Cinnabar Island – Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver
About game/music
This is “Cinnabar Island” from RPG “Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver”(2010), developed by Game Freak, published by The Pokémon Company.
This is originally composed by Junichi Masuda who is the composer of “Pokémon Red/Green”(1996), arranged by Hitomi Sato.
The game was produced as a remake of “Pokémon Gold and Silver”(2000).
The music is played when you reach Cinnabar Island in the Kanto Region, which you can visit after completed the Johto Region.
It is a quiet music-box-like piece, consisting of two voice parts.
The composer, Junichi Masuda, is now a member of the Game Freak board of directors.
His style is unique and has a different atmosphere from that of Go Ichinose, who has the pop-song directness.
(Personally, I remember the puzzle game “Yoshi”(1991), for which he composed the music.)
Analyzing
- Simple 2-voices
- Using mainly inverted form, which create gentle atmosphere
- bar 9~12: 3rd interval harmony
- This is only from what I have seen of the song, but one reason for the unique atmosphere may be the lack of a ‘strong’ progression like ii-V.
