Difference between revisions of "William Tell Overture"

Latest revision as of 18:12, 11 April 2024

The William Tell Overture is the overture to the William Tell opera, and was written by Gioachino Rossini as his last opera, as he retired from music afterwards. The song is popular in all sorts of media, including video games, and is usually associated with both horse racing, and fast-paced action sequences. The overture has four movements, but in most media, only the final movement, March of the Swiss Soldiers is used.

As the song was public domain, it was more accessible for programmers who had little to no musical background to implement the song into their video games, back in the early days of game development.

Games

The End (ARC)

The End (ARC)

Arranger Unknown Released 1980-??-?? Format UNK

Heard at beginning of game.

The Amazing Adventures of Mr. F. Lea (ARC)

The Amazing Adventures of Mr. F. Lea (ARC)

Arranger Francisco Pflaum Released 1982-??-?? Format UNK

Sharp Shooter II (PBL)

Sharp Shooter II (PBL)

Arranger Unknown Released 1983-11-?? Format UNK

Heard at beginning of game.

Tooth Invaders (C64)

Tooth Invaders (C64)

Arranger Unknown Released 1982-??-?? Length 0:02 Format SID Loops No

A short jungle consisting of the first seconds of the WTO plays at the start of each set. There are two variations, tunes 2 and 3 in the SID file.

Kane (C64)

Kane (C64)

Arranger John Darnell Released 1985-??-?? Length 0:57 Format SID Loops Yes

Plays as the background music. It's tune 1 and the only one in the appropriate SID file.

Road Runner (ARC)

Road Runner (ARC)

Arranger Hal Canon Released 1985-??-?? Length 1:03 Format VGZ Loops Yes

Plays in the first level.

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (DOS)

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (DOS)

Arranger Al Lowe Released 1987-06-04 Format SND (Sierra) Loops No

Plays before Larry shoots himself.

Avoid the Noid (DOS)

Avoid the Noid (DOS)

Arranger Unknown Released 1989-??-?? Length 1:37, 1:51 Format MUS (AdLib), UNK Loops Yes

Plays as the background music on floors 28-30.

Road Runner (NES)

Road Runner (NES)

Arranger Gavan Anderson Released 1989-??-?? Length 1:03 Format NSF Loops Yes

The song plays in the key of F at 300 BPM. However, since the game was developed in Australia, a country that uses the PAL format, it's possible Gavan intended the music to be in the key of E like the original.

According to Gavan, the tempo of his NES music was decided by the game's programmer(s). The internal name is WILLTELL.T.

Parodius Da! Shinwa kara Owarai E (ARC)

Parodius Da! Shinwa kara Owarai E (ARC)

Arranger Kazuki Muraoka Released 1990-02-?? Format VGM Loops Yes

Parodius Da! features two arrangements of different portions of the overture (both for the YM2151 and K053260 chips). The first is "Labyrinth," which switches over to "March of the Swiss Soldiers" after the first half (a rendition of "Trepak" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky).

The second, an arrangement of the "Storm" portion that plays during the ninth stage's boss fight, is called "吉原太夫のテーマ" ("Yoshiwara Tayuu's Theme") on the official soundtrack.

R.B.I. Baseball 2 (NES)

R.B.I. Baseball 2 (NES)

Arranger Brad Fuller, Don Diekneite, John Paul Released 1990-??-?? Format NSF Loops No

R.B.I. Baseball 3 (NES)

R.B.I. Baseball 3 (NES)

Arranger Brad Fuller, Don Diekneite, John Paul Released 1991-??-?? Format NSF Loops No

It is the same jingle used in R.B.I. Baseball 2. Even though R.B.I. Baseball 3 adds Kent Carmical to the game's staff roll, the previous game's staff roll, where this jingle came from, only credits the three composers, so it is highly unlikely Kent was involved.

Day of the Tentacle (DOS)

Day of the Tentacle (DOS)

Arranger Peter McConnell Released 1993-06-25 Format IMS Loops No

Heard in intro.

The Beverly Hillbillies (DOS)

The Beverly Hillbillies features two iterations of the song; the first is from the third movement, Ranz des vaches. The second is the final movement, March of the Swiss Soldiers.

The Beverly Hillbillies (DOS)

Arranger Chris Barker Released 1993-??-?? Length 1:57 Format XMI Loops Yes

The song plays when Jed Clampett must hunt a jackrabbit to feed his family. In this part of the game, the third movement, Ranz des vaches (French for "Call to the Cows") plays.

Chris Barker wrote the music in a MIDI sequencer, which was converted to the XMI format to use in the Midpak sound driver in the game. The filename is HILLS.XMI, and is located in the game's root directory. The file was created on October 12, 1993.

The song is in the key of G and in the 6/8 time signature, and plays at approximately 116 BPM. The song features many orchestral instruments such as bells, brass, and a flute as the lead instrument.

The bells arpeggiate the chords in most of the song: G, and D. Then Am, D7, G, C#dim, and G. The bells later play the lead while the flute serves as a backing melody.

The Beverly Hillbillies (DOS)

Arranger Chris Barker Released 1993-??-?? Length 3:56 Format XMI Loops Yes

The song plays during the second part of the game when the Clampetts are driving to Beverly Hills. They must follow the signs to LA in order to get them. This means they must steer their jalopy into a certain lane depending what the signs say, the ones that mention LA.

The song plays in the key of E at approximately 118 BPM. As a result, the song plays much slower than the original, which works in a weird way since the Clampetts are driving a jalopy, which is junk in comparison to the sports cars seen in the level. Also, the song seems to abruptly end when it loops at the 3:56 mark, possibly hinting Chris Barker did not have enough time to finish the song.

The song's internal file is ROAD.XMI, and is installed in the game's root directory. The file was created on September 15, 1993.

Stop That Roach! (GB)

Stop That Roach! (GB)

Arranger Unknown Released 1994-02-18 Format GBS Loops Yes

It plays during the game's intro sequence. It plays in the key of A major.

Return Fire (3DO)

Return Fire (3DO)

Released 1995-??-??

Used for captured flag and victory theme.

Return Fire (PS1)

Return Fire (PS1)

Released 1996-04-12

Used for captured flag and victory theme.

Return Fire (W16)

Return Fire (W16)

Released 1996-08-17 Format CD

Used for captured flag and victory theme.

ToonStruck (DOS)

ToonStruck (DOS)

Released 1996-10-30

Original recording is used for Carecrow's theme.

Return Fire 2 (W32)

Return Fire 2 (W32)

Released 1998-09-21 Format CD

Used for captured flag and victory theme.

Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor (NDS)

Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor (NDS)

Arranger Nathaniel Papadakis Released 2008-06-06

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