Animal Crossing Hourly Soundtrack Analysis – GameCube Version

For most of the week, the blog entries are going to be about my analysis of the soundtrack of the Animal Crossing games. I’ll be going over each hour and what they sound like in respect to the time of the day. Each day will cover different Animal Crossing games, and then, I’ll have a judgment round near the end of the week.

As one of Nintendo’s key franchises, Animal Crossing is a very unique game where you can move into a town inhabited by animals and live like you live in the real world. Some people play to chat with the animals. Some people, like me, play for the design aspects. Some people play to do other stuff like Museum donations. And some people play just to play online with others. But one minor, yet commonly-discussed feature is the background music that plays outdoors. Every hour, once the bells ring, the music changes into something else. This is what we call the hourly music. There are 24 of them in each game, each of them reflecting the time of the day. The daytime songs are lively and upbeat, while the nighttime songs are calm and downbeat. The evening and morning hours also have some songs that sound very transitional as well.

The cool part is that the hourly songs don’t just fit the game. They fit real life too. They are perfect tunes that fit when the sun rises or when the sun sets, when shops open or when shops close, and when people start waking up or start going to bed. If you swapped hourly soundtracks in different games, you will change the music, but you won’t change the results.

For the next couple of entries, I have divided the day into seven different times of the day, four three-hour periods in the AM hours, and three four-hour periods in the PM hours. They are, starting at 6 AM…

• Early Morning (6:00 AM to 8:59 AM)
• Late Morning (9:00 AM to 11:59 AM)
• Afternoon (12:00 PM to 3:59 PM)
• Evening (4:00 PM to 7:59 PM)
• Early Night (8:00 PM to 11:59 PM)
• Late Night (12:00 AM to 2:59 AM)
• Dawn (3:00 AM to 5:59 AM)

And it cycles every day. The length of the day and what time the sun rises and sets vary based on season, but the 24-hour clock continues to repeat.

Today’s entry is on the GameCube Version, the first Animal Crossing game released across the world. This is where it all started. Later games will be discussed as the week goes on.

Overview:

While the gameplay and features have gotten better in later Animal Crossing games, the soundtrack has gotten worse. Out of all of the Animal Crossing games, the GameCube Version has the best soundtrack, and the best sound effects. It had better K.K. Slider songs, better shop music, and above all, better hourly music. I’m not even being blinded by nostalgia here (if I were, New Leaf would be the best). It really is that good. For the hourly songs, they were the strongest in terms of how much emotion they bring. The ones in the daytime best fit the hours they play in. Not so much for the nighttime.

And now, I will start turning the clock, where each hour passes as you read through the bulleted notes. The date changes at 12:00 AM, but a new day begins at 6:00 AM. So each 24-hour period starts at six in the morning (or 06:00 in the 24-hour clock).

Early Morning:

The sun has risen! The night is over! A new day has begun! As the day starts up, you’ll be hearing some happy music that signal the beginning. However, most places aren’t open yet. And there are still others sleeping. It’s still too early in the day for that.

• The 6 AM music sounds more like a “rise and shine” soundtrack, signaling that a new day has begun. But it sounds more like the intro song of a day rather than the song of the first scene.
• The 7 AM music sounds like the true beginning of the day. After waking up, the day has a fresh start, as you’ll wonder what it’s going to be about. It also sounds like an early morning routine, like a walk in the park before it’s time to go to work.
• The 8 AM music sounds like a beautiful morning. As more people start waking up, it sounds like a good time to go out for a walk. But by then, it starts to get busier.

Verdict:

Out of all 96 hourly songs from the entire franchise, the best one of them all is within this time period from this specific game. One additional point to add is that these tunes, specifically the 7 AM and 8 AM soundtracks, also sound like perfect Spring tunes. But unfortunately, they’re not created equally. One of these tracks barely made it to my top 24 on the ultimate list, and another was even in the bottom half of the list. But the other, it’s my #1 favorite of the franchise.

• Winner: 7 AM
• Loser: 8 AM

Late Morning:

As the day continues to start up, this is also when the “mainstream” part of the day starts. Shops are starting to open up, the rest of the people are awake, and people start going to work.

• The 9 AM soundtrack sounds like a lazy morning tune. The latest risers start waking up, but they still feel sleepy. Meanwhile, those who were already awake were sitting back and relaxing after some morning routine.
• The 10 AM soundtrack sounds like a busy morning tune. By then, everyone should be awake, and every store should be open. It feels like an average daytime tune, and it’s more in the morning.
• To be honest, judging by the instruments used, the 11 AM soundtrack sounds like a day at an amusement park. But it still sounds like a happy tune as the morning goes on.

Verdict:

While the early morning arc sounds strong, the late morning arc is rather weaker. Each hourly tune after gets more energetic until it gets to a peak in the next time of the day. Once again, one of the hourly songs in my top five are within this time period from this game.

• Winner: 11 AM
• Loser: 10 AM

Afternoon:

This is it! This is the most active and energetic time of the day. Everyone is awake and working (or playing), every place is open, and the outdoors is great to walk outside in. You wouldn’t even need a lighting source to go outside when the Sun is up.

• The 12 PM music sounds like a continuation of the 11 AM music, but rather calmer. The Sun is at the top. It’s a beautiful day. It’s time to have fun, if it’s not your day to work.
• The 1 PM music sounds like a tune for an exciting afternoon. You can fly a kite, have a picnic in the park, or run around.
• The 2 PM music sounds like it’s time to cool down after having all of the energy. It seems rather calmer, as it’s more of how to have fun indoors than outdoors.
• The 3 PM music sounds like a continuation of the 2 PM music, where the afternoon is calm and tiring. But it’s still in the middle of the day.

