No, I don’t know why the ‘b’ in ‘big’ isn’t capitalised either. It drives me up the wall, honestly, but that’s not what I’m here to write about today. What I AM writing about is this awesome boss track from A Hat in Time.

Possibly unpopular opinion, though – I didn’t A Hat in Time was all that good when I first played it. I even began to deem it overrated, and the first boss fight didn’t help matters. I just felt like it was too long for its own good, especially since it was the first boss, and I remember getting very irritated trying to beat it. Fortunately, I gradually began to fall in love with the game thanks to the following worlds, and I reckon I won’t find the first boss so infuriating when I get round to playing through the game again. It’s a shame it left such a negative impression on me, though, because it meant I didn’t realise how great its music was until I bought the soundtrack.

On one hand, it’s kind of weird and funny that a chef mafia boss has heavy, electric guitars for his theme but it does a good job making this seemingly comedic character come across as threatening; the opening beats setting the tone perfectly and showing that the guy is not to be taken lightly. But whereas most of the track is dark and ominous, almost as if the boss’ goons are chanting in support of their boss, there is one part of it where the guitars ease up a bit, becoming lighter and cheerier. It’s like Hat Kid’s boundless optimism is shining through and almost trying to hijack the boss’ own music. I love music where the perspective and emotions seem to change throughout.

Even if, during my next playthrough, I still find this boss fight a pain and a chore to beat, I’ll at least be able to bop my head and hum along with its music.