Best NES/SNES era videogame soundtracks?

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Star Tropics 2

afriendlypioneer, Thursday, 20 October 2011 20:10 (twelve years ago) link

I remember having my mind blown the day someone revealed that the title theme in the NES TMNT game was actually "Stone Cold Crazy."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NWygbzmQrA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnGaEk0rZdU

Doctor Casino, Thursday, 20 October 2011 21:17 (twelve years ago) link

one year passes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB6XeZrYjf0

Got a projector the other day, and it's a bit old so the resolution isn't all that, but it is PERFECT for playing emulated NES, SNES, and Genesis games. Suddenly something that was bleeping out of a tiny box is larger-than-life and devastatingly cinematic. When i have the projector going (an InFocus DLP, $200 used on amazon) I crank the volume and have a drink and a smoke and last night when I tried Ninja Gaiden 2 the opening cutscene blew my freakin' mind. The sound is a little crappy on that youtube video but with bass boost on a stereo the drums are nearly perfect old school metal. I use NesTopia, which allows you to mix the individual sound channels, and turn down the square waves just a little bit.

I was having a great time w this game until i got to level 2 or something and the eagles started and i ran into a half hour straight of cursing "I hate the effing eagles!" before quitting.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 13 April 2013 17:03 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAfTLSGxFxc&list=PLB0xooEkKbSY6eXEfztYHdFLKokmN13vU

This is a brilliant song in the Genesis Castlevania when you are at the character select screen. Some killer drums here!

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 13 April 2013 17:13 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOg0GZZuCak

One last one. I learned how to play this on a piano. Play it at half speed and it sounds like a Yma Sumac backing track.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 13 April 2013 17:21 (eleven years ago) link

I'm sitting down w Megaman 2 theme music trying to figure it out and damn if it doesn't start off sounding really close to Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning". You have the droning bass notes (pretty much playing the exact intervals and timing of John Cale's viola) and a responding arpeggio up a few octaves that starts on the 1&.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 13 April 2013 17:28 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRPXRHS4XNQ

all u ever need

r|t|c, Saturday, 13 April 2013 18:07 (eleven years ago) link

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAD0E16116DDDFB9E

amazing music throughout though

r|t|c, Saturday, 13 April 2013 18:09 (eleven years ago) link

the music in rare's games was often great

teddy dominatrix (dyl), Saturday, 13 April 2013 22:12 (eleven years ago) link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wise_(composer)

man what a genius

r|t|c, Saturday, 13 April 2013 22:29 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4guZ5SozW8&list=PLC600EF6ACFCD6654

It sort of makes sense that Ecco The Dolphin would have a killer soundtrack. But this song is just devastatingly cool.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 23 April 2013 16:27 (eleven years ago) link

Charlie Brooker brought my attention to this one. pretty nice eh?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ-02RffS0E

you're going home in a crispy ambulance (cajunsunday), Tuesday, 23 April 2013 16:59 (eleven years ago) link

i ran into a half hour straight of cursing "I hate the effing eagles!" before quitting

take it easy

Vinnie, Tuesday, 23 April 2013 17:24 (eleven years ago) link

seven months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fnTJ5SF2uM

This ambient synth jazz could have been written by Angelo Badalamenti. Someone photoshop a Moogle dancing w the drawf in the Black Lodge.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 29 November 2013 03:07 (ten years ago) link

robocop otm, was the same on the amstrad...best thing about the game by some distance iirc

30 ch'lopping days left to umas (darraghmac), Friday, 29 November 2013 03:14 (ten years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx-BhyAkDdY

Here is another song from Final Fantasy VI that has a really great bass line. The bass sound is wonderful in this game, it almost sounds like a live take rather than sequenced. To me, it's a very Sgt. Pepper bass line!

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 29 November 2013 03:43 (ten years ago) link

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

clouds, Friday, 29 November 2013 05:10 (ten years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsxJyJ-SLiA

St3ve Go1db3rg, Friday, 29 November 2013 17:13 (ten years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1nKAZ1uJY8

St3ve Go1db3rg, Friday, 29 November 2013 17:16 (ten years ago) link

Hah I've been playing along to my friend playing Super Mario Bros. I guess I should've grabbed a fedora and filmed it.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 29 November 2013 20:38 (ten years ago) link

two months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTSW4M28XQg&list=PL2A1A350EBB242BDF

Really insanely cool guitar solo on this one. Hard to believe it isn't a real guitar!

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 27 February 2014 02:09 (ten years ago) link

a lot of Treasure games have good soundtracks but Dynamite Headdy's is the most slept-on, it's so theatrical and suits the world perfectly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhGKsDze8gs

struggle blogger (Andre Gunder Frank 3000), Thursday, 27 February 2014 02:45 (ten years ago) link

sometimes i'll fall into a k-hole where i just listen to this credits music for half an hour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn_onEJ82rk

struggle blogger (Andre Gunder Frank 3000), Thursday, 27 February 2014 02:48 (ten years ago) link

There was a time when video games (especially NES/SNES ones) were my life when I was a kid.

