Video game music!

We all like video game music.

No I'm not talking about the new 50 Cent track they put in Madden 15 or GTA5 or whatever, I'm talking about the real shit.

Super Mario Brothers... MegaMan...

...and of course, Toe-Jam and Earl.

Let's start a thread about video game songs that you like. Feel free to share any video game song you like from any system, pc, whatever, as long as it has something to do with video games. And it doesn't have to be 8bit or whatever, if you like the Skyrim soundtrack then link away to your hearts delight!~!~

If this thread is popular and has a lot of activity I'll actually drop knowledge about things, but the time for that is later, for now we need to rock out to a legendary chiptune...

So I'll get us started!



Metroid (NES) - Kraid's Lair

 

Batman Arkham series has excellent, excellent music. I listen to a couple tracks everyday, no joke. Same with Skyrim and Total Annihilation, both by Jeremy Soule. Nobuo Uematsu, especially the Final Fantasy X soundtrack, is consistently good. The track Via Purifico is one of the most beautiful tracks I've ever heard and I'm testing the waters for that to be the song my future wife and I have our first dance to. We'll see.

I am enjoying The Witcher 2 soundtrack as I am doing my first playthrough. I remember being fond of the music for Vectorman for the Genesis and both Destruction Derby 1 and 2, though they had very different styles. Mass Effect 2 had one hell of a score.

Sorry, jogging through my memory, lol

 

Vergere, such a classic game dude.

Business, I'm a fan of Jeremy Soule somewhat, particularly the first two pieces of the Icewind Dale soundtrack (main theme and then the title screen music). They aren't that great alone, but if you listen to them properly segued, it's really an amazing transition. I did a quick look on youtube for the soundtrack and the problem is, if I wanted to link a video that has both of the songs, it's an hour long clip of the entire soundtrack. So instead I found 2 videos that are both parts that you can play back to back yourself to see the segue:



Icewind Dale - Main Theme and Title Theme (Jeremy Soule)

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You mentioned Uematsu, he is a prolific dude, I've even sampled this particular work before by isolating specific sound channels through an emulator to grab a certain part years ago:


Final Fantasy 3 - Magitek Factory [I don't have the OST so I don't know the actual title] (Nobuo Uematsu)

Toss a link to something else you mentioned, like a Witcher or ME2 track.

 

I loved to play Tyrian, when i was a Kid. Especially the Music of the first level will stay in my head forever. Such an earworm. OMG!



There are some awesome Remixers in the World, who has the passion to modernize these kind of epic video game music. When you listen to the music tracks of my MWO Video Clips, you will recognize that i exactly use these overclocked remixes..





@ Soy

Hey mate, this remix track here i`ve especially found for you to your first post

 

Blagg, I'm surprised I've never seen Tyrian before. Looks like a solid top-down shooter. And yeah the song is a pretty nice uptempo pop synth track, definitely very catchy. The reworking of video game music is of course a natural progression of what people have always been doing, which is remaking songs or in the modern sense, remixing. It's really the same thing as Clapton or Zeppelin ripping on earlier blues artists work, just modernized.

And the guy rocking out in his reworking of the track, I like arrangement of the lead shifting between piano arpeggios to crisp guitar solo shredding, very nice twist on the original. See, you have to be unique while still maintaining the spirit or paying homage to the original, that's what a lot of good music is about, not everything is 100% created from imagination. I've done stuff like this before in a serious manner, maybe I'll talk about it later on or something.

Haha the Metroid remix is pretty nice too. One of the interesting aspects of video game music is that in general it is usually repetitive and short but melodically strong or catchy, which is good for remixing or reworking because you're essentially working with a template that's already has an established feel but isn't always a full song with any structure or progression, so you can then take the opportunity and build it up into something larger while still keeping the vibe. Philosophically speaking, I've found myself more and more interested in minimal music [of all genres] for these reasons above... it's like the idiom 'less is more'.

Speaking of Metroid, here's cover by a nice band named the Minibosses, they touch a lot of classic video game music such as this Metroid medley... it's very prog:



Minibosses - Metroid (Metroid 1 Medley)

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Moving on, but going with this latest tangent, here's the Advantage (an all Nintendo cover band [watch the drummer lol]) playing a MegaMan track live, followed by the original:



The Advantage - FlashMan (Mega Man 2)



FlashMan - MegaMan 2

 

You don`t know Tyrian?? WOAAT?? You missed one of the very best Shoot'em Up games in pc game history. Beside Raptor - Call of the Shadows it's THE other game which i recommend every Shoot'em Up Fan. There is also an 1:1 Port for Mobile Phones since 2009. You should try it out, if you like such games - the Weapon Upgrades are endless, plus endless Stages and multiple game modes... and plenty of Ships (including a Super Carrot! ). If you start playing this game you`ll be suck in forever. haha. Check up the history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_(video_game)

Here is the remastered Tyrian OST from 2013 with all the catchy earworms, which are one of the good reasons to play the game :



Ow MEGA MAN?? WOAAT?!!!! One of the greatest Video Game Series in History, with so catchy earworms. I like especially the Quickman Stage (Music).



