Game: Animal Crossing
Song: 2AM Theme
Composer: Nagata, Tanaka and Minegishi
Above: 2AM Theme from Animal Crossing
Some know Animal Crossing as that stupid children's game for babies. Others identify it as a wholesome departure from the deluge of M-rated gorefests, a game centered around sharing, caring and exploration. Others still remember it mostly for Tom Nook and his smooth-talking, debt-inducing ways. Me? I think about the staggering soundtrack, which contains a new song for every hour of the day, every holiday and every special town event. So much good stuff buried in here, folks, and anyone who put the time in knows how soothing the tunes can be.
But not this song! The 2AM theme (which, thanks to the GameCube's internal clock, only plays during the true 2AM hour) pops out of the speakers like a fuzzy forest rave. At this point most of your town's denizens had fallen asleep, but that didn't mean you couldn't scour the area for buried treasure, go fishing or hunting for nocturnal critters, or even shoot the shit with other insomniac animals. Truly, 2AM was a great time to be alive.
5PM on the other hand is all about the hustle and bustle of people coming home after work. I was a student when this first launched in 2002, and I usually rushed home to pick fruit or water flowers or whatever indefensibly baby-ish thing I could think of, and it was almost always set to the 5PM theme. Burned in my brain forever, and I bet yours too.
Ah, 9PM - utter relaxation. After a hard day's toil there's nothing like kicking back on the beach and listening to the calming crash of the waves, and just audible underneath them is the 9PM theme. But don't get too cozy - that 2AM song is coming up real soon.
It's possible Wild World and City Folk had similarly good tunes, but I didn't spend nearly as much time with 'em. What do you think, anything from those two worth a look?
Who Am I? by Olivier Derviere
Overworld theme by Kondo, Minegishi, Tominaga and Ota
Neon Night by Martin O' Donnell and Michael Salvatori
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