I want to start this off with a playlist of the soundtrack. Every song is worth listening to at least once. EarthBound is chalk full of catchy songs that have been stuck in my head for years.
Right off the bat this game gets you hyped. The opening credits music is super upbeat, and I’m just…I’m ready. I’m ready to take Giygas out right now. Let’s go. Even the choose file and enter name music have me bobbing my head. This game throws sick beats at you the second you start.
Every town and new area you visit has a new song. The song when you walk into your family’s home is much different from the song that plays when you walk into your neighbor’s house. The same is said for the music from one town to the next. The next songs are from Onett, Twoson, Threed, and Fourside.
It’s not often that a song played continuously doesn’t start to wear me down. The fact that I can listen to the enemy fight tracks over and over again without getting annoyed is remarkable to me. There are five enemy battle tracks, not including tracks for specific bosses.
They’re all pretty fitting to their situations, and it’s a nice to have the variety in music to fit the variety of enemies you face.
In addition to all of the location and enemy songs, there’s also the eight melodies you collect from each of the eight My Sanctuary locations. Once you’ve taken the final My Sanctuary location, every bit of the Eight Melodies combines into one song
The Giygas fight is a bit eerie, and it’s no surprise that the music should reflect that. Several of the songs give the effect of wind blowing through or breathing and it’s unsettling to say the least. There’s a discordance in a few of the songs that is nerve racking. It’s as unnatural as this thing you’re fighting.
Prayer for Safety does one of my favorite things. It overlaps one song with something else, and it does it well. It’s a hopefully humming over the mechanical whirring sounds of Giygas.
The music in EarthBound is so special. It perfectly captures every situation you find yourself in. From a monkey maze to a surreal world behind a cafe’s bar or Ness’s subconscious, the game is hitting you with beautiful, sometimes incredibly off, and wonderfully memorable tunes. This article could go on for a million years if I let myself go on and on about every song in this game. I implore you to check out the full playlist if you haven’t already.
Thank you for this! Glad I finally got around to revising Earthbound again earlier this year and finally beating it! I picked up the Earthbound Vinyl OST from FanGamer to reward myself and this brought back so many memories! Heck of a score and nice compilation/tribute here! Thankee!