Legend of Music #05: Adventure of Link

Adventure of Link has often sat in the shadow of its predecessor and very few elements of the game have been brought back in future games, including the music. Many people find it understandable that some elements of Adventure of Link didn’t find their way into future Zelda games, especially the side-scrolling and RPG elements. Don’t misunderstand; Adventure of Link is definitely a good, albeit different, Zelda game. However, what about the musical elements of the game? Why have they not returned with as much presence as the original Legend of Zelda music? Join me after the jump as I explore why the music of this game has been neglected, and whether or not it should be used in future games.

Why hasn’t the music of Adventure of Link Returned as much as other Zelda games?

It’s not really clear why this music has been underused, but I have quite a few theories that might explain why. The keyword here is “might.” I by no means claim that these are the only reasons, or the correct ones, for the lack of musical presence of Adventure of Link in other Zelda games. Without further ado, let’s get started!

-Disjunct themes make the music of Adventure of Link hard to internalize

Unlike its predecessor, Adventure of Links music featured a lot of disjunct melodies. What I mean by this is that the melodies have a lot of jumps and leaps in them. Generally speaking, this makes them much harder to internalize aurally and harder to remember. Because of this, I hypothesize that Nintendo avoided using this music in future games because fans really didn’t know it that well (Especially compared to the original Legend of Zelda).

-Akito Nakatsuka’s first, and last, Zelda game

Unlike the original Legend of Zelda, which had all of its music composed by Koji Kondo, Adventure of Link had all of its music written by Akito Nakatsuka (alias: Tsukasan). It was Nakatsuka’s first Zelda game, and also his last. Because of this, the music of Adventure of Link died with Adventure of Link. Koji Kondo (who wrote the music for many of the future games) was much more likely to use his own material from the original Legend of Zelda or compose something new rather than use someone else’s material.

-The music of Adventure of Links is too associated with the game itself

To those who have played Adventure of Link enough, there is a strong association created between the game and the music. This isn’t unique to Zelda, it happens in a lot of games. Players hear a certain sound or piece of music and associate it with an element of game play, story, or even a specific character. Final Fantasy games are well known for this as well. In the case of Adventure of Link, anytime you hear the palace music playing, you immediately associate it with side-scrolling dungeons. Since side-scrolling dungeons only appeared in Adventure of Link, the palace music becomes associated only with that game in the series. Unless the game developers wanted to reuse the level design, or some other element from those dungeons, there would be no reason to reuse the music.

Should the music of Adventure of Link return?

This is very much a matter of opinion. Personally, I think the music of Adventure of Link is greatly underappreciated, much like the game itself, and deserves to be present in the future of Zelda games. However, I think that the use of this music should be tasteful and only done when really necessary (which is the same way I feel about reusing and music from any Zelda game).

Why do you think the music of Adventure of Link hasn’t been reused in other Zelda titles? Do you think it deserves as stronger presence in future games? Be sure to let me know in the comments below!

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