Ypx here—today we’re going to be listening to the Title Theme from Animal Crossing.
As a celebration of Animal Crossing’s newest entry, I thought it fitting we would look back at the title theme from the original game. Released in 2001-04 depending on the region, the game is a life simulator or a “communication” game (per Nintendo). The soundtrack features the work of composers Kazumi Totaka, Kenta Nagata, Toru Minegishi (whose work we have listened to previously), and Shinobu Tanaka.
Taking cues from smooth jazz but at a quicker tempo, the main theme of Animal Crossing’s first outing begins first with just a drumset, but we quickly get some some piano vamping. This piano noodling features a simple and playful melody that walks above, below, in, and around the chords in such a way that it is effective at convincing a listener that there is more going on than just piano and drums!
