After keenly observing 64 tracks on the Chrono Trigger OST, which is of course the magic number, it seemed only appropriate to do a tournament of the songs from the game. Typical tournament rules. Everything should be rather self-explanatory. Matches last 24 hours or until I am available to tend to them, whichever is greater.
Past results: A. Flawless victory! Not a single joke vote went to Fanfare 2 over Wind Scene, 16-0. B. Ayla's Theme did led 1-0 before losing every other vote. Robo's Theme wins 15-1. C. The other two matches were actually contested. The Bring of Time beats Primitive Mountain 10-6. D. Epilogue also beats Zeal Palace 10-6. The seeding favorites were clearly the order of the day yesterday.
The votals are going down rather than up. Hopefully they stabilize soon man, this is a great idea for a contest. Know that I'll be a part of it even it goes down to like three votes a day though. :DDD
Undersea Palace
I proudly proclaim this the best piece of video game music related to an underwater gameplay area... OF ALL TIME!! It really is quite hauntingly mood-setting, slow and simple or not. Long passages before melodic development are just fine by me. One thing that Chrono Trigger did really well that too few JRPGs have followed is kicking the regular battle themes to the curb in uber-atmospheric dungeons and I'm damn glad that's the case here. One continuous theme.
"Singing Mountain" is beautiful though. To this day I'm bummed it didn't make the cut. My mind ever-races with imagery... oh, what scenes could have been. But it just doesn't beat the sea.
Dome 16 Ruins
In the Spring of 1998, user Jeff Zero, a spry tyke at the time, sat down to play Chrono Trigger for the first time. It was his fourth JRPG and he was really diggin' it. Now JZ was a little guy back then, I can't emphasize that enough. His shoulders would one day grow broad and his resolve would be legendary, but he was just a kid back then, you know? And he reached Dome 16 and he said unto his sixth-grade BFF,
"Groovy as f***!"
...now for the rest of time when one of them enjoys a song, these are the spoken words. And it is written that it shall be as such forevermore. Groovy as f*** indeed, Lil JZ. Groovy as f*** indeed.
The Hidden Truth
Uematsu's clearly still writing for FFVI with "Silent Light". It's a good song by all accounts but when I think Chrono Trigger "The Hidden Truth" is higher up on my agenda. A gem of a minute stored deep within the early, more boring hours of a great game, "The Hidden Truth" really sends a message -- don't eat food that isn't yours.
Secret of the Forest ~ Guardia Forest Theme
Now this is how you handle the concept of shrubbery in the Chrono universe, Mr. Uematsu! :P I'm actually not the biggest fan of this song (it's still like a 7.5 though, rest assured... LOL Chrono Trigger OST) so it's somewhat disappointing that more poorly-seeded favorites of mine don't get to advance to the second round, but such is life.
Secret of the Forest and Silent Light are another two of my faves from the OST. Could go either way on the other two; 6 / 11 are both decent, 3 / 14 are meh.
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... as if rights are like muscles - the more you use it, the better it gets. Indeed he may be exercising his first amendment-- but he's an IDIOT! - A. Scalia
14 (Mostly by ignoring the vortex beginning to Singing Mountain, because that last part is so solid. I'm not a fan of Undersea Palace in any case though)
6 (More because I don't like Dome 16 that much than becuse Fanfare floored me)
3 (really tough choice for a 3v14 match, but this is one of the best songs in the game) 6 (Ugh this was basically a coin flip match, both are amazing but I am feeling more upbeat today so fanfare it is) 10 (holy god these matches today are a testament to how amazing this OST is) 2 (finally an easy choice)
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Not changing this sig until the Bengals, Bills, Browns and Lions win the Super Bowl (10/10/10) The most American Canadian on Board 8 - #9 Bro on Board 8
Jeff Zero posted... The votals are going down rather than up. Hopefully they stabilize soon man, this is a great idea for a contest. Know that I'll be a part of it even it goes down to like three votes a day though. :DDD
It was 15 on Fri-Sat, it was 16 Sat-Sun. We only had one day before that. So blame the weekend or blame the not-brand-newness, but I can hope we'll be stable at ~15 if people don't get sick of the contest. And honestly, it'll get a lot more entertaining once we get out of round 1 and eliminate the literal fodder. When the 1-3 seeds actually have an opponent, we'll have some fun.
