FF song bracket: Round 1, Group 14

[Flintlock]

Pick your four favourite songs from the selection above!

If you can't decide on just four, you can vote for as many as you want, but only in one poll of the 20 in the first round. The full list of upcoming polls can be found here - this spreadsheet has also been updated with game and voter stats based on the results of closed polls, so check it out!

You can listen to the songs in the playlist below.

This poll will be open for three days, and at least four songs will qualify for the next round.

Alternative names for these songs include:

Forbidden Land - "The Forbidden Land Eureka"
The Chase - "Crazy Motorcycle"

For more information on this event, visit the discussion thread.

Spoiler: Newer versions of NES songs

 

[Roger]

Honourable mentions to Battle 2, Dungeon, Mining Town, The Great Warrior and Roses of May. If I still had my veto, I'd have used it here.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Phew... well it was almost a battle frenzy up in here, but I balanced it out with some of the later entries.

The Man With The Machine Gun from FF8 is probably my favorite regular battle theme of all time (though Blinded By Light gives it a run for its money).

The Final Battle of FF5 is an amazing final boss theme and has tension and anxiety mixed with excitement and heroism. It's exactly what a final boss theme should be.

Honorable mention to FF4's Battle 2 which just barely missed the cut.

The Black Mage Village is a guilty pleasure song of mine. It's not one of the greatest tracks and may not even be the greatest in this playlist objectively, but I just love it.

Evil Savior. I may be the only one to vote for this, but I love the sinister feel the oppression. You really can see the image of the darkened streets of Luxerion where monsters lurk around every corner. It's an oppression we haven't really felt in a Final Fantasy game since Trail of Blood in FF7 (though Succession of Witches can be scary in its own way).

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

Ended up choosing this poll for my extra votes. I checked ahead, and this is the only one where I had trouble narrowing it down to 4. All the future ones I have narrowed down to four.

 

[Lex]

Well this was tough.

Dungeon, Great Warrior, Melodies of Life and Roses of May. I feel terrible that I couldn't vote for The Chase, Man with the Machine Gun, Shadow's Theme and Black Mage Village, but them's the breaks with these polls.

 

[Ghost X]

Battle 2 (Final Fantasy IV)
The Final Battle (Final Fantasy V)
The Chase (Final Fantasy VII) (gotta love it ).
Roses of May (Final Fantasy IX)

 

[Flare]

Forbidden land
Man with the Machine Gun - Couldn't not vote for this one; it's one of my favorite battle themes I've ever heard in an FF game.
Melodies of Life - Wonderful vocal song, I love the words to it. Also, yes, it holds nostalgia for me.
Roses of May - Beautiful song, yet again, that's from IX.

 

[AvecAloes]

Ok, this one was turbo difficult, too. Do I choose the song that plays while we learn Barret's tragic backstory, or the ridiculously sad Nanaki song? I hate all of these decisions you're forcing me to make

Final Battle
Mining Town
The Chase
Man with the Machine Gun

 

[Airling]

I surrender. Throwing in my joker and voting for everything just because I can.

 

[The G'randiest' Daddy]

Well, it happened. I used my joker. Had to vote for nearly everything, and I just couldn't figure a way to drop stuff I wanted, so yeah.

 

[Flintlock]

The poll will close in a little over 24 hours.

My top pick is The Great Warrior. Lyk if u cry evrytim.

My other picks are Dungeon, The Final Battle and Shadow's Theme - I can't believe how few votes Shadow's Theme has!

Honourable mentions to Battle 2, The Chase and Melodies of Life.

 

[Monterosa]

My top four

Battle 2 Come on, this is just so awesome. I mean that literally. From the instant the melody begins, Battle 2 lets you know that shit's getting real and you should start paying attention. It just never lets up, and my heart keeps pounding. With FFVII and FFXIII, this is the best "regular" boss theme. I've put this on 30 minute loop on YouTube and 7 minutes in I don't think I can stop it.

Dungeon Phew... I've recovered some self-control... And this song makes for an excellent denouement. I wasn't expecting a song with such a generic name to be so impressive (then again, look at "Battle 2" above). This song is darkly atmospheric but the harp and flute melodies lend it a sense of peace that I find rather enchanting. (If only it weren't constantly interrupted in game by the random battle music.)

The Great Warrior When the flute and percussion come in at 0:55, I'm a goner. It almost doesn't matter that "The Great Warrior" accompanies such a heartbreaking moment of the game – the song alone is understated, tragic, beautiful. My top pick.

It's unlike me to pick so many old songs given that I'm not such a fan of the instrument samples from back in the day, so I think the fact that I've chosen these three is a true testament to the strength of their compositions.

Here's my fourth:

Melodies Of Life ～ FINAL FANTASY This is not my favourite vocal theme, but it's still a goodie. With vocals beautifully performed by Emiko Shiratori (in both Japanese and English versions), it then transforms into the "Final Fantasy" theme for a rousing finish that brings out the smiling nerd in us all. Choosing this makes up for me not voting for "Prologue" (FFIV) back in group 10.

Honourable mentions
Shadow's Theme
The Chase
Mining Town
The Man With The Machine Gun (I'm growing to kind of love this, finally)
The Evil Savior

 

[Kuroto]

I'm a bit late but here are the pieces that I voted for.

Battle 2 - Another good theme from IV. It really have the feel that something is happening and it's time to fight. It has a nice melody and harmony too.

Shadow's Theme - Probably my favourite theme from FFVI. Shadow is a lone wolf and this theme is just perfect for him. It's very western for sure, but I really like it, especially the whistled melody.

Melodies of Life - I just love almost all of the songs in the FF franchise. This especially is really beautiful. Emiko Shiratori has such a beautiful voice, bright and soft at the same time. I think this piece was just perfect for the ending of FFIX.

The Evil Saviour - This is another piece from the LR soundtrack that is just beautiful. It has a certain feeling of threat but also serenity. The piece uses only a few elements but puts them together beautifully.

Honorable mention goes to The Chase which lost to The Evil Saviour.

EDIT: And another honorable mention to Roses of May. Didn't vote for it because it's going through even without my vote.

 

[Flintlock]

This poll is now closed. The songs which have definitely made it into the top 100 are:

The Great Warrior
Melodies of Life
Roses of May

If your favourite song isn't on this list, don't despair! It might still get in as one of the best runners-up. The songs with the best chance of qualifying in this manner are:

Battle 2
The Final Battle
The Chase
The Man with the Machine Gun
Black Mage Village

That's the power of jokers for you. Thanks for voting!