Computer Game Soundtracks

turnback

Hello all.

I'm writing my masters thesis on computer game music and there's nothing written about it so far academically. I'm wondering if you can help. I'm just looking for anything on computer game soundtracks.. what ones stick in your head, enforce the action in a game, go against the action in any game or generally have never left your head since you were 10 years old playing games like digdug...

I'm looking for anything here. Just throw in what you thought was a catchy/interesting/weird/crap/funny soundtrack to a computer game and why you thought it was so. I'll be very grateful for a reply to this..


Thanks all, and good gaming,,

Optikus

No need for two threads.... but i remember someone playing the tune for lemonade tycoon through a seriously loud subwoofer... that kind of sticks in my mind.

....from childhood it has to be the theme music from the Monkey Island games. ..Ohh and all the Mario music rocks.

projectmayhem

mario and sonic music especially. but in more modern terms i guess the metal gear solid music really emphasises the switch from 8-bit michael jackson music (sonic people should get that!) to full on orchestral movie soundtrack style

Son Goku

Most Adventure games have pretty decent soundtracks.
Like Grim Fandango or the Longest Journey. They're two of the very few games where the music was something that was genuinely thought out.

Oblivion and Half Life 2 would be two modern games.

All of the soundtracks are freely available on the net.

Some soundtracks.

Pugsley

Final Fantasy 7 has the best sound track of any game, it really is superb. Metal Gear Solid also has a fairly solid sound track, I have all the MGS OST's (7 albums I think), and all of Final Fantasy series (about 12 albums), and their both worth having.

God of War also has a very good sound track to it, havent got the OST yet, but from playing it the music is excellent, and I have heard Shadow of the Collosus also has excellent music, but I havent played enough of it to know myself. The Zelda series has always had good music, check some of them out.

Brerrabbit

ooohh Pugsley beat me too it and gave two great choices there; Zelda games (In particular ocarina of time for the n64) have fantastic soundtracks that really draw you into the game. a version of The Ocarina of time soundtrack recorded by a full orchestra was released a few years back.

Likewise Shadow of the Collosus had a suitably epic soundtrack that complimented the on-screen action very nicely.

Personally I found the soundtrack to "Deus Ex" to be very immersive (Even though listening to it recently without the game it's a bit naff).

For some reason the soundtack to "X-com UFO: enemy unknown" has stuck in my head for years, surprising considering it was almost entirely bass line )

Good luck with the thesis, it sounds really interesting. Could you tell us when it's finished? I'd say lot's of folks would be interested in what you find (Well I would anyway)

koneko

I'm (re)playing Silent Hill (the first one) and the music is a bit disturbing. For a lot of it there is no music, just the ambient sounds and radio, but when the music kicks in, it has a creepy industrial feel that enhances the game, makes you more nervous, like something big is about to happen.

The track that plays during the opening movie/sequence is eerie.

Retr0gamer

Shadow of the Colossus has by far the best videogame soundtrack ever. Stunning stuff.

The Metroid games had excellent soundtracks as well.

If you want something really interesting to write about there are the soundtracks to Panzer Dragoon Saga and Panzer Dragoon Orta. The director wanted a unique style for the soundtracks so asked the composers to use instrumental sounds that sound similar yet different to conventional instruments. The soundtracks also amazing to listen to, it's like nothing ever done previously. Also the ending themes to both games are sung in panzerese, a fictional language made up just for the games.

sham69

I know it was 20 years ago but anything that Rob Hubbard wrote for the commodore 64 was genius, just listen to the in game music for Delta, Sanxion, Auf wiedersehen Monty, Chimera and IK+ to name a few. The guy is a legend and paved the way for a lot of up and coming game musicians.
Given the spec of the commodore it was something quite special, it used a sid chip for the sound as far as I know. Anyway hope this helped....

Rockshandy

Jet set Radio....discussion closed!!!!

rainbow kirby

The Mario, Sonic and Zelda ones are the classic video game soundtracks. Everyone who played video games as a child can recognise them.
For me, some favourites in terms of soundtracks are the Metroid series, the Metroid Prime soundtrack is an amazing selection of ambient music that fits the game so well (particularly Tallon Overworld 1st and Phendrana Shorelines themes). The Echoes soundtrack isn't as good, but still has some very strong ones (Titles music and Hydrodynamo Station).
I'd agree too that the soundtrack for Shadow of the Colossus is very impressive, and fits the game very well.
Another one I should mention is the Katamari games, the funky J-pop soundtracks just fit the game's funky style so well. They're possibly the most memorable recent video game soundtrack for me.

Kiith

Try some of the Ace Combat soundtracks, especially 4 and 5 (the add on, belkan war has a cool sounding track or two as well). some brilliant tracks there, ranging from really fast paced stuff, to big orchestrial pieces. Probably one of my all time favs.

