For a die-hard gamer, Video Games Live is a special event. It’s a celebration of gaming’s greatest music, from the earliest era of Pong to the modern days of Halo. All of this is done in front of a massive video screen, and played out by an orchestra. It’s spectacular. This CD, however, is not.
Part of the appeal of Video Games Live is the fact that... well, it’s live. A whopping three of these tracks are recorded from their live shows. The other eight are still the Video Game Live mixes of the themes, but lacking the energy one should expect from the show.
Take the final track, a mixture of the best of the Castlevania series. Co-creator of Video Games Live Tommy Tallarico energizes the crowd before letting loose on his guitar, sending the crowd into a frenzy. It adds so much to the experience, and while you’re still missing out on the screen portion (truly critical to the Medal of Honor track), it captures at least a small part of the energy.
That’s not to say the music here isn’t good. The "Halo Suite", "Warcraft Suite", and "Civilization Medley" are wonderful. The "Tetris Piano Opus" is probably a better choice than the live show (which uses a far less known track from the arcade original version of the game), but it only lasts a minute.
Other inclusions, including the theme from Tron, are out of place here and at the live event. If you’re celebrating the work done by gaming artists over the years, why include a movie theme even if it was influential? Also, as mentioned above, the somber Medal of Honor piece works far better with the drastic and gripping images of the actual war playing in the background.
This is volume one of a set, and likewise, there’s too much missing here. Where’s the retro compilation? Where is the spectacular Mario Bros. theme? Did we forget Zelda? This CD has been in the works for some time, and to not have those crucial tracks on the disc is unforgivable, more so if we have to wait this long for the second volume. Deciding against putting those mixes on the disc only makes the Tron snafu stand out even more.
It’s hard to say this compilation is awful. The music itself is superb, as are these original takes on the themes. The entire thing feels like a missed opportunity though, and maybe (just maybe) when the second volume is released many of the mistakes and omissions will be corrected. Make this thing truly live, or it’s not worth the effort.
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