Chrono Trippin'

If you still have a Wii that's not collecting dust or being used as a place for your stupid cat to nap, you might want to turn it on next Monday.  Chrono Trigger is being released on the Wii Virtual Console!

From everything I've read over the past week, Chrono Trigger is widely regarded as one of the best RPG's of the 16-bit era.  NAY, of all time, according to those in-the-know.  Now, having gone through video-game puberty myself with the Super Nintendo, and being a fan of RPG and JRPG's, I should know this game like the backseat of your mom's car.  Alas I do not.  Go ahead.  Revoke my gamer card!  I deserve it.  In my defense I have played a small portion of the game.  I got right up to the point where (spoiler alert?) the crew gets warped through time somewhere.  For some reason I never played it again.

But before you start throwing stones, I present a peace offering.  The main theme of the 16-bit masterpiece.  Not the orchestrated version.  No!  I give you the main theme as you would hear it if you snapped in the cartridge yourself and pushed up on the fat, purple power switch (or, you know, just turned on your Wii and waggled around to where the game is....then clicked on it).

I did try to find an orchestrated version of this, but they all seemed to have lost something in translation, so to speak.  But maybe I just couldn't find the right recording.  Generally I'm not a big fan of the computerized beeps and boops of older game music, but this one seems to hit it just right.  The best game music is something you're humming hours after you finish playing.  A melody that stands on its own.  I'll leave you with a quote from the composer, Yasunori Mitsuda.  I wish all game composers approached their compositions in this manner.

"I think [game music] is something that should last with the player. It's interesting because it can't just be some random music, but something that can make its way into the player's heart. In that sense, this not only applies to game music, but I feel very strongly about composing songs that will leave a lasting impression...What I must not forget is that it must be entertaining to those who are listening. I don't think there's much else to it, to be honest. I don't do anything too audacious, so as long as the listeners like it, or feel that it's a really great song, then I've done my job."