SG Choice: The Next Soundtrack We Want Added to Nintendo Music

Well, wasn’t that a surprise? Right before the end of October, Nintendo announced Nintendo Music, a smartphone app that’s basically a highly specific Spotify for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. The soundtracks for various Nintendo games included, so I can enjoy Ogrepon’s theme from The Teal Mask despite not owning the DLC. It’s a fun way for them to answer a common complaint, that their soundtracks are hard to get and are often forcibly taken down on YouTube, that’s still needlessly controlling and keeps most people from legally accessing them anyway. Not great, not terrible, not the successor to Nintendo Switch, not a game (the newly announced remaster of Xenoblade Chronicles X was a few days prior), not even the goofy alarm clock Alarmo, but charming nonetheless. Still, it’s easy to see the appeal of a platform that does nothing but play “Gaur Plain” from the first Xenoblade…

Wait a tic! Xenoblade Chronicles 1 isn’t on here! In fact, the same is true of a lot of games, even games that are incredibly important or influential or popular. Kid Icarus, Super Metroid, Majora’s Mask, Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, literally everything from Nintendo 3DS, and all the remakes and originals of things like Link’s Awakening and Super Mario RPG. Presumably they’ll be rolled out over time to add momentum to what’s basically a bonus service, and Nintendo has announced that more games will be added over time, with the next selection coming this week. Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s score was actually added a day after release without a mention! Though there’ll certainly be omissions for all manner of undisclosed reasons; I imagine it might be a bit silly to pay Disney for the right to stick Kingdom Hearts music on an app that doesn’t make money, so maybe Super Smash Bros. music is out.

But we’re not the most patient people here at Source Gaming, so we decided to hunker down quickly and decide what full soundtrack we want to see come to Nintendo Music, whether it’s an overlooked gem or something whose absence is surprising. It’s not Super Smash related like our normal music SG Choices, but it is Nintendo and music. Apparently, they’re collectively this site’s favorite thing. I’ve literally been using it while writing this up.

Here’s what’s been added or coming to the app. If they’ve been announced but not added, they’re underlined.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong’s Quest
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble
Dr. Mario
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
F-Zero X
Kirby’s Dream Land
Kirby Star Allies
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Metroid (NES and Famicom Disk System)
Metroid Prime
Nintendogs
Pikmin 4
Pokémon Scarlet & Pokémon Violet
Splatoon 2
Splatoon 3
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Star Fox 64
Tomodachi Collection
Wii Channels
Wii Sports

And here are our suggestions. We wanna be just a bit quick this time—this article was worked on between Halloween and November 3rd, and in the time between our entries being finished and this publication they already added another to the service. DKC2, specifically.

Wolfman Jew: You can really tell what Nintendo felt needed to be here, and more than anything else that was Switch games. It’s entirely fair when the Switch is their most successful console and many of its games the most successful in their series. And while The Blazing Blade is important and has a good soundtrack (and I guess is here partially to have a token Game Boy Advance release. Perhaps one of us can add to that… ), Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of those “most successful entries” that’s just begging for inclusion. Its size, its scale, its popularity; it’s just a great selection of music. You know, one of my favorite parts of the app is how every song has its own distinct screenshot. How cool would it be if every track featured the art or dialogue of a different character? I imagine Nintendo will want to grab the soundtracks to this and Fire Emblem Engage soon, but I wouldn’t be averse to listening to more of that lovely music from Garreg Mach. Besides, I always tell people it’s the fifth game to get when they get a Switch, and outside of that legally challenging Smash Bros. Ultimate all the others—Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, and Mario Kart—are accounted for.

Although Scarlet & Violet’s music was quite good (like I said, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack on the app, and the DLC has some excellent stuff), and I was probably the most positive towards the games out of everyone on this site, we can do better for our second Pokémon entry. I’m gonna go with Pokémon Black & White, seeing as we’re also desperately low on Nintendo DS games. As among the last important games on the system, they really made the best with the portable’s limited audio. Great battle tracks, that classic sudden song shift when the Gym Leader has only one teammate left, and some enchanting environmental themes. If Nintendo’s feeling extra generous, maybe they could throw in the additional music from Black 2 & White 2. Don’t tell me you don’t wanna hear Virbank City’s noirish theme as you go out for groceries.

