[ryanpaquet]

For me I think Donkey Kong Country was a big game music moment for me as well. When I saw that the soundtrack was available on Cassette and CD it’s something I really wanted to own but never has the money back then. I used to record some music from the TV speaker using a record feature on my parents boombox. I also loved the music in THE DIG – but never played the full game, just the demo.

The first real game soundtrack CD I bought was MYST from Cyan directly. I was amazed by that soundtrack, and also really adored RIVEN which I was able to buy from my local record store. One of my favourite game soundtracks was to the Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time. I had a Packard Bell PC (our first family computer) and it came with the Journeyman Project Turbo. This sequel I purchased in a Bargain bin for $10.00 probably in 1996 or 1997. The game had a catalogue for related merch, including a soundtrack CD. As it turns out the soundtrack CD was never produced. I learned this year later when I tracked down the phone number for the composer Bob Stewart and called him up. Years later I would extract all the game audio files and make my own Bootleg recording – for my own ‘audio survival’. I shared it with fans years later and it’s now living on Youtube where someone else uploaded it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkB7UAG0xCs – the composer passed away and the soundtrack has yet to be released. I am still in communication with the game studio’s alumni who do want to release if they can find the assets – the search is ongoing:

After that I still wasn’t huge into video game music. I think my next most memorable CD game soundtrack was Final Fantasy VIII – which had a striking soundtrack.

When I was a teen I used to frequent used game stores – and also buy game systems after they officially ‘died’. I got a Sega Saturn from a Walmart for $60 and ended up trading for some great games at my local Microplay – that’s how I stumbled into owning and playing Panzer Dragoon Saga (AZEL: Panzer Dragoon RPG). In high school pre-paypal days I remembering forking out a big chunk of money via money order to otaku-japan to get the ‘Memorial’ soundtrack on CD. It is one of my all time favourite game soundtracks.

I also sought out a few others like Songs of Time: The music of Ecco the Dolphin. A masterpiece.

I started writing about game music after seeing an advertisement on the Video Game Music Database forum – I was looking for some kind of outlet to write after a close friend took their own life. It was all volunteer work, and it was fun until it wasn’t – when it started to feel like work I stopped. I was even gifted a few vinyl from composer Jon Everist for actively promoting their music – I like to feel like I had some small impact on their career. But it really helped me embrace game music even more. Sometimes I miss writing about game music – would love to do it as a paid gig. But nowadays most people don’t read anymore.