'Waterworld' by Dean Evans
A beautiful, ahead-of-its-time video game score on the verge of turning 30.
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I love learning about and listening to video game scores. I feel like they’re a kindred spirit to beat tapes and instrumental hip-hop. I’ve written about the genre of video game music a few times before for Micro-Chop. Check the links below for some of my previous work on the topic.
“The 'Addams Family Values' OST for Super Nintendo Slaps” (2021)
“Rap Samples and Unexpected Replays in Video Game Scores” (2020)
A favorite of mine is the 1995 Waterwold score that composer Dean Evans crafted. Though the movie was a flop of epic proportions and the Ocean Software game did not fare well, Evans handled the Super Nintendo music beautifully.
The track “Map” is a personal favorite. It’s tough to assign this to one specific genre of music. I’d say your best bet is to just listen to it. As one YouTube commenter said, “The music in water world had no business being THIS good.”
Evans himself uploaded a full, uncut, 36-minute and 35-second version of the score on YouTube that includes unused songs. I love it when musicians take to YouTube to upload their catalogs and/or their preferred versions of albums and songs. It feels like they’re taking back some control of their creations when they do this.
If you dig video game music, I recommend giving Evans’ channel a look. You can find uploads of several of his games for Super Nintendo and other systems. The music for The Flinstones and other games also sounds great.
If you’re into the music I’ve shared here or have recommendations for Super Nintendo or other systems feel free to drop me a line in the comments. I’ll be in touch again soon.