30 Days of Video Game Music: Day 28 -- Music That Makes Me Nostalgic

Check out the Day 1 post for the full challenge list.

“Pallet Town” - Junichi Masuda

Game: Pokémon Red Version/Pokémon Blue Version/Pocket Monsters: Green (1996, Game Boy)
Original: YouTube
Gold/Silver version: YouTube
FireRed/LeafGreen version: YouTube
HeartGold/SoulSilver version: YouTube
Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee version: YouTube
Cover: Sam Griffin Guitar (YouTube)

Pokémon Blue was either my first ever owned video game or awfully close to it. “Pallet Town” is far from the best piece of music in the game, but it sounds like it was intentionally composed to evoke nostalgia. The Kanto region’s many return appearances as a playable region throughout the series help cement this too. Each new arrangement sounds a little different, but each time, the tune makes me feel like I have come home. It’s sappy, but the Pallet Town theme makes me think about video games in general and how glad I am the exist. What a wonderful medium.

My original Atomic Purple Game Boy Color and copy of Pokémon Blue are two of the only video-game-related items I have ever lost. Every time I go home for Christmas, I try to dig around a little to find it, but it is almost certainly gone for good, likely given away or trashed by a mother who couldn’t fathom why I’d still want it. I still have the copy of Pokémon Yellow I received later, but it’s just not quite the same. Nor would a replacement be, so despite my strong penchant for collecting, I may never own Pokémon Blue, my first video game, ever again.