As documented last year, Final Boss tracks tend to be among my favourite video game songs, entirely because they feature elements I am always a slut for in music; a tone that’s either desperate and depressing or tremendously terrifying, absolutely full to the brim with frenetic and frenzied energy (when they’re not atrociously ambient and soberingly slow, which I also appreciate), and have a habit of instilling hardly any hope in the heroes facing the odds (that’s my alliteration quota for the article filled, ayyy).
In the spirit of Halloween, I decided to revisit the topic by covering a few more favourite of mine that I think capture the spirit of the season. These aren’t listed in any particular order, and I’m again restricting myself to one song per franchise.
Oh, yeah, also, SPOILERS FOR A WHOLE BUN’CHA GAMES MY DUDES (GRANTED MANY OF THEM ARE OLD BUT Y’KNOW STILL CAN’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YA LADS)
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What You Will See (Heavenly Garden), by sanodg (aka Nobuyoshi Sano)
from Tekken Tag Tournament 2
This was a tricky one to nail down, honestly- the Tekken franchise has been blessed with a lot of stellar songs that play in fights against their end bosses- but in the end, I went with this one. A couple of reasons narrowed down the choice; first and foremost, the character(s) it’s for were quite a big deal- Jun’s return to the franchise, even in a non-canonical entry, was pushed quite a bit in the marketing, but the reveal that she was actually Unknown all this time (a very popular fan theory that had surrounded the character since their debut in the original TTT) sent waves throughout the fanbase. Secondly, the presentation of the fight and how the music syncs with it- in round one, you face off against Jun in the middle of a garden befitting of the name “heavenly”, brightly lit and full of extremely pretty plant life as gentle, clear water laps at the fighters’ feet. The music is entirely lacking in percussion and very gradually builds it’s elements- primarily warping synthesized tones and effects- up over a period of time, a simple six note refrain backed by echoing vocal effects repeating over the subtly chaotic elements beneath it. The tone of the piece is somewhat menacing, in spite of the stage around it appear very scenic; you get a very strong sense something isn’t right.
Then, during the between round intermission, Jun falls to her knees. The music suddenly pitch-bends down and filters into silence. A sickening substance surrounds Jun and spread into the water, dying it a nasty shade of indigo. The music, still warping and bending, filtered back into focus as Jun- now Unknown- looks up straight into the camera, punctuated by a stuttering bass warp. The garden has been entirely corrupted by their influence as the song thunders into action with a pounding dubstep beat, although the more experimental sounds from the ambient intro are still there, bubbling away behind the gritty bass, synth arpeggios, and that new detuned and pitch-bending melody.
It’s an extremely simple little cutscene in terms of both technique and implementation, but my god, is it effective. It still gives me goosebumps, honestly. And Nobuyoshi Sano’s incredible backing track- both the individual sections crafted for each round of the fight, and the way it transitions between the two- is intertwined with the visual techniques beautifully, in my opinion.
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D’Force Master, by Tomoko Sasaki
from NiGHTS: Into Dreams...
There’s a few things I really like about this one. Again, I think the way it’s used in game is quite strong; you get this calm, quiet intro with a deep note undercutting slightly dissonant chimes and brief bits of a woodwind instrument which plays as whichever of Claris or Elliot you’re playing as spinning in a black void, briefly joined by the other before fading into a shot of NiGHTS reflected in a nightmarish haze, which dissipates to reveal Wizeman The Wicked before you’re blown backwards to the sound of atonal vocal chanting samples before the song kicks in proper. Again, it’s a very simple but extremely powerful fight introduction executed very well, the mix of sound and cinematography working in tandem sell it beautifully. Beyond that, though, I like the fact that at quite a few points and elements in the song that appear to break into the major key briefly- namely, the harp that dances up and down the scale in the background at certain points, the tail ends of each half of the A section’s refrains, and much of the B section in its entirety. Despite this, it doesn’t lose its menacing edge. Likewise, the arrangement isn’t particularly bombastic- percussion is kept mostly to tablas and bongos mixed quite low in the arrangement, with the occasional hit or drum roll of a timpani here or there, and there isn’t really much in the way of a counter melody outside of a few very brief moments or subtle little arpeggios here or there; regardless, the song feels very grand and domineering, very fitting of a villain as imposing as the lord of all nightmares himself.
