How Super Smash Bros. Music Sets a Tone for the Series

In this video I take a look at the overall tone that gets set throughout (most of) the Super Smash Bros. series' music. There are a LOT of similarities between the music of Melee, SSB4, and the new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate theme, and some interesting differences between these games and the music of the original Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. So, I thought I'd explore that a little bit.
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[@Kobozo375]

I take smash bros more seriously than my health how dare you

[@_Snowflame]

Kobozo If Melee, I empathize.

[@coastersplus]

So does Sakurai :(

[@henrygutierrez3243]

coastersplus It's funny, upsetting, and inspiring all at the same time.

[@glint8824]

Yeah! Smash Bros is no joke! (Except for almost everything about Brawl)

[@glint8824]

Found the Brawl fan.

[@8bitMusicTheory]

The worst part is that I didn't even question 'Squidling' for one second

[@Chris-mc2dt]

To be fair, squidling makes more sense than inkling when compared to octoling

[@thecrystalfox2450]

Can you please make a short video talking about the piece fountain of dreams from smash Bros melee that would be awesome 👍

[@Brunosky_Inc]

As a punishment you'll now have to cover Splatoon music! =P

[@KairuHakubi]

I think that song encapsulates everything I dislike about smash bros remixes. like let's take a classic piece and miss the point as hard as we possibly can

[@Tom-101]

Was about to comment in my anger haha, it's fine they'll forgive you if you make a video on their game.

[@bluetannery1527]

Brawl music is fucking. God. It’s just so beautiful

[@imstupid7614]

AUDI FAMAM

[@CocoaBeans101]

If only the mechanics were as good as the music

[@WideMouth]

Cocoa Beans at least it’s story mode was lit.

[@reydesonic]

The Bramble Blast remix was made in Brawl right? Cuz it sounds so beautiful and it may be why.

[@ocass66]

ILLIUS

[@VGMusicExplorers]

Well, Brawl is also the only game with an "epic" story mode. That might be the reason for a more serious main theme.

[@tragic_solitude7992]

VGMusic Explorers I was thinking that too.

[@anomaly395]

VGMusic Explorers I think it was more grand and epic because it was intended to be the last Smash game in the series, and they wanted to have an epic ending.

[@kingajman4149]

Smash Ultimate might have a story mode

[@michaelscott993]

@@kingajman4149 I hope so. I'm not huge into fighting games, but ssbb was one of my favorite games ever when I was younger and it was was because of the subspace emissary.

[@theillusionist1494]

Mikey Scott well um

[@nerdcedric]

I think the reason Brawl's music was darker and more serious is because Brawl, as a game, was darker and more serious compared to other Smash games. You can tell they wanted the characters to look grittier. This was likely to match the additions of Snake, Zero Suit Samus, and and the fantastical story mode with villains like Ridley that are genuinely threatening. It was also planned to be the last game of the series, so they wanted to make it more epic and drop the whole cartoon vibe. It took itself seriously. I think that's why fans of the Smash series think Brawl had the best music, because the fans got used to the ridiculousness and it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for them to give a serious vibe to it. Brawl may have not had the most fitting music for the series as a whole, but I do think it represents it's own game the best, and to me, Ultimate music over the Brawl intro seems so off.

[@hdog9046]

I think it's the only smash bros game to be rated T.

[@Sly_Maverick_19]

@@hdog9046 Melee was also rated T.

[@theillusionist1494]

Well.

[@yayababatoto]

I loved the art of Brawl... then I saw toon link...

[@aaronokemaysim7310]

It wasn't planned to be the last game. Sakurai just said that he was making the game _like_ it was the last game.

[@Pioxys]

*Smash 64 Music=* Sets the tone of expanding one's imagination (my personal favorite) *Melee Music=* Sets the tone of the new age, where Nintendo's greats gone competitive. (A great classic) *Brawl Music=* Sets the tone of a grand adventure with said Nintendo greats. (Very fitting for the subspace saga) *Sm4sh Music=* Sets the tone of a new event among gaming's all stars (my least favorite out of the bunch) *Smash Ultimate=* Sets the tone as the title itself. It's gaming all stars & Sakurai's GRAND FINALE!

[@chaos_blue1089]

Lifelight= ALRIGHT, LET'S DO THIS!

[@noakinn]

Tristan Wong lifelight is smash ultimate, just with vocals.

[@zackmash851]

nothing will ever beat that bumping, bass driven CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER beat from original smash.

[@SmoothTurtle840]

Pioxys Brawl was supposed to be his Grand Finale

[@connordarvall8482]

Okay, I think Ultimate is Sakurai's 3rd grand finale in a row. Edit: in a series of 5.

[@supahstarclod]

The smash series has an incredibly vast number of songs, it's really impressive how you can cover the generalities of the soundtrack in just 10 minutes. Nicely done!