Earlier I mentioned remake soundtracks. I can’t not include the one for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. And it’s not just because it’s my favorite Mario game. See, I adore the original game, but its score always felt a bit… off. Like it had great compositions but somewhat mediocre arrangements. This remake, which fits in the audio house style of latter-day Paper Mario, just makes these pieces so much richer and grander. The live instrumentation, the greater genre inspiration, the multiple alternate tracks; it’s really special. Playing it felt like hearing the music I remembered as a teenager, but with so much more oomph. Of course, just as the game allows you to swap between versions, there’s no reason the original score can’t come with it.

While the Switch has a lot of love on the app, no other console or era gets nearly as much attention. In fact, there’s a huge gap between 2009 and 2017, even if Mario Kart 8 Deluxe did start as a 2014 game, meaning Wii U is represented solely by Switch ports and 3DS is represented by literally nothing. I’ll let my colleagues take care of the latter and concentrate on the Super Nintendo. Currently there’s two games, Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi’s Island (the other Country games are coming, though). And those games are beloved for their music, but it’s crazy that one of Nintendo’s most acclaimed eras has such a small presence. Super Mario World, Super Metroid, A Link to the Past… I’m sure these are eventually coming, and that Nintendo probably likes the idea of stretching this out with memorable titles, but it’s strange for a service to omit these. As we wait for the console to get more love, I’ll be most excited for Kirby Super Star, whose soundtrack has that perfect “end of a console’s life” energy. The thrill of the “Revenge of Meta Knight” pieces! The spooky sounds of the Marx fight! The drama from the two themes of “The Great Cave Offensive!” It’s really good stuff.

…Okay, fine, I’ll do this listicle’s token GBA answer. It’s gotta be MOTHER 3! I mean, its score is huge, it’s really good, and like Super Star it has that really nice “end of a console’s life” energy. That being said, there probably are some hurdles, and I don’t even mean its place as a notoriously Japan-only release (one of the soundtracks at launch was from the also Japan-only Tomodachi Collection). My understanding is that there might be some legal issues with the ownership of the EarthBound series’ music, though that assumption comes largely out of anecdotal stuff, things like Ness wins in Smash Bros. tournaments sometimes being muted. But who cares? MOTHER 3 has a rocking soundtrack. Let’s do it, Nintendo. On the app, and on the Switch.

AShadowLink: One of my favorite Zelda games is The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. As of now, most of its music is only available from a gamerip made when the game was released in 2009. The sound quality is low due to being directly taken from the song samples made for the DS. I hope that Nintendo’s new music programs can give it the justice it deserves, as all of its amazing compositions are stuck in that time bubble, and are begging to be listened to.

Lastly, I need to bring up Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. My favorite Fire Emblem game, and my favorite Fire Emblem OST. I have the full physical OST myself, and its usage of its main motif and lovely instrumentation makes a heavenly soundscape. “Sea Winds and Travelers,” “A Distant Promise,” and of course “Twilight of the Gods” remain songs that I constantly return to. Because of its status as a late 3DS game, a lot of modern Fire Emblem fans haven’t heard this stellar OST. They have to. Please.

Cart Boy: I have… really uneasy feelings towards veteran game composer David Wise today. Still, I cannot deny my adoration for his work. It’s a major reason why I originally gravitated towards Donkey Kong Country, and the two are synonymous. Whether we’re talking about jungles, pirate ships, ethereal forests, or any other environment the Kongs visit, the man always provides a memorable, atmosphere-enhancing track. And that remained true for 2014’s Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, one of the best Wii U and Switch games. Wise’s return further legitimized Retro Studios’ Country sequels as part of the broader franchise, especially after their first, Returns, was rather underwhelming musically. And Wise delivered not only his best soundtrack, but one of the best video game soundtracks period. A wealth of his classic tunes are remixed here, including the beloved “DK Island Swing” and “Stickerbush Symphony,” and are often used in new contexts. The original tracks are just as striking; from the contemplative ambience that powers the sinister Snowmads and frozen Donkey Kong Island, to Grassland Groove’s energetic, adaptive melody, to the percussion of Busted Bayou, Wise poured so much passion into his Kong encore. Please try Tropical Freeze if you haven’t—it’s just as much fun to play as it is to listen to, especially when the level design and audio work in tandem!