What’s interesting to me, though is the fact that the intro of the song, at least going by the Perfect Soundtrack version linked above, was a lot longer then the in-game version gives away. I’m kind of torn on this; I do like the more gradual build of the soundtrack version, but I think the shorter intro used in the game itself- and the cutscene it accompanies- flows a lot better in its more abridged form. To be fair, though, it’s hardly a criticism- it just means there’s two versions of the song to enjoy!
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Your Best Nightmare / Finale, by Toby Fox
from Undertale
This is a bit of a cheat, as it is technically two songs rather then one (and if you want to get REALLY technical, the first song is actually comprised of several smaller song snippets). And TECHNICALLY it’s only the FIRST final boss of like, Three, depending on how you play the game... But ehhh, fuck it, don’t care, it’s my list dude.
Say what you want about Undertale as a whole, but there is a reason the soundtrack is as praised as it is; Toby Fox has a knack for writing songs with very simple melodies and arrangements that bounce between simple and complex. My absolute favourite “song” on the score, though, is the combined version of all the individual sections of “Your Best Nightmare” and “Finale”, which play during the confrontation against Omega Flowey. The way the “Your Best Nightmare” portion of the song works is that the heavier, amen-break ladden and extremely dissonant chord stuffed sections of the song play during the ‘main’ portions of the fight- wherein you mostly just have to do your best to survive the barrage of attacks thrown at you- shifting into the slightly more low key, chiptune flavoured sections for tiny mini-games where you have the opportunity to gain more health back. The variety between the three iterations of the ‘main’ sections mostly come down to how the chord sample is used + slight alterations to the bassline, but even of the mini-game loops manage to take the simple refrain associated with Flowey and reinterprets it in some fairly interesting ways. A couple of them sound sinister and dissonant, some of them sound quite sad, all of them have changes in the bassline, counter melodies, and chip voices used to differentiate themselves from one another without feeling incoherent. It’s an experience that isn’t very easily replicated outside of the game itself due to the way the battle flows, but I think the soundtrack version of the song does a nice job of approximating it; there’s a lot of chaotic shifts and subtle fluctuations in mood, but there’s a unifying theme of cohesion that ties everything together nicely. Jungle/Drum & Bass heads will probably scoff at the very simple and repetitive drum loop chopping going on here (and I admit a part of me is curious as to how more dynamic chopping would have sounded), but overall the song benefits from having a shuffled rhythm that is none the less consistent.
The Finale portion of the “song” however, is supposed to me more of a straight shot, point A to point B sort of composition with a clear beginning and end (although obviously, it has a loop point). Gone are the atonal industrial chords, and in their place are lush pianos, glittery chimes, a whole heaping load of synths on which more complex iterations of the Your Best Friend refrain are performed with backing + counter melodies bolstering them further. It’s a lot more melodically complex and the tone is less “flat out nightmare fuel” and more “a faint flicker of hope and a not insignificant of amount of desperate determination”, which suits the shift in the battle at that point (wherein it seems like you’ve got Omega Flowey on the ropes, but he’s going down swinging and swinging hard). I like the particularly heroic edge the little brass section gives the song, but I particularly love it when the song just goes absolutely fucking mental in the latter half, with it’s bombastic string bass and and wild melodic twiddling.
Like don’t get me wrong, Hopes and Dreams + SAVE The World are good, UT fans, but this shit is where it’s really at. Go on, @ me on twitter, I’m not afraid to throw done with you skeleton fuckers.
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Root of All Evil (Last Boss B), composed by Tamayo Kawamoto and performed by ZUNTATA
from Raycrisis
Look, there had to be one song on here that was purely Pipe Organs. You knew that, I knew that, it may as well be one from the genius that is Tamayo Kawamoto.