14. Singing Mountain - This is actually a pretty difficult decision, both songs are good but kinda mid tier for this soundtrack.
11. Dome 16's Ruins - Also a difficult decision.
7. Silent Light - By contrast this one is a pretty easy decision. I like Silent Light.
2. Secret of the Forest ~ Guardia Forest Theme - And this one is an extremely easy decision, although Good Night is very good for an 8 second long song. Secret of the Forest is awesome.
-- I made a living on time trial blowing myself off to cross the finish line at ludicrous speed. -transience
From: Jeff Zero | #004 Secret of the Forest ~ Guardia Forest Theme
Now this is how you handle the concept of shrubbery in the Chrono universe, Mr. Uematsu! :P I'm actually not the biggest fan of this song (it's still like a 7.5 though, rest assured... LOL Chrono Trigger OST) so it's somewhat disappointing that more poorly-seeded favorites of mine don't get to advance to the second round, but such is life.
I think Secret of the Forest is Mitsuda.
-- I made a living on time trial blowing myself off to cross the finish line at ludicrous speed. -transience
Pretty easy decision as I instantly realized why Singing Mountain was left out after the first time unlocking it on the DS (not saying it's bad, but I don't feel anything was lost by leaving it out). Dome 16's Ruins is one of the few songs in the entire game that doesn't fill me up with great feelings of nostalgia. The Hidden Truth isn't quite as great as the Trial music, but it's still damn good... and Secret of the Forest is top-tier in a game filled with top-tier tunes.
I'm not afraid to admit that I don't see the draw behind Undersea Palace. I've actually been listening to Singing Mountain through the day off and on, it's that good.
SInging Mountain - Without that first minute, this would be a very easy choice. But even as it is, I prefer it over Undersea Palace 6. Fanfare 1 ~ Lucca's Theme - Both songs could stand to be a little longer. Lucca's Theme gets me pumped, so that wins it this match. Silent Light - Again, hidden truth could stand to be a little longer. I like what is there, but what is there, is only 1 minute long. Secret of the Forest - Finally an easy match
Anyone who votes otherwise must not have listened past the first minute, because it becomes awesome tier after that (although I've always thought undersea palace was overrated)
6. Fanfare 1 ~ Lucca's Theme
I like both, but hearing this song instantly makes me want to play CT
7. Silent Light
Don't really like either too much
2. Secret of the Forest ~ Guardia Forest Theme
Think this one is overrated, but better than its opponent
B. Ayla's Theme did led 1-0 before losing every other vote. Robo's Theme wins 15-1. Aw, Ayla's Theme isn't THAT bad.... ;_; I like it more than Robo's Theme, myself (more heroic, rather than a weird robotic beat with a cheesy melody), but I wasn't there to vote yesterday.
I almost forgot about Epilogue... SMRPG's ending theme sounds a lot like the end of Epilogue. =P
The first match today should be a Round 4 match, not Round 1. :-/ It would be a great shame to see Singing Mountain lose today, but it would be even more of a shame for 3. Undersea Palace to be taken down. (that is my vote)
6. Lucca's theme is my least favorite character theme, yet Dome 18 is just....*yawn*
7. Silent Light ...it's one of the most forgettable tracks in CT, but at least it has interesting things like the string bass and evolving instrumentation.
2. Secret of the Forest ~ Guardia Forest Theme.... could I ask nobody to vote for Good Night so that Ayla's Theme looks better than something? >_>
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"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those! It could be fun! So... what is a party?" "Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."
The youtube link for Ayla was really substandard as well. I've recently played the game so I voted mostly on my reaction to that, but at least one person pointed out how it sounded old.