Best of 2012! Top Ten: Zelda Tunes

Time to ignite the flame wars as Katharine counts down her top ten Zelda ditties.

By Katharine Byrne. Posted 12/22/2012 11:00 1 Comment     ShareThis

9. Forest Temple

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Perhaps a rather unconventional choice, this one, but the Forest Temple is without doubt one of my favourite dungeon themes of all time. So many dungeons these days seem content to resign themselves to dull, ambient background noise that criminally undersells any kind of tension or personality they might be trying to put across to the player, but just listen to those echoing… whatever instrument that is, and those creepy, offbeat voices “huh”-ing and “ah”-ing just after the one minute mark. Now that is atmospheric.

It also proves that Zelda’s not all about big, bombastic anthems that get your adventurer’s blood pumping (although several of those will certainly be cropping up in this list later on). It’s a marked departure from everything else we’ve heard in Ocarina of Time up until this point, and it makes everything, from Link’s sudden jump to adulthood to the Forest Temple itself, seem that much more alien and removed from what we’ve encountered before. It helps reinforce that there’s something not quite right about the Forest Temple, and this aural assault of echoes and reverberations from all corners of your speakers perfectly reflects its obsession with trickery and illusion.

Of course, many might argue that the Shadow Temple should be sitting here if we’re going to talk about atmosphere, but while the Shadow Temple is quite possibly the most spine-tingling, goosebumps-inducing dungeon theme I’ve ever heard, the Forest Temple wins out here because, well, it’s actually got a bit more of a melody and is a far more pleasant listening experience on its own. That, and it doesn’t make my skin crawl every time I hear it!

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

One Response to “Best of 2012! Top Ten: Zelda Tunes”

  • 60 points
    Dustin Grissom says...

    Super daring to put Fi’s theme as #1! I totally agree though, that song is fantastic in more ways than one! On top of being a great tune, it’s very emotional and really connects you to Fi as a character…. makes me want to play Skyward Sword again!

    Also, the lack of Minish Cap songs in this list is criminal! ;)

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Log In 0 points Log in or register to grow your Ninja Score while interacting with our site.
Nintendojo's RSS Feeds

All Updates Podcast
News Comments
Like and follow usFacebookTwitter Friend Code Exchange + Game with Us Join the Team!