Search and Destroy; Video Game Soundtracks

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d00d, your computer sux0rs. Half-Life was excellent (and I'm surprised I didn't mention it earlier in the thread), because it takes a pretty basic genre--the first person shooter--and then twists it into something very different from the competition. I'm sure you know the basic gist if you started it, but for those who don't: there's an accident at the top secret lab you work at, a rift in space is accidentally opened, and hostile aliens start pouring out; meanwhile, the government puts a lockdown on your facility and decides to erase the evidence, including YOU. Befitting such a story, the music accompanying the game is pretty creepy and spacy at points, and a great fit with the story. By itself, it's not so great probably. If there was even an excuse to upgrade a PC, Half-Life may be it (and the side benefit is that you could probably play Deus Ex then, too).

Sean Carruthers, Thursday, 10 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Half-Life? The music is well and truly switched off for that game.

DG, Friday, 11 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

one year passes...
I agree that people who are exclusively into game music are very
strange - but there's a lot of great stuff mixed in with the chaff.
Dig the soundtracks too:

Ecco The Dolphin (astoundingly beautiful)
Loom (some of this is an obscure classical piece that I've
never identified; anyone?)
Toejam & Earl
Road Rash 2

Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Monday, 31 March 2003 05:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

Make that "Ecco: The Tides Of Time"
as if anyone cared.

Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Monday, 31 March 2003 06:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

M4RBL3 M4DN3SS 0wNz u fuXoRz!!!(#U#%*%

geeta (geeta), Monday, 31 March 2003 06:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Haha, Ethan back before he realized that being a prodigy in rhetoric isn't always a free pass to be a complete dick all the time.

No one has mentioned Mega Man 2 yet.

Dan I. (Dan I.), Monday, 31 March 2003 07:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

i'd just like to say that Chris Huelsbeck's music for the Turrican games is the best game music ever made for an Amiga title - you can download a lot of it from the Turrican fan sites too - search Google

stevem (blueski), Monday, 31 March 2003 09:41 (twenty-one years ago) link

the ethan vs mark s debate on the merits of video game music is one of the best things I've ever seen on ilx.

Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 31 March 2003 10:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

Old Skool computer game music is a great nostalgia thing, and a useful thing to sample and appropriate into something new. Doing something in the style of 8-bit bleeps is quite evocative for people of a certain age.

However, with any new games the first thing I do is turn off the music. Worst offenders are definitely any Command and Conquer game.

Lynskey (Lynskey), Monday, 31 March 2003 11:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search: Rez, the soundtrack of which is woven into the game to a very deep extent. The manner of your attacks affects the percussion that's added to the tracks, for example. Plus it's a complete psychedelic headfuck in terms of looks.

Hayden Nicholls (Pop the Weasel), Monday, 31 March 2003 11:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search: anything on the C64, even the bad ones. Esp. Martin Walker, Martin Galway an David Whittaker.

Destroy: almost anything streamed from CD. We do not want to be cinema. We are better than that!

mei (mei), Monday, 31 March 2003 11:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

Geeta is COMPLETELY right about Marble Madness.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 31 March 2003 12:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

Tekken 2 had great themes for each character - i liked Yoshimitus's best

stevem (blueski), Monday, 31 March 2003 12:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

On people who only listen to videogame music: Yeah, it's a bit strange but isn't this really a symptom of these people not being very into music but instead being major collectors who buy everything related to their favorite games? (i.e. all those Final Fantasy soundtracks) I get the feeling these things are snatched up more for the pretty artwork than anything.

Search: the Castlevania games had some great tunes. Also, Dr. Mario - "Chill".

original bgm, Monday, 31 March 2003 12:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

Also, Ico on the ps2 has some nice and subtle ambient music. The save music sounded like Boards of Canada too.

original bgm, Monday, 31 March 2003 12:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search: Chrono Trigger

Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 31 March 2003 18:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

Seacrh the overnight sleeping music on _any_ RPG.

Does that count as a sub-micro-genre ?

mei (mei), Monday, 31 March 2003 18:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

HELL YES, a site with MIDI files of videogame soundtracks, including MARBLE MADNESS. The site owner takes requests!

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 31 March 2003 20:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

rock!!

geeta, Monday, 31 March 2003 22:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

Dan, check out http://www.vgmusic.com/ - over 14,000 MIDI files of video game music

Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 31 March 2003 22:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED?

mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 16:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

M.U.L.E.!!! Circa 1982 Commodore brilliance!!

Aaron W (Aaron W), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 17:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

Meh. They don't want you to hyperlink... http://www.vgmusic.com/music/computer/commodore/commodore/index-gr.html

Aaron W (Aaron W), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 17:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

I think Orbital's "P.E.T.R.O.L" was originally made for some car video game soundtrack, and I certainly love that track.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 17:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

Besides, there are of course all those classic C-64 tunes by Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway, Ben Dalglish and Mark Cooksey. Lots of great stuff there.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 17:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

seven months pass...
The Espantoso channel in GTA: Vice City is great.

dleone (dleone), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:28 (twenty years ago) link

I always loved the music they played on the underground levels in Mario 2. That would have been one of the coolest hip hop beats ever.

Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:54 (twenty years ago) link

PARAPPA THE RAPPA!!!