There is a japanese guy, who did very nice J-Pop Versions of some of the tracks. His name is Hyadain, very amazing artist.



ENGLISH-translated Lyrics:

Just hurry up, there's no time
No time to waste
More precious than anything, My Time
Someday it'll come to an end, precious My Life
Just hurry up, there's no time
No time to waste
I never stop rushing because I'm Quick Man
Hurry up!!

Just like a laser beam
Time passes by

I never want to waste even a second
Always towards the future
Without looking aside, full speed ahead

If I didn't meet you that day
I would have kept running, yeah
Oh, but the hands on my clock have been stopped
And I can't move - With no other choice, my feelings
they're frozen and I'm shaking like a leaf

This isn't me
Just hurry up, there's no time
No time to waste
More precious than anything, My Time
Someday it'll come to an end, precious My Life
Just hurry up, there's no time
No time to waste
I never stop rushing because I'm Quick Man
Hurry up!!
Like the clouds that roll across the sky
Time passes by slowly
How many more seconds until I see you again?
Alone, I count recklessly
780,210 seconds

It wasn't supposed to be this way
The path of my life, yeah
Like that piercing light
I want to dash ahead, but now
I'm muddled, slow, what's happening?
This isn't me
Just hurry up, there's no time
No time to waste
More precious than anything, My Time

[spoken]
How do you say this... you know, I think love is a big waste of time
Because life is so short, right?
I mean, why do I have to waste my precious time on someone else?
I have so many things I want to do.
And work is finally picking up for me
To tell you the truth, I think people who waste their time with love
are losers. No, seriously, I'm not being jealous, but ever since that day I met you
I'm like a doll who hasn't been wound
System shutdown, I can't concentrate on anything

Those nights that used to feel so short; now I can't sleep and it feels like an eternity
I feel like and idiot, look at me, I'm an idiot
This isn't me!

Yes, unlike the boomerang in my hands
Time will never come back
Oh, those clock hands
That only used to turn for me, why
They've been messed by a bug called you
This isn't me, just hurry up, there's no time
No time to waste

Flashback, flashback, how can I forget you baby?
Just hurry up, there's no time
No time to waste

Flashback, flashback, you can give me the flash!
They never cease to follow me around, Memories of you
(There's a prickling in my heart)
If I could just forget everything, I'd feel so much better
(These feelings will never be known)

Oh, but the hands on my clock have been stopped
And I can't move - with no other choice, my feelings
They're frozen and i'm shaking like a leaf
This isn't me
Memories of you that come back to me so clearly...
(The wounds of my soul still hurt)...

In the US there are some great Cover-Bands for the Mega Man OST. I just want to mention the Megas - very cool guys:



p.s. yeah that Drummer looks sooo funny! Could be Dr. Wily.

 

My 6-year old self spending hours in the mechlab, and just launching on instant action on Devin. Hngg. 23 now and I still remember the details.

 

And another favorite from FFX in hour long form!


The Witcher 2 soundtrack has a number of excellent tracks, but here is one that is a bit more brooding:

The glorious Suicide Mission track from Mass Effect 2:


Here's one I forgot to mention! I love the cello and right when I loaded up Max Payne 2 I knew that game and soundtrack was made just for me, especially at 1:28:


Absolutely perfect fit for his story. I really think they should do a mini series for Max Payne.

 

Blagg - That QuickMan song by Hyadain is fucking insane. Not my type of music - unless I had 20 cups of coffee and was about to murder people in Street Fighter 2 at the arcade - but wow, that's crazy badass. Very cool.

Shaftronics - I expect more Mech music in this thread, sooner or later.

Business - The one with 10 Via Purifico in the title, that interpretation is great, almost sounds Ravel-esque. The Witcher 2 track sounds like something out of a Total War game, but more intense. The Max Payne 2 track has a nice buildup as well, the quality of it is nice. You came with some nice orchestral selections, mostly Romantic, I dig!

