Last time we went on a journey to a simpler time: the mid-1990s, when Dancing Mad was king. This time we’re going to stay right in that period, but shift ahead a few years to Pokemon Gold, one of my favorite games.

I’m actually surprised that there haven’t been more articles about Pokemon in this series. That’s not to say they don’t exist; there have been tunes from just about every game in the franchise to this point. But considering how much I love Gold/Silver, you’d think there would be more. Let’s fix that.

This week we have a trifecta of tracks from the 1999 classic, none of which are likely to be the first you think of from these games. I was putting together a road trip playlist for California last week and decided to dip into some old themes I hadn’t listened to in a while but still enjoyed, and these were three that rose to the top.

First up is Dark Cave, also known as Ice Cave. This is a cool, bass-heavy song that perfectly sums up a dank cavern. Between the Strength boulder puzzles and the time spent sliding around on ice to progress, you get to hear this on several occasions. Then it’s Azalea Town, probably my favorite town theme in the game (and maybe the series), a lighthearted and welcoming track that invites you to stay a while. Finally, the music from the Game Corner. I spent some time as a teenager just sitting in the casino to hear this music, only to realize later on that you can play it on your radio while you’re wandering around in the world.

Even though I enjoyed the remixed music featured in HeartGold and SoulSilver, there’s something about the original tracks that just gets me. I think the video game soundtracks of this era are criminally underrated considering the limited tools composers had to work with.

Pokemon Gold

Music to My Ears covers soundtracks or individual songs from video games. You can view all posts in the series by clicking here.