VGMs Influence on Nostalgia
Those 8-bit sounds that accompany Mario while he jumps on mushrooms and goombas, the iconic soundtrack that accompanied Cloud Strife and his mates throughout the journey of Final Fantasy 7, or the electronic-dance fueled music that encompassed the background of Tekken fighting stages. While we often equate music to what we listen to on streaming services or what runs the radio, there are times we often look past other mediums that play a huge influence in our life that bring feelings of nostalgia, in this case the genre known as video game music or ‘VGM’.
Prior to the soundtracks that are included today in video games which contain mass orchestral arrangements, sounds and effects, VGM’s originally were composed and stored on a sound chip that could store up to three sounds. The use of these sound chips became an effective way to allow for music to be included in games without taking up too much storage. With the release of the NES in 1983 it allowed for arcade games to be played at home, and with that came the iconic electronic 8-bit soundtracks that permeated rooms. The challenge of VGMs at the time was creating something memorable with limited resources and sounds. The catchy nature of the nostalgic 8-bit VGM’s come from those loops that contain reminiscent melodies which play a larger role than just ‘background music’.
In a sense, VGMs had to evoke emotion and feeling to the player as a way to immerse them into the whole experience. In Super Mario Bros., music director Koji Kondo, designed the music to reflect the feeling of motion that the player was experiencing. For example, the underground theme of Super Mario Bros. mirrors the stage, in which the dark sounds and undertones serve as part of the experience as players are transported with Mario to the underground levels of the world which are dark and filled with enemies. While moving over to a game like Kontra that threw the player into a fast-paced action shooter, the music contained arpeggiated and rhythmic beats that kept up with the action and pace of the game. Video game soundtracks are often non-linear, with changes being dependent on the control of the player. VGMs immerse the players by the emotive characteristics of the game's characters, stories and levels.
As technology advancements allowed for VGMs to expand with regards to storage and sounds, game soundtracks now have come to the point where scores are now more film-like and cinematic in nature, adapting to the scenes and context of the player. Most notable for creating this shift in VGMs is composer Nobuo Uematsu and his work on Final Fantasy 7. Asides from the technological capabilities that allowed studio-recorded sounds from the PlayStation, the music of the series accompanied memorable moments that focused on realism. For example, the track to Aerith’s death was composed to be “sad but beautiful”, rather than playing off the impact and emotions of the scene, the simplicity of the track evokes feelings of sadness and loss. While the player is faced to fight the boss of the level, the continuation of the track in the background only adds to the brilliance of the game’s direction and level design to convey emotions to the player in that moment.
The nostalgia that comes with game soundtracks is an interesting phenomena to see as the rise in the popularity of VGMs have peaked with the rise of ‘reconstructed nostalgia’ brought about by the memories and motifs which VGMs evoke. The rise of genres such as chillwave, vaporwave, and the ‘lo-fi beats to study to’ have brought about a reimagined sense for the VGM genre and listeners. A quick search on YouTube can bring about compilations and playlists of VGMs from different eras, and even categorized from ‘VGMs to study to’ or ‘VGMs to relax and chill to’ subgenres. The idea of ‘reconstructed nostalgia’ is based on how music brings about a sense of belonging, and forms communities around shared heritages or commonalities which people nostalgically cherish. The VGM genre allows for this reinterpretation of cultural memories and also provides a sense of escapism as it can transport listeners back to nostalgic memories of simpler times and comfort through the sounds which VGMs bring.
This reimagination and reinterpretation of VGMs have also permeated through music today with VGMs not just being limited to use in only video games but being sampled in a variety of records. In the underground beat scene, producers such as Knxwledge, Ahwlee and DiBia$e have created whole beat tapes sampling classic video game sounds and tracks ranging from Sonic to Street Fighter. Ahwlee’s VII fuses hip hop and Final Fantasy 7 to bring back memories of those boxy PlayStation models and iconic turn based combat accompanied with MPC drums, while Knxwledge’s chunlipls off his VGM.6 tape makes you want to mash inputs for her iconic lightning kick. More prominent artists like Drake have also shown his respect to the VGM genre with his song 6 God off his 2015 mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late contains a sample of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong’s Quest, and Lil B the Based God (SWAG) sampling FFX’s Besaid Island Theme for his song I Love You.
As video games have only become more technologically advanced and as popularity in gaming has skyrocketed, VGMs have gotten bigger and a lot more impressive. The impact that VGMs have within music in general is often understated and underappreciated and to see the advancement in the genre is something else to behold. The way that VGMs are able to create moments and memories with the experiences we have with certain video games can attest to the value that VGMs have. From the melody of the Super Mario Bros. theme to the grandiose sound of the Halo theme, the fact that these songs can bring you back to a certain time or place shows how VGMs play an influential role in our lives and music in general.