This track is extremely simple in terms of composition and arrangement, in some ways; there’s no crazy melodies, no intricate soloing, just lots and lots of big, bombastic pipe organ chords that dance between minor and major keys, as well as dissonant tones and more harmonic passages. It’s honestly one of the most musically simple songs Miss Kawamoto has written for the entire Ray series- and believe me, some of the series’ tunes go absolutely buck wild with their compositions. Much as I love me some nutty melody action, though, I don’t believe a song being deceptively simple in construction hampers its quality; sometimes, a song doesn’t need to do much to convey an emotion or feeling effectively, and I think this song achieves that wonderfully.
Consider the wider context; Raycrisis is a prequel to Rayforce in terms of story, and deals with humanities attempts to neutralise the massive biomechanical supercomputer CON-HUMAN that’s buggering everything up (because when don’t massive biomechanical supercomputers bugger everything up) by invading it’s neural network with a virus, destroying it from the inside before it completely destroys the Earth. This song blasts into your speakers during the second half of the battle against the core of CON-HUMAN, the very centre of it’s consciousness and the absolute final barrier between survival and death for humanity at large. Already quite an epic song for such a climactic fight, but as I mentioned, this is a prequel in terms of continuity. Players going in to this fight with knowledge of how the series plays out know that this attempt fails; CON-HUMAN is not neutralised, and it goes on to render the Earth completely inhospitable and eradicates a significant amount of the planet’s population in the process. The in-game protagonists are determined and willing to fight to the bitter end to preserve the future; the player already knows this fight is doomed to fail, even if you technically “win” it. This hopeless feeling is captured wonderfully in the song’s construction, I think, especially with the way it bounces between major and minor harmonies, constantly at odds with whether it wants to impart hope and despair, subtly toying with player expectations. Maybe, despite the odds the outcome WILL be better; maybe, just maybe, what we know won’t apply and we WILL win the day!
And I mean, there are multiple endings to Raycrisis you can get by playing well, but they’re obviously non-canon except for the one where CON-HUMAN wins; Rayforce can’t happen otherwise. A lot of Taito games are Like This, folks; believe me, the canon ending of Rayforce isn’t much brighter. It’s arguably a lot bleaker, actually.
At least Rainbow Islands has a happy ending.
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Zero-Two Battle, by Jun Ishikawa and/or Hirokazu Ando
from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Incredibly unsettling endgame bosses have been a staple of Kirby games for almost as long as the series itself has been around, so the appearance of Zero-Two (sometimes stylised as 0²) at the end of Kirby 64 is not too surprising, in of itself- though note must be made of it’s simple but imposing design, and it’s shift from “kinda goofy flying thing with a smiley face” to “angel-coded cycloptic nightmare with murder on the mind” is pretty well handled. Usually, though, these offbeat creatures are fought with backing tracks that are fairly intense, nightmarish, and rarely a little heroic (sometimes shifting between them in an individual song). Zero-Two, on the other hand, is fought with this melancholy little number.
I’m finding whether I consider it ‘intense’ or ‘subdued’ a bit tricky; on the one hand, it’s got a driving triplet rhythm that never really lets up and kicks in more or less immediately, and the song is frequently punctuated with orch hits and tubular bells. On the other hand, though, the drum samples the rhythm is played on are very light and snappy, the bassline and backing chords are respectfully restrained, and the arrangement isn’t full of complex competing elements. There are a few counter melodies in there at points, definitely, but you’re not having to strain your ears to pick out all the different elements; the string synth melody leading the piece is where the listeners focus is centralised, in trademark Kirby fashion (the series is known for it’s highly melody driven music, after all). The melody itself starts out simple when first introduced, conveying a real sense of melancholy and despair, growing slightly more complex towards the latter half of the track as it first climbs up the scale on quarter notes before descending again on triplets to match the rhythm, but without losing that feeling of sorrow or growing so intricate that you struggle to pick out notes. I guess I can go halves and say it sits comfortably in the middle of bombast and low key.
