My 3 part series on some of gaming's best Christmas/Winter themes comes to an end with this final post. And believe me, there are some fantastic songs here! I hope you all have a great Christmas and be sure to log in some hours to those games you've been meaning to play while you have some time to yourself this holiday season. One last thing: don't miss a final post I'll do on Monday related to Christmas video games.
Frappe Snowland from Mario Kart 64/Composed by Kenta Negata
We all know this one, right? This is not just a great Christmas VG theme, it's a classic VG theme period! It's so warm and cheery, the background part never letting up even for a second as the whole thing progresses onwards. The airy flutes add a sense of snowfall to it and the end result is great.
Frozen Hillside from Kirby Air Ride/Composed by Hirokazu Ando, Shogo Sakai, Tadashi Ikegami, and Jun Ishikawa
The soundtrack for this game is incredible because IT'S FULLY ORCHESTRATED!!! Awesome soundtrack! This song is really neat. The light jingle bells in the background give off that wintry feel, and the melody is played by those airy flutes (or perhaps it's something synthesized?). The song is very nice and relaxing, then picks up a little in the second half, but not too much. This one is fun to listen to.
Jangle Bells from Donkey Kong Country 3/Composed by Dave Wise and Eveline Ficsher Novakovic
This song is so awesome! It is literaly a VG version of Jingle Bells. It sounds so ridiculously Christmasey, it's. . . ridiculous! The sax is smooth and the trumpet bursts add a lot of personality to this song. Also, the ding dongs in the background add MORE Christmas feel to it. Yes, this is truly a VG Christmas song!
Ice Edge from Viewtiful Joe 2/Composed by Sayaka Morita and Masami Ueda
Viewtiful Joe 2 is an awesome game, enhanced by its rocking soundtrack. This song was a surprise. A winter theme that is beaty in that Viewtiful Joe-style? Strange, yet the song works. Heavy jingle bells are in the background, and the piano bit is the best part of the song, adding great pizzaz to an already awesome song. It's viewtiful, baby!
Snow Mountain from Super Mario 64/Composed by Koji Kondo
Oh my, it's another one we all know and love. The melody to this song is great; it's played by some kind of accordion. Once again, jingle bells are in the background to make this song sound wintry. A French horn also accompanies the melody, which is neat. Part B of the song slows down a little with the focus on guitar. Overall, gotta love this song!
Christmas in Nightopia from Christmas NiGHTS/Composed by Naofumi Hataya, Tomoko Sasaki, and Fumie Kumatani
Christmas NiGHTS is not a full game, simply an add-on to the original NiGHTS game. It contained two levels, and this theme would play while you flew around as NiGHTS. Yes, this is Jingle Bells arranged in a very VG style way, and it's awesome! If only we could have more Christmas songs in video games! This song is really fun to listen to, and wow, it sounds like Sega all the way. Can't complain there. So from NiGHTS and a verry merry Ninja, have a Merry Christmas!
I'm not sure if I ever had MArio Kart for N64 or not! I just can't remember. I'm getting old, I guess. Nice song though.
If you had it, no doubt it would stick out in your mind. After all, it was the best racing game on the N64, and tons of fun!
"Jangle Bells" sounds more like "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" to me. I love that Viewtiful Joe song, though, and not just because the main character shares my name. I thought that was the most original and fun to listen to piece on this list. Jazzy.
And I of course remember the two Mario ones.
Oh man, VJ2 has awesome music! Ice Edge sticks out due to its creativity and jazziness, as you said (and it's got rock in there too). It's on the edge, which is what the song title means, I suppose.
That Kirby Air Ride song is neat.
Indeed, and Air Ride is a neat game too. It's pretty simple but very fun.