11 Must-Have Tracks Missing from the Undertale Determination Symphony Ranked by Their Absurdity

Last night, I had the chance to experience the Undertale Determination Symphony concert in Kansas City at the Kauffman Center, and it was a blast! The crowd was lively and respectful, with many attendees rocking impressive cosplay. The music itself was enjoyable, though I’ve had my share of critiques about these events in the past, particularly regarding the limited rehearsal time for the musicians. I did notice a bit of that this time around, but overall, it was a delightful evening. I was especially thrilled to see the conductor really getting into “Megalovania,” even though I doubt he was familiar with Undertale before this.

That said, I have to voice some frustrations again—not about the quality of the music, which was well-arranged and performed, but rather about the song selection and the order in which they were played. To the person responsible for programming this concert: I need some clarity.

I don’t mean to be harsh! The concert was lovely! However, the song choices and their arrangement left me quite puzzled. It started off strong with tracks like “Once Upon a Time,” “Your Best Friend,” “Fallen Down,” “Ruins,” “Home,” “Heartache,” “sans,” and “Snowy,” all following a logical chronological order from the game.

Then things took a strange turn. We completely skipped over everything related to Papyrus and jumped straight to “Snowdin Town,” followed by “Waterfall” and then “Memory” for some reason. There was a fantastic performance of “Bird That Carries You Over A Disproportionately Small Gap,” but then we got “Dummy!” and, inexplicably, “Temmie Village” and “Spooktune,” which didn’t seem necessary for a symphonic arrangement. We did hear “NGAHHH!!!” and “Spear of Justice” in the right spots, but then we skipped over all of Hotland to get to “Spider Dance” and “It’s Raining Somewhere Else,” before leaping straight to the finale of the game with “Undertale,” “Small Shock,” “Bergentruckung,” and “ASGORE” to wrap up Act 1. Act 2 followed a similarly chaotic path, revisiting earlier parts of the game in a scattered manner before culminating in the True Ending boss battle music. Thankfully, it concluded correctly with “Megalovania.”

There might have been good reasons for the song order. For instance, if they had followed the soundtrack chronologically, there wouldn’t have been a strong finale for Act 1, and I can appreciate ending with “ASGORE” as it was a powerful choice. I can overlook the odd sequencing and the inevitable omissions due to time constraints. However, the decision on what to skip was baffling. Several key tracks were left out, which left me scratching my head, especially when songs like “Temmie Village” and “Spooktune” made the cut.

Here’s a list of 11 tracks that were missing from the Undertale Determination Symphony, ranked by how surprised I am that they didn’t make the lineup.

I assume this was left out because it shares a melody with several other tracks in Undertale (it’s essentially the main theme), so I’m not too upset. Still, I love this jazzy remix, and if there was room for “Memory,” which is just a music box version of “His Theme,” then there should have been room for this.

I’m not too hung up on this one; it’s the battle theme for “Hard Mode,” which only features some enemies in the Ruins and doesn’t represent the full game. But it’s a catchy little tune that would have fit nicely as a transition to “Enemy Approaching.”

I promise this is the last one I’m not too passionate about, but I think this piano version of “Ruins” would have made a great segue into a proper finale that includes the true ending songs.

This track is one of the longest on the soundtrack and serves as a lovely comedown after “Hopes and Dreams/SAVE the World.” I suspect its length led to its exclusion, as we can’t have three-hour symphony concerts. I get it, but skipping a straightforward run of “Hopes and Dreams/SAVE the World/His Theme/Reunited/Bring It In, Guys!/Last Goodbye” to close Act 2 is just confusing!

This would have fit perfectly right after “Waterfall” or between “Bird That Carries You Over A Disproportionately Small Gap” and “Dummy!” It’s only 32 seconds long, and there were shorter pieces that got more attention during the concert!

Now we’re getting into the truly puzzling omissions. This is one of the major map themes that the concert didn’t include, and I would have loved to hear how an orchestra would interpret this haunting melody. It could have been paired with “Amalgam” for some truly unsettling moments.

I think this should have kicked off Act 2, gradually building from the first menu theme and adding instruments until it culminated in the full orchestral version.

I assume the two excellent credits themes were left out because they didn’t want to show the game’s credits or Kickstarter backers on screen. Still, I’m annoyed by this choice. That final piano melody was performed live by Toby Fox in the game version, and it always hits me right in the feels.

Now we’re getting into the truly absurd territory. “Another Medium” is not only an incredible piece of music, but it’s also the main theme for Hotland, which is a huge section of the game. I’ve been able to rationalize every other omission, but I genuinely don’t understand why this one was left out.

The concert should have ended with the credits music, and we should have had this and “Megalovania” back-to-back as an encore. Undyne got the short end of the stick; this is one of the best pieces on the soundtrack.

AND YET, THE GAME’S BASIC NORMAL BATTLE THEME WAS NOT PLAYED AT THE CONCERT.