[@klop4228]

He really only touched on the original music, of which there's not that much. Most of the tracks are remixes from other games

[@theoneonyoutube4925]

klop422 Still pretty impressive that he was able to condense the information from multiple main themes into all of ten minutes.

[@cortster12]

I've been making music for nearly eight years now and I just never was able to get into music theory... which explains why I can never do what i want in my music. Your videos makes music theory seem fun an interesting, and I think they may be motivating me into taking my knowledge of music (or lack thereof) to the next level!

[@SongbirdOfficial]

Bose-Einstein If you want to learn music theory and explore some more traditional music, there's a channel called 12 tone that has done tutorials for beginners as well as a lot of explanations of popular music and what it uses to be catchy or set its tone. I haven't watched all of his videos yet, but they seem fun and interesting so far.

[@Hirochicken]

Bose-Einstein I feel you there! As some one who likes to just fart around on beat making programs, I am always inspired with new ideas and techniques after watching one of these videos.

[@ochzer]

I know, right? I've been "making" music for 4 years now and just recently, as I bought a keyboard and had to learn about music, feel like I'm getting somewhere. I don't think it's easy, but having a grasp at music theory and knowledge on some classical pieces *really* gives you an idea of what music is made of.

[@SpeedySPCFan]

Music theory is awesome. If you get someone who does a good job at explaining it to help you, it can be awesome learning new concepts and ideas that let you really expand your musical knowledge.

[@kennyr1161]

My highschool had me take a music theory class i loved it

[@jonasgibadlo4290]

I think the Brawl theme does fit, considering the much darker theme of sub space emissary

[@emmbeesea]

Oh yeah, implied Dorian. Keeps Minor from getting too dark. Smash music is iconic.

[@mohamedashrefbenabdallah2545]

Can we substitute with Dorian chords in minor?

[@MisterAppleEsq]

+Red Yes.

[@spookums5499]

Emm Bee Sea are you the person I constantly see in the comments of siIvagunna videos?

[@emmbeesea]

Lafayette De Reinhardt | indeed.

[@LouisSerieusement]

thanks I was thinking the same but was not sure because he only spokes about lydian later in the video, I was confused XD cheers :)

[@Bankai2169]

Well, I’m setting the tone early by SMASHING the like button! These videos give me ULTIMATE happiness

[@vilhelm6134]

Bankai2169 you are a horrible person. Everyone: the person UP there TILTed me.

[@chaos_blue1089]

They aren't horrible. If their LIFE is just like making these jokes, it seems deLIGHTful.

[@FedEx867]

Stop

[@thedekuseed4965]

Brawl definitely has the best theme in the series, atleast from a pure melodic standpoint.

[@finnmarr-heenan2397]

Brawl had best music and single player .

[@AustinPowerz-bn5ry]

Easily the best theme. I was pissing myself like an excited dog when they first announced it back before its 2008 release.

[@darknarga2000]

What do we learn kids ? A minor key with a classical switch from tonic to dominant is always nice and epic

[@mushroomdude123]

Not sure how accurate this is, but I think Ultimate’s theme is sort of a fusion of Melee/Brawl/Smash Wii U’s openings. Like, I feel as if it borrows aspects from all 3 in some fashion.

[@jphdez15]

mushroomdude123 that's exactly what I was thinking!!!, specially considering that Smash Ultimate is bringing back every character in the series. I think it's kind of a way to make a homage of the entire series, so that's why it's taking parts of each previous piece of music

[@djangorainbow]

It most definitely is

[@lozofmusic6977]

I had the same feeling. I made an 8-bit medley of those themes and while I worked on it, I was really surprised, how well these themes fit together. In case of Ultimates Theme: The intro reminded me of Melee, in a later part, there's a string referencing Brawl (just before the song switches to the mellow part) and the overall style seems similar to Smash 4.

[@alejandrob5091]

mushroomdude123 especially in Zelda and sheiks part

[@jphdez15]

Lozof Music I just heard your work! Nice! Yeah I feel too that overall it's like smash 4 and for example the choral part I feel like it's a reference to brawl and when there's a calm violin it's similar to melee too (when Zelda and Sheik show up as also said in the comments)

[@ministermouse4491]

Brawls theme gets stuck in my head more often than I'd like to admit for having not played it in like 6 years

[@maaxorus]

I feel like Brawl was the most serious of the bunch, which is also reflected in the visual design: the colours were less saturated and the character models showed as much texture as possible.

[@dawk7]

So... how about that "Lifelight", the Ultimate song with lyrics? Real talk, this video is the first thing that came to mind once the lyrics kicked in. The contrast between the dramatic scene of the new story mode intro, the shining-ray-of-light-during-the-darkest-moment feeling of the lyrical song... paired with the visuals, and the situation itself. Things like the silly reactions of the characters. Nintendo back at it again, man. These guys really know how to string your feelings from all angles.

