As video games have evolved over the decades, so too has the music that accompanies said games. As game budgets and technology capabilities increased, video games were given the opportunity to use new orchestral arrangements for their soundtracks. This has led to video games like NieR being able to have tours of orchestras performing music from the game live for audiences of fans. With the Tokyo Olympics this year giving Japan the traditional opportunity of presenting the best and most beloved works of their culture, naturally it behooved the nation to use orchestral renditions of video game songs from the most popular games coming from their studios.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAvhjisKTys

As reported by GameInformer, the Tokyo Olympics has shared recordings from the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. The opening ceremony featured many familiar tunes from Japanese video games, performed now in new orchestral renditions. The full list of songs featured during the event is as follows:

• Dragon Quest “Introduction: Lotto Theme”
• Final Fantasy “Victory Fanfare”
• Tales of Series “Sley’s Theme-Guru-“
• Monster Hunter “Proof of Hero”
• Kingdom Hearts “Olympus Coliseum”
• Chrono Trigger “Frog Theme”
• Ace Combat “First Flight”
• Tales of Series “Royal Capital-Dignified”
• Monster Hunter “Wind of Departure”
• Chrono Trigger “Robo’s Theme”
• Sonic the Hedgehog “Star Light Zone”
• Winning Eleven (Pro Evolution Soccer) “eFootball walk-on theme”
• Final Fantasy “Main Theme”
• Phantasy Star Universe “Guardians”
• Kingdom Hearts “Hero’s Fanfare”
• Gradius (Nemesis) “01 ACT 1-1”
• NieR “Inishie no Uta”
• Saga Series “Makai Ginyu Poetry-Saga Series Medley 2016”
• Soul Caliber “The Brave New Stage of History”

Among the highlights of the songs selected for the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony are songs from Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter, which were games originally only popular in Japan until gradually seeing more Western releases. There are also some very fitting songs, such as “Olympus Coliseum” from Kingdom Hearts, which underscored a literal Olympian competition in that series. Surprisingly, game Chrono Trigger had two songs featured during the event. It seems that the classic SNES game is still fondly held in Japan, and internationally to some extent, as a timeless classic (pun intended.) Hopefully the closing ceremony events use more video game music. Who wouldn’t want to hear “Take You For A Ride” from Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 performed by an orchestra?

What do you guys think about the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony featuring video game music? Let us know in the comments below! Be sure to stay tuned for the latest gaming music news, such as the full Persona soundtracks being released on Spotify, here on Don’t Feed the Gamers! Follow us on Twitter to see our updates the minute they go live!