"Marshes" from Aztec Adventure: The Golden Road to Paradise on the SEGA Master System (1987/88)
Composer: Unknown*
Album: No Official Release
Publisher: SEGA of America, SEGA Enterprises, Ltd.
Developer: SEGA Enterprises, Ltd.
You know, I don't really hear anything in the first half of this song that makes me think of marshes. The music is too peppy and upbeat for your typical romp through a seasonally low-lying and waterlogged wetland dominated by herbaceous plants and populated by horned turtles, biggs, chabuns, fukoro-togages, and watermen. Then, around 13 seconds, the song takes on a descending tone that fits in better with the marsh setting, but I don't think this would work entirely on its own for the six minutes Niño is trudging through Central Mexico (or northern South America if you're playing the original Nazca '88 released in Japan six month prior). And even though the song doesn't loop perfectly, when that beginning melody comes in again around 0:27, the preceding 14 seconds make this opening so much better than it was the first time.
I have no nostalgia for this song or the game, and watching a longplay doesn't really make me any more interested in finding and playing a port/emulated version of it, but I just like how the second half of the song sounds and how it manages to improve the first half. At least to me.
*P.S. I was only able to find one source that listed Mikio Saito and "Strong" Shima as possible composers, but since I couldn't find any additional information that would put either Mikio Saito or "Strong" Shima as working with SEGA around 1987 I decided to leave this information blank, but at least mention it down here.
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