Video Game Music

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Shiyonasan
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Video Game Music

Postby Shiyonasan » 8 years ago

I debated whether or not to post this thread, since I know video game music, let alone video games in general, is not something everyone is interested in on this forum, but I figure I might as well give it a try.

There is a video game music thread already, but the last post in it was nearly a decade ago, and it seemed to be Kimba's thread only for posting video game songs.

For this thread, I'll post one video game song per post without double posting. If you guys want to share video game songs as well, go for it, but please only post one song per post. Do not share full soundtracks in this thread.

I'll also include a short description of the song with my thoughts about it. I encourage you guys to do the same.

To start, I'll share a song from a game series that's popular on this forum:

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Hyrule Field - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

Classic song that captures the feeling of adventure and exploration very well. The first time you hear this song after leaving the first area of the game (Kokiri Forest) is an awesome one because of that build-up at the beginning of the song leading into the upbeat melody that encompasses the majority of the track. When playing the game, the song also changes to fit the time of day as well, which is pretty cool (with the exception of nighttime, when no music plays at all).

Overall, it's a great song and very iconic of the game it comes from.

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Postby Earthshine » 8 years ago

I was 10 when this game came out and it's a classic song and one that I remember well, I love how it changed depending on the time of day. It also was orchestrated in such a way that it didn't sound too redundant or obnoxious, something that some videogame music can do very easily. Then again, the entire soundtrack of Ocarina of Time was surprisingly very easy to listen to without getting annoyed with. Those who write the music for the Zelda series really have the formula down.

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Shiyonasan
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Postby Shiyonasan » 8 years ago

"Earthshine" wrote:I was 10 when this game came out and it's a classic song and one that I remember well, I love how it changed depending on the time of day. It also was orchestrated in such a way that it didn't sound too redundant or obnoxious, something that some videogame music can do very easily. Then again, the entire soundtrack of Ocarina of Time was surprisingly very easy to listen to without getting annoyed with. Those who write the music for the Zelda series really have the formula down.


I also like that the Hyrule Field song isn't redundant or obnoxious. The song itself is five minutes, but varies itself enough throughout those five minutes that you wonder where the song will lead itself next in it's melody. I suppose that's to fit the exploration aspect of the game, where you wonder what you'll encounter next in your journey through Hyrule.

Ocarina of Time's soundtrack is an easy listen, I agree. It's one of Koji Kondo's best works in my opinion. They've switched up the composers for the recent Zelda games, but indeed, Nintendo does seem to have a good formula down for keeping that trademark sound in each game's soundtrack. I've listened to many game series' soundtracks, but the Zelda series is consistently excellent and easy to come back to and listen to.

Alright, here's a song probably not quite as familiar to you all:

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Healing Winds - Soul Calibur III (2005)

This song loops in the background in the game's Museum mode, where you can view artwork for the game, as well as videos in the game and a few other treats.

"Healing Winds" is a song that shows up in each Soul Calibur game's iteration with a different arrangement each time. I prefer this one the most for it's soothing orchestral sound; the string work is elegant and the piano is graceful. Although I find that it does get old after a while of spending time in the game's Museum mode, it's very fitting for that mode.

It's a very calming song to listen to, and one of my favorites from the Soul Calibur series.

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Postby fafner » 8 years ago

Let's sink into Zelda again :p

The music that comes to my mind is one from Wind Waker: Goodbye Hyrule King

The King of Hyrule could have reached the surface, but decided not to do so because he considered that he belonged to the past and was responsible for the wreck of the old Hyrule.

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The King of Hyrule, drowning when the old land of Hyrule finally collapses under the sea after the seal has been broken, at the end of the game.
Last edited by fafner on Mon Aug 10, 2015 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Shiyonasan » 8 years ago

"fafner" wrote:Let's sink into Zelda again :p


I see what you did there Fafner. :p

Anyway, great piece of music there. It's a hauntingly beautiful rendition of a song originally from A Link to the Past.

How about a Mario track?

