Abelhawk's Top 10 Most Nostalgic Computer Game Songs of All Time: Honorable Mentions

Well, I've officially moved on into adulthood, and with it comes less free time than I've ever had before. I've felt bad for how seldom I update Pretzel Lectern. It's definitely not out of boredom. There are several posts I've been meaning to make, but I just haven't had the energy. At least I've been mostly keeping up to date with Knight Guy and my Personal History. Until I get the time to make a decent post, here's a slight cop-out. For the original lists, click here and here.

Honorable Mention #1: KQVI - The Castle of the Crown




My uncles had Kings Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow at their house, and my brother and I were always fascinated with it. To our little minds, we couldn't imagine that there were limits in the game. In the impassible level Chessboard Land, we were certain that somehow, some way, you could get into the lands beyond. We just didn't know how. Some of my earliest memorable dreams involved Alexander finally finding the shield to get past the gargoyle. Anyway, this particular song is the most memorable to me, since it was close to the beginning and I always wished I could figure out a way into the castle. Eventually, of course, I did beat the game, but not as a kid. To me, this game (which I believe is the greatest of all the Kings Quest series) still has with it a sense of childhood wonder, and this song definitely embodies that to this day.

Honorable Mention #2: Lode Runner - Moss Caverns




Lode Runner is yet another game my uncles had, and like most games at the time, I was fascinated with it. I was intrigued by its odd genre and storyline: who was Lode Runner? Who were the cannibalistic monks chasing him? Why did he want gold so much? What are the strange tools he uses to escape? Another factor that made me like it was the built-in map editor, in which I could make my own adventures. This song sticks out to me the most because it is the most memorable of the tracks, and the theme of the earliest levels. It definitely fits the idea of a treasure hunter sneaking through the jungle and somehow shooting holes in the ground with a pistol.

Honorable Mention #3: WarCraft 2 - Human 1



No video game list would be complete without a WarCraft game. WarCraft seems to have always been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. Right now, for example, I've been avidly playing Hearthstone and WarCraft III, and when I was a little boy of only six or seven years old, I was obsessed with WarCraft 2. I made my own fanfiction story revolving around it, and my brother and I mastered the limited three-level demo, even going so far as to chop every single tree down on one of the maps, just for the achievement factor we felt it brought us. This may be cheating by having technically two different songs, but they're my two favorite songs in the game. On the first track, I thought the noble fanfare sounded so cool, I wanted it to be my national anthem if I ever had my own country.

Honorable Mention #4: Lost Vikings - Egyptian Groove

 

Yet another game given us by my uncles. We were very proud to be able to beat this game all the way through as kids, which is no easy feat when you're six. This is a challenging, fun, and funny puzzle game, and this music was probably the most memorable. I love how the song, like the theme song of the Lost Vikings, starts out as something ancient and old-fashioned sounding, and then immediately dips into a groove. I always liked Eric the Swift the best because I was proud of my running speed as a kid, and my brother favored Baleog the Fierce.

Honorable Mention #5: Jazz Jackrabbit - Candion



I was going to put something from the old Busytown game on here, but I can't find any decent recordings of my favorite one, Captain Salty's Ship. So this one will have to do, which is still very nostalgic for me. I loved Jazz Jackrabbit. It was like Sonic the Hedgehog with a gun, and the music was amazing. Since the game we had was called Holiday Hare, the music was all remixed Christmas carols, and this one had a serious, dark feel that made the game sound really intense. We had a lot of fun with this game, and it's still one of my favorite memories of the time period of DOS games, right next to Xargon and Jill of the Jungle.