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View Full Version : David Wise of Rare, Ltd.: Comparing 16-Bit Themes to 8-Bit Themes



ColecoFan1981
12-15-2012, 08:04 PM
Does anyone here remember David Wise, who was the primary musical director for the Rare, Ltd. we knew and loved (1987-2002)?

While primarily renowned in the 16-bit world for the Donkey Kong Country trilogy of games released for the Super Nintendo between 1994 and 1996, before that happened, he made many musical contributions to such 8-bit Nintendo efforts such as Wizards & Warriors (and its two sequels, 1990's Ironsword and 1992's Kuros: Visions of Power), R.C. Pro-Am, Marble Madness, California Games, Battletoads, Taboo: The Sixth Sense, Cobra Triangle, Snake, Rattle and Roll, Ivan "Iron Man" Stewart's Super Off-Road and countless others.

My theory is this: for all those of you who closely study each and every song and sound effect of all the Rare-developed NES games, which of those melodies crept their way through into the melodies of the DKC trilogy (and other 1994-2003 Rareware developments for the Super NES and N64)?

I know, for example, the "Crocodile Cacophony" stage theme from DKC 2 is partially lifted from the second movement of the Ironsword main title theme.

And I also bring this up as to imagine what Wizards & Warriors and its two sequels would have sounded like if they had been ported to the Super NES a la Super Mario All-Stars, with Acclaim Entertainment being the publisher as usual. Because that never happened, I can't be sure why the W&W franchise was neglected after the third NES title (Kuros: Visions of Power) and Rare never looked back. But if such a trilogy anthology game ever did exist, it would probably bring out the same musical excitement as the DKC trilogy had.

~Ben

Graham Mitchell
12-16-2012, 05:02 PM
I never noticed this but it's interesting that you point it out.

I love a lot of those Rare NES soundtracks. I actually feel that Rare's NES games were their best work. They really stand apart from other games on that platform. RC Pro Am and Cobra Triangle are some of the best 8 bit games ever.