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Post by wyldephang on Apr 11, 2013 3:42:04 GMT -5
You know what I really like about this forum? That we can have in-depth conversations about any topic related to video games--from coiled cords to Asteroids clones, everything is fair game. That's why I'm excited to debut a topic that has interested me for years: video game music. If I'm not careful, this could become the most prolific thread on the forum based on my contributions alone; I could meditate on this subject for hours! But I'm interested in hearing your opinions, especially those tunes that have best characterized the "golden age" of gaming for you. I'll get this thread off to a strong start. The first game on my list is Lightening Force (Thunder Force IV) for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.  "Sand Hell (Stage 4A)""What? (Stage 1B)""Attack Sharply (Stage 2 Boss)"What do I like in video game music? Ripping bass lines; powerful melodies; rich, shimmering chords. Oh, and heavy metal guitar riffs--can't forget those! As is turns out, I have a lot of reasons to love Lightening Force; it's an A-list shoot-'em-up and the entire soundtrack stands out as a technical achievement in FM programming. Sure, the Genesis suffered from poor sampling capabilities, but Lightening Force's programmers made up for it by tweaking each voice to give every composition a unique feel. Overall, the soundtrack consists of one of the most impressive FM sound palettes in Genesis history. The next game on the list is Demon's Crest for the Super Nintendo.  "Memorial of the Fallen Ones"As Firebrand, a fallen gargoyle on a quest for vengeance, you visit the dark, ominous atmospheres of Gothic cathedrals and cemeteries, fighting ghouls and other monsters along the way. Appropriately, the accompanying soundtrack consists mostly of eerie church organs. It's a very consistent effort from Capcom, a studio renowned for its memorable music. The last game for now is Final Fantasy III (Final Fantasy VI) for the Super Nintendo.  "Cyan's Theme""Setzer's Theme""Dancing Mad"Listen to all the tracks, but especially listen to "Dancing Mad," the star attraction of the game and arguably Nobuo Uematsu's magnum opus. This multi-part composition clocks in at a cartridge-bursting 17 minutes long and incorporates many of the recurring musical themes scattered throughout the game. Uematsu is my favorite video game composer, and I'm certain I'll be pulling out more of his classics later. |
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Post by gamezone on Apr 11, 2013 9:16:23 GMT -5
I used to enjoy this game when it came out. The intro is probably the best I have ever seen. Another favorite Golden Axe II Streets of Rage Pitfall II - It may not sound like much now. Back when other games were only bleeps and bloops this was cutting edge. |
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Post by VectorX on Apr 11, 2013 12:44:36 GMT -5
Hah, me and wyldphang are familiar with G. Axe 2, since he had an extra copy of it and sent it to me a while back  Thanks for the Crue Ball vid!! I totally forgot about that intro. I rented it once back in the day and enjoyed it You know what I really like about this forum? That we can have in-depth conversations about any topic related to video games-- Within the first few months of these forums starting, someone had said (might've been gamezone actually) that they were surprised of the diverse content on it. Having just vector stuff would've been a nice tribute and niche, but it would've been stupid and restricting to do, as there's no reason why other platforms and off-topic stuff couldn't be included as well. (Glad you like them too, by the way ) Um, pardon the pun?  That's why I'm excited to debut a topic that has interested me for years: video game music. If I'm not careful, this could become the most prolific thread on the forum based on my contributions alone; I could meditate on this subject for hours! I had put up this topic on various forums years ago; I went through all the ones on here to put a link to when I did it on here, but I guess I never did, actually. So that's kind of funny. I have several tapes (shows how far back this goes!) of when I rented many Genesis and CD games and all, as I run those systems through my stereo. I have several full tapes worth of music. A few that come to mind (wyldephang will especially know why I listed the first two): Sub-Terrania (Genesis)--pretty cool space music. I think my recording for it lasted 19 minutes. And if you let the main theme go on for several minutes it gets to a sort of reprise. Gauntlet IV (Genesis)--well, as he just posted about it the other day, me and wyldephang know why this one rules. The instructions themselves talk about the music test so you can listen to the "awesome" soundtrack, and they weren't kidding. It's also one of the few games that