The Tokyo Olympics kicked off with a load of videogame bangers

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Featuring some true deep cuts.

Tokyo Olympics
(Image credit: Olympics)

The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was held today at the National Stadium, as part of which there is always a procession of the various nations' teams. Greece emerged first, as the birthplace of the Olympics, with the host nation appearing last. The choice of music for this grand moment? Videogame deep-cuts from Japan's incredibly rich history in the medium.

Of course, the first tune out of the gate was Dragon Quest, represented here by the epic 'Introduction: Lotto Theme'.

Then straight into the Final Fantasy 'Victory Fanfare.'

As reported by NikkanSports, the full running order of the songs played is as follows:

  • Dragon Quest: 'Introduction: Lotto Theme'
  • Final Fantasy: 'Victory Fanfare'
  • Tales of Series: 'Sley's Theme – Guru'
  • Monster Hunter: 'Proof of Hero'
  • Kingdom Hearts: 'Olympus Coliseum'
  • Chrono Trigger: 'Frog Theme'
  • Ace Combat: 'First Flight'
  • Tales of Series: 'Royal Capital-Dignified'
  • Monster Hunter: 'Wind of Departure'
  • Chrono Trigger: 'Robo's Theme'
  • Sonic the Hedgehog: 'Star Light Zone'
  • Winning Eleven: 'eFootball walk-on theme'
  • Final Fantasy: 'Main theme'
  • Phantasy Star Universe: 'Guardians'
  • Kingdom Hearts: 'Hero's Fanfare'
  • Gradius: '01 ACT 1-1'
  • NieR: 'Song of the Ancients'
  • Saga Series: 'Makai Ginyu Poetry-Saga Series Medley 2016'
  • Soul Calibur: 'The Brave New Stage of History'

The most notable thing about this is that it's something of an eclectic selection: I'm amazed to see Gradius on there, nevermind NieR, and there's clearly a lot of JRPG love ('Frog's theme' from Chrono Trigger, those maniacs). All I'd say is Sonic but no Mario is a bit of a shocker—get a bit of Gusty Garden Galaxy on there. There was no Nintendo representation at all, in fact, which does seem odd.

Rich Stanton
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."