The background music featured in Iron Pawn is a unique mixture of old-school synthesized music, new age, and techno. This results in a very expansive and ambient journey. When creating the game, I often was inspired to create levels based on the music I found. I will give credit to all of those who posted their music online for royalty-free use. Thanks in advance!
- Sunrise Bridge: Shizu “Waterwinged Angel”
- I always wanted to start off the game with a bridge level in the sunset/sunrise, as you leave the beginning city. So I wanted a grand intro to the meat of the game at this point. This song accomplishes all of that and goes beyond with its fast faced but airy melody.
- Mount Sidequest: Kevin MacLeod “The Way Out”
- When I first heard this song, I was instantly reminded of the mountainous theme from Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana. I loved the music they used, and so I chose this for Gaia Cliffs, a rocky area full of abnormally dangerous monsters. This style of song really works well for mountains because it has echoing and also a very tribal beat.
- Old Rune Mines: Overcoat “No Living Souls”
- I was originally going to choose another song for the mines, but I thought the accordian and organ sounds in this song really bring out the creepiness of an abandoned mine. It sounds creepy, but has a hint of humor in the beat too, which seems appropriate for this earlier-in-the-game level.
- Ice Cave: dan “Snowscape”
- Because of this theme, my ice dungeon turned out being waaaaaaay larger than I originally imagined. That’s because I really love icy levels, and listening to this song inspired me to stretch my imagination and expand the dungeon. I love the use of background wind combined with a music box sound for the melody. It works so well for this cold, lonely level far away from civilization.
- Tower of Mi’Raj: Merte “Arabic Night”
- I knew I always wanted to pay tribute to the original Tower of Mirage from Final Fantasy I, but I knew I wanted to use music which would be better fitting than what they used. Arabic Night is just perfect for my level, which I decided to set in twilight after hearing this. It sounds sandy, but very cool, as if it were during the evening after a long, hot day in the desert.
- Liquiduct: David Schooley “Liquid and Plasma”
- I liked this song so much, it inspired me to create a water level. It sounds watery, it has a watery name, it goes in a water level. The fast-paced beat made me decide to make the level a through-level on the way to another area.
- Normal Boss Music: Oceanus “Ride the Lightning”
- I really liked this song from the start, but I was worried it might be too techno/electronic for the game. But meh, it’s my game, my rules! ;) It is a very dynamic, action packed song, so I almost instantly knew it was going to be used as a battle theme. I used it originally for normal battles, but it sounded well, too climactic. So I decided to use it for boss battles.