1) Enemy Zero (Saturn)
Now about 95-98% of you are reading this thinking, what the F@#K is Enemy Zero? And before I answer why this VG soundtrack deserves the number one spot, I’m going to tell you a little background info on this game.
Enemy Zero is a survival horror game for the Sega Saturn in 1996 by the brilliant, yet quirky Japanese Game developer, WARP. (I’ll discuss them more another time.) The game is a combination of pre-rendered adventure-exploration game and first person shooter. The story follows the protagonist, Laura Lewis, who was awakened from hyper-sleep on a space research ship to find it in emergency wake up mode. Laura must fight her way through the enemies with her laser gun, (that has a very limited charge,) and explore the ship for survivors and clues on what really caused this alien infestation. Sound mediocre? Well to tell you the truth, I think it might have been if it weren’t for a few things: gameplay, storytelling, and especially the music. Every single Enemy in Enemy Zero is invisible, and the only way Laura can detect them is through sound. A high pitched ping means an enemy is in front of her, a mid-pitched ping means it’s beside, or in a hallway adjacent to her, and a low pitch ping means it’s behind her. The faster the pings come the closer it gets. This really gets your heart pounding as you have to charge your gun at the perfect amount, (not enough charge and you don't hurt it, too much charge and the gun overheats,) before you shoot it, making it quite the thrill.
The other thing that helps Enemy Zero bridge the gap between “Meh” to “masterful” is how the story is told. Kenji Eno directs the cinematics beautifully and the story is paced well, but it's not quite enough to make it exceptional. What really gives you the sense of attachment that's needed for a challenging game like this is the music. What gives you, the player, the drive to finish this quest, to feel for the characters, making you feel sadness or grief over their death, or the joy and energy of their reunion, is the Soundtrack.
The Soundtrack is written and composed by the infinitely talented Michael Nyman. He has done several masterful soundtracks in the past; including the soundtrack for the academy award winning 1993 film, The Piano. Well, Mr. Nyman spared no bit of his talent for Enemy Zero even though it was a video game. This soundtrack is beyond beautiful; it’s gorgeous. I sincerely doubt that the level of emotion and connection Kenji Eno set out for when making this game would have been achieved with out this soundtrack. It’s chilling, triumphant, heartrending, whatever it needs to be over the course of the game. And, as far as overall lisntenability goes, this factor alone blew it's way to the top of my list. This is one of my go-to soundtracks whenever I need to be swayed into a specific mood for a writing project. I can just sit back and listen to it and be content with everything around me. It’s even made me cry once when a song came on when I was feeling down. This, ladies and gentlemen, is my favorite Video game soundtrack of all time, and I don’t think that will change.
As a side note: how this soundtrack came to be is actually a funny story. here is a clip from a 1up.com interview w/ Kenji Eno, Enemy Zero's director"
"...I like Michael Nyman a lot, and I like his soundtracks, so I was thinking that it would be awesome if I could get him to do the music. I thought, "That would be impossible, but it'd be great if that happened." ...then, there was a big earthquake in Kobe, Japan in 1995, and Michael Nyman was donating pianos to schools in the city. When this earthquake happened, he said that he wanted to check out how the pianos that he donated were doing, so he came to Japan. When I found out that he was in Japan, I invited him back to my hotel room and tried to convince him, for six hours, to come work with me. So, at the end, Michael was like, "OK, I'll do it, I'll do it. Just let me go back to my room." So he went back exhausted after being convinced for six hours. We didn't work out terms or conditions; he just said that he would do it."-Kenji Eno, 1up interview Kenji Eno interview with 1-up .com
As a side note: how this soundtrack came to be is actually a funny story. here is a clip from a 1up.com interview w/ Kenji Eno, Enemy Zero's director"
"...I like Michael Nyman a lot, and I like his soundtracks, so I was thinking that it would be awesome if I could get him to do the music. I thought, "That would be impossible, but it'd be great if that happened." ...then, there was a big earthquake in Kobe, Japan in 1995, and Michael Nyman was donating pianos to schools in the city. When this earthquake happened, he said that he wanted to check out how the pianos that he donated were doing, so he came to Japan. When I found out that he was in Japan, I invited him back to my hotel room and tried to convince him, for six hours, to come work with me. So, at the end, Michael was like, "OK, I'll do it, I'll do it. Just let me go back to my room." So he went back exhausted after being convinced for six hours. We didn't work out terms or conditions; he just said that he would do it."-Kenji Eno, 1up interview Kenji Eno interview with 1-up .com
Samples: Digital Complex, The last Movement/ flashback , Gameplay sample
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