Previous remix compliations:
Mega Man - Castlevania - Final Fantasy - F-Zero - Chrono Trigger - Classic Sega
Everybody loves the Legend of Zelda games, right? I love 'em, you love 'em, Robin Williams loves them so much he named his daughter after 'em. Not content with filling the Zelda games with some of the finest dungeon-exploring, princess-rescuing gameplay ever found on a videogame console, Nintendo capped them off with some of gaming's most memorable musical tracks and today I've gathered ten remixes and covers of classic Legend of Zelda tunes to hopefully cheer up your (pointy, Hylian) ears.
Jack Fliegler - Majora's Mask - Medley
Ah, Majora's Mask - the creepy Zelda, the sinister sibling in a family of cheery children. The growling guitars and solemn drums are a great fit for a metal medley of MM's themes, with the Song of Healing and the Deku themes sounding particularly macabre.
Satoshi Aikawa - Wind Waker - The Great Sea
More guitar, but on the opposite end of the hard-soft spectrum, with a lovely solo acoustic guitar version of the ocean-faring Great Sea theme from Wind Waker.
ProtoDome - Oracle of Ages - Overworld Theme
A hyperactive chiptune take on Oracle of Ages / Seasons' Overworld Theme, itself a reimagining of the series' famous Overworld Theme. A great sense of energy and the addition of some lovely piano work make this one stand out as well as making me wish for a remake of the Oracle games.
Yoshiyuki Ito, Masumi Ito - A Link to the Past - Kakariko Village
There's only one world for this, and that's soothing. Okay, so there are plenty more words for it, like peaceful and charming and downright beautiful, but however you want to describe it this lullaby-like take on the sleepy village theme from the best Zelda game (there, I said it) is a joy to listen to - preferably underneath a large duvet in a comfy bed.
Diggi Dis - Ocarina of Time - Gerudo Valley
Diggi Dis gives Gerudo Valley's Latin-inspired, almost Spaghetti-Western-ish theme a hip-hop flavoured beat to go with its excellent flamenco guitar, and the whole track comes together to great, head-bouncing effect.
BrentalFloss - The Adventure of Link - Zelda II Medley (With Lyrics)
YouTube famous type Brental Floss is best known for his videos recreating famous game tracks and adding lyrics, and with good reason because they're actually really good. You can't go far wrong with Zelda II's Temple theme, one of the greatest tracks in the NES's songbook. Plus, a shoutout to the awesome power of the Game Genie is always welcome.
Duncan2069 - Ocarina of Time - Song of Storms
A nicely gloomy take on the theme of a weirdo in a windmill, this version sounds like it could be the title music to a Tim Burton-style movie about evil puppets and I can definitely get behind that. I'm particularly fond of the music-box sounds that come in at about 1:17.
Benjamin Briggs - A Link to the Past - Forest Theme
Who knew the mysterious and serene forest theme could sound so good as a techno-dance number? Great use of the "you're almost dead" alarm beeping away in this one, and the way it drifts into the Fairy theme is handled really well.
Virt - Various - Blood of Ganon (Medley)
I've saved the best for (second to) last, as Virt (AKA Jake Kaufman) once again blows my mind by being some kind of videogame-music-covering-god. Just listen to "Blood of Ganon" and prepare to have your ears thank you profusely for it. It's difficult to single out any one bit as being the best, but if I was pushed I'd have to go with the amazing version of the Zelda II battle theme. Quite possibly the best videogame cover ever.
Joe Pleiman (and definitely not System of a Down) - The Legend of Zelda - Main Theme
To end this article, a relic from my teenage days and the internet's formative years that will always hold happy memories for me. You remember Napster, internet filesharing forefather? I know I do, and in the late Nineties I was merrily using it to download music over a painfully slow dial-up connection, mostly videogame music that I didn't have any other access to short of holding a TalkBoy up to the television speakers and pressing record. If you ever searched from Zelda music on Napster, or any early filesharing service, this track would appear. It would be described as being by the metal band System of a Down. It isn't. It's by a guy called Joe Pleiman, although I can see where the confusion comes from as he does have a similar vocal delivery to SoaD frontman Serj Tankian. No-one really knew who it was by back then, though, and it spread across the web, always attributed to the wrong band, causing arguments about its true origins wherever it went. It's a snapshot of the early days of the internet, before everyone was online and when I was just realising there was this huge sea of information, files and like-minded people out there, and every time I hear it I'm taken back to being a happy teenager again. Sappy, but true.
Right, there you go then. Ten Legend of Zelda remixes and covers that have hopefully delighted your ears and made you yearn for adventure on the plains of Hyrule. Personally, I think I might have to go and play A Link to the Past for the eight-thousandth time.
Right, there you go then. Ten Legend of Zelda remixes and covers that have hopefully delighted your ears and made you yearn for adventure on the plains of Hyrule. Personally, I think I might have to go and play A Link to the Past for the eight-thousandth time.
