The first week of Summer 64 started off with a bang, featuring 5 covers from Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 64, Perfect Dark, and 1080° Snowboarding.

While artists in the VGM scene create brilliant covers and arrangements from beloved video game franchises, we often minimize the originality of said artists when compared to songwriters and “original musicians.” With the help of a Twitter hashtag #VGMGoneOriginal (thanks @MaxNoelBass), I’d like to showcase a selection of excellent original songs written by your favorite VGMers.

Chris Penwell recaps some of the excellent Kingdom Hearts tracks from the cover community that brought us to a Sanctuary “where fears and lies melt away.”

For this article, I asked several VGM musicians one very important question: “How has your relationship with the VGM community changed in 10 years?”