Andy Bundy

Tag: PC

  • Music Mondays – February 16, 2026

    Music Mondays – February 16, 2026

    Okay, I know this post is late. I also know that I’m not Andy. But just listen for a moment, he’s busy and he asked me to fill in (i.e. I bugged him until he said yes).

    Nothing makes an impact on a game in exactly the same way as a main menu. A game finally gets it’s chance to show you “hey, here I am, this is what I’m about.” The visuals, the music, the fonts (yes, the fonts) – everything is there to tell you exactly what you’re getting into and pull you deeper into the experience. So to say that the main menu themes carry a lot of weight is a bit of an understatement, IMO. Halo: Combat Evolved, Pokémon Red and Blue, Sonic the Hedgehog…these are just a few of the legendary main menu themes in the hallowed halls of video games

    I humbly submit that The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind’s main theme, Nerevar Rising, sits in that pantheon.

    Every part of this song exists to tell you about yourself and what you’re getting into:

    (the drums begin) You are small, a single person in a vast world.

    (the drums crowd out the quiet orchestra) That world is overwhelming, full of dangers, and will drown you out if you get a chance.

    (the orchestra grows louder, swelling and adding instruments) But time and persistence are on your side, and you will come to master this place as you gain skill and knowledge.

    (the drums fade into the background, the horns swell, the movement solely in the strings) You are the hero this place needs.

    Even the name, Nerevar Rising, is to remind you that you are the hero, Nerevar, reborn and returned to heal a blighted land as you adventure the island. The song continually reappears throughout your adventure as you traverse the game’s island, reminding you of the grandiosity of the adventure.

    Absolute chills.

    I can, and have, gone on forever about the importance of this game to a young Bookslap. How at the age of 14, I spent nearly the entire summer by myself, frittering away the days holed up in my den, playing Morrowind and only Morrowind. How it continues to shape my idea of what games can and should be to this day, including the haunting title theme. But honestly, the song speaks for itself. Give it a listen and let us know what you think!

  • Music Mondays – January 19, 2026

    Music Mondays – January 19, 2026

    If you know anything about me, you know that I have an incredibly soft spot for Disney films, and a major part of it is because of the music that comes with it. What does this have to do with Video Game Music? Well, there are a lot of Disney video games, but there’s one song from a non-Disney video game that just gives the vibes of a Disney end-credits film. That song is…

    Girl in the Tower from King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow by Mark Seibert!

    This game came out in 1992, and my dad had this game as far as I could remember. He enjoyed the point-and-click Sierra games as well as strategy games such as Sid Meier’s Civilization franchise. When I was a kid, I remember that sometimes he would let me play Civ 2. It was a good time, but he also installed a no-cd patch so we could play it without the CD in the drive. The downside to that? It didn’t play music as the music was played through the CD Audio. Funny things would happen if you would have other CDs in the drive.

    The first time I heard the song “Girl in the Tower” was while I was playing Civilization 2, funny enough. I’d be playing the game and randomly it’d start playing the song. I was confused at first but then we made the realization that it came from the King’s Quest VI CD. (This was also the time where you could play songs from games on CD players if you passed by the first track)

    The song is a love ballad between two of the game’s principal characters, Prince Alexander and Princess Cassima. The lyrics are kind of goofy and corny, which means it’s right up my alley.

    I don’t have too many covers of this song that I listen to, but it was nice to get recognition from the Game Grumps a couple years back:

    (While searching for the above clip, I found this amazing cover by Skar Productions🙂

    Have you heard this song before? Let me know in the comments!

  • Music Mondays – January 12, 2026

    Music Mondays – January 12, 2026

    It’s Music Monday! The time of the week where we talk about a various piece of video game music that has made a mark on me for one reason or another!

    It’s so cool when you hear a song and it sticks with you, yeah? For better or for worse, that song has made an impact in your life. Perhaps it’s something that pops in your head when you’re feeling a certain feeling or it’s attached to a memory?

    This week’s Video Game Track does that for me. I didn’t play the game a lot but I listened to the song so much.

    This song is Baba Yetu, which is the opening song to Sid Meier’s Civilization IV.

    For those of you who didn’t know, the lyrics are The Lord’s Prayer in Swahili. Growing up, I lived in a household that didn’t allow me to listen to a lot of popular music. Civilization IV came out in October 2005, which would’ve been my freshman year in High School. My dad was a big fan of the Civilization franchise so it was an early buy for him. After he installed the game, he and I gathered around the computer to experience the beginning of the game. The opening cinematic started and I was just put in awe of the music combined with the visuals of what was basically the “evolution of Civilization.”

    My love for the song, though, was actually solidified later by the release of Video Games Live, which is a group that would go to orchestras around the world and play video game music. There were two amazing covers of this song on their albums. One was in the Civilization IV Medley in Level 1:

    and the other was the duet version (my preferred version) in Level 2:

    I attempted in high school to get my choir teacher to let us sing this in our choir but never had the opportunity. I did however have the opportunity in 2008-2009 to go to a “reading band” at Capital University where we almost had the opportunity to play a part of it in a Video Games Live medley for concert band. A reading band was where they brought a bunch of students together and sight-read music prior to release. Sort of a beta test.

    Back to the song though, Christopher Tin does an amazing job of combining the tribal music with the orchestra. The melody is simple and easy to sing along with, even if you don’t know the words. This is also one of those songs that hits me in just the right part that even in the intro sometimes I can get choked up or emotional at the swelling orchestra.

    Video game music is great, isn’t it? Have you heard this song before? Let me know in the comments, or let’s talk about it on Discord!