[@Uglynator]

Exactly this. I wanted to ask about the same thing.

[@jayglenn837]

Whadya mean "Brawl isn't the most fondly-remembered Smash game?" Memorable, awesome music and a story mode are just some of the qualities that will make Brawl my favorite Smash game for a long time.

[@notalex8003]

It's infamous due to competitive reasons.

[@MrLiquidhobo]

Totally Satire The competitive community, despite how prolific they seem, is a vocal minority.

[@FamilyTeamGaming]

It depends. Not only was Brawl considered a bad game for competitive play (a huge contrast to its predecessor Melee, which is a very popular competitive game to this day), gameplay-wise, a lot of it hasn't aged so well. Subspace Emissary is fondly remembered for its concept, but not really for its execution. The gameplay itself is also kind of lacking in the eyes of some people, the game is very floaty, it's very slow paced, combos are next to non-existent due to grotesquely low hitstun (13 frames to cancel any hitstun with airdodge, 25 to cancel with moves, compared to even Smash 4's 43 for airdodge and 47 for moves) and giant SDI multipliers making it easy to pop out of almost all multihit moves. Kind of going back into the competitive subject, these facts all add up into making Brawl arguably the most unbalanced Smash game to date - only a very select few characters in the game can be considered good, with a large majority of them being very bad, either because they're victims of the engine and had the potential to be good otherwise (Mario, Zelda/Sheik) or are just straight up badly executed (Pokémon Trainer with the stamina and type effectiveness mechanic). Brawl is still arguably the best Single Player experience in the series, but it is a game that undeniably has a lot of technical issues.

[@sak4933]

Brawl is definitely the MOST fondly remembered, based on the reception I've seen it get from most people in general. The competitive scene may favor Melee, but that's pretty much the only group that seems to remember/remotely care about Melee at all these days. And even they are split between Melee and 4! I'm very curious about how Ultimate will be percieved in the end.

[@FamilyTeamGaming]

Hmm, it's not necessarily the case. There is quite a bit of overlap, but a lot of players either play only Melee or only Smash 4. I don't know how fondly remembered Brawl would really be in the grand scheme of things. Most casual players I know moved on from Brawl many years ago and now play Smash 3DS if they still play Smash to begin with. Although it's the casual players that bring in the sales numbers, it's the competitive scene that keeps games alive and thriving for years on end, making every event they're in big as if it were their release date. And on that end, Brawl ended up with a lot of dirt in its name.

[@LimeGreenTeknii]

I feel like the Brawl theme being darker was a subconscious way of pleasing the hardcore fans. Remember when this game came out: It was on the Wii, and hardcore fans were getting turned off by all the shovelware by third parties and the more childish games by Nintendo. Even if it was a coincidence, it sure was at least fitting.

[@georgewilson7432]

Childish games like Mario Galaxy.

[@theoneonyoutube4925]

George Wilson Mario Galaxy is beautiful.

[@georgewilson7432]

I was being sarcastic.

[@kidcat3000]

Hmm, wasnt that when Zelda got a T rating?

[@samsonfgc3472]

Its somewhat ironic how brawl was pointedly made as hostile as possible towards the hardest core players (the competitive community) in spite of the presentation. I don't mean to get into the black hole of happiness that is the melee vs brawl debate that this comment might cause, so to stop it before it starts, melee was made without many real thoughts towards competitive play. It wasn't deliberately friendly, even though it ended up that way. Brawl, on the other hand, removed all of the intentional and unintentional reasons why melee was so friendly towards competitive play and then kept going, deliberately adding elements that made it hostile to competitive play. Those are facts. They are what my comment is based on. Don't argue with them. If you do, you are wrong. I love brawl, casual brawl is great, but competitive brawl is not.

[@AceStarThe3rd]

Fantastic video

[@otooandoh9556]

AceStarThe3rd Yo Ace! Love your videos man. Any plans for more KZbin uploads?

[@AceStarThe3rd]

Otoo Andoh Very soon!

[@sm4shconquest101]

AceStarThe3rd well hello

[@bubhoward8642]

AceStarThe3rd YAY

[@mehmetgokalpberk]

My hunk ace

[@modeseven8100]

Smash64 does have a main theme though, its repeated in the credits music. My heart is sinking from how you pushed it aside when its main theme influenced Melee greatly.

[@NormalGayBro]

The Brawl theme I think it's wonderful in how serious it is. Like it *IS* hilarious and *THAT'S* what I like about it. They have a whole friggin chorus singing in Latin. Like, that's amazing!!