Other then that, the final fantasy games have some amazing music. Nobuo Uematsu (the FF guy) has some fantastic stuff, especially in FFVII.

Retr0gamer

You could write about the music composers. Many are as well known as the games developers. Nobuo Uematsu composer of the FF games and loads of Squaresoft games is probably the most famous. Hitoshi Sakimoto also has a big following. Nintendo, Sega, Konami and Capcom also have a range of very famous games composers. There is also Michael Giachianno who started composing for Dreamworks and is most famous for the Medal of Honour and Call of Duty soundtracks. He now composes for TV shows like Lost and Alias and has done a few films such as The Incredibles.

RobertFoster

Like mentioned before, adventure games can have great soundtracks. Broken Sword has great music IMO (composed by Barrington Pheloung in the first two games). Some really cool orchestral work in there. The music changes as you play. You discover a vital clue, or you finally get past a tough puzzle and you're rewarded with some triumphant, uplifting music that, while triggered by and action, still feels somehow dynamic.

I've read before that game soundtracks should complement the gameplay and not take over. They should enhance the overall gaming experience and not distract from it. I find this especially true with ICO. I couldn't remember the soundtrack when I finished the game, but when I downloaded the few tracks available, the whole experience was relived.

gamer

gta vice city has a good soundtrack,on ps2, as you drive round you listen to radio station ,it plays various songs from the 80,s ,original artists,very good choice of music, the game is set in the 80,s.I THINK IT HAS ABOUT 50 SONGS,I HAVENT PLAYED THE WHOLE GAME.

melekalikimaka

Rockshandy wrote:

Jet set Radio....discussion closed!!!!

i whole heartedly agree

like this
like that
like this
...and like that

stormkeeper

sham69 wrote:

I know it was 20 years ago but anything that Rob Hubbard wrote for the commodore 64 was genius, just listen to the in game music for Delta, Sanxion, Auf wiedersehen Monty, Chimera and IK+ to name a few. The guy is a legend and paved the way for a lot of up and coming game musicians.
Given the spec of the commodore it was something quite special, it used a sid chip for the sound as far as I know. Anyway hope this helped....

I've met Rob Hubbard, and I'm an admirer of his work. I also respect Martin Galway, Fred Gray and a few others that escape my mind. I also had the privelage of meeting Ben Dalglish, Jeroen Tel and Olof Gustafsson. And while I haven't heard Olaf's music (shame on me"), I know it's very highly regarded (he did Pinball Dreams, Fantasies, etc and everything else for 21st Century Entertainment, I think).

One thing that deserves mentioning is that people do remixing of classic C64 tracks... if there is an interest in it, I'll post up a link to a few sites I tend to hang out on...

Fanny Cradock

i remember the original mario music was sampled in some dodgy song a good few years back! who this was i have no idea, but i could be an interesting aspect to talk about how music from a computer game crossed into mainstream (?) music.

tman

rainbow kirby wrote:

For me, some favourites in terms of soundtracks are the Metroid series, the Metroid Prime soundtrack is an amazing selection of ambient music that fits the game so well (particularly Tallon Overworld 1st and Phendrana Shorelines themes). The Echoes soundtrack isn't as good, but still has some very strong ones (Titles music and Hydrodynamo Station).

what she said.
even going back to Super Metroid, the music in this series of games has been nothing short of amazing.
I even went so far as to list Kenji Yamamoto (the dude behind the music) as one of two choices in a recent "who would you like to meet" thread.
and the music is only a small part of this fantastic series of games:)

turnback wrote:

go against the action in any game

most definitely "Prince of Persia: Warrior Within"
no game has ever made me reach for the volume control quicker than this one

sham69

Kennett wrote:

I've met Rob Hubbard, and I'm an admirer of his work. I also respect Martin Galway, Fred Gray and a few others that escape my mind. I also had the privelage of meeting Ben Dalglish, Jeroen Tel and Olof Gustafsson. And while I haven't heard Olaf's music (shame on me"), I know it's very highly regarded (he did Pinball Dreams, Fantasies, etc and everything else for 21st Century Entertainment, I think).

One thing that deserves mentioning is that people do remixing of classic C64 tracks... if there is an interest in it, I'll post up a link to a few sites I tend to hang out on...

Wow you met Rob Hubbard, I love his music , I am a musician myself and have been highly influenced by him, Marting Galway is great also and Ben Daglish's Last Ninja stuff is legend. I still listen to the C64 music and remixes, it still brings a smile to my face. Rob Hubbard was working for EA for a while , think he is out of the business now....

kaimera

Halo1 and Halo2 [vol1 in particular] are very good.

Very little beats the opening theme to Halo2 imo.