Up Close With English A Link Between Worlds Club Nintendo Soundtrack

Way back in September, we learned that Japan received the A Link Between Worlds soundtrack, in the form of a Club Nintendo reward. A month later, photographs of the Japanese soundtrack surfaced, leaving the rest of the world green with envy.

Just when we’d given up hope of the elusive CD ever getting a Western release, Nintendo surprised Europe with the soundtrack last week, again as a Club Nintendo reward. People have now started to receive the CD, and we have an up close and personal view.

When unfolded, the CD inlay provides some scores from the soundtrack, separated by difficulty. It also features a message from A Link Between Worlds composer, Ryo Nagamatsu. It reads:

“Thank you very much for choosing this soundtrack from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. My name is Ryo Nagamatsu and I work for the Entertainment Analysis & Development division of Nintendo. I was responsible for the soundtrack for this title. I hope you enjoyed listening to it as you played the game.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is an original title for Nintendo 3DS, and is the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, which was released for Super Nintendo in Europe in 1992. It was important for me that it should be equally enjoyable for players who were familiar with the original title, and those whom this was their introduction to the series. I tried to balance fresh, orchestral arrangements of music from the first series with completely new music so it would bring back memories of the first game for some players, while also being very much a brand new game.

I would like to share a few of the things that went on behind the scenes when creating this soundtrack: the process of arranging the music for this title began with me going back to the old tracks and trying to see how I could best add them to the mix. You’ll be able to hear this approach most clearly on Title Screen (Disc 1, Track 3). I think it will be a bit of a trip down memory lane for a lot of players. Facing Ganon (Disc 2, Track 26) is a new theme which I created by combining the music from the battle with Ganon from the original game with motifs from Yuga’s Theme (Disc 1, Track 32). But if you listen closely, you may notice that the intro to the track is actually taken directly from the original. Did you spot that?

For this soundtrack, I was keen to include live choral performances. I actually used this as a way to ramp up the tension, and used it in scenes that were meat to be eerie and unpleasant. For At The Sanctuary and Facing Yuga (Disc 1, Tracks 11 and 45, respectively) I recorded my own voice and multi tracked it, layering it around 30 times. I didn’t do a lot of processing of the recordings, so they retain an unpolished feel that I think serves to give these tracks a creepy edge. I hope that comes across when you listen to them.

For Mother Maiamai’s Theme (Disc 1, Track 26) and Song of the Sages (Disc 2, Track 19) my aim was the reverse. I used synthesised choral effects to give these tracks a cute, loveable feel, and a stately, graceful atmosphere, respectively. On Lorule Castle (Disc 2, Track 23) I used part of the Hyrule Castle theme but reversed it. I also put a lot of thought into one of the really nice features of this title: the two musicians in the Milk Bar. As you are spending your hard-earned Rupees to get them to play for you, I wanted their songs to be really good. I used an instrument called a recorded for these songs, adding a lot of subtle tones and nuanced elements to the songs, which I hope you’ll enjoy.

Throughout the game, we’ve added all kinds of fun, little sounds and interesting ideas, so see what you can find. We’ve even included the score of the arrangements for the Milk Bar musicians on the other side of this inlay, so why not try playing them yourselves?”

Tracklisting

On the other side is the tracklisting for the

A Link Between Worlds soundtrack, and is as follows:

Disc 1: Hyrule Edition – 1:16:15.

01. The Adventure Begins

02. A Kingdom’s Legend

03. Title Screen

04. Selection Screen

05. Nightmare

06. Hyrule At Peace

07. Seres’ Screams

08. Cavern Theme (Going Underground)

09. The Ruined Room

10. The Ruined Room (Battle Theme)

11. At The Sanctuary

12. Drama in the Sanctuary

13. Ravio’s Theme

14. Ravio’s Shop

15. Kakariko Village

16. An Anxious Sahasrahla

17. Hyrule Castle At Peace

18. Meeting Princess Zelda

19. Hyrule Theme

20. The Three Dungeons of Hyrule

21. The Bosses of Hyrule

22. Beating The Boss

23. Venturing Indoors

24. Hyrule Hotfoot

25. Rupee Rush

26. Mother Maiamai’s Theme

27. Mother Maiamai’s Fanfare

28. At the Milk Bar

29. Irene, the Apprentice Witch

30. Sorcery

31. Fortune Teller

32. Yuga’s Theme

33. Facing Yuga in the Eastern Palace

34. A Painting of Link

35. Hyrule Castle Sealed

36. Zora Trouble

37. Restoring Queen Oren

38. The Lost Woods

39. Deeper into the Lost Woods

40. Master Sword Fanfare

41. Hyrule Theme 2

42. Hyrule Castle Battle Theme

43. A Painting of Princess Zelda

44. Between Worlds

45. Facing Yuga in Hyrule Castle

46. Yuga Gloats

47. Enter Ganon

48. Princess Hilda Appears

49. StreetPass Battle Theme

50. Solving a Puzzle

51. Game Over

52. Mini Item Fanfare

53. Item Fanfare

54. Hyrule Theme (Milk Bar Musicians)

55. Selection Screen (Milk Bar Musicians)

56. Zelda’s Theme (Milk Bar Musicians)

57. Ravio’s Theme (Milk Bar Musicians)

58. Kakariko Village (Milk Bar Musicians)

59. Hyrule Castle (Milk Bar Musicians)

60. Facing Yuga in Hyrule Castle (Milk Bar Musicians)

61. Hilda’s Theme (Milk Bar Musicians)

62. Mini Item Fanfare (Milk Bar Musicians)

63. Item Fanfare (Milk Bar Musicians)

Disc 2: Lorule Edition – 1:18:19.

01. Lorule Theme

02. Scaling Death Mountain

03. Octoball Derby

04. Octoball Derby Results

05. Treacherous Tower

06. Treacherous Tower Regular Results

07. Treacherous Tower Complete Results

08. Thieves’ Hideout

09. Don’t Leave Me Here!

10. In The Desert Palace

11. Swamp Palace

12. Ice Rules

13. A Trip to Turtle Rock

14. Skull Woods

15. Sneaking into the Dark Palace

16. The Dark Palace

17. The Bosses of Lorule

18. Zelda’s Charm Fanfare

19. Song of the Sages

20. Completing the Triforce

21. Triforce Fanfare

22. Lorule Theme 2

23. Lorule Castle

24. The Story of Lorule

25. Ganon Returns

26. Facing Ganon

27. Hilda and Ganon

28. Final Showdown with Ganon

29. Ravio’s Return, Hilda’s Sorrow

30. Hilda’s Change of Heart (Return to Hyrule)

31. Light in Lorule

32. Credits

33. Grand Finale

34. Rupee Total Fanfare

35. Hero Mode Fanfare

36. Item Fanfare (Final Showdown)

37. Lorule Theme (Milk Bar Musicians)

38. Death Mountain (Milk Bar Musicians)

39. Lorule Dungeon Theme (Milk Bar Musicians)

40. Lorule Castle (Milk Bar Musicians)

41. Ganon’s Theme (Milk Bar Musicians)

42. Ballad of the Goddess (Milk Bar Musicians

All photographs of the A Link Between Worlds soundtrack CD are available to view in the gallery below. Did you manage to get your lucky mitts on a copy? Let us know.