I love this franchise. Such an underrated group of games. Overall fantastic gameplay, story, score, difficulty, etc. I am of course pretending Gates to Infinity never happened, and as a guy whose favorite installment by far was the the Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, for me, Super was the first installment of the series in 6 years! Sufficed to say, although Explorers still holds a special place in my heart, this game, though not perfect was a pretty solid return to form for the franchise, especially in the post-story content. Having said that, it was exciting to get into the score of this game, as Mystery Dungeon has always had amazing music to go with its games. Thus I have created my list for the top 20 songs of the game.
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20. Sheer Mountain Range
Starting off at number 20 is Sheer Mountain Range. What I have noticed among many of the good Dungeon themes is that they fit thematically, perfectly with the dungeon in question/the environment (an example from previous games being Amp Plains from Explorers, an electric/techno song in a dungeon full of electric types). This song actually made me feel like I was on a mountain. It fits so perfectly. Not to mention the dungeon itself hosts my favorite tileset in the game.
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19. Time to Part Ways
You are going to very quickly notice I make a lot of comparisons to Explorers. This song is one example of that. It reminds me a lot of Don’t Ever Forget, one of the better songs from that series. The theme itself is similar, the scenario is near identical, etc. However this song just didn’t hit me nearly as hard as Don’t Ever Forget. This seems like a failed experiment. Now don’t get me wrong. It’s pretty solid, but I feel like it could have been better.
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18. Echoes of the Mystical Forest
This is a song that admittedly I had completely forgotten about. I had only recently discovered it, when trying to compile this list. I now (think I) recall where this song takes place story wise and it is a pretty significant moment. The song itself is really solid, and has multiple strong points. Pretty fun song, wish I had known about it longer.
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17. Revelation Mountain
Woah, what a tease this one was. Started off looking like a major story point, get to the end, realize you can’t advance any further yet, and go back. More than half the game after this goes by before you return, get to the real end, get hit by a bunch of plot twists, but most importantly, let your ears be treated to this piece of work.
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16. Ancient Barrow
This was a really cool one. You and 4 other child pokemon go into “the scary place you aren’t supposed to go”…and at night! Story wise it is a little childish, but damn, does this dungeon theme work incredibly well. The whole idea is that there are ghost (pokemon) and you are a bunch of frightened kids, who want to do the right thing. So you steal yourselves, muster your courage, and venture into the Ancient Barrow to find your friends, and this song couldn’t fit better.
+ Show Spoiler +
Starting off at number 20 is Sheer Mountain Range. What I have noticed among many of the good Dungeon themes is that they fit thematically, perfectly with the dungeon in question/the environment (an example from previous games being Amp Plains from Explorers, an electric/techno song in a dungeon full of electric types). This song actually made me feel like I was on a mountain. It fits so perfectly. Not to mention the dungeon itself hosts my favorite tileset in the game.
+ Show Spoiler +
19. Time to Part Ways
You are going to very quickly notice I make a lot of comparisons to Explorers. This song is one example of that. It reminds me a lot of Don’t Ever Forget, one of the better songs from that series. The theme itself is similar, the scenario is near identical, etc. However this song just didn’t hit me nearly as hard as Don’t Ever Forget. This seems like a failed experiment. Now don’t get me wrong. It’s pretty solid, but I feel like it could have been better.
+ Show Spoiler +
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBl3NqVnWbo
18. Echoes of the Mystical Forest
This is a song that admittedly I had completely forgotten about. I had only recently discovered it, when trying to compile this list. I now (think I) recall where this song takes place story wise and it is a pretty significant moment. The song itself is really solid, and has multiple strong points. Pretty fun song, wish I had known about it longer.
+ Show Spoiler +
17. Revelation Mountain
Woah, what a tease this one was. Started off looking like a major story point, get to the end, realize you can’t advance any further yet, and go back. More than half the game after this goes by before you return, get to the real end, get hit by a bunch of plot twists, but most importantly, let your ears be treated to this piece of work.