[@lozofmusic6977]

I wanted to make an 8-bit cover of Ultimate's Theme, but quickly decided to make an entire main theme medley since I thought, the songs fit well together. I did notice some hints at different themes, but your video showed me much more interesting similarities - like the chord progressions - that I didn't even notice after working for hours with them. Your videos always manage to teach me a lot!

[@willbyrd5354]

I get so excited every time I see one of your videos in my sub box

[@MsErfwe]

Hmm I'm also curious about how music from each character's original game gets rearranged to fit the tone of whatever smash game it's being used in! (They *are* orchestrated differently, right?)

[@8bitMusicTheory]

Oooh smash vid pt. 2

[@MisterAppleEsq]

That would be fun to watch.

[@Jona69]

I would love more on smash :D

[@RainbowLizardOne]

I've always got the impression that they just got a bunch of big video game composers, had them take whatever music they wanted remixed and had them do whatever, but I could be wrong.

[@XXmatt18XX]

8-bit Music Theory plzzzzzz

[@ponocni1]

It kinda makes sence that brawl would be "darker" then rest of the entries when you consider subspace emmisary. That shit was in context of SSB really dark.

[@zachrodan7543]

I can't believe how well lifelight fits the brawl intro cutscene. all those emphatic frames line up nicely with the high points of the musical phrasing perfecty

[@DawnDashi]

"squidling"

[@pedrogomezid]

The ‘emotional’ part of Melee’s Opening still sends shivers down my spine

[@FinalGamerJames]

I think you managed to perfectly pinpoint exactly why I love Smash Bros. so much with that Serious Humour note. Excellent stuff.

[@oliviapg]

Can you do a video about Celeste's music? It has some amazing tunes that really set the tone of the game and inspire you to push forward

[@michaelnishiguchi3176]

GoldenGaming12621 I've been hoping for a Celeste video as well. It's s sooo good!

[@QuarrelsomeLocalOaf]

Completely unrelated to the game and its OST, but "Celeste" is also a killer French black metal band if you're into that kinda thing. lol

[@the1zeldafan609]

YUSSSS

[@oledakaajel]

I think he's intentionally avoiding Celeste for some reason. He probably doesn't want to analyse the music too much

[@SamUnderStars]

Please do.

[@Michirin9801]

Goddamnit, even though I'm not into Smash, Brawl's music gives me the chills... I can't help it, it's bloody great!

[@dogman15]

6:03 - this melody also appears in one of the Kirby games, but I can't remember which one right now. Same composer, though - Jun Ishikawa.

[@marcw.4077]

Kirby super star, great cave offensive in save points

[@dogman15]

Which track played it in Brawl?

[@marcw.4077]

Dogman15 oops I'm wrong this one is in Melee not Brawl

[@dogman15]

Yes, that melody first appeared in Kirby Super Star by Jun Ishikawa (according to you), and then Jun used it again in the main theme of Melee's opening video, revised slightly. But then the theme from Kirby Super Star was heard again in one of the tracks featured in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and I don't have the time right now to do the research on which one or other details.

[@TheViolaBuddy]

It's Butter Building.

[@RobinLSL]

Great analysis as always! I really like how you pointed out the "energetic and serious, but not too much" atmosphere and how the Brawl theme kind of failed at that. I find it really cool that the themes of Melee, 4 and U are linked with those harmonic progressions. Oh, and... tiny mistake at 8:38, you forgot the natural on the C!

[@ChrisLiusamus]

The funny thing is 8:30 reminds me of those dreaded bach chorale exercises and yet it was done beautifully. I also think the difference between brawl and melee/ultimate/4 really goes to show how much that raised 7th changes the tone in a minor piece. In fact I think dorian mode typically sounds medieval too but I never really got that vibe from smash tbh. Great video though! I love music theory and video game soundtracks can be so good- hearing analysis on it is really cool

[@freeklukas5397]

this is a real gem on youtube. Watch it, watch it again. Watch it again. then became a patreon. Please keep this up.The best channel on youtube ever!

[@giulytsme]

Now i love Smash music even more! Thank you! ♡

[@khdayskh1314]

Honestly when you showed the Brawl clips with new music, I didn't find it fitting at all. I think it shows the amount of effort that was put into renewing the tone of the series for Brawl, and that they actually succeeded with recementing it. At least with me.

[@aggressivebuttonmasher5486]

It's the tone he wants you to focus on I believe

[@ChunkyTheClown]

Especially the part with Samus looking at her suit. It didn’t fit at all. Ike didn’t really do anything so I guess it fit there and Wario is Wario but even he appeared more menacing than normal, so I still vote for the original track. I’d argue that Smash 4’s theme could POSSIBLY work better if the visuals were re-cut to fit it, but there was just too much effort put into making it unique for such a simple change to sound better than the original track.

