The PSN puzzler Echochrome ii managed to set a unique Guinness World Record last week. The game boasts a rather concise soundtrack listing, but that’s probably because one of its few songs lasts a record 75 minutes and 7 seconds, repeating across the whole of the game. The background music has the longest run time of any song in modern entertainment history, and in all of video game history.
“With the previous echochrome, we employed a string quartet for the soundtrack, a rare genre for video games,” said echochrome producer Tatsuya Suzuki from Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ). “The music did not change depending on the in-game situation, instead taking its own random path as it played along. We wanted to make echochrome’s music as unique and innovative as the game itself in hopes of making the play experience even more memorable for gamers. The quest to outdo ourselves for the sequel was what led us to create the world’s longest piece of game music. It’s 75 minutes long because we wanted it to take up an entire CD by itself. We were lucky to have a title with gameplay like echochrome’s to serve as the proving ground for this effort. If this was an RPG or some other genre, I imagine it would’ve been a lot tougher. It just goes to show how tight the relationship is between gameplay and game music.”