NOW! That's what GR calls crap music

Kingdom Hearts

The magic of Kingdom Hearts is hard to break. Having played it for well over 65 hours, we look back on it with a warm, fuzzy feeling, usually reserved only for childhood memories of sherbet fountains and playing with puppies. But it almost wasn't like that.

The game's first area away from the island at the start is called Traverse Town. It's got shops and item synthesis areas and acts as a starting point for every journey to a new world. It's also home to a 34-second loop of flute and piano music that will drive you to either murder or suicide if you listen to it for too long, depending if anyone else is around.

Maybe it's the way it's in a minor key until the last chord before it loops where it suddenly turns into a major with a suspended "seventh" counterpart. Maybe it's the irritatingly lazy, lilting timbre of the melody. Or maybe it's just the fact that if you play in the area for an hour, you will have heard it 106 times. Gak.

Hear it here

Above: You step into Traverse Town with a feeling of adventure. And leave it with one of suicide

Above: You step into Traverse Town with a feeling of adventure. And leave it with one of suicide

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.