[@mattbarker97]

Honestly you are one of my absolute favorite KZbin channels ever. And I don't have a clue what you're talking about 90% of the time. Keep it up man!

[@a_Fax_Machine]

Thanks for including the "Smashing... Live!" version of Fountain of Dreams at the end of the video. That albums is one of my favorite arrangements ever.

[@WillowTheCrisp]

Love love LOVE this. Wonderful job as always, and never a bad thing to keep the hype train going for Ultimate.

[@BacunNG]

Hell yes, Smash music is always the best

[@aamadeo28]

Hey! One thing I really like that you did with this video was showing some of the "alternatives" for how the music could have been written. (When you talked about straightening out the 16th notes, for example.) For me, it really helps highlight the choices that the composers made, and the intuition behind those decisions. So thanks!

[@waifuluver2727]

this is honestly the absolute best video you have ever done. i can tell that you have lots of passion for the subject. great job!

[@KyvannShrike]

.... why didn't I know Uematsu wrote Brawl's theme....

[@KotagMaster]

KyvannShrike my exact thought.

[@Richmo_]

Brawl was also made in the early 2000's; the Earth's emo phase.

[@sebastianw.7254]

It's not necessarily an "emo" theme, though

[@setesh1294]

@@sebastianw.7254 it's more gothic.

[@N12015]

Late 2000's aka early gen 7. It just takes itself so seriously that it's kinda absurd. How many R.O.B died in that game?

[@gusandy]

I recently became a Patron! I love me some Music Theory! (I'm a Music Ed Major) I'm super excited to have access to your transcriptions! I also can't wait to support you more than just being a subscriber on KZbin! I am looking forward to watching more of your videos!

[@chuckchuk14]

I really love how you are now PLAYING your theoreticals so we can hear them. Such as in 2:52 where you play how it WOULD be without the consistent base. That REALLY REALLY helps and I always wished you did that on some of your older videos so I'm so happy to see you do that now! That's great! Thanks for that! :) and please keep doing it! It helps immensely.

[@mRidley508]

You better do this for Lifelight lol

[@RainbowLizardOne]

I think the comic seriousness angle with brawl is kind of the point of the whole entire game, as well as just that song, and it works really really well from that angle. Conversely, I really don't like the interchangeable, generic High Energy Action Themes that kind of drain away the unique identity from smash 4 and ultimate.

[@LilyTengoku]

rainbow_lizard They aren't interchangeable. The Ultimate theme sounds more epic and orchestral while Smash for 3DS and Wii U sounds far more whimsical. The instruments matter too.

[@burp2019]

saw Brawl's theme put over Ultimate and it just fits

[@stephenbaillargeon5619]

If there was a part 2 to this video discussing just the orchestration, I'd be so excited. As it is, this was really good and I always feel inspired to compose whenever new videos come out on this channel.

[@andrewgerardo2349]

Brawl has the best theme gets me soooo pumped especially the cutscene from sub space with the ships flying out to the canon soooo cool!

[@SJrad]

Brawl ost is so good

[@linkVIII]

Something about the wii u theme I really don't like. Glad the game let's you even select menu music.

[@Lightning-gg5iu]

linkviii What, Wii u theme is sick

[@JC19021]

I have the same feeling about Ultimates and you can’t change it without being WOL.

[@theminivann]

I love you 8-bit Music Theory. Always overjoyed when a new video is out.

[@thehypist2587]

Super Smash Bros. has such great music, no wonder it's such an amazing franchise. Great work on the vid!

[@MikeBachful]

Did u always understand music so well or did u learn how to recognize music patterns and stuff like this over time? Because i straight up cant notice alot of the similarities and musical themes you talk about lol

[@r0berito]

MikeBachful Some people are more analytical than others, observant, interested in patterns etc, but in the end I'm pretty sure Mr. 8 Bit has some years of music education both behind and, hopefully for us, ahead of him. I've barely played any of the games but I love all the videos

[@Roxfox]

Understanding is always something that comes with time. You can't understand something unless you're willing to sit down and meticulously take it apart because you're just that curious about what makes it tick. And even then, the first few times, all you get is random pieces that you don't know what to do with. The context comes with experience and education. Pick apart enough things and you'll begin to notice what they have in common, and in the context of how the pieces are used, you will start to figure out why. That's how you can start to get an actual understanding of why music works the way it does, and how composers use their techniques as means to an end. Or anything else, for that matter! The only thing that arguably comes naturally is the curiosity and the motivation to act on it.

[@Mystik3eb]

So you think Nobuo's piece goes too far to land the serious humor? I think I agree...though I still love it. ...also, this is dumb, but my buddys and I always sang "I'll be the Maaaarth..." to the opening lines of the main melody. Now you always will, too. You're welcome.

[@Elleshiny]

No thx I prefer the original lyrics. Come on it's so cool that they are in latin!