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Chai Kingdom - Super Mario Land (1989)

Mario games tend to have amazing soundtracks, but Super Mario Land one of the creams of the crop.

Chai Kingdom has a catchy oriental melody to it that is sure to get stuck in your head for a while. As a kid, I always looked forward to getting to this level for the music alone.

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Postby fafner » 8 years ago

Well... it wasn't even on purpose, although I did see the allusion but didn't do anything to change it :p

As usual, the Zelda team reuses a lot of previous music to remix it into entirely new one. The solomnel and royal orchestral Hyrule Castle theme of A Link to the Past became a melancolic piano theme.

Let's leave Zelda for some time for Beyond Good and Evil, a rather unknown little gem. In fact, since it is quite similar to Zelda, we are not really changing subject here :p

To me, the best music in the game is the one for the final boss: Sins of the Father (video here). As with most titles in the game, it seems to have no clear meaning. Even the title is misleading, because the game is a classical good vs. evil showdown, I never saw what was "beyond" that: just whack the bad guys (or sneak past them at the beginning of the game when they are too strong to fight). Fortunately, the game itself is much better than the title :D

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Jade/Shauni fighting the Big Bad Boss.
The real sign that someone has become a fanatic is that he completely loses his sense of humor about some important facet of his life. When humor goes, it means he's lost his perspective.



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Postby Shiyonasan » 8 years ago

Not a bad song. I've heard that Beyond Good & Evil is a great game; wouldn't mind trying it sometime.

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The Tick - Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (2000)

I've never played any of the Ecco the Dolphin games, but I've heard they are surprisingly good.

"The Tick" was never used in the game, but it is a very cool song despite the name of it being a little strange. It's classic rock sound sounds like something similar to what you might hear in '80s AOR. The guitar is powerful and soars through this song, but does not overpower the rest of the instruments.

You wouldn't expect a song like this from a game about a dolphin, but it was made for that purpose, even if it didn't make it into the game. I have to be in the mood to listen to it, but I think it's a well-made song overall.

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Postby fafner » 8 years ago

You can buy it here. It is free of DRM and it works neatly on Windows 7 64 bits (unlike the original edition on DVD which doesn't even install, and works very badly if at all if you manage to get through the installation anyway). I'm not sure about Windows 8 32 bits though. I tried it on my tablet, but it had minor graphical glitches, the kind of glitches that doesn't prevent from playing at all but that still spoils the game, such as a few out of place textures and Jade's eyes that regularly jump out and back of their sockets :eek: If you are patient, you can have discounts up to 75%, and sometimes more if you are really patient :D As a bonus, you get the complete soundtracks, including a few songs that don't appear in the game.
The real sign that someone has become a fanatic is that he completely loses his sense of humor about some important facet of his life. When humor goes, it means he's lost his perspective.



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Shiyonasan
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Postby Shiyonasan » 8 years ago

Thank you Fafner! Once I get paid, I'll look into buying it. :)

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Stickerbush Symphony - Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995)

Probably the most popular song from this game, written by one of the most popular video game composers, David Wise. It plays in two or three levels in the game with the sort of sticker plants you can see in the image above.

Fun fact: this song often gets misspelled as "Stickerbrush Symphony". Stickerbush Symphony is the correct spelling as noted in this forum post:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=920143

Regardless of the spelling, this song is definitely unique in it's composition, sounding kind of like techno or trance. It's got a solid beat to it and is very catchy - something that's characteristic of a good bit of Wise's music.
Last edited by Shiyonasan on Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Postby fafner » 8 years ago

Yet Another One... yup, Zelda :lol:

The Wind Ruins from Minish Cap.

The music is quite reverberating, and almost the same theme as the (more standard) previous swamp area. When entering the ruins, it gives a strong feeling of reaching a really mysterious place after the swampy maze that may take quite a long time to solve, even after several times.

I swear... I will try to make an effort to post something here that's not about Zelda games... some time :rolleyes:
The real sign that someone has become a fanatic is that he completely loses his sense of humor about some important facet of his life. When humor goes, it means he's lost his perspective.



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