The Olympics opening ceremony was filled with video game music

By Andrew Zucosky July 23, 2021

The opening ceremony for the Olympics this year welcomed its athletes with iconic video game music. During the Parade of Nations, each country walked out to songs from video games. Many recognizable songs were used from games such as Final Fantasy, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Chrono Trigger.

The 2020 Olympics kicked off today in Tokyo after being delayed due to the pandemic. The opening ceremony featured a suite of gaming music, which had users on social media on an Easter egg hunt to identify each track.

DID THEY REALLY PLAY KINGDOM HEARTS AND FINAL FANTASY MUSIC AT THE OLYMPICS?!?

YES LOOK pic.twitter.com/x8tlnRhDKD

— Maku (@TropicalMaku) July 23, 2021

The first song that played during the ceremony was Overture: Roto’s Theme, a song originally found in Dragon Quest III. Dragon Quest is one of the most popular video game series in Japan where many people will take time off of school and work to purchase and play the newest installment in the series. Dragon Quest III is considered the game that helped solidify the series into the hearts of the culture, so it is only fitting that the Olympics would use its version of the memorable opening theme for its opening ceremony.

There were 19 songs that were included for this opening event from over 15 different Japanese video games. Star Light Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog and the Main Theme from Final Fantasy might be the most recognizable songs and games that were played during the ceremony.

Tokyo Olympics now genuinely rocking the Sonic Star Light Zone theme 🔥 pic.twitter.com/BAxs0b8eDE

— Andy Robinson (@AndyPlaytonic) July 23, 2021

Square Enix was the most represented company in the list of songs. At least seven of its video games were included in the opening ceremony with certain games like Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy having multiple songs played. Capcom and Sega both had multiple songs played in the ceremony as well.

Interestingly, the Olympics did not include any first-party games made by Nintendo. There were no songs from Super Mario, the Legend of Zelda, or even from the Pokémon series.

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