[@cephalonblue5991]

Dan Scannell let me change that for you. (All) I eat a log. Me be blue. So was it a bee. And I chased by Salami. Call me papa. Me be me. Weak red head. And there’s meat next to me. (Female voice) I throw up minigolf (Guy singing) I am only five years (Male Choir) Despacito (Female Choir) Three foreman (All) They are the peoples feeding OMELETS!! IN HELL!

[@jonathanevans4623]

The best, as always. In this video I also appreciate the mild digress to lighting, mechanics, and other things in Smash that make it so wonderful, and how the music ties it all together. You're the man!

[@TeaquestSagas]

I never knew that I needed music theories in my life, but you tought me otherwise. Brilliant channel, I'm loving everything I've seen so far!

[@Tsicky]

Mee-Lee?!?! I’m dead😂

[@Ghst-kr2uk]

Micah why? That’s how you say it isn’t it?

[@someguy2350]

Gh0st I can't tell if you're joking or not.

[@leerv.]

It rhymes with "May Day", just in case you weren't joking. Like the other person said, it's hard to tell. :P

[@joshuajames1291]

I've never clicked on a notification that fast

[@kinggordoproductions6203]

8:22 Yep, same here... Also I love how you ended with "Fountain of Dreams" in the background; that piece was literally what first got me into music. Love you're videos!

[@KunstruktionSammlung]

wow first time i watched a video from you and i must say it was awesome! especially how emiotional i got at the lydian,dorian and the nice chord progression part :D

[@AIRdance777]

Alright, which of the smash themes are your guys' favorites? I think the intro to Melee is easily top 10 videogames intros of all time

[@Lightning-gg5iu]

CriticalCrass I really like Smash 4, especially when the guitars kick, and the drums start going crazy

[@justbny9278]

CriticalCrass brawl

[@videogameprof]

kinda difficult. id have to put brawl's as my least favorite. i cant seem to play it off the top of my head. not saying i dislike it though. it takes smash as seriously as i do.

[@COCmcGameSupport]

Brawl even though melee is the better game

[@oles9196]

I like the Brawl theme the most. Its so dramatic and its like Fight or die this is no fricking this is WAR! The other ones, espacialy U and Ultimate are like lets have a Party and that doesnt fit in my Opinion. Let Nintendo have his edgy Fighting Game.

[@qwerp3]

I prefer Wii U's and ultiamtes step back from the gritty look of brawl.

[@TheUnicornslayer]

wii u was the least memorable theme and just downright mediocre

[@qwerp3]

4 C I would say 64's was least memorable.

[@pukmin4498]

SoulHealingBeats Blackdemon Expect that smash brothers isn't a edgy fighting game.

[@anomaly395]

SoulHealingBeats Blackdemon I agree, I adore the epic and grand, dramatic tone they gave Brawl, it gave the game such an epic fashion which was phenomenal. Now it's just lighthearted and cheery, ugh.

[@SoulEssence]

Aw man, this stuff is so cool. Just seeing the basic foundation for a music piece even though I don't even understand it...it's so neat. I love these videos so much...even though I have little interest in this general subject, so thank you so much, 8bit. I wish I understood animation better so that I could explain it in a way that non-animators would find neat. Or genuinely interesting and engaging.

[@PatchFact]

Another outstanding video as always, I swear this channel keeps me afloat

[@YingwuUsagiri]

We found one! We found another one saying Mealy. Maylay.

[@henrygutierrez3243]

I was just reviewing the Smash themes and this went exactly through my head. I still love to death Melee's theme while honestly disliking Brawl's. I don't dislike the music itself, heavens no, I dislike the overall tone it tries to set for the game. I remember the first time I heard the song for the game. It was jarring. I felt a mix of hype and excitement, but it all also felt off somehow. I'm sure that this is where people will start to call me a Melee fanboy, and while to an extent I am, I can also take a step back and look at it's flaws as well. Brawl's tone is too serious. It's too melodramatic. Every time I hear it's main theme I change the song because it simply feels off with the game, and quite frankly doesn't fit at all. Again, it's a beautiful track to listen to, just not with a smash game (honestly would fit right in in a fire emblem game). As for why I like Melee's track so much, well, it just fits. It's never too dramatic, too intense, and no one part of the song overstays its welcome. The theme is constantly going places which is something that can't be said of the Smash 4 and Smash Ultimate themes. They have 1 part that they constantly focus on while throwing in small bits to add a bit more drama. Melee's theme has one major dramatic bit and it carries much more of an impact for it. Melee's theme encapsulates just what smash is: a fun, cartoony, fighting game with our favorite childhood characters where everyone can have a good time. It's not serious (which is ironic since Melee became the most competitive smash of them all).

