The Genius Behind the Original Donkey Kong Country Trilogy Soundtracks
If You’ll Excuse Me, I’m Going to Completely Nerd Out Now
Some may find this to be a silly article, but there’s some reasoning behind it. The Donkey Kong Country series music (composed by David Wise, Eveline Fischer, and Robin Beanland) is some of the first music I remember really loving.
Obviously, it’s from one of my favorite console games during my childhood, but the soundtrack in this game really seemed like a turning point for video game music. It expanded upon the simplified, 20-second music loops found in years prior and started treating VG music more seriously. The series' first game will turn 30 (!) years old next year, so I figure it’s a great time to reminisce about some of the most memorable video game music around.
For a while, I thought I was weird for liking this music so much, but as I grew older, it was obvious the soundtrack from these games (and many others) inspired an entire generation. There are countless remixes, restorations, adaptations, covers, and even orchestral performances for these tracks. Discussions on which tracks are the best, how they made people feel then and now, and even deep dives into their music theory still abound today. An overview, retrospective, or livestream of this game isn’t complete…
