Snap, crackle … POP!

For a month when I was 10-years-old, I was not Charlie Adelman. Instead, I was a young Hylian boy named Link. I would rush home from school every day to my chilly basement (too bad the Snuggie didn’t exist back then) and attempt to save Princess Zelda and the land of Hyrule.

However, ‘The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time’ wouldn’t have been nearly as special if it weren’t for one very major aspect of the game: the music. Composed by K’yuml;ji Kond’yuml;, it was the score of the game that truly transported me to the mystical land where I would spend countless hours slaying mutant jellyfish and bottling faries.

Every time I flipped the switch to my Nintendo 64 and heard Epona’s gallant trot come from across Hyrule Field followed by opening harp chords of ‘Zelda’s Theme,’ I knew I was home.

The relationship between video games and music has been a long-term love affair. Whether games boast an original soundtrack ‘- as is the case with ‘Zelda’ ‘- or are set to tunes by some of today’s most popular artists, games wouldn’t be nearly as exciting without the musical accompaniment.

I can’t quite imagine a game of ‘Grand Theft Auto San Andreas’ without blasting Cypress Hills’ ‘How I Could Just Kill a Man’ from my newly stolen vehicle’s radio station. And let’s be honest ‘- as a fifth grader, I definitely earned some major street cred with my babysitters for knowing who Run DMC were at such a young age, all thanks to the theme song of ‘SSX Tricky.’

Although most video game soundtracks are meant to pump you up, some are simply scored with quaint ambient music to set the tone of the fictional world in which you are playing.

‘Pok’eacute;mon Snap’ is the perfect example of this. Caribbean-inspired jams played in the beach level, where I would feverishly chuck apples at a flying Pidgey in hopes of getting the coveted ‘unconscious’ shot (Professor Oak would award double the points) whisked me away while setting the scene. However, on the final ‘Rainbow Cloud’ level, where I was supposed to catch a shot of the breathtaking, elusive Mew, a more appropriate electronic score was used to help me in my space quest.

One of the most valuable things I have learned from video game soundtracks is that the music can transcend beyond the game you’re playing. If it weren’t for Utada Hikaru’s theme song, ‘Simple and Clean,’ for the PS2 game ‘Kingdom Hearts,’ I never would have known about the artist who has failed to make any mainstream impact on the U.S. Billboard charts.

Original video game scores are finding life outside of the console as well. You can imagine my joy when I discovered an EP by the RAC (Remix Artist Collective) last year, which had four Justice-esque remixes of music from the original ‘Mario’ and ‘Sonic’ games. If hipsters thought a vintage game console was the epitome of ironic, wait until they blast an electro-rave version of the Mario dungeon jingle at their next Allston party.

So be on the lookout, readers. Next time you see someone strutting down Comm. Ave on their way to class, don’t be quick to assume that they are listening to ‘Swagger Like Us.’ For all you know, they are being serenaded by Kond’yuml;’s ‘Zelda’s Lullaby.’