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The current title is not an official name.
"Tension Before a Confrontation" is an unnamed tense theme in Super Metroid. It was composed by Kenji Yamamoto and/or Minako Hamano.
Description[]
This theme is heard when Samus Aran is about to confront a boss character in the vicinity, often foreshadowing the presence of a boss character: specifically, Kraid, Phantoon, and the Big Metroid. It also plays in the immediate aftermath of the Crocomire boss battle, as the creature's skeleton swims through the scalding-hot lava in Croc's pit.
An alternate version of the theme briefly plays as the first Torizo breaks out of its Chozo Statue. This version is slower in tempo, lower in key, and removes the melodic bass line, leaving just the harmonic strings; the result is less intense, but even more eerie.
The general theme can be heard here, and the Torizo version here.
Trivia[]
- In the game proper, only about five seconds of the Torizo variant can be heard before Big Boss Confrontation BGM (Ridley, Draygon) starts playing. However, the full song can be faintly heard by pausing the game at the right moment.