I know of where you get the full treatment, where you can fade out the music at some point during the music test so you don't have to abruptly cut off your recording in case you don't have the means to make it sound decent without the included fade. Stellar-Fire (Sega CD)--the intro is classical, the first level is hard rock, sounding sort of like "Eye of the Tiger", but with keyboards and other differences to make it stand out on its own. Another level is ambient, and another one would fit perfectly in the Terminator 2 soundtrack, it's very fitting. Ys III (Genesis)--big range on this one, as my recording lasted like 27 minutes. Most of the Ys games are known for their music. Sonic the Hedgehog games in general (Genesis)--don't know how the later games stack up, but the Genny ones were good, having a bit of a mix, especially the Sonic CD on the CD, having singers and all (there's some tropico tracks and the like). The Immortal (Genesis)--mostly haunting and dreary stuff, pretty fitting for the game. Gods (Genesis)--just a lot of good stuff, although there's some piece missing from another version that people bitch about. I need to look that up and hear what it sounds like, actually. Sorceror's Kingdom (Genesis)--a lot of RPGs have good music, and this is no exception. Vecmania (Vectrex)--nice menu music! Reactor (arcade)--faux metal music!! Very killer for the time! I'll have to go look at my tapes to see what ones I'm forgetting to mention, along with seeing if I can find YouTube vids of some of the stuff I listed as well (there's already Gauntlet IV stuff as it is). Wyldphang, you've got a link that doesn't work, as it's not a picture. I don't know if you want it linked as a url or if you want to take a screenshot and upload it yourself, so I didn't edit it. |
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Post by VectorX on Apr 11, 2013 13:28:44 GMT -5
Others: Silpheed (Sega CD)--not that great as a whole, but the "space jazz" (what I call it, although not really fitting) piece is pretty cool. A video's available on YouTube (stage 8 of the game), but you can't hear the bass, which is what really drives the tune, so I'm not linking to it. The Adventures of Willy Beamish (Sega CD)--has a bit of variety in it, which when you first enter your house...wow! That theme'll go through your head all day, with the bass and fast piano. The mini-game of Super Space K'Noidtrix has good music too, and the title screen of the game is good ol' metal! (Go to about the 17:25 mark to see what I mean about the piano and such there ) Main title track to Sub-Terrania I mentioned earlier: I'll have to go through wyldphang's recommendations later and comment |
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Post by wyldephang on Apr 11, 2013 17:43:27 GMT -5
Gamezone, Streets of Rage is one of those games that characterized the full potential of the Genesis sound card. The programmer Yuzo Koshiro revolutionized video game music, and his compositions had a major influence on electronic music programming in general. Later on, I'll be posting some of my favorite tracks from Streets of Rage 2. Koshiro composed the music for ActRaiser, too, but I think he was much more capable as an FM programmer.
Darryl, it's a coincidence that you put up some music from Sub-Terrania. I recently ordered my own copy and I'm excited to finally play it; I'm up for a challenging game. And the soundtrack sounds like something out of a John Carpenter film!
Since I mentioned my admiration for Nobuo Uematsu (of Final Fantasy fame), I wanted to list a few more of my favorite Uematsu compositions. In no particular order, these tunes are what I'd consider typical of Final Fantasy.
This theme is called "Dreadful Fight," and it's played during one of the final boss battles of Final Fantasy II (Final Fantasy IV) on the Super Nintendo. The beginning of the tune builds the tension and anticipation of the battle. The anxious tone is very fitting: the fight is hectic, with the boss constantly changing forms and attack patterns. I left the battle with only one or two characters alive. Beaten and bruised, I crawled back to the nearest save point, deathly afraid that I would run into that one enemy that would have the nerve to extinguish what remained of my defenseless party.
Uematsu generally focuses on a theme or motif and creates a melody for the appropriate mood. "Aeris' Theme" from Final Fantasy VII evokes sweetness and purity, all tied together by the underpinnings of sorrow, for we (as gamers) have the notion that Aeris, a creature of peace and innocence, is not meant for this tainted world. Many gamers agree that her death scene is one of the most emotional moments in gaming history. The track continues to play after the scene and through the ensuing boss battle, reminding us gamers of why we must continue to fight for the memory of fallen comrades and for a better world.