The effect is fairly palpable; Zero-Two, and it’s immediate predecessor from Kirby’s Dream Land 3, are shrouded in mystery with motivations that can only be guessed at (and involve the use of Dark Matter to invade and corrupt planets), but regardless this track just makes me wind up feeling sorry for the poor eldrich abomination. I have no idea if this is the intended effect the song is supposed to have or if Zero-Two is supposed to be some sort of tragic villain, but it’s the emotion the piece leaves me feeling and the assumption it leads me to make about the character it aids in portraying, and it does both pretty powerfully.
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Grace & Glory [B. B. Rights Remix], originally by Hideki Naganuma
from Jet Set Radio Future
Put down those pitchforks lads; I’m gonna explain why I picked the B. B. Rights remix over the original. Can’t gaurentee you’ll agree, but hell, I’ll make my case at least.
The original track, like much of Mr. Naganuma’s work, is loaded to the brim with quirkier sample choices that offset the menacing edge brought to the table by the revered opera vocals and the pipe organs. The end result is a song that bounces between Creep Factor and Funk Factor, something that I really do like. It’s also incredibly bombastic, with pounding big beat drums that dominate the mix and make the track hit hard. It is an incredibly fitting final boss track- easily one of gaming’s greatest.
With that said, this remix definitely comes down harder on the side of Creep Factor; a lot of the more playful, bouncy funkiness of the original has been dropped in the transition. What’s interesting about this is that the quirkier samples of the original- the vocal scatting loops- made the transition to this mix, but the way in which they’re employed in the mix somehow manage to make them sound a lot more imposing and off-putting. Conversely, some of the more unsettling samples from the original- additional choir samples, that... weird echo-y vocal scratch thing- DIDN’T make it over to this mix. I find that absolutely fascinating, to be frank with you, and I’m at least partially convinced that effect wasn’t entirely intentional- I mean, obviously B. B. Rights wanted the song to sound menacing, but I get the feeling they still wanted a bit of a gritty groove to the thing- the synth bass in the sections without the chords gives credence to that- but it just doesn’t quite translate to me. Even more curious is that though the chords remain similar, if not identical, the pipe organs have been swapped out for synth strings instead- but it still kinda comes off as the more imposing and dread-filled track to me. I dunno, am I rambling? I feel like I’m rambling. I’m probably rambling.
Whilst I’m here, though, little details I also really like include; the way the opera vocals are backed with a whining synth tone at certain points in the mix, the little spooky synth acoustic guitar riffs that accompany said moments, and the little descending slap bass notes that bridge sections of the song that somehow doesn’t come off as too leftfield to kill the mood. Good shout, B. B. Rights, good shout.
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Give It All You Got!, by Nomiya Makito
from The House of the Dead 4
I recall rambling on about this one during 2016‘s week long retrospective on the series, and a part of me reckons this will be the most divisive song on the list, but I couldn’t not include it on the grounds that- and this is coming from the THOTD die hard of the site- this game did not need to go so fuckin’ ham with it’s final boss track yet did so anyway.
Pure, chaotic noise; that’s what this track is. Even the dissonant synth string intro is punctuated by thundering, brick-walled, reverbed-to-hell-and-back drum machine kicks before the song gives way fuzzy distorted guitars, uncompromising industrial synths, and utterly atonal wails and walls of sound through which only some scant remnants of melody and structure manage to cut through. It’s kinda difficult to pin down the song any more specifically then that; it’s a controlled mess of elements designed to make the listener as uncomfortable as possible, and even the more clearly melodic elements and portions of the track are constantly having to fight for any sort of clarity in the mix.
Where this song succeeds in ways that I feel a lot of Noise music doesn’t, though, is that though it gets loud and it gets messy at points, it is not so badly brick-walled that it’s going to give you a headache. And the elements that are pushed to the point of peaking were pushed that far first, then mixed down after the fact; you get the sound of something that’s been completely decimated, without needing to visit an otolaryngologist after you’ve listened to it. In my completely biased opinion, a lot of Noise music kinda cheats the “make listeners extremely uncomfortable” / “push the boundaries of what qualifies as music” step by just making their music really goddamn loud and irritating. Which, yeah, that works, obviously, but it works on a very similar principal to why the McKamey Manor horror “experiences” are so harrowing and traumatising; you’re forgoing technique and trickery and just brute forcing the effect by taking advantage of things that evolutionary and socially, are going to get a rise out of us very quickly. And this song could very easily have done that with even slightly dodgier mixing, but it doesn’t. It uses it’s uncompromising and brutal soundscapes in a very clever, very effective way that I reckon took a fair bit of hard work and tweaking to get exactly right.