Verdict:

The first half of the afternoon arc sounds very exciting and joyful, as it reminds you of how much better the day is when the Sun is up. The second half of the afternoon arc, however, sounded rather very weak for a game with very strong soundtrack. They could’ve had better.

• Winner: 1 PM
• Loser: 2 PM

Evening:

After four hours of brightness and joy, the day is about to come to an end. The Sun begins to set, as the day transitions to the night. It’s also time to go home.

• The 4 PM music sounds like a great start to the evening arc, for that it sounds peaceful and tranquil. Even though the day is about to end, it seems like a more optimistic approach rather than a realistic approach.
• The 5 PM music sounds like the day is at its last stages. There’s nothing left to do as the Sun disappears from the sky. But this sounds like a good time to remember the day and how it went. As you know, there’s always another day.
• The 6 PM music sounds like the night hours have just started. To those who are more active at night, it’s time to go out to party. Meanwhile, for those who are active at day, it’s time to go home.
• The 7 PM music sounds like the opposite of the 7 AM music. It’s a depressing and mournful tune signaling the end of the daylight hours. By this point, the day is already over.

Verdict:

All four hourly songs are in my top 20 best hourly songs franchise-wide and are in my top for this game alone. They are strong tunes that best match the day. And the one that really strikes it most is the 5 PM soundtrack. It’s the best of the PM hourly songs in the entire franchise, only to be behind the 7 AM soundtrack. For the rest, while they are proof that the GameCube Version is the king of the hourly songs, there is unfortunately a loser. I’ll judge by feeling here.

• Winner: 5 PM
• Loser: 7 PM

Early Night:

By then, the Sun is out of the sky, as the night hours have started. Despite the darkness, there’s still activity. People are still awake, and shops are still open. But as the time goes on, they begin to close up, and people are starting to go to bed. But even the most diurnal people would still have some fun in these hours.

• The 8 PM music sounds like a sad tune now that the daylight hours are over, but you can still have fun. To those who don’t see it as depressing, it’s like a joyful tune for nighttime adventures.
• The 9 PM music sounds like everything is starting to calm down. Now that the day is over, so is activity. People should be home, and places start closing up, if not, are in their last hours.
• The 10 PM music sounds rather upbeat for a nighttime tune. It’s like there’s a party going on, and it only takes place at night.
• The 11 PM music sounds like the party has come to an end. All activity has stopped. At this point, the day is officially over, for that there is nothing left.

Verdict:

Compared to the other games in the franchise, these tunes sound less emotional, but more like how busy the night can get. It starts out as if there’s any activity, only for it to go down over time. And by the end, it’s all over. The songs are average to good in my opinion, as the worst of the GameCube Version has to come.

• Winner: 8 PM
• Loser: 11 PM

Late Night:

So a new date has just begun. The old day is gone, and we’re now in a new day. But since this is in the middle of the night, almost nobody is active or awake. They’re all asleep.

• The 12 AM music sounds like a rather calm and quiet beginning of a new day. The old day is over, so what will the next day be about? This is just the start of it.
• The 1 AM music is literally a 7-second loop. But for what was put into it, it sounds like the nighttime is more active, or that you don’t know what’s going to happen before the sun rises.
• The 2 AM music sounds like another party tune somewhere in the middle of the night. But this one takes place in the darkest hours of the night. It sounds like that either someone has been staying up too late, or they woke up too early just to have a nighttime snack or some party.

Verdict:

Due to the lack of work put into these songs, and due to future games having it better, it’s hard to rank any of these hourly songs higher. For how emotional several GameCube soundtracks sound, this sounds rather emotionless. But it could be another way of telling us “hey, nobody’s awake, so let’s go out”.

• Winner: 12 AM
• Loser: 2 AM

Dawn:

As the night continues to progress through its last hours, there is like nobody active or awake at this time. The only places that are open are the 24-hour facilities. Have you woke up too early? Are you still awake?

• The 3 AM music sounds like you are groggier when waking up. You probably woke up too early. Or maybe you somehow woke up just to do something. If you feel like having a snack, this is a great time to eat a hamburger.
• The 4 AM music sounds like a continuation of the 3 AM music, but more active. But judging by the tune, it sounds like the nighttime hours has officially come to an end. So if you are more active at night than the daytime, party’s over.
• The 5 AM music sounds like rough transition between day and night. Now that the nighttime is over, the Sun is ready to rise. The earliest risers would wake up at this time, but there’s like nothing to do.

Verdict:

            To be truthful, none of these hourly soundtracks are any good to me. But here’s why: they are all in A-Major, my least favorite musical scale. Now some of my favorite hourly soundtracks (like this game’s 7 PM hourly soundtrack) are in this scale, but the difference is, I liked these tracks. But when there’s nobody awake except for dangerous animals, I wouldn’t really want to associate myself with them.

• Winner: 5 AM
• Loser: 4 AM

Game Rankings:

Now I’m done walking through the GameCube Version’s hourly songs. Once again, I would like to say that this game is the best game for hourly soundtrack. The nighttime songs may need improvement, but the daytime songs, they are the best hourly songs in the franchise.

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Coming up next: Animal Crossing: Wild World and Animal Crossing: City Folk!