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Post by VectorX on Apr 11, 2013 18:22:06 GMT -5
Darryl, it's a coincidence that you put up some music from Sub-Terrania. Not to me, because it's usually one of THE very first things I think of when discussion video game music! One even bigger coincidence though is when I looked over my video games tapes today and saw a piece from Alien 3 on there! That surprised me, as I had forgotten about it. I think it's one of the very last, hard levels (I didn't rewind or fast forward through it), and the music's dreary and fitting. And the soundtrack sounds like something out of a John Carpenter film! Interesting; guess I haven't seen enough of Carpenter's sci-fi stuff to judge, just Dark Star. This theme is called "Dreadful Fight," and it's played during one of the final boss battles of Final Fantasy II (Final Fantasy IV) on the Super Nintendo. Pretty dramatically fitting. Like the bassline during the fast parts! Found the Terminator-like music from Stellar-Fire I mentioned earlier: Like with the above, this is fitting, since you're on an ice moon and you slip and slide around. Once the music starts speeding up is when these overhead bombers show up, blowing up into pieces that will damage your shields. The pressure's on then! Doom's another goodie on various platforms. Level 4 or 5 is dreary and fitting, especially with rivers of radioactive waste in it. Another one will be good at some point when I'm back to living on my own and I can smash around on my drum set to; I think it's the final level (or a secret level on the PC version) where there's tons of every kind of monster possible in an area (level 17 on the 32X) where there's a few corridors and major ammo and the 200% armor in the middle of one of the two main rooms. Also, Kolibri (32X again) and most environmental-themed games usually has good music, like the Ecco games as well...usually good new age soundtracks. |
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Post by TrekMD on Apr 11, 2013 23:19:36 GMT -5
Pitfall II is just a catchy tune. The game wouldn't be what it is without it. |
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Post by wyldephang on Apr 12, 2013 15:06:08 GMT -5
Sonic the Hedgehog games in general (Genesis)--don't know how the later games stack up, but the Genny ones were good, having a bit of a mix, especially the Sonic CD on the CD, having singers and all (there's some tropico tracks and the like). Oh, I'd say the later games had some memorable tunes. It's got that cheesy "Japan rock" vibe, but it's perfect for a Sonic game. |
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Post by TrekMD on Apr 12, 2013 16:02:24 GMT -5
Here is one that I really like, Jim Power Mutant Planet!
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Post by VectorX on Apr 12, 2013 19:54:30 GMT -5
^What's that, an old computer game? And in regards to "Sand Hell (Stage 4A)", I hear some of that metal-ish music and bass |
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Post by TrekMD on Apr 13, 2013 8:02:11 GMT -5
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Post by VectorX on Apr 13, 2013 12:03:45 GMT -5
What home consoles did it come out for? As I'm getting caught up with listening to more of this, the "What?" piece from wylde's first post is definitely that: one of the three voices (I guess you would call them) is definitely odd and different! The "Attack Sharply" definitely rips, whereas there's some good serene moments in "Memorial of the Fallen Ones". Nice variety too in those selected pieces The brief opening track to Ultimate Qix on the Genny is good and somewhat haunting: Backing up to gamezone's recommendations, here's the first level to Golden Axe 2: |
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Post by wyldephang on Apr 13, 2013 13:23:11 GMT -5
I love the background music in Golden Axe II! Really gets me pumped up and ready to get dash-attacked by every enemy on the screen.  (By far, the funniest moment was when an enemy dash-attacked a little too close to a cliff, ended up missing me, plummeted to his doom, still frozen in the shoulder tackle animation all the way down!) I hope to add some more tunes today. The hardest part is in narrowing down my favorites to an acceptable number. Do you prefer the YouTube links, or URL links? |
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Post by VectorX on Apr 13, 2013 18:42:35 GMT -5
I love the background music in Golden Axe II! Yeah, the nephew does too, now that he can hear it! Because the sound was going out on my old tv, then I found the cable that I use to plug into my stereo to bypass the tv with, but then the picture started getting snowy (sheesh!). But I got a new tv recently, so we can hear and see everything nicely now (although the colors are a bit washed out, since it's a new tv for me, but it's used, actually...all I can afford right now). (By far, the funniest moment was when an enemy dash-attacked a little too close to a cliff, ended up missing me, plummeted to his doom, still frozen in the shoulder tackle animation all the way down!) Yeah, it's always good to make them fall off of certain edges. The 'frozen' part is probably due to talk of the game being rushed out, as it's got a few bugs. Do you prefer the YouTube links, or URL links? URL links, since this computer is horribly slow (it's supposed to be fixed at some point), and running embedded videos on here slows it to a halt, it's infuriating. Anyway, quite a bit of "Cyan's Theme" sounds mystical/indian. Like Forrest Gump said, you never know what you're gonna get |
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Post by TrekMD on Apr 13, 2013 21:22:56 GMT -5
What home consoles did it come out for? Sega Genesis & SNES. |
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(By far, the funniest moment was when an enemy dash-attacked a little too close to a cliff, ended up missing me, plummeted to his doom, still frozen in the shoulder tackle animation all the way down!) I hope to add some more tunes today. The hardest part is in narrowing down my favorites to an acceptable number. Do you prefer the YouTube links, or URL links?