It’s still not gonna be everyone’s cup of tea, mind, but hey, such is the beauty of subjective opinion.
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Desperado (Final Boss), by Noriyuki Kamikura
from DoDonPachi DAI-FUKKATSU BLACK LABEL
DoDonPachi is a series I don’t a lot of investment in, in terms of the actual games. The soundtracks, though? Basically every single one from DoDonPachi DAI-OU-JOU onwards has been solid goddamn gold, but DAI-FUKKATSU BLACK LABEL’s in particular is on a whole other level of great. It’s one of my favourite game soundtracks, period, and that it’s from a game I’ve got next to no interest in playing says an awful lot about me, I’m sure.
Final Boss themes in this series, particularly True Final Boss or Secret True Final Boss themes (yes, really), tend to go straight into the territory of Brutal Speedcore- DAI-FUKKATSU BLACK LABEL being no exception- but I wanted to focus on this marginally less heavy track used for the standard final boss. The intro and first portion are relatively standard fare for both the genre and the series as a whole, though no less impressive for it- I particularly like how kinda goofy, camp-spooky the initial section following the intro + first breakdown is, but then it kinda dips into what I can only think to call a Gabber Fugue; the beat temporarily goes half-time, with slightly detuned Supersaw chords, melodies, and counter melodies that I will go to my grave saying would TOTALLY WORK on a pipe organ, and that someone needs to get onto arranging this song for one just so I can hear it played on it. It’s only 8 bars long, but that section- and the little four bar chord build-up that follows it (which would also sound fabulous on the pipes bee tee dubs)- pack an incredible amount of atmosphere into their brief duration.
Make no mistake, the rest of the song bops too; I love the little choir sample at the start (a musical reference to the original version of DAI-FUKKATSU, who’s regular final boss theme used the same sample), the constant use of dreamier synths to offset the harsher ones, the little complexities in all the melodies, backing arpeggios and basslines, and the thumping beats that carry throughout the whole thing. The whole experience comes together in a way that, and pardon me for waffling, I think legitimises electronica of the style as an art form. Not that any kind of music “needs” to justify itself as art, mind you- that’s inherent- but the extreme end of hardcore electronic music is often viewed as low art, noiseless nonsense that only pill popping nutters get anything out of. Whilst there is a lot of incredibly simple music in this style, in terms of it’s arrangement, here we’ve got a song that uses genre tropes and conventions and pairs them off with a fairly intricately composed song- there’s always a lot of stuff going on in each section, melodically and texturally, that you can pick out and focus on different parts with each listen. Beyond that, it’s a composition that imparts an enormous feeling of dread with regards to the formidable foe you’re about to face- and DoDonPachi games start out bullshit hard from minute one, so even the lowest tier final boss is going to have an imposing presence- whilst keeping up the driving, pulsing energy that the music in the game as a whole lends to the manic action.
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Final Boss Battle, by Masayoshi Soken, Yasuhiro Ichihashi, and/or Yuichi Takamine
from Evil Night
You like prog rock? How about prog rock with a noticeable orchestral edge? These guys sure as shit did. And I thank them for it, because holy hell this track RIPS. God, I don’t even know where to start with all the elements at play here, because there’s so many layers to chew through.
Odd time signatures are good place to start; this song has them. Well, it wouldn’t be prog rock without them + shifts to other time signatures, would there? Still, it’s cool stuff. I also really dig the song’s leading riff- the synth lead that kicks in at around 11 seconds- not only is the melody itself deliciously evil, but the actual synth patch it’s played with is just gorgeous. It kind of sounds a little like a violin, even though it’s clearly not supposed to be emulating one either, and it has a real ghostly quality to it befitting of a song in a game called Evil Night. It’s also the most distinct refrain in the song, as a lot of the other melodies and counter melodies instead go for a wilder and crazier vibe- particular note must be made of not just the short electric guitar solo that plays for four bars initially, but the absolute SAGA of one that follows it for like, the entire run of the second half of the song basically; it’s just straight up mental shreddage, ludicrous riffing that only really cares about tonality; structure and leitmotif can piss off, as far as the guitarist is concerned. Hell, you could make the argument that even tonality gets thrown out the door at some point as they just... go for it. I absolutely love how overly indulgent it is.
