Some of my favorite music in Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Part Deux

Wow, video game music sure has come a long way since the days when my dad would mute the sound on our TV while I was playing with my Sega Master System because he just couldn't stand all the beeps and blips that comprised the "tunes" in old games. Here are five more selections of my favorite music from the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl:

Mother - Earthbound



This song is actually a direct carryover from Melee, along with the stage it accompanies. Often while playing Melee, I'd decide which stage to play on not necessarily based on the design of the stage itself, but because of the music that played on it. This was probably my favorite piece of music from that game and I'm glad to hear it's back for Brawl. The stage it came with, "Onett" from the U.S. Earthbound game (called Mother 2 in Japan), always felt a little clunky design-wise to me, but I'd play it just to hear this great tune over and over again.

Ice Climber - Ice Climbers



The level dubbed "The Summit" in Brawl is inspired by the nearly-forgotten NES game Ice Climbers, though it bears little resemblance to the original game. Here, this remix of the standard Ice Climbers theme belies the cool, changing nature of the level itself. The battle begins atop a giant iceberg but then, at about 26 seconds in, suddenly the music changes as the tip of the iceberg breaks off and begins racing, sliding down the side until it finally splashes down into the freezing water below.

King K. Rool / Ship Deck - Donkey Kong Country



When Donkey Kong Country was released for the Super Nintendo, I would often find myself leaving Donkey or Diddy Kong standing around in a safe spot on a level so that I could listen to the music in peace for a bit. It was the first video game I knew of to get it's own soundtrack album, and I can see why: the music in the game was, and still is, awesome. This track would play during the final boss fight onboard a pirate ship in the game, and I seriously dig this remix and that it's in Brawl. Seeing as how the main Donkey Kong stage in Brawl, "Rumble Falls," is a vertically-scrolling (read: headache) level for brawling on, it's not terribly likely I'll be choosing to play it all that often, but, like with the Earthbound level from Melee I mentioned earlier, anytime I do end up playing it, it will probably be because I want to hear the music playing on it, namely this particular tune.

Angel Island Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog



It's great to see Sonic making a guest appearance in this game (I guess all of us who saw the two biggest game mascots in the '90s--Sonic and Mario--being bitter rivals will now get to really see who would beat who in a straightforward fight) and it's also great to hear some awesome music from the Sonic franchise make an appearance as well. This track in particular remixes a tune from Sonic 3 in a very fun, fast and upbeat way that sounds indicative of most early Sonic game music, giving it a feel that's both retro and new at the same time.

Sonic Heroes - Sonic the Hedgehog



Another Sonic tune, this one from a later game in the franchise's history. I'm not a big fan of the songs with vocals in Brawl so far, but I do really like this one. There seems to be three ways of acquiring songs in Brawl: either 1) they're already available as of the first play, 2) they're unlocked by achieving certain, specific goals, or 3) they randomly show up as CDs during matches and you have to grab them manually. I have a feeling this song will be in the latter group, so who knows how long it'll be until it randomly shows up in my game.

I'll continue posting my favorite tunes after the game comes out, if I can pry myself away from it long enough to post something here, that is.