The Surprisingly Complex Music of Wii Play's Tanks!

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Wii Play (2006) had a great assortment of little games, each with a little gem of adaptive music, but none got as intricate as the final one, Tanks!, in which you battle with little toy tanks on a hardwood floor. Check out how much variety you can get out of a few measures of music and some clever game design parameters.

Special thanks to DavoGato and Wolfgang for helping me with this video!

{ ? I ♥ }

[emmettmulhern]

There is now probably a music composer out there who is now very happy that they have received some sort of recognition for their very hard work on a small game years ago.

[DE]

Fun Fact: The levels actually change in layout slightly whether your playing in 4:3 or 16:9 to suit the play space.

[michaelgillespie]

I literally never knew there were more than 20 stages. Me and my sister spent months even getting to the white tank level.

[moyai]

Can we talk about how intelligent that ai was for that mini game as well? Good god that mini game got tough.

[Timmy-fkuk]

i’d like to think that the people in charge of this “mini” game were having a lot of fun programming and designing it

[whatstuntman]

I remembered spending MONTHS on the Wii Play Tanks level trying to complete it in one setting. Got so bad that the music was engrained into my head and I memorized what song matched what tank. Been years since, and you talking about it kinda gave me a sorta Vietnam Flashback making me feel like I had unfinished business. Thanks for that mate.

[-meinjuaco-]

I never would've imagined how badly i wanted this video to exist

[QmanTheGamer]

YESSSS Wii play is one of those forgotten gems of the Wii era. Finally gets the love it deserves

[smizmi]

I think what they had in mind was to turn the enemy tanks into “characters” that the player can feel more in touch with. It talks to our subconscious to give us a hint in what to expect from these foes with familiar musical language, adding to the actual gameplay. The composer definitely has a thing for games.

[scluke]

I love how each tanks effect on the music kind of corresponds with what they do. Example: the red tank fires a ricochet pattern, resulting in two lines of travel for the bullet, and adds two instruments. Yellow tank has mines and adds the bass drum, simulating the explosive sounds in the music

[Mr.Taco]

I hold so much nostalgia for this game, and the soundtrack. It is one of those memories I completely forget until something brings it back up. Thank you for bringing it back up.

[puzzLEGO]

Wii music to this day is the only music that consistently manages to wedge itself in my brain and stays there for the rest of my life

[peggsnbacon]

I broke out my Wii to play some a while back, and I thought I was just kinda hearing things when noticing the changes, but I didn't really get to appreciate it, so this is interesting insight into what's really going on!

[maxodalpoco]

Awesome video, loved that nostalgia.
At 1:18, there’s a code at the bottom: “SMM2:KNV-T2M-N0G”
It’s a Super Mario Maker 2 level, made by Scruffy called “Advancing Tanks”
Fun level, fun video. Keep it up Scruffy!

[Anquilis]

This was my childhood and it's also my dad's favorite minigame, but I didn't even know there were black/white tanks and the fact there were 80 frkn stages to it?!

Such an interesting video, thank you for this breakdown

[duimaurisfootball]

I've always loved this bit of the game, but nobody else ever seemed to notice! the entire game was so underrated, with how surprisingly in-depth and creative it was!

[BynineStudio]

this is so damn cool. they could easily have gotten away with a completely static track, but no they went the extra mile and it's awesome that you've documented it, and so well too

[bren]

You know it’s going to be a good day when Scruffy uploads.

[expired_esoup]

one thing I found interesting is that the trumpet fanfare heard at the start of every level is actually in a different key then the rest of the music. It's in Eb major, closer to the trumpets natural key signature and thus sounds more open and vibrant. Unless it's in C minor, which changes to C major for the main piece.

[OhYeah]

The Wii era was really something special. Not as popular in the grand scheme of things, but the foundation of a lot of our childhoods