"Into the Thick of It" from Secret of Mana on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1994)
Composer: Hiroki Kikuta
Album: Secret of Mana
Label: SquareSoft
Publisher: Square
Developer: Square
Similar to my method for coming upon and using Guile's Theme from Street Fighter II Turbo last month, while waiting for our cat to finish using the litter box, I sat in the opposite room, booted up the SNES Classic and decided to play the opening to Secret of Mana. I did watch the opening to the game, partly because it is beautiful as hell, but also because that opening track, "Fear of the Heavens" is one of the most gorgeous openings to a video game in the last 30 years.
"Into the Thick of It" is the first track that plays after you acquire the Mana Sword and begin using it to fend off the increasing number of Rabites. It is a rather soothing song considering that monsters have immediately returned to an otherwise peaceful area. The title is perfect too, especially since the player (Whose localized name is canonically Randi!?) does not yet know the consequences of pulling the rusty sword from the stone at the base of the waterfall. To me, there is nothing sinister going on or anything else in the song that warns the player of the dangers they face while exploring the world. Or maybe there is and my memories and fondness for the song override anything else.
The only downside to this song is the official presentation on the soundtrack, which fades out shortly after the first time through. By the time Kefka's Domain (the soundtrack to Final Fantasy III on the SNES and released by SquareSoft in 1994) Square was already letting songs play through twice before fading out on the third time through, but there are no shortages of extended versions of songs on YouTube.
~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian
P.S. I haven't yet, but I should look up the music to the remake of Secret of Mana to see how the music compares to that of my early teenage years.
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