Game:

Mata Nui Online Game (2001)

Duration: 5:45

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Flash is dead and the Mata Nui Online Game turned 20: it's time to cover Bionicle music.


Bionicle was one of the major constants of my childhood, and the Mata Nui Online Game was one of the main sources of its appeal. The game's (seemingly) massive world and epic, yet carefully controlled scope brought 6-year old me a sense of wonder and exploration that I had rarely seen in games before, feelings that I have attempted to recapture several times in my music and art. A few months ago, I revisited the game, partially to whittle away a bored Tuesday evening, but partially to put my past to the test.


There's always a certain danger inherent to looking back to one's childhood interests—in a society where children's media is often treated as a creative afterthought to be rushed out and commodified, one can easily discover that a beloved childhood memory was actually a shallow, cynical marketing ploy. And this danger was doubtlessly present in MNOG. There is no reason whatsoever why a 2001 Flash game, developed by a hired production company to sell LEGOs, should ever approach anything even resembling a quality title.


But somehow this was not the case. By my own personal metric, MNOG has weathered the passage of time incredibly well (give or take a few speed issues), with beautiful art, intricate world design, and a surprisingly deep plot. Some of these assessments might just be nostalgia clouding my better judgement, but rose tinted glasses cannot account for all of my praise; reading about the development of the game (https://medium.com/subpixelfilms-com/the-making-of-the-mata-nui-online-game-98d41dfa8089) reveals the developers as conscientious workers who were deeply aware of what themes and messages they were conveying to their audience.


Among these positive qualities was the game's music. Fitting Bionicle's original concept of mechanical beings juxtaposed against lawsuit-worthy tribal culture, MNOG's score consists of distinctly human choirs and instrumental performances fastened by the best drum loops 2001 had to offer. This musical concept wasn't anything groundbreaking at the time—one of the founding principles of techno was that anything could sound good under a 4/4 drum beat—and Flash's compression has done a number on its objective audio quality, but the ambience and emotions conveyed by the music manage to shine through regardless, greatly enhancing the overall experience. I knew for a fact I had to cover something from the game. But what?


Soon, the choice became obvious. January 1st, 2021 signaled two things: the death of Flash and, therefore, over 2 decades of open, user-driven content creation (yes, Ruffle exists, but let me have my eulogy here!), and the end of 2020, a year that stands as the worst for many millennials and members of Gen Z: precisely the generation that grew up on Bionicle. It made perfect sense, then, to capture these twin feelings of destruction and creation by covering a piece that did exactly that, 20 years ago.


MNOG's ending theme is a beautiful work, but it's also where the soundtrack's loop-based approach begins to falter. After the first 5 repetitions, the composer has already presented all of their material, with no room for further development. As such, I sought with this chiptune cover to bring 'The End' to new heights, with tighter sound design, dynamic percussion, and new melodies harkening back to other MNOG themes—in other words, to recreate 'The End' as my childhood self imagined it. This took the work of two different expansion chips, with the VRC6 applying its traditional '2A03+' timbres and the N163 cushioning the harsh pulse waves in soft, harmonium-esque chord pads (Islands by King Crimson, my favorite song of all time, was a major inspiration here).


I understand that this cover may feel a bit hollow now; many now think 2020 was merely the beginning of something greater. However, I continue to believe, in the face of everything, that life will go on, and that we will continue to survive and endure so long as we believe that we can:
"So. You have surprised us again, Chronicler.
We feared your courage led you to a final adventure.
But it seems you may have many more in the future.
You seem afraid.
I know what you saw in that cave.
Our Prophesies said the Makuta's defeat would end our troubles.
But the Prophesies have changed.
Something yet darker looms ahead of us.
But for now, put these thoughts from your mind.
Come!
Let us leave this windy beach and return to the light and heat of Ta-Koro.
Many friends await you there.”


Download Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y0dPCzDvHz6_uH_HqBX73Ji_fVM43uhZ/view?usp=sharing

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