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The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda's iconic theme was created by the series' longtime composer Koji Kondo in only one day. and has gone on to become one of the industry's most popular and recognizable themes. The game also featured a whistle that aided Link in his quest, a mechanic that has stayed with the franchise ever since. -
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
The NES's primitive hardware was only capable of 5 sound channels, and could only produce the familiar bleeps and bloops many find so nostalgic now, but the tunes have managed to translate across platforms. This second game introduced a new soundtrack, while not as familiar as the original themes, its "Temple" track has shown up in the Suoer Smash Bros series. -
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Thanks to the more powerful hardware of the SNES, the music of this game was much deeper than the previous two. This was the game that established many of the themes used in nearly all subsequent games of the franchise, including Zelda's and Ganon's themes. The flute item featured allowed Link to access specific paths. -
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
This game was the first to prominently feature music in the plot of the game. Link was charged to find eight instruments to awaken the Wind Fish and had to play a flute at pivitol story points. -
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time is perhaps the most well known in the series for incorporating music. It is often stated as the first non-dance game to feature making music as a major mechanic. Using the buttons on the controler the player mimiced playing an ocarina, and although the range of notes was severely limited, composer Koji Kondo managed to create distinctive themes that have stayed with the series. With the N64, players now heard a synthesized orchestra, as the audio capability vastly increased. -
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Using the same music playing mechanic as Ocarina of Time, in this game Link added a few instruments to his arsenal. Koji Kondo was joined in composing for this game by Toru Minegishi. He describes the music as "an exotic Chinese-opera sound," giving it a distinctly differnet tone from Ocarina of Time. -
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages
Two games realeased simultaneously, the player needed to play both to complete the entire story. In Oracle of Ages, Link uses the Harp of Ages to change the flow of time and travel between past and present. -
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Link takes the conductor's seat in this game, using a baton to "conduct" the wind, essential using the same mechanic in previous games of learning simple patterns to play different songs. The music in this game took irish influence and had the largest team of composers yet, resulting in a very diverse soundtrack. -
The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures
The soundtrack was composed by Koji Kondo once again and Asuka Ota. -
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Another ocarina shows up in this game, allowing Link to harness the power of wind in certain places, alluding to two previous games. The game was actually developed by Capcom, and composed this time around by Mitsuhiko Takano. -
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Twilight Princess almost received a complete orchestral score as used inn the trailers for the game, however the final product used only digital music once again. Many familiar Zelda themes are featured throughout the soundtrack. The music playing takes another change, utilizing the howling of Link's wolf form instead of an instrument. -
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Koji Kondo takes a back seat with Phantom Hourglass, with the composing done by Kenta Nagata and Toru Minegishi. -
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
The full composing team returns, with Toru minegishi, Manaka Tominaga, Asuka Ota, and Koji Kondo. In the game, Link plays a pan flute with the players actually blowing into the DS mic to make notes. -
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
The same game as before with the same music and sound effects, but now your ocarina looks even better and pops out at you. -
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Skyward Sword is the first Zelda game to include orchestral recordings in its soundtrack, with the Mario Galaxy orchetral director joining the team. In the game, a harp is prominently displayed and often heard in the music. Does that main theme sound a little familiar?