Speaking of; all of that orchestral overdubbing, my god. We’ve got string, brass, bells, flipping woodblocks, the whole bloody pit orchestral turned out for this one to create just the most lush wall of overly wanky sound in the best possible way. Is it extremely over the top? Absolutely. Kind of seems to fit the mission statement though, doesn’t it? If I’m to wear my Critical Hat for a second though, there are portions of the song where the arrangement is so full of Stuff it starts to get a bit muddy- especially during the portions towards the end of the loop, where the aforementioned Guitar Solo To End All Guitar Solos is off it’s goddamn shits. The quality of the recording may not be helping on this one, though- the base recording isn’t bad itself, but the mixing is a little bit spotty. The transfer from disc to MP3, and then from MP3 to YouTube upload, probably ain’t doin’ it no favours neither.
You know what is doing the song favours, though? That tasty slap bass. It blends in with the mix in places, but you can hear that distinctive twang in both more subdued and simple basslines and the much more intricate ones when the beat kicks into Maximum Double Time, and quite honestly I think that’s just Grand. Eat your heart out, Chris Squire. Oh, and don’t worry; I didn’t forget about the pipe organs either. I was explicitly saving mention of those to make a point about how I love it when songs have both pipe organs and hammond organs in them, which this song does. Nothing deep to say there; it’s just My Kinda Thing.
That was a really roundabout and long-winded way of saying “THIS SONG ROCKS QUITE A BIT AND I LIKE IT VERILY.”
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Rocket Surgeon, by Masafumi Takada
from No More Heroes
Last “song that is for A Final Boss but not THE Final Boss” selection of the list, I promise.
There’s a lot about this song I want to say, but I have to start with that incredibly distinctive, almost wind-like synth that warps and bends over the intro portions of the track (and comes back towards the end); it’s just... haunting, to me. Not so much the ‘melody’ it plays maybe, but the sound itself; it’s incredibly hollow and empty sounding, if that makes any sense. Beyond that, I’ve heard few songs in my time that have a synth sound quite like that, so this gets point for that alone.
Masafumi Takada is a composer of very versatile talents, not just in the genres he approaches, but in his adaptability; he’s as capable of writing songs that are melodically complex as he is songs that are melodically simple, and this piece falls into the latter category. There are a few brief moments where the bassline gets a bit more intricate, but by and large the songs keeps things straight with a chord progression, repeating bass refrain, and flourish by way of the odd weird synth loop or atonal chime in the background. The mood of the piece is interesting, too; it reads as mournful, but not in a very typical way. Like, the choice of chords and key is not one you’d typically associate with a sad song, per say, but they still convey a sense of palpable sorrow. The prior mentioned wailing, windy synth screech adding an undercurrent of barely contained rage and fury probably goes a long way to that atypical feeling, mind.
Where the song is quite complex and busy, though, is the percussion. That’s another area where Mr. Takada has a lot of talent and panache, I think; laying lots of different percussive loops and refrains atop each other to create a really dense rhythm. His choices of instrumentation are also pretty neat here, as well; we’ve got more typical dramatic percussion by way of thundering toms and snares, but there’s tabla and wood percussion loops blended in with it, often fed through effect filters for an extra dynamic layer. It’s definitely bombastic and explosive, but I’d hesitate to call it epic or grand; perhaps intense is the best word to use for it.
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Ok so, I managed to eke about 9 pages of material into a word doc about this and have spent a good couple of hours writing away, so I’d better knock this on the head for now folks. Hope you’ve enjoyed my musical musings and wordy waffling! (I lied, NOW my quota is filled)
~ Decon Theed (06/10/18)