Hello all! Welcome back to Play It By Ear, a weekly column where every Friday I discuss my thoughts on a different video game’s soundtrack.
You can see the list of upcoming games and their corresponding playlists here. I will try to focus on lesser-known games or games whose soundtracks I feel can be a bit overlooked, but some of the bigger games may sneak their way in.
Today’s Game: Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Release Date: July 12, 2013
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Developer(s): Alpha Dream, Good-Feel
Composer: Yoko Shimomura
Other Works by Same Composer*: Street Fighter II OST (with Isao Abe) (1991), Live A Live OST (1994), Super Mario RPG OST (1996), Parasite Eve OST (1998), The Legend of Mana OST (1999), Kingdom Hearts series OST (2002 – present), Mario & Luigi series OST (2003 – 2015), Radiant Historia OST (2010), Final Fantasy XV OST (with Tetsuya Shibata, Yoshino Aoki, and Yoshitaka Suzuki) (2016), Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope OST (with Grant Kirkhope and Gareth Coker) (2022)
* Shimomura is perhaps one of the best known living video game composers, so this is a long list.
Availability: YouTube
Number of Songs: 51
Approximate Total Time: 2 hours 17 minutes
Played the Game? Yes.
What Kind of Game Is This? The fourth installment in the Mario & Luigi RPG series, Dream Team follows Mario and Luigi as they arrive with Princess Peach on Pi’illo Island, a prime vacation destination with a focus on sleep and dreams. After Luigi inadvertently releases a demonic bat-like villain named Antasma, Mario and Luigi must race against time to stop Antasma and his new ally – Bowser, of course – from getting his hands on the powerful Dream Stone.
The bulk of the game is played in a top-down perspective, where you control the Mario brothers together and utilize special techniques that make use of both of their skills. At certain points you are required to use Luigi as a portal to enter the ‘Dream World’, sidescrolling sections in which you primarily control Mario but also must make use of ‘Dreamy Luigi’, Luigi’s dream self, by manipulating Luigi’s sleeping form on the touchscreen. Battles are turn-based, allowing you to control Mario and Luigi separately or combine their moves for more powerful attacks. Certain boss battles in the Dream World, called ‘Giant Battles’, require you to turn the 3DS on its side – Mario and a giant Luigi will be controlled on the touchscreen while the massive boss takes up the entire main screen.
Top Songs or Songs of Note (in Track Order):
Your Dream Adventure!
I’m pretty sure this is the menu theme. I love the way it keeps layering in more elements, starting with more of a lullaby sound to it before adding the strings, flute, and eventually synths. A great introduction to the OST, and the main melody is surprisingly beautiful at times.
Try, Try Again
This is such a catchy, upbeat, and surprisingly rich battle theme that it’s difficult not to like it. I especially love the use of the flute in the main melody.
Break at Pi’illo Castle
Such a relaxing theme, with the drum sections and brass giving it a regal flare.
Never Let Up!
The rising piano scale in the bridge is just one many fun touches in this invigorating main boss theme.
Breezy Mushrise Park
Weirdly enough, when I think of this game’s soundtrack this is the first track that comes to mind. Such a calming and beautiful first level theme, but also one that is easy to get stuck in your head.
Dreamy Wakeport Repose
The combination of the tropical, airy Wakeport theme with the more synth-heavy style of the dream world works very well here.
Lofty Mount Pajamaja
The harp and the lone violin together create a theme that is feels both lonely and mysterious, a great contrast to the heavier booming bass of ‘The Law of Pajamaja’.
Dreamy Somnom Labyrinth
This is such a lovely and peaceful, yet also extremely enigmatic, theme. I particularly love the piano melody, which really serves to make this one of my favorite video game forest themes.
Neo Bowser Castle’s Illusion
The slow build-up and heavy synth make this track extremely ominous, but in an interesting twist there is something quite melancholic about the main melody.
The Final Antasma Battle
The violin theme, combined with the back-up organ instrumentals, lend this boss track such an epic and catchy feel.
Adventure’s End
Choir, organ, and thudding piano – what else could you want in a final boss theme?
Honorable Mentions: Welcome to Pi’illo Blimport, Dreamy Castle Rendezvous, Victory in the Dream World, Dreamy Mushrise Winds, Enjoy the Joy!, Dozing Sands Secret, Shopping in Wakeport, The Law of Pajamaja, Antasma’s Theme, Dreamy Driftwood Meeting, Sacred Somnom Woods, Neo Bowser Castle, Pi’illo Vacation!
Overall Thoughts: From what I can tell, Dream Team is generally considered one of the lesser entries in the Mario & Luigi series. I haven’t played any games in the series besides this one so I can’t corroborate this myself, but the game definitely has its flaws. The pacing of the story can get tedious at times which, combined with excessive use of tutorials, makes the game feel like it is much longer than it needs to be. Additionally, the Giant Battles were just frustrating for me due to a lack of responsiveness from my 3DS’s touchscreen – something I hadn’t encountered with any of the other games I frequently played on my 3DS. Despite all this, I unapologetically loved Dream Team. It had a certain charm to it, and a big part of that charm is the reason we are discussing the game today: the music.
There is just such an upbeat feel to this whole soundtrack. The location themes (particularly those for Wakeport, Driftwood Beach, Mushrise Park, and Somnom Woods) are laid back and chill, the battle themes are energizing, but despite those different tones there is a sense of joy that suffuses everything. It’s just plain fun to listen to, and the tropical island/vacation resort theme really shines through. I also love the way that Shimomura was able to take one melody for each location and create two distinct versions – the more orchestral ‘normal’ world version and the more synth-heavy ‘dream’ world version – that are each great in their own way. It really helps give the OST its own flavor. Overall, I greatly enjoy Dream Team’s soundtrack and even consider it a favorite of mine.
Bonus Prompts:
- Do you agree or disagree with my assessment of the soundtrack?
- Are there any tracks, that I mentioned or didn’t mention, that you would like to further discuss?
- What game soundtracks have you been listening to recently? What’s been grabbing your attention?
- Are there any game soundtracks that you would like me to cover in the future?
And there we have it! Thanks so much for reading and listening to this soundtrack with me.
Last Week: Descent II
Next Week: Glover