With nearly four decades of Final Fantasy titles, and a full original soundtrack for each, legendary Final Fantasy series music composer Nobuo Uematsu quickly rose to fame as one of the most influential and accomplished musicians within the gaming industry.
Read More: How PlayStation Launched JRPGs in the West
With his main works spanning Final Fantasy 1 through 11, and many more soundtracks to non-Final Fantasy related titles, Uematsu has had quite the career, so it should come as no surprise that his work on Final Fantasy VI was instrumental to the game’s success.
Initial Fantasy
Being in my mid-thirties, I grew up with Nintendo, PlayStation, SEGA and Xbox consoles and was practically spoiled for choice. The game libraries for each of these were huge, especially the PS2, but the one series I always factored in when asking my parents for a new console was Final Fantasy.
From the very first moment I saw a childhood friend play Final Fantasy 7, I knew there was just something special about it. Sure, it had great character development, full-motion videos (FMV’s) and visuals that were truly groundbreaking for their time, but a large part of that came down to the music.
The music expertly set the pace for each action sequence, every combat encounter, every deep, meaningful and emotional scene, and only intensified with the more prominent boss battles.
Final Fantasy 7 got me into the series and it wouldn’t be half as memorable as it is for me today, had it not been for the haunting, emotional and action packed notes laced throughout the adventure.
This is part one of five in my multi-part series of The Music of Final Fantasy, where I divulge my thoughts and feelings of why Final Fantasy music is so special, what my top three favourite tracks of Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, IX and X are, and why.
Final Fantasy VI
Having jumped into the series from the seventh entry, way back in 1998, a good year or so after its initial release, I hadn’t played anything prior to Final Fantasy 7. This was largely due to the fact new games were constantly being released, and with games advancing both mechanically and visually at such a rapid pace, I often found myself wanting the latest games, never really giving thought to the hidden gems of the past.
It wasn’t until I was quite a bit older that I started to care less about my backlog and just go with whatever I was feeling at the time, and with such praise given to Final Fantasy VI (6), it was only a matter of time before I got to experience it first-hand.
While the visuals may seem like a massive step back to some, I personally found sprites (the pixellated characters of the 16-Bit era) to have a certain charm to them, but it wasn’t until I actually played FFVI, that I could fully grasp just how well it had aged, both mechanically and from a story perspective.
The Decisive Battle
As it turns out, Final Fantasy VI is an absolute beast of a game, and the music is up there with the best of the series.
In first place we have The Decisive Battle. With its fast and catchy notes you’ll find yourselves humming for years to come, The Decisive Battle gets you fully in the mood to Suplex a haunted train and give that dastardly little squid, Ultros, a good old pummeling. Not only is this my favourite track of FFVI, it’s one of the best battle tracks in the entire series period.
Without spoilers, I highly recommend playing this. The art direction of the Pixel Remaster wasn’t for me, but if you can get a hold of the original Steam version on PC, then I highly recommend playing with the Atma Weapon+Brave Steel mods. With a selection of different sprites, tweaks and even music to choose from (the opera has been fully voiced), I can’t imagine replaying FF6 any other way.
You can see the mods in action here. If you’re on console and modding isn’t an option, your best bet is to just grab the Pixel Remaster.
Shadow’s Theme
In second place is Shadow’s Theme, and if you know anything about Shadow, you’ll know him as the mysterious figure with a heart of gold (and a dog named Interceptor). If however, you’ve not played FFVI and only had an image to go by, you’d find yourself looking at a stereotypical cloaked Assassin, with a severely out of place theme song.
It’s not until you really get to know Shadow, that you realise just how much this track actually suits him.
With a ‘mysterious stranger’ kind of vibe, Shadow’s Theme is eerily reminiscent of the tracks you’d most commonly associate with old Wild West/Western films.
While a somewhat slower rendition than anything he produced, the influence of Ennio Morricone’s masterful work is there, and I just find it incredible how such a serene track can remain so iconic and unique to Final Fantasy VI, and yet remain comparable to that of the main theme to A Fistful of Dollars.
Edgar and Sabin’s Theme
In last place for my top three favourite tracks of Final Fantasy VI is “Edgar and Sabin’s theme” – two brothers sent in two wildly different directions.
Edgar is the eldest of the two and is King of Figaro Castle. He also utilises the incredibly powerful “Tool” ability, frequently obliterating his enemies with his Auto-Crossbow and Chainsaw. He’s seriously overpowered, but that seems to be the case with his entire bloodline.
Equally devastating is Edgar’s younger brother Sabin – the guy who most famously managed to Suplex a train by utilising his Blitz ability – a selection of moves that vary in power and require fast and precise button inputs to pull off.
Every time I visited Figaro Castle, I couldn’t help but hum this theme over and over again. It’s fun, upbeat, sears itself into your brain, and yet somehow manages to never become annoying. Kefka’s theme was very close to securing this spot, but when it comes down to it, I find Edgar and Sabin’s Theme to be that much more memorable.
To Conclude
At the end of the day, everything is subjective, as our likes and dislikes are each personal to the individual, and with so many tracks to choose from, it’s highly likely some of your favourites didn’t make the cut.
That said, we’d love to know what your top three picks are, and if you enjoyed this article, be sure to check back every Friday as I next talk about my favourite tracks of Final Fantasy VII.
Would you rank anything differently? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter/X @CaptainCortez.