SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Winter Wonderland 2015 Edition

This week's a special one for SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs. I have in store TWO-- count 'em-- TWO editions to share this week, the one today and one specially made for Christmas this Friday.

This first edition celebrates tomorrow's winter solstice with style, complete with five new VGM volumes. I have a battle theme from the Nintendo 3DS game Fantasy Life to start off with. Then we go mellow with Animal Crossing: Wild World. From there, we join Goku on his quest to rid the world of the Red Ribbon Army with Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo. Finally, we wrap this edition up with music from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Sonic and the Black Knight.

v1031. Fantasy Life (3DS) - Dynamism when fighting

Fantasy Life isn't a serious game whatsoever. This Nintendo 3DS exclusive was packed with things to do, jobs to master, and creatures and enemies both big and small to defeat. This theme, punctuated by kazoo and rubber ducky noises, plays when you face a stronger-than-normal enemy. It's not for the most powerful foes, but when this theme plays, you know you are going to have a fight on your hands.

v1032. Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS) - 8PM

It's 8PM in your town, and what better way to mellow out than this theme? I have great memories of playing online with old friends, having scavenger hunts, chatting with the rather archaic text system, and just enjoying ourselves. There is no doubt that Animal Crossing as a series makes me nostalgic, and it helps that the franchise is one that is pretty much consistently great, unless we're talking about the less-than-satisfactory Wii U spin-off board game.

v1033. Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo (Wii) - Red Ribbon Army

This cool theme accentuated by electric guitar plays in the very first level of Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, a very much overlooked Wii exclusive. It's a 2-1/2D brawler/platformer with a beautiful art style and an even pleasanter soundtrack. Even for someone like me who doesn't hold the Dragon Ball anime or manga to a high regard, the game was an enjoyable one.

v1034. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64) - Ruins

While this theme plays during the ruins levels of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, it sounds perfect for winter, thanks to the tubular bells playing as accompaniment. Kirby 64 was a fun entry in the series, sporting 2-1/2D levels that sprawled around geometry with paths that twisted and twirled. The game also is the only one to allow combining of power-ups, a really cool mechanic.

v1035. Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii) - Live Life

We wrap things up this edition with a vocal theme by Crush 40 for Sonic and the Black Knight, a Wii exclusive game. While the actual gameplay was a total letdown, Sonic Team successfully continued its streak of having a game with a tremendous soundtrack. This ending theme, Live Life, is a powerful rock ballad that really hits a high note... or maybe that was just my relief that I didn't have to play the game anymore.

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGM - Home for the Holidays Edition

Christmas is but a couple of days away, and even if you don't personally celebrate it, it's hard to get away from it. Let your friends at SuperPhillip Central bestow you with the gift of VGM. Sure, we do it all year long, but this time we've wrapped a pretty figurative bow around the entire package. This week's edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGM includes music from Chrono Cross, Rayman Legends, and Yoshi's Story.

v531. Chrono Cross (PS1) - Dragon God

Last week we ended our edition of the VGM with a song entitled "Merciless Lord." In keeping with that theme, we have "Dragon God" from Chrono Cross. Unlike the Chrono Trigger soundtrack, Chrono Cross' music was entirely composed by the great Yasunori Mitsuda.

v532. Rayman Legends (Multi) - When the Wind Blows

One of the best multiplatform games of the year (which next year will be receiving an Xbox One and PlayStation 4 release), Rayman Legends sadly suffered low sales despite nearly universal critical acclaim. We're just in an industry where quality doesn't always equal success. Rayman Legends is one of those sad sales stories that make you curse consumers.

v533. Super Mario 64 (N64) - Inside the Castle Walls

We move to another platforming series, though this one is much more iconic. Super Mario 64 was an absolutely revolutionary game. It set the standard for 3D gaming with pitch perfect controls and wide open levels to explore. "Inside the Castle Walls" is the theme of Princess Peach's castle, a peppy little ditty perfect for running up and down the halls and stairways of the Mushroom Kingdom leader's home.

v534. Yoshi's Story (N64) - Baby Koopa's Castle

From one castle to another, we move to "Baby Koopa's Castle" from Yoshi's Story. The theme is appropriate for the castle, somewhat sinister, sounding like something appropriate for a toy box of terror, etc. "Baby Koopa's Castle" is without question our favorite theme from Yoshi's Story, a game that has a polarizing fan opinion.

v535. Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo (Wii) - The Siege of Muscle Tower

An overlooked gem in the Wii's library, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo was a 2D beat-em-up with some platforming elements. Its soundtrack, like many Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT games, is positively stellar.