+ Show Spoiler +
16. Ancient Barrow
This was a really cool one. You and 4 other child pokemon go into “the scary place you aren’t supposed to go”…and at night! Story wise it is a little childish, but damn, does this dungeon theme work incredibly well. The whole idea is that there are ghost (pokemon) and you are a bunch of frightened kids, who want to do the right thing. So you steal yourselves, muster your courage, and venture into the Ancient Barrow to find your friends, and this song couldn’t fit better.
+ Show Spoiler +
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15. Main Theme
Those first 15 seconds restored my faith in this series. The excitement that welled up inside of me when I started up the game on my 2DS and opened myself to this theme. I was ready to be pulled back into one of my all time favorite franchises, and this song helped in that.
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14. Mystery Jungle
Fuck this Dungeon. Fuck whoever thought that you, the main character should go in alone. Damn this was tough… Having said that, this song is great. With it being at the beginning of post-story story (yes that is not a typo) I don’t want to accidently spoil anything. But this was a great theme to go with a hellish dungeon…
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13. Within the Sadness
Obligatory sad song! It’s not higher because, much like Part Ways, it just doesn’t hold up to timeless classics from the old games. Again, solid, but I feel they could have done so much more with this.
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12. Entei Battle
The name is a bit of spoiler unfortunately, but it is what it is. This is our first legit boss battle versus a legendary pokemon. Luckily, we get a little boost to help us out, which I will not talk about as it is a spoiler I can avoid mentioning. Regardless, pretty epic fight, pretty epic song.
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11. Showdown Mountain
Coming back to the idea of thematically brilliant songs we have Showdown Mountain. Now for story reasons I won’t go into, you and your partner are inspired to climb the Mountain as fast as you can to prevent a certain event from occurring, and this song fits perfectly with the idea of running up as fast you can, beating through everything in your way. That is exactly what you are trying to do here, and it is brilliant.
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10. Void Shadows
The Void Shadows themselves, are pretty uninspiring, but this song is fantastic. It is really dark, and there are few very good dark themes in this franchise, which is unfortunate. At least we can enjoy this one.
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9. School Forest
Strange pick, but it is what it is. Again, I’m milking the theme of dungeon is key idea. This song just fits well. I don’t know why, but it reminds me of the Ice Age games I played when I was younger. Pretty nice song.
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8. Sand Dune of Spirits
Am I cheating? Absolutely. For those who don’t know, this song is an I think exact copy of Great Canyon, from Rescue Team, the original games of the franchise. It holds up extremely well, and damn is it good. No way could I leave out this beauty.
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7. Lush Forest
This is the second dungeon you are introduced to, and you are still in the tutorial stage of the game when you run through it, but wow was this a random gem I did not expect. Especially not this early in the game. I absolutely love this song, and would love to see it return in some way in future editions of the franchise.
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6. Credits
Rarely is it that I have found the song over the credits scroll of a game to be noteworthy in any way. That is not the case here. This song is beautiful, it comes in after one of the more emotional and surprising points in the game, and it gives us everything we want, and everything this game deserves
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The Void Shadows themselves, are pretty uninspiring, but this song is fantastic. It is really dark, and there are few very good dark themes in this franchise, which is unfortunate. At least we can enjoy this one.
+ Show Spoiler +
9. School Forest
Strange pick, but it is what it is. Again, I’m milking the theme of dungeon is key idea. This song just fits well. I don’t know why, but it reminds me of the Ice Age games I played when I was younger. Pretty nice song.
+ Show Spoiler +
8. Sand Dune of Spirits
Am I cheating? Absolutely. For those who don’t know, this song is an I think exact copy of Great Canyon, from Rescue Team, the original games of the franchise. It holds up extremely well, and damn is it good. No way could I leave out this beauty.
+ Show Spoiler +
7. Lush Forest
This is the second dungeon you are introduced to, and you are still in the tutorial stage of the game when you run through it, but wow was this a random gem I did not expect. Especially not this early in the game. I absolutely love this song, and would love to see it return in some way in future editions of the franchise.
