The Legend of Zelda is everywhere in modern music
Whether it’s sound effects from Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter popping up in Charli XCX and Flying Lotus songs, or hip-hop producers flipping samples from Donkey Kong and Chrono Trigger to make beats for Drake and Wiz Khalifa, the influence of video games on modern music is hard to escape. But few series have had as profound of an impact on a generation of musicians as The Legend of Zelda, largely thanks to the musical magic of series composer Koji Kondo.
As Nintendo’s in-house composer since 1984, Kondo is responsible for almost all of the mainstay melodies you’d associate with Nintendo, whether that’s the iconic Super Mario Bros. theme or the legendary overture accompanying Link’s adventures through Hyrule. If you grew up playing video games during the ’80s and ’90s, it’s possible you’ve spent more time listening to Koji Kondo than any other band or artist.
“It’s difficult for me to imagine how different my life as a musician would be had it not been for Koji Kondo’s influence,” composer and orchestrator Eric Buchholz tells Polygon.
While Kondo’s melodies mainly act as background music in Super Mario Bros., they serve an actual purpose in The Legend of Zelda, where music answers your biggest problems. Need to change the time of day in Ocarina of Time? Play “The Sun’s Song.” Need to stop an ominous moon from crashing into Clock Town and destroying Termina in Majora’s Mask? Play “The Song of Time.” Need to escape from a nightmare in Link’s Awakening? Collect eight musical instruments and play “Ballad of the Wind Fish.”
It’s this connection between music and the Legend of Zelda games that resonated with a generation of young players, such as Buchholz, who went on to become musicians. Buchholz’s introduction to
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