Game info: Wikipedia
Listening: emulated audio, YouTube
Credits
Music and Sound Effect: Kazumi Totaka
Info
Time for an actual quirky Wario soundtrack, not just a quirky soundtrack by a Wario composer that sounds like a quirky Wario soundtrack. This is by another longtime Nintendo sound fellow, Kazumi Totaka, whose style actually fits the series quite well so it’s a little surprising to me that this was the only time he worked on it.
Totaka did a thing in this soundtrack that he’s done elsewhere, which is that a lot of the songs are just different versions of the same main theme. I tend to associate his work with sparser arrangements, somewhat more complex jazzy harmonies than your average chiptunes, and incorporation of interesting noises or just straight up sound effects into his music, and all of those are on display here, which is pretty nice. It sounds like Totaka had a lot of fun programming different kinds of tones and environmental sounds to use in this game; being sparse doesn’t mean it’s boring to listen to.
Recommended tracks:
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“Heart Game” has a weird atonal beep loop in the background for some reason
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“Level Theme 2” turns into a nice little RPG overworld march at 0:38
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“Mini-Boss Battle” is just a short little 7/8 loop but the bass gets pleasantly syncopated in loops 3 & 4
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“Level Theme 5” is my favorite stage theme, a bit of reggae influence in this one
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“Credits” is a jaunty way to close out the game
(track titles are unofficial)
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