My Gaming Audio History: Ironsword Wizards and Warriors II (1989)

Well, I blogged in May about Wizards and Warriors, but that blog's gone missing!  Not sure what's going on there, but will try to investigate more.  I may just need to redo it at the end of the project.  I learned all sorts of things doing that blog too, about the Villian's theme for instance, and my first entry on David Wise!  And I reminisced about the F X Nine book...  Oh well...  Doesn't matter much audiowise because this game doesn't share any common themes with that one!  I played this game to death!

As I listened back to the music and watched the gameplay, I was struck by how awkward almost every loop point is in the game.  Rhythmically, there's usually a bump in the rhythm at the end of the loop and the restart of a new one.  I'm so surprised by that because I wouldn't expect it of Wise's music and yet, it's there.  I can't deny it.  I particularly remember hearing it even as a kid in the water stage, perhaps because that loop is pretty short compared with the first stage loop.  Usually, you'll have entered somewhere before the loop repeats, but I definitely remember hearing it in the water stage.  Similar to the first Wizards and Warriors, here Wise seems to really like a theme and variation form.  It probably allowed quite a bit of saved memory.  Thus, you'll often hear a vamping bass where melodies and obligatos weave over it, but the bass will remain for most of the piece.  Quite a cool idea. Would love to know more about how the technical limitations influenced this game.

Interestingly in the game credits, while the other categories list specific names, the music is attributed to "Rare."

One thing I'd not thought about with this audio is how there really aren't defined uses for several of the tracks.  By this I mean, once you're in the final stage of the game, the same music plays from then until you end your game.  There's no victory music, no final boss music, etc.  The first theme and air theme underscore probably half of the game.  Only the air, water, and fire stages really have their own themes.  I wonder if there just wasn't time to implement or write the music for the final portions of the game?  Or perhaps not enough space?  I do have to say that the use of music in the game is kind of strange, with some bosses having a theme and not others, some screens changing music and others continuing it, despite being very different settings.  I know it so well and love much of it, particularly the Shop theme and the Stage 3 (Fire) theme.  Love the grove there.  Otherwise, disappointed with the looping connections here in this game.  Haven't bumped in to one that across the board has such poor looping... It wounds me to say it, but it's true.  I suspect that because entering shops and caves sometimes changes the music, it was probably though unlikely that many players would hear the loops all the way through, but I definitely did!

Below's my normal breakdown of the tracks, though the form is questionable at best considering that these are basically theme and variation pieces.  I was just trying to note when there are changes in the music really.  Here's a link to the soundtrack I studied for the project.



-Title screen: D minor.  1:29.  Basically a theme and variations.  Very similar to Wizards and Warriors.  A bass vamp with variations over the top of it.  Intro (12) A A A' (adds melody) A B(4) B' (B+ obligato) C A A E(12)  Awkward at loop point.
-The Map: Eb major.  3.5 sec.  Short vamp.
-Main playing theme (1st stage):  D minor.  1:10.  Pretty much comprised of descending scales.  Only B and C sections move off of tonic.  Intro (12) A A' A' B(4) C C D D.  Awkward at loop point.
-Air elemental: E minor.  34.5 sec.  Awkward connection at loop point.  Intro(8+4) A A
-Second stage (also used often): E minor.  1:04.  i-IV motion.  Irregular phrase shapes.  Intro(4) A A(4) B(2) Intro(4) C C(4) D D
-Inside the volcano: F minor.  25 sec.  A A' B  Cool groove.  Awkward at loop point.
-Water level above water/ water boss: D minor.  21 sec.  A A' A''(7) Awkward connection at loop point.
-Underwater: G minor.  58 sec.  Intro(2) A A' B C B C D(4)   Awkward loop point.
-Money Making Game: A minor.  33 sec.  A A' B.  Theme and Variation style  Alternates between A minor and F major.
-Stage clear: E major.  22 sec.  Always thought this was A major because I never heard past the first few seconds!
-Game over/Shop/Password: Eb major.  29 sec.  I love the Bb major 7th chord this starts on!  Most interesting harmonic progression.  A B(10)
-Earth Boss: E minor.  22.5 sec.  Awkward connection at loop point.  Intro(4) A(9)
-Key item: G major.  6 sec.  Ends on a 9th chord.
-End game: 1:04  G major.  A A A' (melody) A'(last 4) B(4) A'(last 4) A(first 4) Variations over a simple progression: I-V-bVII-IV.