Wednesday, May 6, 2020

MIDI Week Singles: "Main Titles" - Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64)


"Main Titles" from Star Wars: Rogue Squadron on the Nintendo 64 & PC (1998)
Composer: Chris Hülsbeck
Album: No Official Release
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: Factor 5 & LucasArts




I wanted to use a song from a Star Wars game since Monday was May the Fourth (be with you), and after listening to music from the first three Super Star Wars (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi), I realized that I did not want to use MIDI-ified music that was just straight-up John Williams, so I started looking at the other Star Wars games that were not specifically based off of the movies.  So I looked elsewhere and after finding that the first couple of attempts lead to only longplays and zero music, I remembered Star Wars: Rogue Squadron on the Nintendo 64.  Then the main theme played and I immediately knew that I wanted to use this song!

What I love about this song, is that it fits well within the soundscape that is Star Wars, but is still original enough that it does not sound like composer Chris Hülsbeck stole themes from John Williams.  To me, this song perfectly encapsulates the rogue element (ugh) in the Star Wars universe before Michael Giacchino scored Rogue One.  The melody is fanfaric and recognizable enough while feeling like it is not trying to overshadow the Skywalker theme, which would be a difficult enough endeavor if it was not already one of the main themes to Star Wars.  And most importantly, it is a hummable theme, which is always good for retention.




~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian


P.S. And currently, Star Wars™: Rogue Squadron 3D (being the title of the PC version of the game) is on sale over at GOG.com, although I will most likely be posting an article about getting the game to play correctly either on Friday or in the coming weeks.

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