During today’s 2020 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony, a lot of recognizable music popped up, including a rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine” performed by John Legend, Keith Urban, and some other singers from around the world. Video game fans were also pleased to hear that orchestral renditions of songs from classic Japanese games soundtracked the parade of countries.
They are playing Kingdom Hearts music at the Olympic opening ceremony while the Olympians walk in! Sorry for the bad screen recording. I just thought this was so cool. They also played Monster Hunter world, Dragon Quest and some other games :D #KingdomHearts pic.twitter.com/lAlnJPZvu6
— Austin-METAL (@AustinBarnette7) July 23, 2021
OLYMPICS ATHLETES INTRO FINISHES WITH DRAGON QUEST OMFG HOW INCREDIBLE AND EPIC 😭😭😭 #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/0e7HBqKkwt
— ☆オードリーAudrey☆ (@aitaikimochi) July 23, 2021
As The Associated Press notes, the medley kicked off with “Roto’s Theme” from the Dragon Quest series. Other franchises that were represented include Sonic The Hedgehog, Final Fantasy, Tales, Monster Hunter, Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger, Ace Combat, Phantasy Star, Gradius, NieR, Saga, Soul Caliber, and eFootball (formerly but more commonly known as Winning Eleven and Pro Evolution Soccer).
Full list of video game music playing for the Parade of Nations, including Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger, Ace Combat, Sonic the Hedgehog, NieR, Soul Caliber, and more
🎮🎶https://t.co/62vSPloH5t pic.twitter.com/94JMqaYN7b— Nymo (@Nymo) July 23, 2021
Video game fans know that Sonic’s connection to the Olympics runs deep, as he and Nintendo mascot Mario have appeared in a bunch of Olympics video games together over the years. The series started with 2007’s Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games, and the latest installment is 2019’s Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Speaking of Mario, songs from his games were nowhere to be found during the medley, even though the plumber played a major role in Japan’s presentation at the 2016 Olympics Closing Ceremony.