These were cool:

*Goonies II - guide song (NES)
*Goonies II - first-person mode (NES)

But my ultimate favourite, which I was pretty much beyond obsessed with was Metroid for the NES. Every. Single. Song.

I hear it now, and it's like a hundred memories hit me. Place, time, smells (!), environment, touch, everything. It's insane. There was probably something wrong with me.

Metroid's escape scene (NES):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2k01qmi99k

Metroid's ending (NES):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFUGG6SFiQQ

I was also into bands porting the tunes into traditional rock instruments. Even though The Advantage is one of my favourites, the Metroid Metal tunes really nail the intensity for me:

Escape:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OK09_eyiQs

Ending:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKXGYx4BRBs

Also, T&C Surf was cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciigfD7Li0U

And another fave was Punch Out's training theme

, Thursday, 27 February 2014 04:53 (ten years ago) link

for those about to metroid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuzzV6xtSFE&t=2m35s

Philip Nunez, Thursday, 27 February 2014 06:22 (ten years ago) link

is that liz lemon's agent?

clouds, Thursday, 27 February 2014 12:38 (ten years ago) link

Journey To Silius
Mega Man 2 & 3
Demon's Crest
Super Metroid
Chrono Trigger
All The Castlevanias
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Yoshi's Island
Zelda: A Link To The Past & Link's Awakening
Strider
F-Zero

I also love modern throwback games that have 8/16-bit inspired soundtracks, like Fez, Super Meat Boy & VVVVVV

Greatjon, Thursday, 27 February 2014 20:13 (ten years ago) link

two months pass...

One time on my birthday a friend gave me a CD with the complete Streets of Rage 3 soundtrack. Some of it is absolutely crushing industrial techno.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0UG6auhzs&list=PL0D7D875A11C51ECE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZnIWJA0WN0&list=PL0D7D875A11C51ECE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofmHCsZMMjw&list=PL0D7D875A11C51ECE

▴▲ ▴TH3CR()$BY$H()W▴▲ ▴ (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 16:40 (nine years ago) link

Yeah, those are some pretty great soundtracks. Always was fond of this Enigma ripoff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdloNuj-RhE

Vinnie, Thursday, 8 May 2014 13:57 (nine years ago) link

two months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2IIKv9e6q4

©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 8 July 2014 00:02 (nine years ago) link

two years pass...

Not sure if this quite the right thread, but, man, I always dug the Last Ninja soundtrack but I'm not really sure how far I ever made it as a kid and the second level ("Wilderness") theme is blowing my mind right now. The sounds they got out of the SID chip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RsRszs2_9U

Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 21 August 2016 05:31 (seven years ago) link

I remember Kirby's Adventure having a pretty ahead-of-its time soundtrack, all blippy and minimal, and unless my TV's audio is weird, surprisingly deep bottom end on some tunes

punksishippies, Sunday, 21 August 2016 05:34 (seven years ago) link

these are pretty amazing. Wolvertine Adamantium Rage for SNES and Genesis both have mind-blowing OSTs in completely different ways. Genesis has some kind of fantastically noisey slowcore industrial stoner metal thing going:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcV4lduB1uQ

SNES has some really crazy electro drum kit sounds and samples of thing like record scratching and someone going w-w-w-w-wolverine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBwVsgLYP9Y

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 21 August 2016 16:25 (seven years ago) link

lol Wolvertine

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 21 August 2016 16:25 (seven years ago) link

https://laurelrusswurm.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/maxhead.gif?w=320&h=200

B-be-be sure to drink your W-w-Wolvertine

Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 21 August 2016 16:58 (seven years ago) link

one year passes...

most of the Terranigma score is generic, but it has some pretty weird / worthwhile moments like this one

https://youtu.be/J3vk5N8TyYU?t=51m3s

El Tomboto, Saturday, 14 October 2017 05:40 (six years ago) link

god i love that Genesis synth sound

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 15 October 2017 17:02 (six years ago) link

NES

duck tales
bugs bunny birthday blow out
bubble bobble
meagman
castlevania
battle toads
river city ransom
pac-man
contra
dr. mario
legend of zelda
kirby's adventure
ghosts n' goblins

Week of Wonders (Ross), Monday, 16 October 2017 00:01 (six years ago) link

The Gunstar Heroes soundtrack is my all-time favorite Genesis OST, but you almost don't notice it when you're playing because the game keeps you busy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjuyQP__4kI

Wes Brodicus, Monday, 16 October 2017 09:24 (six years ago) link

You all ought to check out Smooth Mcgroove’s acapella (probably autotune assisted) covers of videogame classics. There’s almost a hundred of them so here’s a sampler with my three favorite game songs:

Ducktales - Moon
https://youtu.be/Nhy2aNEPshw

Chrono Trigger - corridors of time
https://youtu.be/JtKCt8Afk9s

DKC2 - Stickerbrush symphony
https://youtu.be/_fxEPM8OKFU

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 16 October 2017 16:48 (six years ago) link

xpost to Moka, that guy rules

Week of Wonders (Ross), Tuesday, 17 October 2017 01:46 (six years ago) link

yeah wow this is a major songwriting step up from the last couple of AC records

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 17 October 2017 02:24 (six years ago) link


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