8-Bit Zelda Title Themes: A Comparative Analysis Continued…

By request, I’m going to take a look at the comparison of The Legend of Zelda (NES) and The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening (NGB).

The Comment was on my previous post: I'd be more interested in hearing your analysis between this and the theme music for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. After the cinematic portion, it's the same tune, but it's played differently.

I love this comment, because this is EXACTLY how I got into doing this research.  One of my many theoretical interests is the analysis of similar objects within a series of games (see my article on the analysis of Overworld objects in Zelda).

But I digress… lets look at the differences between these two objects.  Below is a transcription of the title screen object from The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

These two objects are very similar.

To recap from my previous posts, the LoZ title music is structured in the following format:

4 measure intro | 6 measure bridge | 8 measure Phrase A | 12 measure Phrase B

In contrast, the LoZ:LA title music breaks down as follows:

4 measure intro | 8 measure Phrase A + 1 measure extension

It is significantly more compact that the original theme.  Harmonically, the tunes are exactly the same.  Melodically, the biggest difference is the use of dotted-eight/sixteenth rhythms instead of the familiar triplet pattern.

LoZ:LA lacks a percussion track that was present in the original.  It also uses the bass line as two voices, often jumping between registers to provide harmony for the lead track and then a harmonic foundation.

There are little obbligato sections in the middle line that add a different flourish to the tune. The alternating octaves and bouncy eighth-note rhythm of the bass line add a much lighter tone to the object as a whole than the original, which was much more driving and serious.

Some of these differences could be due to space and or sound limitations on the game boy.  I find is so interesting that this object completely lacks the triplet figure so associated with many of Zelda’s musical themes across the all the games.

I’m also a very big fan of this one measure extension that was written into the LoZ:LA object.  There is no real good reason why they could not have just had the final measure be exactly like it was in the original.  Yet, they decided to change the harmony slightly and add a one measure extension to throw us off.  The best explanation I can come up for why they chose to do this was to make us think that something different was about to happen.  It helps put a period on the object in such a way as to mark the repeat.  We are so used to this melody continuing on to a second and longer phrase, but this time it does not, and the change at the end of the phrase defines that point.

So really the biggest difference between these objects is style.  Yes the melody is almost the same, the harmonies are exactly the same, yet there are some very interesting differences.  Listen two these two objects back to back, specifically listening for the style differences in the way the bass lines are different, as well as the lack of triplet rhythms.

8-Bit Zelda Title Themes: A Comparative Analysis

This post was originally intended to be an analytical look at the Title music from The Legend of Zelda: The Adventures of Link, but in doing the analysis, there is just too much to discuss when looking at these two objects together.  As a refresher, here is the Title Music from The Legend of Zelda:

… and the title music from The Legend of Zelda: The Adventures of Link:

The LoZ title music is structured in the following format:

4 measure intro | 6 measure bridge | 8 measure Phrase A | 12 measure Phrase B

In contrast, the LoZ:AL title music breaks down as follows:

4 measure lead in | 8 measure intro | 4 measure bridge | 8 measure Phrase A | 8 measure Phase B

There are some similarities here.  Each object contains two primary phrases of music, with an introduction and a bridge from the intro into the main melodic statement.  On first listen, these two objects appear to have very little in common…

… however…

If you look at the harmonies implied in the introduction phrases, you get the following (harmonic rhythm is one chord per measure):

LOZ – Bb | Ab | Gb | F
LOZ:AL – G | F | Eb | D | G | F | Eb | D

Roman Numerals: I – bVII – bVI – V (– I – bVII – bVI – V)

Each of these objects is built on this descending sequence of chords through a modally mixed scale.

Each object uses this progression differently.  In LOZ, the pattern is used again at the beginnings of both Phrase A and B, but then moves to different related harmonies. 

LOZ:AL is entirely based on this progression.  Phrase A emphasizes I, using bVII as a dominant functioning chord, and Phrase B alternates between bVI and V. 

These harmonies are ingrained in the harmonic language of music written by or inspired by Koji Kondo.  I could reference other examples here, but I’ll save it for another day.

Now listen to the two objects again.  Can you here the remarkable similarities?

Changes coming!

So I have been away from analysis for a couple of months due to some other projects I have taken on.  However, recent events have gotten me excited about this blog and all the analysis I want to share with you.  The most exciting of which is an article I have published in a new academic journal in Germany: ACT, zeitschrift fur musik and performance.

Before I tell you about that, I would like to let you know what is coming around the corner (some of the changes you can already see).  I will be adding a pages bar at the top here with various resources the study and appreciation of game music theory.  This will allow me to get rid of all the extra fluff at the bottom of the page here and give a closer look at some of the terminology and analytical tools I use here or have come across.  Right now, you can see that I’ve posted a page with a list of books and articles discussing game music theory, with links when available.  This list is in its infancy and will grow extensively over the next month or two.  If you have a reference you’d like to add, you can comment below and I will include it.  I have many references already to add that I used in some of my articles and thesis but will be doing so when I have the time to format them correctly.

I will be finishing up my SMB2 series and will start on some other topics which I hope you will enjoy.  I will also be doing some reviews and commentary on game music theory publications as I come across them.  Until then, here is an the abstract to my article “Thematic Unity Across a Video Game Series” (you can read the whole article here):

Composer Koji Kondo’s music for both Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, 1984) and The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo, 1986) is among the most recognized video game music ever written. Through the use of motivic and prolongational analysis, this article demonstrates how Kondo created a unity across the entire Zelda franchise, while making each game’s score unique by examining one musical element, the overworld theme, from each of the main entries in the Zelda series. Schenkerian analysis is used to identify structural and motivic relationships between the various themes. This article concludes with an examination of semiotic implications of this analysis and its impact on other as-pects of the Zelda series and game music analysis as a whole.

Death and Defeat, Part 1

I have become increasingly interested in the portrayal of death and defeat through music in video games. That has prompted this series.

Death in The Legend of Zelda for the NES meant starting over from the very beginning of what ever you were doing. On the overworld, you returned back to the first area, even if you were clear to the other side of the map. In a dungeon, you have to return to the first screen, with many of the enemies you previously defeated back.

When you die, a spiraling scale downward mickey mouses the action on the screen. The player is then treated to this lovely tune, hereafter called the Game Over object.





Within the context of the game, this tunes comes off as a modally ambiguous G-minor. The D-G fifth at the loop grounds G as the tonally centric pitch of this phrase.

The interest is in how this relates to the end game. This quasi G-minor turns quickly in to C Major with the addition of a upbeat bass line. In a musically symbollic gesture, the Game Over object is defeated by the C major victory key. The only other instance of C in the game is the fanfare when Zelda herself is rescued just prior to the end credits.





Looking backwards, Game Over object, and the use of the same melody at the beginning of the End Game object could be representative of completion. In one instance, the player is defeated, and is left in a tonally ambiguous state. The game is effectivly over unless the player wants to try again. On the other hand, the player has achived the final goal of the game, where this melody is a signal that the game has ended.

The End Game object can be viewed as a variation or extension of the Game Over object. Harmonically, they are both based off the same ground, and even have some of the same modal inflections (a flat third and sixth scale degree of C). After hearing the End Game object, the Game Over object seems a bit clearer in terms of harmonic underpinning. However, with the Game Over object frequently heard next to the Overworld object (a modally inflected Bb) and the chromatic Dungeon object (posessing the same D-G fifth that informed the initial reading of the Game Over object), a consistant harmonic hearing of this phrase is constantly destabilized.