Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku‘s constant hangout for people who love video games and the cool sounds they make. Today we look back on 1992, when, according to Philips, a classic became a legend. You can call it … Teshtris.
The Philips CD-i was one Disaster of a gaming platformOutside of strangely persevering enthusiasts, the praise for his library is rather low. The CD-i version of Tetris (Playlist /. Style of play /. Discogs) is perhaps a bright spot, if only because of its refreshingly calm presentation.
Like most CD-i games, it plays badly, with unreliable controls and fewer game options than any other Tetris. But for 1992 it’s quite an eye-catcher, a production Alexey Pajitnov‘s Timeless fall block competition against around 10 picturesque, FMV-improved natural backdrops. It’s really great how the playing field fits into the scenery, as if it was there on a field or in the middle of the desert. If only the gameplay got that much loving attention.
In any case, everything is very calm and only becomes so when the unmistakable soundtrack is over Jim Andron occurs:
Philips / James CyberLink (Youtube)
They are real John Tesh Mood. Just listen. Relaxing pianos and synthesizers that meander in predictable melodies that repeat multiple times before fading. When the first notes of pleasant, relaxed “Level 0I was intrigued and thought I had just stumbled upon a hidden gem. And it’s a beautiful song. But by about the minute you’ve heard it all, the remaining three minutes offer little variety. The audio quality also sounds muffled by compression, which is strange as you can imagine that pristine Redbook audio should be one of the CD-i’s few strong points.
So it fits with most of the other 12 tracks: calm audio landscapes of modest audio quality that tend to last a little too long. “Level 1“Is a slower piece supported by a” pah, pah “rehearsal that I find slightly irritating.”Level 2“Enjoyed about two minutes of development, with the second half introducing a very MIDI trumpet. “level 3“Has a unique guitar sound that I like but repeats. “Level 5Is the charming review of good advertising. “Level 6“Is … heartwarming? Yes, that fits. “Level 8“Is perhaps the most unusual track with an Asian string theme. I like that. Only the slightly Slavic sounding (?) “High scoresCould perhaps be confused with a typical one Tetris Song. And only possibly.
Philips / James CyberLink (Youtube)
This soundtrack isn’t the total slam dunk I was hoping for in the first 30 seconds, but Andron’s calming CD-i Tetris OST still manages to charm as a strange artifact from days gone by, when “interactive multimediaSeemed like a plausible future for entertainment. When you’ve encountered that strangely calm attitude Tetris In 1992 – and blinked hard enough and maybe took some substances – you might as well believe that a classic was going to become a legend.
But then you notice the terrible controls and it all goes wrong and you feel relieved that instead of you, your rich neighbor wasted a giant on this CD-i junk and why that stupid L-block just ended up in the wrong place and … ah ah, you’re losing your zen. Relax! Breath. Slower … slower. There. Here we go. Okay you are fine now. Go in peace. Play SNES or something.
This is a wrap for today’s morning music! Would you like a rad MIDI from “Level 0”? May I help you, courtesy one of my favorite twitter follows, Displayed MIDIs. They are amazing! How are you? Glad to be back on the morning music beat and bring you the nerd songs. See you in the comments!
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