Video Games and Music

[MGibster]

The other day I was in the shower (don't worry, kids, this is a clean thread), and I started humming a tune without realizing it was the Super Mario Bros. music. I'll do the same thing with the music from the original Legend of Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, Gauntlet, and sometimes tunes from games I barely remember. It's honestly amazing how some tunes can stick with you for decades. It got me to thinking about what video games have wowed me with their soundtrack in one way or another.

There was a little game released a few years back called Baldur's Gate 3. It was an indy game and didn't get a whole lot of press, so you're forgiven if you haven't heard of it. There's one particular boss fight you start and of course the boss music comes on like you would expect. But it doesn't take long before you hear a woman singing. Oh, wow! A boss fights with lyrics! But as you progress, a male voice starts to sing, and you realize it's the boss singing to you during the fight. It was so unexpected, I couldn't help but laugh quite loudly.

More recently, I've been playing Wasteland 3. There's an organization called The Gippers who worship a giant Ronald Reagan robot. During a fight, with all the explosions and gunfire, this version of "America the Beautiful" played. Imagine a giant Ronald Reagan robot complaining about communist while shooting death beams out of his eyes while this song plays. Truly a surreal moment.

 

[GMMichael]

For more than you thought you ever wanted to know about video game music, look up 8 Bit Music Theory.

 

[payn]

I remember NES games often had those background soundtracks taken right from radio hits. There was a game about Tom Sawyer that used one of Chicago's songs, and another one of those Gradius type games that used Jack and Diane from John Cougar Melloncamp.

I always had an ear for those kinds of things. People often are amazed at how I cant tune out music at restaurants, events, weddings I almost always know whats in the background.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

There was a little game released a few years back called Baldur's Gate 3. It was an indy game and didn't get a whole lot of press, so you're forgiven if you haven't heard of it. There's one particular boss fight you start and of course the boss music comes on like you would expect. But it doesn't take long before you hear a woman singing. Oh, wow! A boss fights with lyrics! But as you progress, a male voice starts to sing, and you realize it's the boss singing to you during the fight. It was so unexpected, I couldn't help but laugh quite loudly.

I always love "OH MY GOD THEY'RE GOING TO SING!!!!" moments in games, and that is definitely one of the peak ones, especially as it's full pipe organ and choir backed. And yeah when the boss comes in, that's just Sephiroth boss fight level "Omg what is this YES YES YES" musically.

(Possibly relevant - I love opera and possibly my favourite moment in an opera is when Don Giovanni is dragged to hell by the Commendatore - yes I am basic but at least it's Mozart not Wagner!)

Some other classic videogame music moments for me:

Sephiroth boss fight in FFVII as mentioned - I think that was maybe the first time I really heard videogame in-game music go totally wild and involve a chorus and so on:


Dragon Age Origins, when it suddenly becomes obvious half-way through a dialogue that Leliana is going to sing for real - not as amazing a piece of music as some, but hella vibes:


Dragon Age got me again with the out-of-nowhere song, in Dragon Age Inquisition, with I think the superior bit of DA music, certainly more emotionally affecting for me - Some day the dawn will come:


The first time I was really BLOWN AWAY by just the music of a game in general was Streets of Rage 2 - SoR1 had good music, and I'd heard decent music, I think even orchestral music on CD games before that, but SoR2 was absolutely INSANE and is rightly a legend (as is the composer). Here's a video of a music nerd getting very overexcited analyzing some of it:


Then what about the first game I played that used "real" music incredibly effectively? I'd say that was the original WipEout, one of the few game CDs I've had non-gamers borrow (and work out how to get to play on normal CD plaeyrs, I think you had to do some kind of skip trick back in the day) so they could listen to it:

Wipeout Soundtrack (PlayStation 1 Version)

Tracklist in pinned comment below; I couldn't add it to the description without the video getting blocked.

youtu.be

With my personal favourite being Messij, which goes incredibly hard to this very day:




I could go on but I'll leave off for a bit there. I will say I'm currently playing Limbus Company, and I was delighted when I found out each of the Canto bosses (like acts, I guess, but there are 9 so far because it's an ongoing game) has their own theme, which has vocals and changes over the course of the fight, and is just really cool (and obviously very relevant to what's going on emotionally in the boss fight). And then the Canto ends with technically the same song every time (I think) but in a different style, and sung by the main character the Canto was about (not including any examples because MASSIVE spoilers for an ongoing game).

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Oh okay one more - and this isn't one I heard at the time, but Wolverine: Adamantium Rage, a fairly mediocre side-scrolling beat-em-up from 1994 kinda accidentally prefigured the entire Grime sound:


This is perhaps a little less surprising when you consider the guy who did the soundtrack was a jungle (the EDM genre) artist who'd been quite successful.

 

[payn]

Oh okay one more - and this isn't one I heard at the time, but Wolverine: Adamantium Rage, a fairly mediocre side-scrolling beat-em-up from 1994 kinda accidentally prefigured the entire Grime sound:


This is perhaps a little less surprising when you consider the guy who did the soundtrack was a jungle (the EDM genre) artist who'd been quite successful.

Wow, I havent thought about that game in ages!

 

[Reynard]

This still gets me EVERY TIME.

 

[payn]

When GTA 3 hit I was blown away about there being different radio stations you could listen to.

 

[MarkB]

Shout out to the PS4 God of War soundtrack for being truly cinematic in quality. The vocal performances and animation of the characters is great, but it really feels like the music is doing so much work in conveying Kratos's emotions and presence.