Video Games Live

On December 28, I won a set of tickets to see Video Games Live performed by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra on December 29. I had heard good things about the show. It was even better than I had anticipated.

We arrived a little after it started. We heard the Mega Man 2 theme while we picked up the tickets at will call.

We got to our seats just as they started to play the theme to Assassin's Creed. It was pretty good, but then they started to play Shadow of the Colossus. That song let me know that I was going to love this. It gave me goosebumps. It was followed by the music from Halo, finishing big before the intermission.

There was a Frogger competition and a Guitar Hero challenge. I was on the edge of my seat during Guitar Hero. Everybody was. Excitement and anticipation were in the air. It was the second biggest moment of the night.

Final Fantasy 7 was next. Surprisingly, I never actually played FF7, but it was still amazing. Then, the lead female vocalist came out dressed as Link with a flute and performed the Legend of Zelda equivalent of dueling banjos with Navi.

Brentalfloss played an original version of the Mario underwater theme. It was shockingly family-friendly.

The music of Street Fighter 2 followed. Guile's theme was awesome. Guile's theme is already a memorable, iconic theme that anyone who ever went in an arcade during the 90's can instantly identify. The full orchestra managed to elevate the song to new heights.

I don't remember exactly when, but they also played Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross.

Castlevania was next. I love Castlevania. It was even more amazing because Kinuyo Yamashita played the piano during the song. She is the original composer of the Castlevania theme, originally credited as James Banana. It would have been my favorite song of the night, not including Mega Man 2 because I wasn't there for it, but the following song won the night for me.

This was the best song of the night, and I'm completely biased. Portal owns piece of my heart. The entire audience sang along. I normally lip-sync, but this was Portal. I sang out loud, and I loved every second of it. It was the perfect closing to the night, and it's not really even a symphonic song. Still Alive is just that powerful.

The entire show was exactly 2.5 hours long. I wish it was longer. They say that they change their lineup all the time, and they never play the same show twice. Next time Video Games Live is in town, I'll definitely be attending. You should, too.

All videos were found on YouTube. I didn't record them.