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:09 (twenty years ago) link

three years pass...
search:
Koji Kondo - Legend of Zelda series (original's main theme / Ocarina of Time's dungeon themes), Super Mario series
Hip Tanaka - Kid Icarus, Metroid (arranged cassette with both titles is tops)
Yuzo Koshiro - Streets of Rage, Shinobi series
Michiru Yamane - Castlevania series (especially Symphony of the Night)
Nathan McCree - Tomb Raider
Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy 7
Noriyuki Asakura - Tenchu
Masashi Hamauzu - Saga Frontier 2 (good album of piano arrangements, too)
Zuntata group - G Darius, Darius Gaiden, Rayforce
Hitoshi Sakimoto - Final Fantasy Tactics, Gradius V
Koichi Sugiyama - Dragon Quest 8 (orchestrated version, especially "Marching Through the Fields")
Jet Set Radio - a good licensed soundtrack
+whoever did Mega Man 3

Think that covers it!

lrsn (larssen), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 09:53 (seventeen years ago) link

Dragon Quest 8 has a lot of songs that sound like drive-in intermission music

a.b. (alanbanana), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 13:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Think that covers it!

Yasunori Mitsuda wept.

Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 10 January 2007 21:06 (seventeen years ago) link

i thought bully had a really nice, low-key score that didn't seem to get much notice.

M@tt He1geson: Sassy and I Don't Care Who Knows It (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 21:48 (seventeen years ago) link

Katamari, the original and sequel.

ESPECIALLY the original.

Zachary Scott (Zach S), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 23:47 (seventeen years ago) link

LONELY ROLLING STAR!

jimn (jimnaseum), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 23:49 (seventeen years ago) link

lrsn said it best...

Search: Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy 7

the mgs soundtrack was awsome too


yah and that jet set radio soundtrack had cibo matto if i remember right

Chris Grasinger (gman59), Thursday, 11 January 2007 16:20 (seventeen years ago) link

two months pass...
three months pass...

The India theme by Kazuo Sawa for Super Dodgeball on the NES is really bangin'

gigabytepicnic, Sunday, 29 July 2007 09:30 (sixteen years ago) link

Both of the new Vanillaware games (Odin Sphere and GrimGrimoire) have some pretty nice stuff. Especially the vocal theme to Odin during the character intros after you let the title screen sit for a minute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb_veLl4k0w

marmotwolof, Sunday, 29 July 2007 10:27 (sixteen years ago) link

People who buy Final Fantasy soundtracks scare me.

HI DERE, Sunday, 29 July 2007 15:04 (sixteen years ago) link

otm

latebloomer, Sunday, 29 July 2007 15:16 (sixteen years ago) link

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/nobuo_uematsu/final_fantasy_vii/
Ranked #7 for 1997 , #403 overall
vote this album down

abanana, Sunday, 29 July 2007 16:11 (sixteen years ago) link

Dan, I went to see Final Fantasy music played by a symphony orchestra.

Curt1s Stephens, Sunday, 29 July 2007 16:39 (sixteen years ago) link

Wow! I'm sure there wasn't a dry eye in the house, especially when they got to "Tifa's Theme". I'm assuming there's a track called "Tifa's Theme".

I second Ninja Gaiden (original NES version), all levels, especially the music that plays during the cutscenes, which is later developed into a full theme on the 4th or 5th level.

Z S, Sunday, 29 July 2007 16:43 (sixteen years ago) link

Dan, I went to see Final Fantasy music played by a symphony orchestra.

:-0

HI DERE, Sunday, 29 July 2007 18:25 (sixteen years ago) link

you haven't lived till you've seen "One-Winged Angel" performed by a scowling choir

Curt1s Stephens, Sunday, 29 July 2007 18:30 (sixteen years ago) link

six years pass...

The new Tempest has a pretty great soundtrack:

http://txk-ost.bandcamp.com/

What do you guys think?

afriendlypioneer, Tuesday, 22 April 2014 14:54 (ten years ago) link

xpost whoa indeed!

since my interest in vg music comes mostly out of my interest in film music and I barely actually play any games I don't keep as abreast as I would like, but I've become a fan of Austin Wintory-- especially Journey and the Journey Bonus album but also his awesome viking chamber doom music for Banner Saga. Also love Daniel Pemberton's stuff for Little Big Planet (as I'm sure anyone who's played that game does).

hundreds-swarm-dinkytown (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 22 April 2014 15:23 (ten years ago) link

anyone know of anything that sounds like the original Katamari soundtrack? what a wonderful and bizarre album that is.

frogbs, Tuesday, 22 April 2014 16:20 (ten years ago) link

Nothing sounds like the first Katamari. Maybe Hiyohiko Senba and his Haniwa All Stars but not really.

Austin Wintory, first composer to get a Grammy nomination for a video game soundtrack: http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/11/journey-soundtrack-loses-grammy-to-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo/

The way his scores work in tandem with the sound effects of the games, especially Flow & Journey, are very very impressive. The scores by themselves are a lot more new agey / traditionally cinematic. I converted three mp3's from youtube game captures of Flow, and man are they ever disorienting.

Journey is the first video game I actually picked up the controller for and played through since Katamari.

Milton Parker, Tuesday, 22 April 2014 17:17 (ten years ago) link

I actually like the 'journey bonus bundle' album more than the proper journey OST

Khamma chameleon (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 22 April 2014 18:51 (ten years ago) link

one year passes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohmDswbrjw8

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 19 November 2015 02:56 (eight years ago) link

oops that doesnt have the song i was thinking of. its at 12 second in here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehRqTODI0YU

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 19 November 2015 02:59 (eight years ago) link


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