OST of the Day #26: Jazz Jackrabbit 2 - Colonius

Hey Steemit!

OSTs are really underrated but they're so good, so I thought I'd share a song a day and my thoughts about it. I highly recommend listening while reading! 😊

Speaking of underrated, we're going down memory lane once again to revisit a less-than-popular but amazing game nonetheless; Jazz Jackrabbit 2!

So I've actually written about a song from this game in a previous post waaaay back, but this game has so many great songs I thought it'd be remiss of me not to share another!

Just to recap if you've never seen this game before, Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is a 2D side-scrolling platformer game with shooting elements and it was produced by Epic Games. It was released in 1998 for PCs running Windows, and later for Macintosh computers. This game also features additional multiplayer options like new playable characters and the ability to play over LAN or the Internet.

So I read that JJ2 actually received quite positive reviews but despite this, sales were insufficient and resulted some financial loss. As a consequence, the would-be sequel Jazz Jackrabbit 3D was unable to find a publisher, prompting the developers to abandon the project which was less than 50% complete. Man, what a shame! This game was my childhood and brings back so much nostalgia for me. It was practically the first platformer I ever played, and even the first computer game I played too!

Anyway, on to the song of the day!

So this song is called Colonius, and the first time you'll hear it is in the second world (or technically Episode 2) in JJ2, called Jazz in Time. Yup we're even time traveling in-game now, so time travel-ception.?

I didn't get the reference last time when I played but now I get it's supposed to be like Back to the Future, Jazz is even cosplaying at Marty McFly! #duh

The first level of this World is called Victorian Secret, which I guess inspired the level design as well. Man I remember those jumping guys with the staffs that were such a pain to aim.

Anyway I really like the feel of this song; it's so jazzy (heh Jazz-y, geddit) no doubt due to the echo-ey electronic melody that can be prominently heard throughout the song. The supporting percussion in the not so subtle background is also amazing as well. The hi-hats and drums are crisp and definitely add more weight to the song.

My favourite part of this piece is definitely the second "chorus" that comes in at 1:25 though. It only lasts about 20 seconds but what a smooth 20 seconds it is. The transition to the key change sounds so effortless yet impactful and even though it's quite a different synth sound compared to the echo-ey melody it still fits really well.

The soundtrack for JJ2 was composed by Alexander Brandon, a US musician who composed music for games produced by Epic Games. He dabbles in mostly electronic music, covering genres like electronica, synthpop and pop rock.

I'm not too familiar with synthpop but I can appreciate it and I really enjoy it nonetheless. I like that all his songs form a perfect endless loop, so the background music is constant and seamless with the gameplay, and it helps immerse players in the game. There's no need for a big fanfare to start off the song; it just goes. Brandon's work on this game is amazing, and even though it's really old, I think the game and the songs still hold up to this day.

Thanks for reading!

To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://tacocat.vornix.blog/2019/03/21/ost-of-the-day-26-jazz/

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Check out my previous post in this series!
OST of the Day #25: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - Final Battle!