somehow takes it up a notch. I can’t really say much more about this one without writing a book.

Track: “The Fierce Battle” (YouTube Link)
Game: Final Fantasy VI (SNES, 1994)
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Kong’s T’day Tune #59

J.C. Cawley — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 16:45:48 +0000

I’ll post them here and on Twitter every Tuesday and Thursday using the hashtag #KongsTdayTunes.

#59

Final Fantasy VIII is a strange game. It features dream-like flashback sequences where the player controls a completely different set of characters, led by Laguna, a man with a machine gun. “The Man with the Machine Gun” is his theme song.

It was interesting for a Final Fantasy game at the time to play a unique battle theme when controlling a different character. I like that the music conveys something of the dreamlike quality and mystery that the player faces as they struggle to understand how these intermissions fit into the rest of the story.

Track: “The Man with the Machine Gun” (YouTube Link)
Game: Final Fantasy VIII (PS1, 1999)
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu