Air guitar in the courtroom

Audio is as important to Apollo Justice's atmosphere as any other game. While the audio is not essential to the plot, it does add to the overall enjoyment. The only spoken dialogue comes about when Apollo or Klavier shout "OBJECTION!" "TAKE THAT!" or "HOLD IT!". This had basically been a staple of all four Ace Attorney games. The voice even changes depending on the character. These voiceovers are not exactly used for any narration or dialogue, and are used more for sound effect purposes. I did notice, however, that when Phoenix shouted "OBJECTION!" during the first case where he was the defendent, my heart almost skipped a beat as I recognized his voice from the previos games. Phoenix was known to shout "OBJECTION!" at pretty much anything that moved. When he yelled it instead of Apollo during the first trial, I was immediately nostalgic, as an Ace Attorney fan.

The music is all in MIDI format, with semi-okay quality. I've played other DS games with better music. This music is fitting of Gameboy Advanced games instead of DS. Because of this, I feel like I can group together the four games and talk about all of their audio at the same time. The sound effects in the Ace Attorney games are few and far between, and only subtely add to the atmosphere. Effects include when the judge's gavel hits, when Apollo's slams his fists down on the table in court, when ink or powder needs to be used in fingerprinting, or when a gunshot is fired during a cut scene. Without these effects, and without the background noise during exploration, I would definitely notice a change. Music plays throughout the entire game, and changes depending on mood. If the player finds themselves suddenly wrapped up in a mysterious event while investigating, the music will change to fit the dramatic mood.

The soundtrack for Apollo Justice is similar in atmospheric feel to that of the previous Ace Attorney games. The epic chiming music that always plays when entering the courtroom makes me laugh, reminding me that a court battle can have something in common with a Pokemon battle after all. All the music is score and it always loops (which is good, considering there are not time limits), not songs. I don't know if the DS has any games with songs that have vocals or well-known artists. But then again, I don't play very many DS games.