MaybeMusic

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

Year: 1992
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Clint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell
Number of tracks: 42


Industy Jones

Who would like to take a trip down memory lane? To be more precise, to the distant year 1992 - the year I was born. In June, one month before I was to see the light of day, LucasArts released one of its last great point-and-click adventures: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. With the well-known Indie-brand at its back and some genre experience from classics such as the first two Monkey Island-games, nothing really stood in the way of success.

It is therefore not surprising that the game was so good that to this day Fate of Atlantis is mentioned in the same breath as other greats such as Day of the Tentacle or the aforementioned story about Guybrush Threepwood. What is surprising, however, is the fact that this concept was not continued. Stories with the world's most famous archaeologist that don't just tell the stories of the silver screen, but chapters that are detached from them - that sounds like a perfect match, doesn't it?

This can probably be attributed to the spirit of the times. Point-and-clicks, which harmonized perfectly with the rudimentary input methods and the still very limited computing power of the time, were replaced by action adventures. 3D instead of sidescrolling, reaction instead of puzzles. At the same time, four years later, Lara Croft emerged as a female counterpart whose adventures required less brainpower and more dexterity. It's a shame that the renaissance of old game concepts has not yet been accompanied by the launch of a new Indie-game. But managers and the rights owners must have had something in mind here.

Who cares, after all, I've never played Indies Who cares, after all, I've never played indie video game spin-offs and would probably have been too thick to do so. After all, I have an unhealthy mix of impatience, ego and low frustration tolerance. Puzzles in games? Yes, but only if they're not too challenging. So let me instead encourage you, the reader, keep on reading. Because I will now - hopefully - surface some musical highlights. Will I strike gold in the OST to Fate of Atlantis ? Let's find out.

With the "Opening Titles", we are immediately greeted by John Williams' fantastic theme in the quality of the Yamaha YM3218 sound chip. Fortunately - or due to the lack of a movie template - composers Clint Bajakian, Michael Land and Peter McConnell got creative themselves and added video game/LucasArts-like comedy to the familiar theme without getting too goofy. The whole thing dangles like a forlorn archaeologist over a snake pit and oscillates between serious adventure story and point-and-click humor. The well-known 'Da Dada Daaa' can also be found later as a quote in tracks such as "Map", "The Azores / Mr Costa" and "Farewell Dr. Jones", but is never overwrought. That's a good thing.

Meanwhile, the style of the score, with its clattering fanfares, shows parallels to later LucasArts titles such as Star Wars: Dark Forces or TIE Fighter which is probably due to the fact that Williams was back at work on the film and part of the composing team on the games. Unlike with the war of stars, the OST of Fate of Atlantis remains much more down-to-earth most of the time without being boring. Ironically, tracks such as "Tikal / Meeting Sternhart" or "Crete" seem to have been borrowed from the main menu of Tomb Raider , while "Monte Carlo / Monsieur Trottier" and "Arnold the Singing Nazi" drift into the realm of humor.

The obligatory completion of musical tropes is also covered with "Crossing the Desert" (oriental) or "Darkness at the Entrance of Atlantis" (creepy). And with "Room of the God Machine", there's even a bit of Dies Irae sneaking in - me gusta! Overall, I find little to criticize in the OST, the bit music is solid by the standards of the time (and to some extent still today) without setting any noteworthy accents. Like a nice story that you forget shortly after hearing it ... or reading this article.


Nr.TitleInterpret(en)Ratings
01Opening TitlesClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell44/5
02Kerner Steals the StatueClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell44/5
03MapClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell44/5
04New York / Biff the DoormanClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
05Sophia's Atlantis PresentationClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
06Sophia's Office Is Ransacked / The Appearance of Nur-Ab-SalClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
07IcelandClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
08Tikal / Meeting SternhartClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell22/5
09Tikal TempleClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell22/5
10Sternhart Steals the WorldstoneClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell22/5
11The Azores / Mr CostaClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
12A Research Lab Somewhere in GermanyClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
13Caswell HallClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
14The Lost Dialogue of PlatoClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell44/5
15Monte Carlo / Monsieur TrottierClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell44/5
16Monte Carlo Hotel RoomClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
17The SeanceClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
18Monte Carlo Car ChaseClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
19Crossing the DesertClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
20Outside the DigClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell22/5
21CreteClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
22The Ruins of KnossosClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
23The Ancient ElevatorClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
24Knossos LabyrinthClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
25Arnold the Singing NaziClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
26Fighting ThemeClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
27Farewell Dr. JonesClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell44/5
28Map RoomClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell22/5
29The TransitClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell22/5
30The Nazi SubmarineClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
31Diving for AtlantisClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
32Darkness at the Entrance of AtlantisClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
33Outer Ring of Atlantis 1Clint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
34Outer Ring of Atlantis 2Clint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell22/5
35Outer Ring of Atlantis 3Clint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
36Atlantean Robot StampedeClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
37Indy and Sophia's KissClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
38Crab CentralClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell22/5
39The Crab-like RaftClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell44/5
40The LavamazeClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell33/5
41Room of the God MachineClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell55/5
42The God Machine / FinaleClint Bajakian; Michael Land; Peter McConnell44/5

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