[@unsureprobablymaybe3527]

I think you're a melee fanboy, brawls music fits and is miles ahead of generic smash4 and cringe anime english op smash ultimate

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

Would like to see more of all the "medley" potential of all the Smash games' main themes. It feels that some of them are like amped up versions of previous iterations. Like how Melee's main theme feels like Smash64's "Result theme" but maxed out. :D

[@DallenMalna]

I wish I knew more about music. Your videos always fill me with wonder for the craft and make me feel better. Thank you for doing what you do

[@TheMarionick]

My top 5 Smash Bros themes: 5: 64 4: Melee 3: Wii U 2: Ultimate 1: Brawl

[@Luaporleafcutterant]

For me it's 5:64 4:Ultimate 3:Melee 2:Brawl 1:Wii u

[@ericb5328]

INKLING! not squidling. Frick!!

[@SquidInkPizza]

Eric B Mhm

[@elrondo_6730]

Watch your language sir

[@ericb5328]

Big Smoke my bad. I lost control

[@Gamesforus1]

Eric B But aren't octolings technically inklings since they use ink

[@chasebrazil2011]

Gamesforus But aren't sharks a species of dolphin because they do the same thing and look generally very similar?

[@UltimateTS64]

Ima be honest and say I never really understand the stuff in these videos but I'm so intrigued by them and I learn a lot, even if I don't remember it that much. Keep up the good work

[@The_pebble_music]

I needed this channel so hard. Thank you, sir.

[@Idazmi7]

In other words: a tone like a Marvel Movie.

[@bradmurray1736]

Idazmi7 no a marvel movie is set up seriously but is under cut with humor in smash the humor is the the fact that it treated seriously

[@Idazmi7]

+Brad Murray Close enough.

[@DoYouLiekMudkipz_]

More like Marvel movies have a tone similar to Smash since Smash predates the current MCU.

[@Idazmi7]

+Do you liek Mudkipz True that.

[@shrimpchris6580]

Except not bad

[@LoneOtaku158]

9:34 Brawl isn’t fondly remembered because competitive players complained about how it wasn’t Melee. Brawl is actually better than Melee in every way when it comes to the goofy 4-player fun it was designed to be. Besides, this is the same community that won’t let you play on Final Destination; it has to be _omega_ Final Destination. Competitive Smash is a parody of itself.

[@videogameprof]

eehhh, id say you could the same amount of goofy stuff in both games, in a more adept player's opinion, melee felt better than brawl. (smash 4 feels better than brawl too.). as for the omega final destination thing, there is a point in the stage that the stage becomes so bright it will create silhouettes of the characters and quickly fade to white in a split second. split seconds are crucial in fighting games. it's just the communtiy trying to be as fair as possible.

[@FamilyTeamGaming]

...What? First of all, there's no difference between Final Destination and Omega Final Destination. Sadly, both of them turn characters into silhouettes at one point. Second, what do you have against competitive anyway? Most competitive players don't actually dismiss casual play, a lot of the ones you see doing that don't even play the game to begin with. If anything, I see more casuals bashing competitive. Way more.

[@LoneOtaku158]

FamilyTeamGaming It’s mostly competitive Melee I don’t like. It’s literally the same three stages (Final Destination, Battlefield, Battlefield with moving platformd) and the same few characters (Marth, Jigglypuff, Fox/Falco) every time! It’s personally boring to watch.

[@FamilyTeamGaming]

Final Destination, Battlefield, DL64, Fountain of Dreams and Stadium all see quite a lot of use. Fox, Falco, Marth, Sheik, Jigglypuff and Peach all tend to have representation in tournaments, and the rest of the Top 12 (Samus, Falcon, Pikachu, Doc, Luigi, Yoshi) do see use by some players that make it decently far into most tournaments. That's nearly half the cast.

[@gogglebrains]

Totally agree. To each his own Smash Bros preference, and I can totally see why the competitive scene doesn't prefer Brawl, but as a non-competitive normie it was basically just an upgrade across the board. My friends and I didn't look back and Brawl was our go-to for years.

[@Fanchen]

I'm so in love with this channel. There's lots to relate to and learn from.

[@connormangelson4894]

I absolutely love these themes, now i know what makes them so beautiful. Thanks dude! Subbed.

[@howard_blast]

Disappointed that we didn't get to hear more on Smash Bros for N64. Best soundtrack of the series by far.

[@braintrope4736]

Libido Kamen Wait, really? I find it hard to think that N64 has the best soundtrack when it has the least original tracks and least amount of tracks in general by far. Is there something about the sound of the game that appeals to you specifically?

[@howard_blast]

Personally, I feel it has the most aesthetic definition to it. It has a very vast atmosphere to it while at the same time having a sort "underground" feeling. Take this short chime for example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmq6douwe8-LepI Extremely articulate. I don't feel that future installments had this thematic concentration.

