It’s safe to say that in its pursuit of movie-inspired leitmotivic structures, the Wing Commander soundtrack was a ground-breaking effort – possibly the first game score to attempt such tightly-wound thematic integration. On gaming platforms available outside of the Japan, the introduction of the Roland MT-32 module had only relatively recently made it possible to convincingly mimic orchestral instruments. While this sounds obvious in retrospect, in 1990 such lofty aims weren’t common for a game score. It no surprise then that Roberts asked for the Wing Commander soundtrack to emulate Star Wars, as well as Jerry Goldsmith’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Rarely has a 25-second game intro carried so much meaning and context. And of course, the sight of the orchestra announces the composers’ symphonic ambitions – a rarity for a 1990 video game. The show is about to start, and it’s going to be of grand proportions.
The intro also serves as a curtain raiser that heightens expectations.
The orchestra intro in Wing Commander shows that Roberts knew how hugely important music was for his dream project to play like a swashbuckling space opera. Roberts’ vision for Wing Commander was to create a full-blown space opera à la Star Wars. The orchestra tunes for a few seconds, before the conductor gives the signal to launch into a brief fanfare. Before the player gets to see the game’s intro or even title, game producer Chris Roberts inserts something else, something remarkable: the sight of a pixelated orchestra and conductor, set against the backdrop of a blue planetoid and star-speckled outer space.
Very few games foreground their music as much as Wing Commander – and that’s only one way in which it proved to be a watershed moment for game music. Wing Commander Soundtrack (FM Towns), David Govett / George Sanger / Nenad Vugrinec, 1992
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