Olympics Opening Ceremony Featured Music From Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Sonic, and More

After a yearlong delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympics kicked off this morning in Tokyo, Japan. As usual, the popular sporting event began by introducing all of the teams from around the globe that will be competing over the coming weeks. And while this might not seem like it has much of a correlation with the world of video games, the music that was played throughout the ceremony happened to come from some of the most popular Japanese games of all-time.

Over the course of the Parade of Nations segment of the ceremony, musical tracks from a number of beloved gaming properties were highlighted. Many of these songs happened to come from Square Enix properties such as Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, and even Nier. Music from other franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Soul Calibur, and even Monster Hunter were played as well.

As you might expect, video game fans immediately lit up social media with reactions of bewilderment as this played out. Many of these fans were astounded to see the tracks that are so familiar with being highlighted on a major stage such as this. Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy fans, in particular, seemed incredibly happy that each franchise was getting some love in this manner. After all, the games in each of these properties have some of the most beloved gaming music of all time.

If you have yet to watch the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics for yourself, those in the United States should be able to view the broadcast being replayed later tonight. Conversely, if you just want to see some of the songs that were played during the Parade of Nations, you can see how they were included in the video clips down below.