[@braintrope4736]

Libido Kamen Ah, I see (or hear, I guess) what you mean. I personally prefer Brawl's original music, but I can definitely see why you'd prefer N64.

[@howard_blast]

Brawl definitely had a lot of great originals and remixes.

[@lozofmusic6977]

I miss Meta Crystal :,( But, yeah, I do like the 64 soundtrack a lot, too. All songs together are homogenous, which makes it much more interesting to listen to the entire soundtrack, while in other installments you'd just look for your favourite remix. That's probably the reason, why I made an 8-bit album for this game, and not for any other game yet.

[@Mathematrix7]

Ultimate theme doesn’t fit over brawl because brawl had a darker, more serious aesthetic. I wish the new games were darker and more serious like melee and brawl

[@Hero_2222]

Voyager Why would smash be dark and realistic?

[@munzutai]

To have one of my most favorite music related channels cover one of my most favorite game series of all time is almost too much for me to handle. Thank you so much for this.

[@lulimdying720]

now that you point out the music coincidences with Melee and Smash4 makes even more sense now that we know that Ultimate is basically using core elemente of Melee and Smash4 in its gameplay, and well, the music i really love your videos

[@bearyboy9088]

Sry, but Smash Bros. is always serious and will always be serious

[@kurag5198]

Your telling me a pink puffball fighting a dog and a bird on a Mario shaped planet is serious,are you feeling well

[@edsantosIsMusic]

*you're, not your

[@kurag5198]

Not to be rude but I really don’t care

[@IDK-gd6uk]

Beary Boy Funny joke.

[@Dingus_Khaan]

This is serious business.

[@gena1384]

But don't let that distract you from the fact that Waluigi isn't in Smash

[@kurag5198]

It would be nice if he was but honestly I couldn’t care less about that right now

[@Nipponing]

gena138 Good

[@BitchChill]

I don't care about Waluigi and I'm glad he didn't make it

[@kurag5198]

If you don’t care about him then why are you glad he’s not in?

[@BitchChill]

C.A.G Jr Because his fanbase

[@QtipYT]

just found this channel and i love it. Keep up the good content man! :3

[@pieinyourface1]

Wow are all of your videos this informative and well executed? You have a great thing going on here definitely subscribing.

[@intheairex]

8-bit Music Theory called Brawl theme trash My disappointment is immeasurable and my day ruined

[@Catmomila]

+InTheAir He didn't though?

[@intheairex]

Gaspoov I disagree with the statement that Brawl’s theme music doesn’t fit the game. Smash and hyperbolic opinions go hand in hand with each other.

[@swagar]

He said it was "an incredibly strong composition", "so satisfying to listen to from beginning to end", and described the bridge as "one of the most beautiful eight bars of music I've ever heard". What video were you watching?

[@BeeFizzle]

lol yeah he complimented the piece , and what he didnt like was how it fit with the game itself

[@jasonstroude1414]

Briar Foley It didn't. Brawl was high key garbage

[@juanchis.investigadorsonoro]

I love your videos, I wish I knew much more about music theory. Keep on rocking :D

[@potentialPizza8]

Shit, love your channel, and did NOT expect you to open up your point with one of my favorite plot points from one of my absolute favorite manga. Awesome!

[@Dhooparty]

Wonderful video! That A section progression is so killer

[@JonnDthunDer]

Fantastic video, great look at the different elements that give the series its iconic sounds. I love it.

[@monami165]

I always knew there were something amazing behind every iteration of smash themes but I couldn't pinpoint it until this video! Thank you so much @8-bit Music Theory!!!

[@alexcolin8807]

Instant subscribe, booy this video was amazing , thank you for the awesome work. And keep it up! Music theory is something I always wanted to study and this inspires me to do so ! thank you so much :3 Cheers from México :'D

[@ktvx.94]

Great vid! I can't believe how strongly similar those tracks are, and I never noticed! I feel like I could make a Smash piece now lol.

[@TaraRaeDev]

Sick vid! Loved this episode. Thanks so much!

[@CortlandtMatthews]

Great video! I think the real charm of the Brawl music lies in something you touched on earlier in this video. There’s an element of camp in scoring the heightened drama of the subspace emissary, even though these are still a child’s figurines. The brawl soundtrack is one of my favourites in the series because it really embraces the absurd

[@Dripple-zk9mf]

I wanted to make a video like this before I knew this one existed. This is way better than anything I could've came up with. Good job

[@SF24_Joker]

Personally while I understand what you're saying about Brawl's contrasting tone to the rest of the series, I think it's tone absolutely fits for Brawl specifically, as a lot of the tone in the game in general was designed to be a bit grittier than the games before it, a tone that was walked back on in later installments which is why we see their music returning to a tone more similar to the style we find in Melee.