Sound Melee
By Ice
I've recently had the pleasure of obtaining the Super Smash Bros Melee soundtrack ... and I must say it's very impressive. What was even more impressive (and even a bit shocking) was the fact that there was Zelda 2 music on there.
From what I've gathered, Link, Zelda/Sheik, and Ganondorf are playable characters ... but only two of them have their own stages. I'm guessing that Link is Great Bay, and either Zelda or Ganondorf have the temple. Probably Ganondorf, but I don't know for sure.
On the soundtrack, there are four Zelda songs listed ... three returning ones and one new one (or at least it's new to me, it could come in late in Majora's Mask or in the Game Boy Color series of games). The songs featured were the Classic Overworld theme from Zelda 1, the Lost Woods theme from Zelda 5, and the Dungeon / Palace theme from Zelda 2. Out of all three, I'd say that the Dungeon / Palace theme from Zelda 2 was the best one. But still, words can not describe how awesomely these songs were done. They sound like they came straight out of a movie.
The Temple theme (from Zelda 2) has drums, a choir, a stormy wind, a lightning-fast harp, some eerie sci-fi bends, and some synthy leads. A lot of people were skeptical about the new system's sound capability, but after hearing this stuff, you'll never worry about that again.
The Great Bay theme (the classic overworld) has been done time and time again, but this version manages to top them all in my opinion. It sounds like something straight out of Star Wars, actually ... it has some very expressive strings doing the melody.
The Great Bay Alternate theme (the lost woods from zelda 5) is very nicely done. The wind instrument that takes the lead for most of the song is incredible. I'm not sure if this is actually in the game or not, as it was a Bonus Track on the cd ... hmm.
The Temple Alternate theme sounds very Zelda-ish, and I'm assuming that if it's in the game, it's played under the same conditions that the Great Bay Alternate theme is played under, only for the Temple level. Again, this one was listed as a Bonus Track, so I'm not sure. It actually sounds like something straight out of Street Fighter with a small Zelda twist ... but if you told me it was from Street Fighter, I'd believe you for sure. There's a really nice piano and string part in it. The drums sound very 80's.
The rest of the sound track is incredible. I only have a few video game soundtracks, but this is definitely the best one I have. It's the best one I've heard, by far. The Donkey Kong songs are awesome too ... the original theme from Donkey Kong Country is back and ten times better than ever. There's also a "DK Rap" on there ... the guy I bought the cd from said that it was also featured on Donkey Kong 64, but the Melee version is remixed and much better.
There are two songs on the cd that sound like they're straight off of an old NES ... and intentionally so. You'll hear the original Super Mario Bros theme (which brings back memories ...) and a theme I don't recognize ... it's listed as Icicle Mountain Alternate ... ? It's also a Bonus Track, so I don't know if it's in the game or not.
The Yoshi and Kirby songs are also great, as well as the Metroid ... heck, it's ALL great. If you come across this, BUY IT, no matter HOW much it costs. You won't be disappointed.
--Ice
