Home > Collecting My Thoughts on the Zelda 30th Anniversary Music Collection
Originally published on Link's Hideaway.
In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda last year, Nintendo made a collection of some of the best music from the series, and released it on a two-disc set. This Game Music Collection, not to be confused with the 30th Anniversary Concert, released in Japan on September 28th, but I recently found that it had migrated to Amazon for a rather reasonable price of $40. The collection comes with some beautiful art cards, two discs, a booklet, and of course, hours of great music that span the very first Legend of Zelda game, up to Tri-Force Heroes.
The last time I voiced my opinion on music in The Legend of Zelda, it essentially consisted of me complaining about Skyward Sword’s music. I am pleased to say that this time I don’t have near as many complaints. I actually really liked this package that Nintendo put together. Having played every Zelda game, albeit some a long time ago, it is really nice to hear all of this music again.
A big item of discussion about this collection, is the visual appeal. Upon opening the packing envelope, the immediate sleekness of the box caught my eye. The packaging for the collection is beautiful, and full of intricate details. On the inside, there are the art cards, as well as the CDs. The art cards are nice, but they’re not why I bought this; they’re essentially a bonus. The case for the discs themselves feels rather sturdy, in part thanks to the hefty, and well-designed liner notes. On top of this, the discs inside aren’t just colored; they have a very light texture overlaid on them of different corners of the Hylian Crest, which are easy to miss in the wrong light. Overall, I think the looks of this package are superb. Definitely a great way to start, considering the main focus of this is the music.
The selection of songs is the weakest part about the collection. There are a few slight issues that I have, such as Ocarina of Time and A Link Between Worlds each having 15 songs out of the total 93, whereas The Minish Cap has exactly 0. In essence, one third of the number of songs, and a third of the running time, comes from just two games of 20 different games included. I do understand that some games have better music than others, but when Twilight Princess has 4 songs and Skyward Sword only has 3 songs, I think there’s a little bit of an unfair distribution. This is my only real gripe with the package, as I would have liked to hear a wider variety of songs from more games, rather than rehear the same Ocarina of Time songs that I’ve been hearing over and over again and again for years now. Maybe the collection should have been 3 discs.
On the whole, I really like the collection. I’m a fan of owning physical copies of music, and this purchase was well worth it. The sound quality is great, and the music itself is timeless. Music is just as important to The Legend of Zelda as any other aspect of the game is, and I’m glad to have access to this collection. If you love the music in The Legend of Zelda, I would wholeheartedly recommend this collection to you, because overall, it’s well worth the price.
About the Author:
Christopher Weil
The 2006 Time Magazine person of the year, born in Toronto, Canada, Christopher developed a passion for gaming at a young age. His favorite franchise has always been The Legend of Zelda, but he can also usually be found playing SimRacing games such as iRacing. He's in university studying mechanical engineering and looking to start his own 3D printing business.
