Soundtrack Saturdays: Gran Turismo 3 – Light Velocity

When talking about racing video games, most people immediately mention the  Mario Kart series. It was fun, memorable, and a huge part of 90s American childhood. While it certainly deserves the nostalgia, it was only one of many amazing franchises out there. When it debuted on the Playstation in 1997, Gran Turismo stood out for its accuracy to real-life racing and selection of cars. However, the series didn’t really hit its stride until Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2. It was 2001 and very early in the console’s life cycle, but it was one of the first games to demonstrate what the new hardware was capable of. There weren’t as many cars due to the focus on graphical detail, but those cars were realistic and (for their time) utterly gorgeous. Having entries from Formula One, Lamborghini, and Porsche was a car enthusiast’s dream. Combined with the superb jazz and rock soundtrack, Gran Turismo 3 quickly became a modern classic, and one of the highest-selling games of all time.

If you want more Gran Turismo 3, you can find most of the OST here.

Good gaming, good music.

Advertisement

Soundtrack Saturdays: Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Fire Field

With less than a week until the western release of Smash Bros. on the 3DS, I thought I’d take another look at the previous game’s soundtrack. With over 250 songs to choose from, there are more than enough pieces worthy of being mentioned. However, I chose the Fire Field theme; it’s a guitar arrangement from Nintendo’s F-Zero series, and its inclusion in Brawl is often overlooked. In fact, the main reason I noticed it was due to Fire Field being my favorite stage in F-Zero GX. Imagine racing down a track not made of flat asphalt, but a curving, twisted cylindrical knot suspended above a massive fire pit…all while going over 1,000 km/h. Seriously, check it out.

If you want more Brawl, you can find the OST here.

Good gaming, good music.