Composers, much like any other musician, often create a very identifiable sound that follows them throughout their career. Be it the Celtic influences that accompany a Yasunori Mitsuda composition, or the dark plodding melodies that Jack Wall incorporates throughout his music, each composer tends to leave certain calling cards in their work. I would argue that the composer’s whose signature sound is most easily identified is Koichi Sugiyama who, if you are unfamiliar with the name, has handled each and every Dragon Quest soundtrack since the beginning.
Although he has been the driving musical force for the Dragon Quest series, Sugiyama also composed music for a few other titles while working for Enix, which brings me to the point of this week’s Wall of Sound: Dragon Quest or Not!? So I suppose it is pretty self explanatory, but for our little quiz today we are going to be looking at various Dragon Quest games compared to a mystery Super Famicom Game also composed by Sugiyama.
Question 1:
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Question 2:
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Question 3:
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Question 4:
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Question 5:
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Scroll down a bit past the Japanese box art for my personal favorite Dragon Quest game (DQ V) for the answers to see how well you did in the craze that’s sweeping the nation: Dragon Quest or Not!?
Question 1:
A: Fighting Spirit – Dragon Quest III
B: The Street Adventure – Monopoly 2
Question 2:
A: Requiem – Dragon Quest III
B: Victors Arena – Monopoly 2
Question 3:
A: Let’s Have Fun – Monopoly 2
B: Only Lonely Boy – Dragon Quest II
Question 4:
A: Chateau – Dragon Quest II
B: The Invitation to Monopoly – Monopoly 2
Question 5: It’s a Trick Question!
A: The Way To Victory – Monopoly 2
B: Monopoly’s Mansion – Monopoly 2
So if this little quiz has gone as expected you will have had trouble identifying which pieces belonged to Dragon Quest, and which belonged to my mystery title, Monopoly 2. I think the reason that the Monopoly 2 soundtrack is so endearing to me is the fact that Sugiyama, when commissioned to do a soundtrack for a board game, stuck to his guns and created an epic RPG worthy soundtrack for a genre where music usually comes as an afterthought. For the record, the Monopoly tracks were taken from the official soundtrack and the arranged string quartet versions of each track, while the Dragon Quest tracks were taken from an arranged string quartet sampler from various Dragon Quest games. I hope you enjoyed the first installment of Dragon Quest or Not!? Who knows, there are a few other soundtrack oddities among Sugiyama’s career that may provide enough fodder for a second installment.
The Wall of Sound Playlist
Fighting Spirit – Dragon Quest III
The Street Adventure – Monopoly 2
Requiem – Dragon Quest III
Victors Arena – Monopoly 2
Let’s Have Fun – Monopoly 2
Only Lonely Boy – Dragon Quest II
Chateau – Dragon Quest II
The Invitation to Monopoly – Monopoly 2
The Way To Victory – Monopoly 2
Monopoly’s Mansion – Monopoly 2
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