"North Wall" from ActRaiser on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1990)
Composer: Yuzo Koshiro
Label: G.M.O. Records, Wayô Records
Publisher: Enix
Developer: Quintet
To close out our month-long selection of cold and wintery songs, I decided on "North Wall" from ActRaiser. This is the song that plays in the first platforming combat area in the northern part of the continent, aptly named North Wall. I find this song a little strange, but in a good way, because it does not really fit in the context of a platforming game where you are killing small blue imp-like creatures as you trudge your way through shin-deep snow, dodging falling icicles (can they still be called icicles if they are as big as you are?), scaling a mountain, slashing at giant floating eyeballs in caves, and fighting a large torso of a fellow animated statue. The music seems more suited for an open expanse of snow, ice, and wind. If you slow the song down to 3/4, it would almost fit that setting even more, especially as the song swells from 1:08-1:20.
Interestingly, based off of the previous songs we have featured last month, is that this song does not have any bells, triangles, or chimes, but instead uses a harp and a horn-like instrument and still manages to evoke a snow-covered landscape with dark branches of covered trees peeking out from under snowdrifts. I feel like I can imagine this scene very well, both in-game and real-life locations. Again, as with most of the songs featured last month, nostalgia.
~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
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