I'll post with something I think is close to what Business was posting, but I'll go full-tilt with some Operatic type shit, the first one being Wagner-ish and the second being Bach-ish:



Heroes of Might & Magic 2: Gold - Warlock Town Theme (Paul Romero)



Heroes of Might and Magic 2 - Knight Town Theme (Paul Romero)

 

Here are two more grande Mega Man Adventure Mixes. Enjoy the brutal creativity & talents:

 

Classic.



edit: another classic

 

@ Soy

You played Metroid right? But can you remember this "Clone" with a very fantastic Soundtrack (Amiga`s best):



Offficial OST Album (which i got several yrs later, though i never really played the game myself, just watching a friend over the shoulder in my childhood ):

 

epikt - I call your entire Quake soundtrack and raise you one Unreal Tournament theme. But now, you gotta ask yourself one question, while you contemplate the best video game song to ever feature the fabled 'Amen Break' and some dude drops a guided nuclear warhead on your dome ending your 56 kill streak defending your flag on the greatest CTF map ever designed by man. Well... do you feel luckylaggy, punk? [size=8pt] (Man I miss that game and those times.)


Michiel van den Bos - Foregone Destruction (aka Facing Worlds Theme)

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Blagg - Drop some individual Turrican tracks if you can, I remember playing one of them on Genesis as a kid.

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Sub7 - Lol those vids are pretty badass. Music sounds nice. They seem like genuine nerds. Cool band!

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There are some games that we have all played so much that the soundtracks are burned into our subconscious... let me explain. For example if a crackhead hears a pipe boiling up they know it's a cue that they are about to get geeked out of their minds for a couple hours. Now, I know when I hear this song I'm about to be geeked out of my mind for at least a couple hours. Cuz, you know, I can't save and exit just yet... I still gotta zone that section over there, [size=8pt]and I still gotta get the crime rate down over there... [size=6pt]oh and wait what about that...

Two things to note about this song - one is that is exemplifies a format of typical video game music structure in that it takes several minutes before the song actually 'drops' (around the 3:00 mark).

The other thing - which is much more significant - is that it is the first video game song I can actually reference that fully presents the Carnatic style of music, at least in western games. If you don't know much about what I just said, I suggest taking 5 mins after listening and doing a tiny bit of research.


Jerry Martin [and others] - Bombay (aka Area 52) [Sim City 4: Rush Hour]

 

Some nice covers from Turrican OST are these here:








(featured in my YLW Video )

 

if you can't shoot down a redeemer before it nukes you, it's your fault.

i don't understand why facing worlds is described as the best CTF map - it simply doesn't feature enough cover at all(bar unreal tournament's server-sided hit detection and associated lag).

 

Actually this song is from Luna Silver Star, a lovely RPG.

 

Well, that's the thing... there is no barring what you just said. It's like when someone says that Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player... I dunno if he'd be able to compete with today's athlete, but in retrospect he was a fucking titan of baseball and head and shoulders above the vast majority of his peers. When considering where the concept of CTF was, where FPS was as a genre, where online gaming was at back then... then yes, all things considered, Facing Worlds is one of the most culturally important and highly regarded CTF maps of all time. Don't act coy by dismissing the very things that give the map any sense of competitiveness in hindsight, otherwise you'll be dismissing every single map ever made a decade after it's become obsolete in a modern competitive sense. Lag and hit detection weren't the worst in UT, but they were still issues given the net coding and bandwidth of the times. If all games were judged against modern concepts then everything old is basically shit, but that's not really the case.

One very critical aspect of FW is that it is entirely symmetrical - there is no 'your team had the good spawn point' excuse, even though it is not the most competitively balanced UT map, it's important to note this aspect and how it is perceived in the context of ethical fair play and what types of maps it inspired.

Besides, the cover is in the bases, for defense, not offense. The map is inherently defensive, unlike most offensively-oriented CTF concepts and maps of modern times. On FW, offense has to be supported by snipes gibbers etc to properly cross and the most important factor for the offensive squad is the timing of their opening, and positioning on the return cross. Please, the one thing in the world I'm not gonna get into an argument over is positioning and strategy in a CTF game, I've forgotten more on CTF game theory than most wannabe pro gamers will learn in their entire lives (not saying you).

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Moving on, here's a track from the classic SNES RPG 'Earthbound'. If you've never played Earthbound, you should play it as soon as possible because it is a unique game. Oh, and the soundtrack is outrageously badass (samples of Beatles on a couple tracks got the game red taped from Wii arcade thing for a couple years). Anyways, here's a nice example (game has 100+ songs):


Sanctuary Guardian - Earthbound (SNES)

 

Another great Classic - one of my very first Gameboy Games in the early 90s - very catchy tracks and still waiting for a Remake:



Some Fan Remixes:







p.s. it was one of the most difficult Vertical Shooters for the Gameboy. But to finally reach the End Screen with the epic Final Track, it was definitely worth to beat the last Boss.