Boy, do these game tunes bring back memories...

How's this for a silly, game-related tidbit that's likely to shock at least a few of you: back when I was a junior or senior in high school, I was completely obsessed with the Saturn version of Sega's Daytona USA.

I suggest that may surprise some of you because I'm hardly known for my love of racing games. In fact, the only examples of the genre I've ever given much attention here are F-Zero and Super Mario Kart, if memory serves. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

At any rate, I became more than a bit smitten with Daytona USA after picking it up on a whim during my days as a Saturn owner.

That game's slick, exhilarating gameplay obviously had a little something to do with my aforementioned infatuation, but there were other instigators, too--with its energetic, effervescent soundtrack being a particularly noteworthy case in point.



I bring up all of this because I've had one of Daytona USA's songs ("Sky High," listen to it by clicking on the video above) stuck in my head for the last few days.

Also, reminiscing about the Daytona USA period of my life--and the hold a number of its ditties had on me at that time--prompted me to think about some of the other "game tunes" from my youth that left similar marks on my memory.

For example, there's the "Map Theme" from Yoshi's Island:



I remember humming that one on the regular while I obsessively worked my way through the pastel-filled platformer that has since become one of my all-time favorite games.

I'm a bad, bad Hikaru Utada fan

I know this isn't completely game-related, but most westerners know of Japanese singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada because of the tunes she contributed to Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II--"Simple and Clean" (aka "Hikari") and "Sanctuary" (aka "Passion"), respectively--so I also wouldn't say it's not at all game-related.

Anyway, the reason I'm a bad, bad Utada (as she's heretofore been known outside of Japan) fan is that I didn't realize until a few days ago that she released a new single, "Sakura Nagashi," which serves as the theme song for Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, in late November.



Unfortunately, only a snippet of the Naomi Kawase-directed video for "Sakura Nagashi" can be found on Utada's official YouTube channel (and above) at the moment, although the entire song can be downloaded from iTunes. (Also, its officially translated lyrics can be found here.)

(Via kotaku.com)