Exploring the Cave
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"Exploring the Cave" is a theme from Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe that plays primarily in cave areas. It was composed by Hirokazu Ando.[1]
Composition[edit]
"Exploring the Cave" is a resolute theme in Mixolydian C and 4/4. It begins with a simple yet unorthodox springy accompaniment I-V-IV-I progression. The brisk synth melody consists of a slowly descending ornamented scale with a long main tones and short supporting notes. After an intermission where the percussion switches up, the melody is repeated an octave below by an organ. A trombone then takes over with a new, distinctly rising melody derived from the intonations of the first. A quiet and fast counterpoint based on the original melody plays as the new motif develops. The motion comes to a halt as the bassline holds the dominant. The trombone and more brass build up a large and tense dominant chord as the original percussion and a cymbal tremolo add to the climax. This eventually resolves in the tonic with a loud crash, and the track loops from the intro.
Game appearances[edit]
Kirby's Return to Dream Land / Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe[edit]
In Kirby's Return to Dream Land and its remake, "Exploring the Cave" plays in the cave-like areas of the first, third, fourth stages of Cookie Country, Onion Ocean - Stage 2, and White Wafers - Stage 3. It can be found as track 7 in the Sound Test and track 5 in the remake's Jukebox.
The melody of "Exploring the Cave" is also recurring in other tracks such as "The Birthplace of Steel" and "Underworld", and to some extent "Crow in the Shadows" and "Halcandra: A New Enemy" and the latter's variant's subsequent usage in "Return to Dream Land".
Trivia[edit]
- "Exploring the Cave" was also heard in footage of Kirby for Nintendo GameCube shown at E3 2005.[2] Alongside "Road to Victory" and "Sky Tower", this makes it one of a select few tracks confirmed to have been composed for the GameCube project.
- On the Kirby Wii Music Selection CD, the name どうくつたんけん (Exploring the Cave) is given to "Crystal Dungeons". The tracks' current respective names are later established in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | どうくつたんけん dōkutsu tanken |
Cave Expedition This name was originally given to "Crystal Dungeons" on the Kirby Wii Music Selection CD. |
| Traditional Chinese | 洞窟探險 dòng kū tàn xiǎn |
Cave Expedition |
| Simplified Chinese | 洞窟探险 dòng kū tàn xiǎn | |
| Dutch | Grotverkenning | Cave exploration |
| French | Exploration de la grotte | Cave exploration |
| German | Höhlenerforschung | Cave exploration |
| Italian | Esplorazione speleologica | Speleological exploration |
| Korean | 동굴 탐험 dong-gul tamheom |
Cave Expedition |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Explorando a caverna | Exploring the cave |
| Spanish | Expedición subterránea | Underground expedition |