Jumping from one of my favorite Nintendo franchises to two others, let’s chat about the late Cing. Their collaborations with Nintendo began with the Nintendo DS cult classic Another Code: Two Memories; it and its Wii sequel even saw a surprising revival earlier this year through Another Code: Recollection. I’m hoping its sister series, which consists of Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, scores similar remakes down the road, but either way they’d be lovely additions to Nintendo Music. While I occasionally joke that their scores are the apex of elevator music, the nascent music app could stand to celebrate more of the DS library. Besides, Satoshi Okubo’s work is still catchy and distinct and can be somber or intense! When I’m researching a topic, trying to find something that’s been misplaced, or chat with my lazier coworkers at my day job, Okubo’s mellow music often pops into my brain.

Finally, I’m going to champion Universal Studios’ Super Nintendo World theme park. The Super Mario Land area sports about thirty remixes spanning the hero’s history, including a few fairly obscure picks (I’m happy Galaxy 2’s Puzzle Plank Galaxy theme made it), and I have no doubt the upcoming Donkey Kong Country expansion will offer pleasant arrangements, too. Not everybody will be able to visit these attractions, so allowing more people to enjoy Dani Donadi’s remixes would be a nice, valuable act.

Hamada: Wolfman brought up Xenoblade before even getting to his entries, which really tells you how much we need the series on this app. He specifically brought up XC1, which I do love and hope joins Music soon, but Xenoblade 2 is my real most wanted. It’s my all-time favorite soundtrack, and as soon as I caught wind of the service, I immediately craved some “Argentum,” “Tantal,” “Auresco,” and especially “Where We Used To Be.” Also, I can’t help but wonder if XCX’s “Uncontrollable,” featured in 2 via its DLC, would also make the cut. If so, that’d just be the cherry on top. Anyway, if you’ve read any of my “SG Choice” submissions in the last few months, you knew this was coming, so now that I’ve gotten it out of my system, let’s move on to some picks that aren’t as unanimously wanted.

Aside from the obvious, Pokémon and Smash are the only series I’m consistently willing to deal with YouTube to listen to. But there’s an exception to that trend—a game with so many masterpieces that I’m shocked its fans aren’t speaking up more. Arguably Sakurai’s best project, I’m of course talking about Kid Icarus Uprising. This is the sort of game where you can feel everything dialed up to eleven at all times, and that includes the OST. “Boss Battle 1,” “Dark Pit,” “Lightning Battle,” and “Chaos Vortex” speak for themselves, but you don’t need examples if you’ve played it. I want a port or sequel as much as the next guy, but if Nintendo were to simply keep it relevant through nods like Music, I’d be satisfied.

Among the service’s shallow pool of debut games, I’m glad Kirby Star Allies is present. Granted, there are other Kirby games I’d have preferred, but since we got the “celebration” game so early, multiple fan-favorite tracks made the cut at once (including, for instance, a version of Magolor’s iconic “C-R-O-W-N-E-D”). That brings me to another celebratory Nintendo game I want to see: Fire Emblem Engage. It served as a great entry point for me, and I enjoyed hearing new versions of all those songs I recognized from Smash. It’s also got some unfamiliar classics I didn’t expect to like so much (such as “Trial of the Genealogy” and “Trial of Dawn”), as well as wholly new bangers (the most beloved of which would probably be “Bright Sandstorm”). And since Engage’s YouTube rips are much choppier than you’d expect from a newer game, I’m hoping it gets the attention it deserves as soon as possible.

Finally, I’m wrapping up with Pokémon, a series whose soundtracks I thought we’d never get to stream. We already have a mainline game’s OST on Music, and Wolfman covered the next one I’d choose, so let’s go with a spin-off. Although I’m a massive Mystery Dungeon fan, it’s feeling like an XD: Gale of Darkness sort of day. Maybe it’s because I’m tired of the way Pokémon’s socials keep bringing up the Shadow games they have no intention of bringing back, but it’s about time they got more than a passing mention. Sure, we’ll probably never see these historic offshoots on Music, but just listen to this and you’ll get why fans have spent two decades waiting for a return to Orre.

