Great Gaming Music #17: Legacy

This is Legacy by the Gone Jackals as featured in the opening to Lucasarts' Full Throttle. The music played an integral part in selling this biker-themed point-'n'-click adventure to a skeptical audience. The hard rock and hillbilly soundtrack helped smooth over the occasional rough patch in the game's pacing and allow players to experience the frequent moments of genius on offer.

The Gone Jackals released three albums between 1990 and 1998; Legacy is featured on their second album, Bone to Pick. Despite attempts in 2000 and 2003, sequel projects to Full Throttle entitled (respectively) Payback and Hell on Wheels have never gotten off the ground and as of today no attempts to continue the franchise are on foot.

Great Gaming Music #9: The Secret of Monkey Island

The Secret of Monkey Island is one of the greatest games of all time, representing a rare gathering of creative talent including, among others, Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, Dave Grossman, Steve Purcell and Orson Scott Card. Included in that number is Michael Land, who composed the game's fantastic Caribbean-influenced theme.

Land went on to collaborate heavily with Lucasarts between 1990 and 2000, working on the scores to the subsequent Monkey Island games, X-Wing, Tie Fighter, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and The Dig.

The version above is the mt32 MIDI mix of the main theme, as played during the opening sequence of the game. The later CD edition of Monkey Island came with several bonus audio tracks, notably an excellent rock remix of the theme which unfortunately does not seem to have made its way to YouTube.