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Greg Evans
Jul 23, 2021
Easily the biggest talking point – from a pure geek perspective – of the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony was the use of video game music as the athletes entered the stadium.
That’s right, as every single team competing at the games entered the mostly empty stadium in the Japanese capital they were soundtracked by music from Japan’s rich history of video games and the music from those games developed by the likes of SEGA, Capcom and Square Enix.
To the uninitiated, the tunes might have gone over many viewers’ heads but, for those in the know, it was a very fun hour or so trying to guess the scores that were being used.
The tunes were taken from well-known franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Final Fantasy and Pro Evolution Soccer as well as cult favourites like Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger.
For viewers, it was a chance to momentarily geek out and shout ‘I know that song.’
Sonic music (Star Light Zone) during the Olympics opening ceremony? Don't mind if I do https://t.co/HAxYqrq7pw— Chris Scullion (@Chris Scullion) 1627042446
Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter, Kingdom Hearts, Sonic the Hedgehog, NieR, and a ton of other video gam… https://t.co/l6WoEgm4Iz— TAHK0 ☕️ (@TAHK0 ☕️) 1627043193
Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter, Kingdom Hearts, Sonic the Hedgehog, NieR, and a ton of other video gam… https://t.co/l6WoEgm4Iz— TAHK0 ☕️ (@TAHK0 ☕️) 1627043193
Me spotting every video game soundtrack they’re using to play out the athletes #OpeningCeremony #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/iEobD6XSBK— James Thompson (@James Thompson) 1627040553
Of course! DRAGON QUEST theme at the Olympics opening ceremony! #DragonQuest 😍#Tokyo2020 https://t.co/NeazACmRAl— 🎮 Mario Da Hedgehog 👾 (@🎮 Mario Da Hedgehog 👾) 1627047964
And, yes, followed up by the victory music from Final Fantasy. Did the #Olympics just level up? #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/zvGcIblhE7— The Japan Times (@The Japan Times) 1627040770
They are really playing nier music at the Olympic https://t.co/HWeufeFRFG— Emre (@Emre) 1627043424
If I was walking out in the Olympics to the music from Nier, I’d be winning a gold in everything.— R L FLORENCE (@R L FLORENCE) 1627042915
Japan freaking gets it. THANK YOU. #Olympics https://t.co/2L9d2VaEGu— Alex Moukala (@Alex Moukala) 1627041751
Watching the Olympics opening ceremony and the Star Light zone theme from Sonic comes on. https://t.co/F2wxH7CLem— TapersCrazy (@TapersCrazy) 1627042115
Zambia just walked out to the theme from Monster Hunter I'm losing my god damn mind— bringing up cybebe (@bringing up cybebe) 1627043429
According to Nikkan Sports, these were the songs used:
Dragon Quest - ‘Introduction: Lotto Theme’
Final Fantasy - ‘Victory Fanfare’
Tales of Series - ‘Sley’s Theme-Guru’
Monster Hunter - ‘Proof of Hero’
Kingdom Hearts - ‘Olympus Coliseum’
Chrono Trigger - ‘Frog Theme’
Ace Combat - ‘First Flight’
Tales of Series - ‘Royal Capital-Dignified’
Monster Hunter - ‘Wind of Departure’
Chrono Trigger - ‘Robo’s Theme’
Sonic the Hedgehog - ‘Star Light Zone’
Winning Eleven (Pro Evolution Soccer) - ‘eFootball walk-on theme’
Final Fantasy - ‘MAIN THEME’
Phantasy Star Universe - ‘Guardians’
Kingdom Hearts - ‘Hero’s Fanfare’
Gradius- ‘(Nemesis) 01 ACT 1-1’
NieR - ‘Initiator’
Saga Series - ‘Makai Ginyu Poetry-Saga Series Medley 2016’
Soul Caliber - ‘The Brave New Stage of History’
Sadly the likes of Pac-Man, Tetris and Asteroids didn’t make the cut nor would it seem Nintendo themes from Super Mario, Zelda or Pokemon which are amongst some of the popular games ever.
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