Before I played Link’s Awakening for myself, there were three things I knew about the game: There was a girl named Marin, it was all a dream (um, spoilers?), and the “Mabe Village Theme” was a fantastic track.
I actually heard this song for the first time through a medley and liked it so much that I found a variety of covers that I instantly fell in love with. However, today I would like to bring to attention the updated rendition of this song found in the 2019 rerelease of Link’s Awakening.
Most of the tunes heard in Link’s Awakening are short loop tracks with simple melodies that can be repeated over and over again. I would assume this was because of the hardware limitations of the time, but regardless, these tunes were memorable and pleasurable to the ear. In 2019, Nintendo took this tune and added to it by orchestrating it, and they did so with love and care.
The soft bells and honky-tonk piano that introduces the piece perfectly aligns itself to the new “cutesie” art style that the game has taken on, and in the next loop more sophisticated strings are added in, cuing in that this game is not all it seems to be. It hints to us that there is more depth and beauty to be found in this seemingly childish game as the strings progress with such grace.
The song loops several more times, each with different instruments carrying out the classic melody. No matter how many times the song loops, though, the bells accompany the piece through and through, giving a sense of peace and childlike wonder to the small town. At one point, it is just bells. No other instruments are needed. If you’re like me, you’re probably singing the melody as the music box accompanies you.
The thing that has always amazed me about the Zelda soundtracks is that their most memorable and popular pieces are such simple, short, and sweet melodies. They are not long-winded pieces, but still they emit such emotion with their beauty. I did not grow up with this game and the remake was my first experience with it, so I can not even imagine what the nostalgic sensation attached to hearing this gorgeously orchestrated piece was like for those who played it once upon a time. If it was anything like how I reacted to hearing the “Littleroot Theme” from Alpha Sapphire, a remake of one of my very first video games ever, there may not have been a dry eye in the room.
