Ten Awesome Square Tracks you may have Missed.

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If there is one thing SE has always done very well, it is having some stellar music for their games. This article will share 10 pieces of music from across the franchise that fans may have missed. Some are either from low key titles, others from games never released out of Japan. Yet no matter which game Square has always been top notch in their music.

10. Song of Mana -Legend of Mana


Composed by Yoko Shimomura and perfromed by Annika Ljungberg, this is the main theme of the overlooked Legend of Mana game for the PS1. It is a gorgeous peace with a slight Celtic theme to it's instrumentation. It is the first Mana track to ever feature vocals in the series. While Legend of Mana has faded to obscurity this particular song has actually been featured on a number of "Best of Square" collections.

9. Within Living Memory - Front Mission


Composed by Noriko Matsueda and Yoko Shimomura for the original Front Mission on the SNES, this was the somber ending theme to a series that doesn't get enough love. It was remixed into an awesome smooth jazz piece for one of the Squenix Remix collections.

8. Wanderer ~ The Theme of the Sundown Kid - Live A Live


Another Yoko Shimomura track, this time from the lost gem Live A Live which was a quirky RPG done by Takashi Tokita (FFIV, FFIV:TAY, FF Dimensions) and this was one of the character themes for, you guessed it, the Wild West character. It has a nice spaghetti western feel to it.

7. The Successor - Final Fantasy VIII


Okay, so this isn't from some obscure Square game made on the SNES and the game itself has several popular tracks and is a favorite among many. Still, I feel this is one of the game's best tracks and it's only played once in the entire game which is why I rarely see it get mentioned in topics about this game's soundtrack. The haunting piano theme and dark opening which leads to a more hopeful and childlike melody as the game progresses perfectly encapsulates Squall's character and the game's ending. Easily one of many great tracks by Nobuo Uematsu.

6. Singing Mountain - Chrono Trigger


Another track from a famous game but this track was actually not in the original Chrono Trigger, it was cut out for reasons unknown and didn't find it's proper place until the DS port a few years back which featured it in one of the new optional dungeons. This is a gorgeous track which with the sounds of the wailing wind gives the impression it may have been meant to be used as an overworld theme for 12,000 B.C. Yasunori Mitsuda out did himself with this track, it's a shame it was left out of the game for so long.

5. Badlands - Einhander


Nothing says "GET TO THE CHOPPER!!!" like this pulse pounding piece by Kenichiro Fukui (Einhander, Project Sylpheed, Front Mission 5) with its pumping beats and haunting vocals. Just another awesome track from the PlayStation classic Einhander.

4. Yoyo and the God Dragons - Bahamut Lagoon


Oh Yoyo, why did you break my heart? This epic theme was composed by Noriko Matsueda who we already smapled with the Front Mission track. She went off to work on Tobal, Front Mission, and Final Fantasy X-2. This track was written around the time Square was really experimenting with MIDI sound to try and create better quality music and it shows in this lovely track.

3. Stars of Tears - Xenogears


Like I could write a topic on underappreciated Square music and not mention Xenogears. Yasunori Mitsuda crafted a gorgeous and powerful score for this game, but like the game itself, not everythign made it in. This is another unreleased track that wasn't featured in the game proper. Though unlike some other missing tracks, this one is actually in the game, if you you use a specific disc swapping trick on the original PS1 game, it will actually load a hidden cgi movie collage with this song playing, meaning it was most likely meant to be a sort of opening theme to the game that got cut. Still enjoy this epic track sung by Joanne Hogg and composed by Yasunori Mitsuda.

2. A Chance Meeting - Threads of Fate


This upbeat synthesized piece of awesome was composed by Junya Nakano who would later go onto help do FFX's OST and work ons some Dawn of Mana and rework some of FFIV's tracks for the DS remake. Threads of Fate was an awesome game that very people played so get off your keesher and go try it out!

1. Topo's Groiove Heaven - Brave Fencer Musashi


Don't let the infectious tune fool you, this track is attached to one of the funniest boss battles in Square history where you have to challenge Topo to a game of Dance Dance Revolution 9really more like simon says) and beat her to this track that will stick in your head for days afterwards. I still find myself occassionally hummin it out of blue and I haven't played the game in ten years. The talented Tsuyoshi Sekito knows how to make a good ear worm, if you don't believe me just check out his work on the Kingdom Hearts series, Metal Gear 2, and check out his upcoming project Rise of Mana.

So here we have ten awesome tunes that you may not have had the chance to experiience. Feel free to share more awesome tracks or debate the choices if you can stop humming along with them to post a retort.

Canoe, this is absolutely brilliant! Grats on getting it promoted :love:

I agree that these are all very easily missable tracks - for example, I didn't even KNOW about Wanderer, so there's one in the list that's fresh to me. There have been so many underrated composers that worked in whole or in part on various Square (+/- Enix) games over the decades that there are bound to be many more gems like this.

One of my favorite underrated tracks comes from a game whose brilliance most people did not come to recognize until its somewhat recent PSP re-release, Tactics Ogre.

Here, have two versions of the song~

Thanks for sharing all the great music. I'm always looking for more VGM to enjoy.

This just makes me want to play Brave Fencer Musashi and Threads of Fate.