David WiseI think the business of Rare has changed a great deal, and at the moment there is just not the opportunity to create the soundtracks that Rare were fortunately very famous for.
David Wise
David Wise is a former Rare music composer, most famous for his work in the Donkey Kong Country series, Diddy Kong Racing, and Star Fox Adventures.
Donkey Kong Country Music Guy Leaves Rare
You know... I really loved DK Country back in the day, but I can hardly remember any of the music from it, while I can still remember the music to Super Mario World or Goldeneye. Was it really good at the time? (honest question)
It would be great if he came to work at Nintendo alongside Koji Kondo, but I think that's unlikely.
" You know... I really loved DK Country back in the day, but I can hardly remember any of the music from it, while I can still remember the music to Super Mario World or Goldeneye. Was it really good at the time? (honest question) "They all had decent music, but I think DKC2's music was definitely head and shoulders above the other two games.
" @Adamantium said:Right on. I'll have to YouTube some gameplay to remember it more." You know... I really loved DK Country back in the day, but I can hardly remember any of the music from it, while I can still remember the music to Super Mario World or Goldeneye. Was it really good at the time? (honest question) "They all had decent music, but I think DKC2's music was definitely head and shoulders above the other two games. "
I'd say the bigger shame is that he stuck around Rare so long after their prime. Rare was known for 4 three things, to me at least; their occasionally brilliant music, their occasionally brilliant shooters, their occasionally laughable art style, and their platformers. The section of the company responsible for Goldeneye and (the good) Perfect Dark are long gone, their music guy is gone, and their platformer guys are just, idunno, detached from what people are looking for now in platformers? So you just have these weird looking okay games.
@Adamantium said:
Dude, check out the awesome below." You know... I really loved DK Country back in the day, but I can hardly remember any of the music from it, while I can still remember the music to Super Mario World or Goldeneye. Was it really good at the time? (honest question) "
I can't remember any tunes in particular right now but the music in DK was pretty fucking rad. It's a shame that he's left Rare since they're such a great company. Wonder where he'll go now?
Ahh you beat me to it. All great choices to link." @Adamantium said:
Dude, check out the awesome below. "" You know... I really loved DK Country back in the day, but I can hardly remember any of the music from it, while I can still remember the music to Super Mario World or Goldeneye. Was it really good at the time? (honest question) "
It's too bad Mr. Wise will be leaving Rare, but at the same time he's right; Rare hasn't really had any memorable soundtracks in their games lately that I can recall. Hopefully he'll get the opportunity to work with another developer that will let him create more excellent music for us to enjoy.
My personal favourite (and probably the reason why I am into Ambient music these days) is the music from the water stages. The fidelity is incredible for a SNES game. I guess he used recorded sounds for that, it sure doesn't sound like the usual MIDI stuff.
I think he will be fine, assuming he is not mentally stuck in the 16-bit era and went with the times.
A real sad moment, although I could see it coming since Dave hadn't been given any noteworthy titles to compose scores for in a long time. I think it's clear that the company just hasn't been the same management-wise since the Stampers left, thus you see a lot of the old composers - Grant Kirkhope, then Steve Brand and now Dave Wise - leaving to achieve better things.
For those who only remember Dave's work on the original Donkey Kong Country, here's some more of his better and more recognisable pieces. I'd say his best was the entire score of Donkey Kong Country 2. Even if some don't view that game as highly as the original, the music he composed for it solo was phenomenal.
" That's too bad, but I was more disappointed when the Banjo_Kazooie / Viva Pinata guy left Rare. Or was it the same guy, who's just now leaving? (I'd heard Nuts & Bolts was his last game). "Yeah, Grant Kirkhope was the guy who left and did the Banjo/Viva Pinata soundtracks.
@keyhunter said:
" Considering RARE has never made a bad game (All of them are pretty much perfect) I see this as being a terrible decision on his part. I suggest he teams up with Frank Klepacki and creates the most amazing musical score ever. "
They've made quite a few bad games, really, they just get overshadowed most of the time by the number of classics they've released. Perfect Dark Zero was pretty terrible, for example. If you've been keeping up with them lately then it's pretty clear that they haven't been as strong as they once were.
Think there's already a topic on this side of Perfect Dark Zero in its respective forum if you want to keep this discussion up, though.
I love how all his music feels so organic. I have the soundtracks to DKC1-3 on my computer. Love it. Sounds like nothing else around that time and even now it still sounds so unique and real.
And just for good measure, I'll throw in a couple of my favorite tracks that haven't been posted yet.
Sounds like Dave Wise made a Wise decision....I'm sorry :<
But for real, sucks that he's gone, but hopefully he'll find another company where he start creating some more banging tunes.
P.S Diddy Kong Racing Soundtrack - Perfection
That sucks but his talent was being wasted. Let's see I hope....Capcom picks him up, I guess.
Man! Well, hopefully his talents end up being used by another great company. DKC had some classy stuff.
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