It’s here! Halloween! The night of spooks and phantoms, and little children running around in Batman and Wolverine masks! In this last installment of my four part series exploring some examples of dread-inducing music from classic video games, let’s listen to some music displaying horrifyingly epic grandeur. These tracks are perfect for making an impressive entrance to your Halloween party. Make sure you have the music cued before you start shuffling and moaning your way inside.
Tekken 2 (1995)
Music in fighting games usually isn’t quite as dire as this track from the soundtrack to the second installment in the Tekken series. Entitled Here is the Point of No Return, this track sets the mood for fighting in the desert against a wrestler wearing a jaguar mask. Even considering all this, the track is still plenty creepy.
Blood (1997)
This first-person shooter tells the story of a gunslinger in the American West who joins a cult, is killed, then rises from the grave to hunt down the dark god that killed him. The track below features wailing winds, moaning voices, pounding drums and surreal sound design.
Xenogears (1998)
As we discovered in last week’s musical excerpt from the score of Arcanum, dungeons are great for finding creepy music for Halloween. Luckily, a lot of roleplaying games have creepy dungeons. This track was written for dungeon-exploring in the Xenogears sci-fi roleplaying game. The track features a constant low suspense tone, with harp and bells weaving a hypnotic pattern while metallic impacts punctuate the gloom.
D2 (1999)
This track starts innocently, and may lull you into thinking it’s another low-keyed spookfest, but just wait. The harmonic structure builds into a nightmarish repeating pattern that may be just perfect for your Halloween party entrance, if your costume involves mutations, mangled limbs, and lots of blood. Otherwise, beware – this one is very disturbing.
Well, that’s it, friends – classic video game tunes for an unforgettable monster mash. I hope everyone has a great night, full of visits from loads of little Trick-or-Treaters, and enlivened by your favorite gothic festivities for an eerie and magical October 31st. Happy Halloween, everyone!!