Pokémon Diamond and Pearl's genre references and musical complexity make it feel as if Masuda had as much fun composing the soundtrack as his audience does listening to it.From the trance-inducing sounds of drum beats in tribal shamanic cultures to the repetitive chanting of Tibetan monks, rhythmical sound has extremely powerful healing benefits. "Route 216" is an awesome big band composition, filled with tempo and time signature changes that mirror the shifts in the snowfall's intensity "Jubilife City" has a more metropolitan, café feel that captures the happiness that is the city's namesake. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl have a distinctly jazz-inspired soundtrack that utilizes a lot of its subgenres. Gen 4 is really where Masuda came into his own as both a director and composer, and it shows in the games' music. Related: Pokémon Platinum Changes That Didn't Make It To BDSP It's noteworthy that the first Pokémon games Masuda directed were Ruby and Sapphire, which had a soundtrack filled with trombone sections and felt like an intense classical music composition. Here and there, his experience playing the trombone for jazz and classical music would crop up. Prior to joining the board of directors at Game Freak, Junichi Masuda primarily worked as a composer at the company. It speaks to the quality of Gen 3's compositions that each brass-filled song sounds perfect for its setting and moment even though the setting is Hoenn, a region so tropical that even a fish could beat Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. Still, Ruby and Sapphire almost always opt for electronic band instruments, which makes the soundtrack cohesive and self-contained. "Oldale Town" uses an electric flute for its melody to create a calming effect, for instance. However, that doesn't mean Gen 3's music doesn't know when to settle down. Electric trumpets, trombones, and baritones ring in unison in what is probably the best and most epic rendition of "Main Theme" in the series' history. Gen 3 used the advancements the GameBoy Advanced made on the GameBoy Color and filled its soundtrack with distinct brass sections. The music for Pokémon's Gen 3 story thus needed to capture the direness of the situation. The bad guys in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire want to destroy the world by catastrophically altering its climate. The Gen 3 games really upped the ante when it came to the stakes of its story. "Gear Station" dials players in to some Delta Blues, and "Battle Subway" sounds like a hip hop-R&B backtrack from the 90's Black and White 2 also brought in house music with "Nimbasa City Gym" and folk music with "Floccesy Ranch." All of this captures the cultural diversity of not only Gen 5's influences but of Unova itself. Pokémon Black and White's Unova Region was influenced by the United States, and the games do an excellent job at recognizing this influence through its music. Perhaps the best aspect of Gen 5's soundtrack is its dedication to the region and its inspirations. "Route 2 (Spring/Summer" is fast, upbeat, and filled with jubilant energy of the warmer seasons on the other hand, "Route 2 (Fall/Winter)" starts off slow and relaxed but slowly builds into blissful track that captures the magic of autumn leaves and snow sheets. The generation that first utilized seasons also brought out this facet in its music. Related: Pokémon Black & White Needs Another Sequel, Not A Remake The only song that sounds inspired by French music is "Professor Sycamore's Theme." This is a true shame when considering some of the Romani Jazz and swing music that could have been played in Lumiose City. X and Y's Kalos is supposed to be based on France, but none of the game's music conveys this. Gen 6 lacks memorable musical numbers part of the reason being that the soundtrack feels disconnected from the game's setting. While trying to recreate some of the iconic tracks from older games is not a problem, the lack of a unique sound in Pokémon X and Y is. Rather than create themes unique to the Kalos region, tracks like "Route 4" and "Cylage City" emulate the iconic style of the original Pokémon games but use the enhanced technology of its console to produce clearer sounds with distinguishable instruments. One of the consequences that came by serving as a series reset is that the music in Gen 6 sounds like a classic Pokémon game (which can be expensive). Gen 5 was meant to serve as a reset for the Pokémon series however, Gen 6's X and Y fulfilled this role better because the upgrade to the Nintendo 3DS's graphics and audio has come to define how later generations look and sound.
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