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The Arena (theme)
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| The Arena | |
|---|---|
Samples of "The Arena" from Kirby Super Star and its remake. | |
| Details | |
| Debut appearance | Kirby Super Star (1996) |
| Last appearance | Kirby: Triple Deluxe (2014) |
| Other appearance(s) | Kirby Super Star Ultra |
| Composer(s) | Jun Ishikawa[1] |
- This article is about the title screen theme of The Arena. For the theme that plays in battles of the mode, also called "The Arena" in some games, see Arena Showdown.
"The Arena"[derived from Japanese][1][2] is a music track that first appeared in Kirby Super Star and can be heard playing in the eponymous game mode.
Composition[edit]
"The Arena" uses very dramatic instrumentation, namely timpanis, woodwinds and strings which likens it to another track associated with this same game mode. Much like its sister track, its staccato rhythm evokes the "Mars" movement of Gustav Holst's The Planets suite, fitting the warlike image of the Roman god. The initial woodwind melody lilts sparsely above the commanding backing strings before they become a string section themselves, all the while the powerful percussion gives the track an intimidating feel. The melody swells up, building higher and higher, bringing the backing strings with it for a short period before just as quickly coming back down and finishing the first loop with the same kind of drawn-out chords it had entered the string section with.
Game appearances[edit]
Kirby Super Star[edit]
As mentioned before, "The Arena" plays on the title screen for the eponymous sub-game in Kirby Super Star, though it also plays on the victory screen shown to the player after they clear the mode. "The Arena" is track 63 in Kirby Super Star's Sound Test.
Kirby Super Star Ultra[edit]
In Kirby Super Star Ultra, The Arena was given an additional title theme, and the original track no longer plays on the mode's victory screen, instead being moved around to play during both the newly-added opening cutscene and in the initial Copy Ability selection room.
Additionally, two new rearrangements of "The Arena" are introduced: one is a faithful, guitar-heavy arrangement (serving as the theme of Helper to Hero) while the second is a slower, hard rock-styled arrangement that features a new second half quoting "Arena Showdown" (serving as the theme of The True Arena). "The Arena" is track 082 in Kirby Super Star Ultra's Sound Test, while the new "Helper to Hero" and "The True Arena" are track 090 and track 100 respectively.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe[edit]
In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, both "The Arena" and "The True Arena" received new arrangements for its version of the respective game modes. Both rearrangements were done by Jun Ishikawa, and use a mix of higher-quality instruments alongside a few instruments that sound as though they came directly from the original versions of each track. In the game's Jukebox, "The Arena" is track 113, while "The True Arena" is track 118.
Other appearances[edit]
An unnamed and unreleased music track used in a number of episodes of the Japanese run of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, including Prediction Predicament - Part II, features a slower, even more dramatic version of "The Arena".
"The Arena" is present on The Very Best of Kirby: 52 Hit Tracks as track 14.
The Kirby Super Star Ultra version of the track can be found on the Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe Original Sound Track CD as track 27.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 格闘王への道[1][2] Kakutō-ō e no Michi |
The Road to Become a Fighting King Japanese name of The Arena. |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Very Best of Kirby: 52 Hit Tracks; while no specific credits are given, only Jun Ishikawa out of the two composers for Kirby Super Star is credited on the album
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe Original Sound Track
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