NantenJex: I love the sounds of the Nintendo 64 and there are so many games from that platform I could pick to appear in the Nintendo Music app. One of my absolute faves though, and one obscure enough that it doesn’t feel like an obvious choice, is Sin & Punishment. Treasure and Nintendo’s amazing on-rail shooter is one of the best looking games on the system and that stellar presentation extends to the OST. But despite the genre, my favourite song isn’t one of the bombastic choices—it’s actually one of its more subdued. Heroine A, the theme of second protagonist Airan Jo, is such a vibe and is a go to when I’m looking for chill gaming music. I don’t think the soundtrack for Sin and Punishment gets talked about enough so hopefully the Nintendo Music app can fix that.

With the Nintendo Switch being Nintendo’s current system, it’s no surprise that it has the most soundtracks on the app. It seems like Nintendo will be slowly adding every Switch game to the platform eventually, so I have full confidence that Famicom Detective Club, all three of them, will be added. Rightfully so as they have a lot of nice jazz and funk tracks to investigate to, and the main menu themes for The Girl who Stands Behind and Emio: The Smiling Man are true stand-outs. I would listen to both on the daily if they were here.

Lastly, Wario has a bizarre and truly unique OST across all of his games but the vocal tracks of the WarioWare series are iconic. The renditions in WarioWare Gold are the highest quality so that’s what I would want to see added. Really all I need is “Body Rock” so I can have it on my gym playlist, extended to 60mins. Nothing is more motivating than Jimmy T.

Creaks: The Xenoblade series has been mentioned quite a few times throughout this article, with X in particular being given a brief shoutout by Hamada, so I’ll keep my constant Xenoblade praise to a minimum for once. However I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Hiroyuki Sawano’s excellent work on the Xenoblade Chronicles X soundtrack, especially with that game finally being rescued from the clutches of Wii U exclusivity very soon. Personally, I’d hope that we don’t have to wait quite that long for the OST to drop on the service, but with Nintendo’s rather irritatingly drip-fed approach to product delivery being at an all time high with Nintendo Music, and with the soundtrack being the property of such a high-profile composer, I’d also be thankful for us to ever receive it at all.

Now, my second choice would have been Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, one of the greatest and most under-appreciated soundtracks in Nintendo’s history, from one of the greatest and most under-appreciated games in Nintendo’s history. But, seeing as Cart Boy beat me to the punch there, I’ll instead throw in a vote for Super Mario RPG. Either version, though preferably both! Now, there’s some fairly obvious (and frankly, massive) hurdles involved in getting that game onto an NSO-related platform, I’m well-aware! But, with a remake that’s still somewhat fresh and recent, I can dream. That game’s OST is incredibly charming, and has been with me for longer than I’ve even played many RPGs beyond just the Pokémon franchise. And with Pokémon itself being on the service, despite typically being wrapped in a bit more legal mandates and red tape than the average Nintendo-owned IP, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched.

Liquid: One thing the initial batch of music unambiguously got right: the Wii Channel themes. The Wii Shop Channel and the Mii Channel are what get remembered most, but the other core channels’ tunes are no slouch either, which is why I’m grateful that they were included. So this section is going to be about what I’ll broadly group together as Wii series games. Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, as the obvious first mentions, with their iconic menu and sports themes (in some cases). Wii Fit and its Plus variant have tunes worth bringing over. Wii Play has some chill themes (and Tanks), which are short but have some charm. While not a Wii series game, Pilotwings Resort (which I’m semi-grouping here due to the Wuhu Island setting) has some delightful tracks, with the glider theme being a personal favorite of mine.

Oh and since no one’s mentioned it, Mario Kart Wii. I know most of us want to loop that character select theme for hours. If you don’t, you’re a liar.

And that’s our list! We’re pretty confident that at least a few of these scores will show up (and we do know Wii Sports is coming), but this is only a tiny fraction of the music Nintendo’s published. A Link Between Worlds! Splatoon 1! EarthBound! Super Mario Maker 1 and 2! And so much more! So why don’t you tell us what we missed? It’ll send us to YouTube to take another listen… and hopefully soon after, to this new app.