+ Show Spoiler +
6. Credits
Rarely is it that I have found the song over the credits scroll of a game to be noteworthy in any way. That is not the case here. This song is beautiful, it comes in after one of the more emotional and surprising points in the game, and it gives us everything we want, and everything this game deserves
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5. Let’s Go to School
Easily the strangest pick here, one of the disappointing aspects of the game is how much it treats you like a five year old (half the main story is spent in what appears to be kindergarten. It might make sense as Pokemon is a kid’s game, but the mystery dungeon game are HARD. There is no 5 year old that will beat these games. But anyway, I think half the reason I enjoy this song is how much it annoys my sister. Furthermore, as we have seen with School Forest and Ancient Burrow, although the school plot was silly, in some scenarios, it worked, like this one.
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4. First Dark Matter Battle
The final boss theme… or rather part 1 of the final boss fight. It’s pretty damn good. Not the most epic boss battle, and arguably a little too upbeat for a turn based game? I don’t know, I just like this thing man.
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3. Drilbur Coal Mine
Oh my goodness this song blew me away, It is one of the most unsuspecting songs in the game. But WOW! I don’t even know how to describe it, the only thing I can say is that I love it, and I hope to see more random gems like this in future games.
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2. Second Dark Matter Battle
We are coming down to the wire here, and my penultimate pick has to be part 2 of the final boss battle. This song has the heart that part 1 didn’t. The emotion, the power, the epic nature of it all. One of the best songs not only in Super, but in Mystery Dungeon as a whole.
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1. Tree of Life: Roots
This song is perfect. This took what Temporal Tower was for Explorers, and made it better. This is the primary thing I can say without a doubt was an improvement on Explorers. The biggest point throughout this blog is the environment surrounding the dungeon themes, and that is especially true here. This is the final dungeon, at the end of which is the final boss, and damn is this the perfect set up or what? This song made me feel the dire situation we were in in the story, and got me hyped as fuck to see it to the end. Tree of Life: Roots is the best song in Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon.
+ Show Spoiler +
Easily the strangest pick here, one of the disappointing aspects of the game is how much it treats you like a five year old (half the main story is spent in what appears to be kindergarten. It might make sense as Pokemon is a kid’s game, but the mystery dungeon game are HARD. There is no 5 year old that will beat these games. But anyway, I think half the reason I enjoy this song is how much it annoys my sister. Furthermore, as we have seen with School Forest and Ancient Burrow, although the school plot was silly, in some scenarios, it worked, like this one.
+ Show Spoiler +
4. First Dark Matter Battle
The final boss theme… or rather part 1 of the final boss fight. It’s pretty damn good. Not the most epic boss battle, and arguably a little too upbeat for a turn based game? I don’t know, I just like this thing man.
+ Show Spoiler +
3. Drilbur Coal Mine
Oh my goodness this song blew me away, It is one of the most unsuspecting songs in the game. But WOW! I don’t even know how to describe it, the only thing I can say is that I love it, and I hope to see more random gems like this in future games.
+ Show Spoiler +
2. Second Dark Matter Battle
We are coming down to the wire here, and my penultimate pick has to be part 2 of the final boss battle. This song has the heart that part 1 didn’t. The emotion, the power, the epic nature of it all. One of the best songs not only in Super, but in Mystery Dungeon as a whole.
+ Show Spoiler +
1. Tree of Life: Roots
This song is perfect. This took what Temporal Tower was for Explorers, and made it better. This is the primary thing I can say without a doubt was an improvement on Explorers. The biggest point throughout this blog is the environment surrounding the dungeon themes, and that is especially true here. This is the final dungeon, at the end of which is the final boss, and damn is this the perfect set up or what? This song made me feel the dire situation we were in in the story, and got me hyped as fuck to see it to the end. Tree of Life: Roots is the best song in Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon.
+ Show Spoiler +