Soriku's To-Do List:

1) Join the Secret Santa event

2) Have noname tell his Santa to gift him A Link to the Past

3) Have Soriku die of delight

Tracking down the Zelda compilation is also acceptable.

Oh yes, I just don't think it is appropriate unless called for by some thematic purpose or artistic vision. Super Mario World is neither minimalistic or thematically driven (like God of War or, better yet, Twilight Princess) so I'm having trouble thinking of it as anything other than a song being padded for the entire game.

c0rd: Kazumi Totaka (Super Mario Land 2, LA, Yoshi's Story, Luigi's Mansion, etc) certainly did it back then.

It worked wonders in Luigi's Mansion though, because the game's thematic atmosphere actually lent itself to it.

Soriku? Everybody knows the Overworld theme. I mean everybody. Even non-gamers, people who have never played a Zelda in their life.

The Music from Zelda is usually Really damn good ....Wish all games could be like that

that is SO good

I didn't think there were actually people who called themselves 'gamers' and had never heard the main Zelda Overworld theme...

On topic: this song's really nice, I heard parts of it in trailers, and it's great. It definitely reminds me of TWW, same kind of style, moreso than PH imho, which is pretty ironic, given that PH was a direct sequel to TWW and this is not.
Still, this has nothing on Link's Awakening's Overworld Theme, which is the best rendition of the classic Zelda Overworld Theme in the series, imho. I still can't get over how incredibly amazingly fabulous the music in that game is, especially considering it's for an 8-bit handheld. LA's tunes are some of the most memorable ever, imo.

Also, blast this thread for making me want this game even more, I've ordered it, but won't be getting it for another few days!

The original NES theme will always be the best (8/16-bit music lover here ) but I love the Spirit Tracks overworld theme. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

@Helios: I've... never played any of those games! Crazy, I know, I guess I'm not exactly the most dedicated Nintendo fan. I tend to play lots of other games from all different genres (the PC games are major timesinks), so lots of stuff slips through the cracks.

@Khuutra: I wasn't implying Link to the Past's was better (I haven't played it in a while, so I can't remember). The thing about old 2D vs 3D Zeldas is, they play quite differently - 2D requires few themes (as it's more arcade-like), while 3D is a cinematic experience, more akin to JRPG's or something. Still, Ocarina definitely has my favorite soundtrack.

In case it seems I'm coming off as bias, I'll just come out with it now... I've been listening to the Chrono Trigger soundtrack recently. It is so packed with unique and awesome tracks, it's ridiculous. Still, a vast majority of my favorite music is older stuff. Hell, among my favorite soundtracks this gen are Phoenix Wright and Mega Man 9, which is GBA / NES music, respectively. Perhaps I just like the synth sound better, but I always felt that game music itself was getting a little stale.

Oh no - all I'm saying is that, as a body, soundtracks have been getting progressively longer rather than shorter, so it takes more and more work to compose them.

I've been really liking the theme for castle town in this one, myself.

Though i'm still rather disturbed by the "Frolic with the bunnies" ranch i just found.