Editors love Top Ten lists. There is so very little in this vast world that can be summed up with a Top Ten list, which is why readers go orangutan when writers try. And "readers going orangutan" is a proven traffic-booster.
The thing is, nobody can resist the pull of these lists. We want to see our personal favourites up on the marquee; we want validation in an anonymous world. Lord knows that when GameTrailers/Screw Attack uploaded its list of the Top Ten Video Game Themes Ever, I loaded the hell out of the video just so I could sit back and yell at it.
Not to say Screw Attack made bad choices. Most of them are pretty obvious. It's just impossible to please everyone, least of all me.
For instance, I'm not so sure about choosing the Prelude for the whole Final Fantasy series (Screw Attack limited suggestions to one per franchise). The Prelude theme is very nice and it certainly represents the series as a whole, but there are other songs that are far more striking. The Opera from Final Fantasy VI, for starters. Or the Redwings' anthem from Final Fantasy IV. I can at least give Screw Attack credit for not choosing One Winged Angel from Final Fantasy VII. I saw that performed as a jangling mess at Video Games Live, confirming a suspicion I've long held: the song is not particularly well-written.
Our blue friend Mega Man is represented, of course, through Mega Man 2's first Wily stage. Good choice, though I personally would have recommended Storm Eagle's rockin' rock from Mega Man X. Hey, you know what the most underrated Mega Man stage music is? Dust Man. Also, Shade Man. Also, Dr Wily's first stage in Mega Man 7.
I'm a little disappointed to see that a song from Donkey Kong Country was chosen over the ten million superiour songs from Donkey Kong Country 2. DKC 2 offered some great remixes of DKC's music--even K. Rool's nautical battle theme.
Ah, but if we all agreed on everything, what a dull place the world would be. A dull, peaceful place. I am, of course, very happy to see Secret of Mana's "Angel's Fear" on the list. Any song that still compels me to sit all the way through it fifteen years later has aged well in my book.
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