Deep Cuts - Fredrik Häthén
As we all know, certain game soundtracks tend to hog the spotlight, so this series is dedicated to finding those hidden gems that often go unnoticed and unappreciated. For this article, I asked composer and arranger Fredrik Häthén to bring some visibility to a few of his favorite soundtracks—Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Alundra, Einhänder, and Unlimited SaGa. Here is why these soundtracks matter in his own words.
Note: While the soundtrack for Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins was never released, Alundra and Einhänder had physical releases, but are currently unavailable.
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
While many of Kazumi Totaka’s soundtracks are worthy of mention, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is where he shines the brightest. The game itself—released in 1992—is a bit of an oddball in the Mario family, and the music certainly reflects this. The game’s main motif is established at the very start of the game in the file select screen (“Choose Your Pipe”) and then rearranged in a wide variety of fun, intelligent ways. The most standout exploration of the full motif can be heard in “Athletic”, with a B section that ends in a repetition of the motif in a new key only to then cheerfully bounce down to the original key again. In “Tree Top”, we hear a different treatment of the same motif that sounds almost Broadway-esque in its structure, and in “The Moon” we hear it transformed again into something resembling a Viennese waltz. Despite the inherent limitations of the Game Boy hardware, the soundtrack for Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is spectacular and a classic in its own right.
Alundra
The PS1 has arguably some of the best game soundtracks ever produced, and this gem, composed by the inimitable Kohei Tanaka, is no exception. This 1997 game is a puzzle platformer with a surprisingly dark and bloody plot, concerning a small village tormented by nightmares that take the lives of those who suffer from them. The player assumes the role of the titular Alundra, a Dreamwalker, who can go into these nightmares and (hopefully) save their victims. The soundtrack is absolutely breathtaking and shows that even with pretty simplistic samples, it’s still possible to create dramatic, full-scale symphonic tracks.
“The Wind that Crosses the Earth” is a standout track with a melody that soars to breathtaking heights, changing subtly every time it’s reintroduced and culminating in a powerful climax. “Nightmare” lives up to its name with sampled screams, an off-kilter music box and a TR-909 beat. “The Mad Priest Roein” (Note: in-game, this character’s name is Ronan) features an explosive introduction followed by a dark, brooding mix of synths and orchestra, and ultimately takes on the shape of something resembling a requiem for organ and strings. Finally, "Tears" (Staff Roll)—which is a bit of a misnomer, as it plays during the ending of the game—is an absolutely brilliant conclusion to the soundtrack, retelling the musical journey of the game through the use of a full symphonic orchestra. Several tracks make a comeback as the hero remembers what he’s been through, culminating with a triumphant reprise of the motif from “The Wind that Crosses the Earth”.
Einhänder
Released in 1997 for the PS1, Einhänder was something that no one expected Square to release—a side-scrolling shooter. Electronic musician Kenichiro Fukui (arranger and keyboardist for The Black Mages) was tasked with composing the soundtrack for this odd little gem. Fukui took on this soundtrack with gusto and created 65 minutes of absolutely glorious electronic dance music, spanning multiple sub-genres and including everything from hip-hop to opera. “[STREET] -Stage1 #2: Business District-” contains a powerful beat with a fun conga rhythm and vaguely Indian-sounding chants, “[BADLANDS] -Stage2 #2: Desert-” is an explosion of drum’n’bass with a fun and aggressive bass arpeggio, and “[BLOODY BATTLE] -Versus Large Enemy: Type 2-” is just techno goodness at its best and tastiest. The fact that Kingdom Hearts III contains a small, but very fun tribute to this game in the form of a hidden fight against an iconic Einhänder boss, Schwarzgeist, seems to indicate that it is still very much on Square Enix’s mind.
Unlimited SaGa
While Masashi Hamauzu is perhaps best well-known for his contributions to Final Fantasy X, XIII, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake, the music that he wrote for Unlimited SaGa also deserves a mention. The game itself was quite experimental at the time and highly polarizing—Japanese audiences adored it, while Western critics lambasted it. What cannot be lambasted; however, is the brilliant soundtrack, and Hamauzu explores two very different routes on this soundtrack, each with its own disc.
On the first disc, “UNLIMITED:SaGa Overture” is a delightful orchestral treatment of the game’s main theme, and Shiro Hamaguchi’s orchestration is as good as ever. “Battle Theme I” feels very much like a precursor to Final Fantasy XIII’s “Blinded by Light” (though this is slightly more eccentric), and “Myth’s Theme” has the main theme performed primarily on accordion with very interesting results. For the second, more experimental disc, “BT Ver.1” sounds a lot like something from Hamauzu’s previous work on “SaGa Frontier 2” and “BT Ver.7” stands out with its odd, jazz-y funk feel and synthetic saxophone.
Fredrik Häthén
A composer, arranger, sound designer, and saxophonist, Fredrik earned a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Music Production from Blekinge Institute of Technology and has since moved on to working as a freelancer on multiple games, short films, and commercials.