Koji Kondo

Game Music

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack Release Announced

March 2, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack Release Announced Share this

Nintendo recently announced that their hit Switch game and successor to The Legend of Zelda series, Breath of the Wild, will finally receiving a full soundtrack release. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack will be released in a five CD Limited Edition box set, and will feature 211 track that include not just all of the music from the game, but also game jingles and music from the trailers of the game.

The limited edition also comes with a “Play Button”, which is a portable mp3 player that obviously can be loaded with the entire Breath of the Wild soundtrack.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack will be released on April 25th and is currently available for pre-order through CDJapan for 7000 JPY ($66), along with the regular edition (missing the play button and slip case) which is priced at 5000 JPY ($47). You can find out more on the official website for the album.

We reviewed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Sound Selection last year, which features a sampling of the game’s music that came with the special edition, so you can preview the full game’s music by going and reading Ryan’s breakdown on that.

Alternate Sources: VGMO
Game Music

Super Mario Odyssey Original Soundtrack to Release in February

January 23, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Super Mario Odyssey Original Soundtrack to Release in February Share this

For those of you waiting patiently for the release of the soundtrack to Super Mario Odyssey, your wait is almost over. Nintendo has set an official date for the release of the original game soundtrack to the most recent Mario hit game as February 28th. The soundtrack will feature 136 tracks over a four-disc release, featuring a deluxe full-color booklet and even stickers! How’s that for satisfying the kid in all of us?

Featuring the iTunes exclusive tracks Jump Up, Super Star! and Break Free (Lead The Way), this album contains all the BGM you’ve heard during the last Mario’s adventure, lovely packed in an ultra-luxurious box! – Play-Asia

The Super Mario Odyssey Original Soundtrack is currently available for pre-order import from CD Japan and Play-Asia. In the meantime, the Super Mario Odyssey Sound Selection is currently available for download on iTunes for a preview of what the full soundtrack will be offering.
Doujin, Game Music

“Hero of Time” Legend of Zelda OoT Album Released by Materia Collective

March 29, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on “Hero of Time” Legend of Zelda OoT Album Released by Materia Collective Share this

Even though The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has recently released to critical acclaim, it’s its Nintendo 64 predecessor, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that seems to be getting a lot of love lately. The first 3D Zelda game is seeing much in the way of tributes (Its 20th anniversary comes next year), especially when it comes to the game’s soundtrack. (I Know Super Guitar Bros are working on an album as we speak.)

Argued to be one of the best Zelda soundtracks of the franchise, Materia Collective has decided to pull out all the stops with their massive Ocarina of Time orchestral project, Hero of Time.

Beginning as a crowd-funded project on Kickstarter, Hero of Time is directed by Eric Buchholz (POKÉMON: SYMPHONIC EVOLUTIONS) and features recordings from the 64-piece Slovak National Symphony Orchestra. It also features a slew of arrangers and accompanying performers.

With Hero of Time, we sought to create a single, cohesive experience that weaves all of the complex underlying themes of the game, like impermanence and mortality, with Koji Kondo’s timeless melodies that have become as iconic as the game itself. The orchestration takes an ‘east-meets-west’ approach, with the inclusion of taiko ensembles, eastern woodwinds, and harmonies found prevalent in Japanese film and game scores. – Eric Buchholz, Hero of Time Producer/Orchestrator

The album is available on Bandcamp in digital, CD and CD Limited Edition formats and streaming on Spotify. Alongside the release, a 2xLP vinyl release will be made available on iam8bit in the near future for the true LoZ music enthusiast. You can check out the full album track listing and credits on the Materia Collective album page.
Featured, Game Music, Reviews

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Sound Selection (Review)

March 8, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | 137 Comments Share this

I was fortunate enough to acquire a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Special Edition released in North America. The soundtrack CD that comes in the package is a gorgeous Digipak case which make me very happy after the release of the simple cardboard sleeve that North Americans received for the Twilight Princess Sound Selection CD.

The Breath of the Wild CD offers 23 tracks from the game, and a 24th track with a live recording. Read of for my review of the album, and if you didn’t get the Special Edition I have some tips on where you can grab your own copy of this CD, and details on its various releases.

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Game Music, Indie Music

OCRemix to release “Super Mario RPG: Window to the Stars” a digital 3CD Tribute Album!

January 31, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on OCRemix to release “Super Mario RPG: Window to the Stars” a digital 3CD Tribute Album! Share this

Coming soon from OCRemix: Super Mario RPG: Window to the Stars, a digital 3CD described by them as a tribute album to the music of one of the greatest RPG’s ever created. OC Remix has released a trailer for the album which you can watch below.

Although the release date has only been listed as 2017, you can view the full track listing on the video game music database here. Keep your eyes on OCremix’s site for this upcoming release.

Do you think Super Mario RPG is one of the greatest RPG’s ever created? How about it’s soundtrack?
Game Music

The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Album Available Now

September 30, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | 4 Comments Share this

Just like they did last year for Mario’s 30th anniversary, Nintendo has just released a massive 2-disc album chronicling the history of the Legend of Zelda series. The 30th Anniversary: The Legend of Zelda Game Music Collection contains 93 tracks and hits every major release in the series including the Game Boy Color editions and the most recent installment of Tri Force Heroes. The first pressing also comes in a deluxe package with sixteen interchangeable covers, one representing each entry in the series. Play-Asia still has copies available for $38.99 as of this writing.

And if you’re in the mood to reminisce about the Zelda’s of yore while listening you can pick up the dazzling Legend of Zelda Hyrule Graphics 30th Anniversary Book for $54.99. It’s filled with over 2,000 character images and illustrations from the same landmark entries in the series as the music album.

Check out some more details on the album from vgmdb and some images from the art book inside.

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Game Music

Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD Sound Selection CD Track Listing Revealed!

February 29, 2016 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD Sound Selection CD Track Listing Revealed! Share this

On February 19, 2016, Nintendo finally announced the track listing for the upcoming Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD Sound Selection . The album will contain a total of 20 tracks composed by Toru Minegishi, Asuka Ohta, and Koji Kondo which are listed below. This is 13 more than what was previously released on the Official Soundtrack during the game’s initial release on Nintendo Wii and Gamecube. In addition, to the additional tracks according to Nintendo all of the music on this CD has been remastered.

1. Title
2. Teaser Music #1
3. Ordon Village
4. Midna’s Theme
5. Hyrule Field (Main Theme)
6. Light Spirit
7. Kakariko Village
8. Death Mountain
9. Queen Rutela’s Theme
10. Lake Hylia
11. Boss Battle Part 3
12. Midna’s Desperation
13. Sacred Grove
14. Malo Mart
15. Ilia’s Theme
16. Hidden Village
17. Princess Zelda’s Theme
18. Final Battle Part 4
19. Staff Roll Part 1
20. Teaser Music #2

Nintendo Japan has posted 20 second samples of all of the tracks on their website which you can sample here.

What do you think of the music they decided to include on the album? Is there a track that you would have liked to have been on this CD?