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Happy 2014!
Thursday, 25 December 2014
Monday, 8 December 2014
Music in Mario Kart 8
Something that I really enjoyed from playing Mario Kart 8 has got to be the music. Much appreciation is aimed at the levels like Mount Wario, Electrodrome, Cloudtop Cruise and Melody Motorway.
The reason for this is because of the way that the music changes to reflect the style of the level, which is something I very much like seeing in games, but does not occur as often as it really should (all the time!). Take Mount Wario, a three-in-one single length course that starts at the mountain summit, taking you through an ice cave, the side of a dam, a pine forest and ending in a ski slope. Because of these dramatic changes in scenery the level appropriately has 4 versions that phase in and out at the appropriate moment.
The first section following a slippery slope down, utilises a solo main violin theme with a piano accompaniment, brass interjecting at intervals as the race warms up. The second section running through the cave and dam tones up that jazz style that the series has been leaning towards as of late, building up some pretty nice sounding musical momentum. The next change at the forest segment suddenly switches to a very rough violin/fiddle and rock style due to the frantic nature of the forest segment - this bit doesn't seem to actually use the main theme of the track other than the backing to keep in in sync during the phase in/out of the music. Finally we get the rock cover of the track's theme akin to some of the other normal tracks in MK8 as the racers go whizzing down the slope.
Sorry if that paragraph seemed to ramble on a bit, I just think the amount of detail they put into it is a nice touch to an already quite entertaining (and sometimes very stressing) game.
Speaking of detail, the Electrodrome level has to be one of the most amazing tacks I've played in the whole MK series for its flair and atmosphere; see cheering layer and anti-grav synth remix. Other things of note is the beat heavy track in the thundercloud of Cloudtop Cruise, and the awesome Frontrunning version of every track - a feature that I believe started in Mario Kart 7. For those not aware it's an extra (usually) drumbeat track added to the track music while you're ahead of the pack. Also a special nod goes to the Rainbow Road music in Mario Kart 7 which also does a similar thing due to its three section division.
The reason for this is because of the way that the music changes to reflect the style of the level, which is something I very much like seeing in games, but does not occur as often as it really should (all the time!). Take Mount Wario, a three-in-one single length course that starts at the mountain summit, taking you through an ice cave, the side of a dam, a pine forest and ending in a ski slope. Because of these dramatic changes in scenery the level appropriately has 4 versions that phase in and out at the appropriate moment.
The first section following a slippery slope down, utilises a solo main violin theme with a piano accompaniment, brass interjecting at intervals as the race warms up. The second section running through the cave and dam tones up that jazz style that the series has been leaning towards as of late, building up some pretty nice sounding musical momentum. The next change at the forest segment suddenly switches to a very rough violin/fiddle and rock style due to the frantic nature of the forest segment - this bit doesn't seem to actually use the main theme of the track other than the backing to keep in in sync during the phase in/out of the music. Finally we get the rock cover of the track's theme akin to some of the other normal tracks in MK8 as the racers go whizzing down the slope.
Sorry if that paragraph seemed to ramble on a bit, I just think the amount of detail they put into it is a nice touch to an already quite entertaining (and sometimes very stressing) game.
Speaking of detail, the Electrodrome level has to be one of the most amazing tacks I've played in the whole MK series for its flair and atmosphere; see cheering layer and anti-grav synth remix. Other things of note is the beat heavy track in the thundercloud of Cloudtop Cruise, and the awesome Frontrunning version of every track - a feature that I believe started in Mario Kart 7. For those not aware it's an extra (usually) drumbeat track added to the track music while you're ahead of the pack. Also a special nod goes to the Rainbow Road music in Mario Kart 7 which also does a similar thing due to its three section division.
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