Not too many gamers were on hand to experience and enjoy the full musical sensation of Play! A Video Game Symphony's Asian premiere.

Too bad for them, because they lost their only chance at enjoying the best video game soundtracks brought to life.

I found the audience who attended the concert at the Esplanade concert hall, rather muted,quite unlike reactions from performances overseas, where the audience would shout to conductor Arnie Roth telling him which video game music they wanted to hear.

From the enhanced repacking of the many classic Super Mario beats, to the tense epic suite of Metal Gear Solid and the lush cello rendition of Halo, the music solidified the formerly unseen relationship between music writers and gamers.

The majority of the audience that night probably heard of Super Mario, but to finally listen to the suite from Super Mario Bros, itself a mixture of music from the original Super Mario game, the N64 version, Gamecube and many others; the overall sensation was something only a true gamer could appreciate.

After all, only those who had played the game could have recognised the nuances and musical evolution of the Super Mario tune.

The same can be said for the suites of Sonic The Hedgehog and Castlevania, both iconic games. They had their music retooled for a new audience to appreciate.

New masterpieces followed one another, from Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and even Daytona USA, which provided what was probably the highlight of the night.

Its composer, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, plopped himself in front of a piano and gave a live rendition from the hit arcade game. He gave all he had, which produced some off key notes and interesting pitches. It was a testament to the genre that the people behind the games know exactly how to create the right mood for others to enjoy.

I truly enjoyed recognising the game footage displayed on three large projection screens behind the orchestra, itself helpful in naming the various Zelda games shown during the suite for The Legend Of Zelda, or humming to the action of World Of Warcraft.

Concluding the night was conductor Roth's encore choice, the music to the 1980's game, Revenge Of The Shinobi aka The Super Shinobi.

To hear the classical reiteration of synthpop beats from the genre-bending ninja game, played out in full orchestral glory, with the game video playing on screen was a great reminder that great music for great games is never forgotten.