The videogame music thread

[Todinho]

10 years ago one of the best games ever made,if not the best,was released so let's celebrate that,SNAKE EATER!!!

[ratsoalbion]

Last week's Music Monday from guest contributor, Catatonic Nali: Silent Hill
http://caneandrinse.com/music-monday-silent-hill/

Let me preface this by saying that I’m something of a Silent Hill fanatic.

I’ve played most of the games in the franchise and enjoyed each one immensely, despite some of the flaws present in the more recent releases.

Playing the demo of the original Silent Hill that came packaged with Metal Gear Solid was one of my earliest experiences with horror games, simultaneously stoking my interest in the genre and scaring me out of my 13-year-old skin.

I would rank Silent Hill 2 as one of my favourite games of all time and played through it at least seven times during 2012 and 2013, going so far as to essentially perfect the game by earning a 10-star rank.

I own limited edition CD versions of the soundtracks for six of the eight games in the franchise, I don’t include Book Of Memories because it’s barely a Silent Hill game, and I’d even go so far as to say that the first movie was far more competent than the usual rubbish that videogame adaptations tend to be.

The second movie however, well, the less said about that one the better.

It didn’t take me long to realise how important the sound design and music are to these games. Obviously this is, or at least should be, true of all good horror experiences but something about the use of audio in the Silent Hill franchise really strikes a chord with me.

Akira Yamaoka, the man responsible for composing the music and sound effects for the entire franchise (with a few exceptions; Downpour, Book Of Memories and one track from the original game), was also made the main producer of the series from Silent Hill 3 onwards and I would imagine this gave him license to entwine the sound design with other aspects of the game more than most sound designers can, as well as hiring a singer to provide vocals for a number of tracks.

Yamaoka’s scores mostly consists of ambient music that is often somber in tone and features a lot of dark electronic and industrial sounds, fitting in perfectly with the theme of the games. These are interspersed with guitar and piano tracks and from Silent Hill 3 onwards often feature vocals provided by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn which usually fit in with the events and themes of the games.

When I was first considering writing this article I wasn’t sure how to go about it. My initial thought was to include a handful of the most memorable tracks but to be honest if you’re interested enough to be reading this you’ve probably heard the main Silent Hill theme plenty of times as well as Theme Of Laura and You’re Not Here, the main themes of Silent Hill 2 and 3 respectively.

On the other hand although I love a lot of the ambient tracks from the games they’re not particularly meaningful unless you know the games well and understand the context of the piece of music.

For example one of my favourite tracks in Silent Hill 2, Black Fairy, plays in the otherworld hotel at the end of the game just after the major plot revelation is made. The music perfectly emphasises the physical decay of an abandoned and fire damaged building along with the mental decay and despair felt by James following his revelation.

I can fully appreciate the depth of the music but to someone who hasn’t played the game and can’t make those connections it probably sounds like weird and random ambient sounds.

So what I’ve decided to do is include a number of more obscure tracks from the various soundtracks, all of which can be enjoyed for the music/song alone without needing a great explanation of the context. Enjoy!

Our first track is Cradle Of Forest from the Silent Hill 4 soundtrack. One of only a few tracks to feature a male vocalist, Joe Romersa in this case, it plays over the game’s credits and is likely referencing children who live in an orphanage in the forest outside Silent Hill...

http://caneandrinse.com/music-monday-silent-hill/

[ratsoalbion]

New Music Monday: Spelunky
http://caneandrinse.com/music-monday-spelunky/

I remember hearing a Scottish games journalist (whose name escapes me – many apologies) enthusing about the original, free PC version of Spelunky on his “Best Worst Games” feature on the One Life Left podcast, soon after the game’s first public release in late 2008.

It sounded intriguing, especially for someone like me who is old enough to remember similarly brutal 2D platformers from the 8 and 16-bit eras, and specifically both Spelunker (1983) and the similar-looking – and similarly difficult – though much less fair Rick Dangerous (1989).

I bought the ‘HD’ version the morning of July 4th 2012 when it went on sale for Xbox 360 and, as is so often the case, dabbled a bit before putting it to one side for a future rainy day. Or probably more like a rainy winter in this case.

I’m such a latecomer to the Spelunky club that I’m not even down to join our resident experts Josh, Darren, James and Sean for our forthcoming podcast (issue 160, scheduled to be released on January 25th).

Yet I find myself latterly addicted to the game. I currently have it installed on four formats since the game’s PSN/PS+ release, and dive in for a series of runs – some short, some slightly less short (as is the nature of the beast) whenever I have my 360, PS3, Vita or PS4 switched on.

As well as the impeccably precise and scientifically fascinating gameplay, the pleasure is enhanced by the inclusion of a number of tunes which vary pleasingly.

A real boon when you are facing the same one of the four basic stages for the umpteenth tooth-grinding yet hilariously doomed attempt in a row.

Our Super-Deformed Tomb Raiders’ treacherous, Indiana Jones-esque quests play out to some brilliantly catchy and corner-of-the-mouth twitching tunes.

Firstly though, the classic chiptune style music of Jonathan Perry and George Buzinkai that accompanies the free PC version is well worth checking out on its own merit, even if you’re playing the game on console...

http://caneandrinse.com/music-monday-spelunky/

[Cwenchdesign]

Cheers for another cracking podcast peeps. Looking forward to more aural gems in the future. That Shovel Knight track was something else! I figured I must at least contribute something so here's a few that spring to mind early doors! I'll hopefully add to it when I get another brain fart!

The only reason to own a Speccy light gun; the Missile Ground Zero and Robot Attack title music. Managed to be stuck in my head for about 25 years.




There's a load of cracking tunes on Super Aleste. This one - Labyrinth - is probably my fave. I'm not really into my shooters but the music really made it.




Not exactly an original score but all six tracks in Rock & Roll Racing were brilliantly realised. Paranoid I think being the best one. Tarquin, is indeed, in another time zone.




I couldn't leave Cannon Fodder off. Another that's been lodged in my brain since school...




Anyway, keep up the good work everyone x

[TomFum]

I would like to supply this little ditty.

It brings back great memories from a great game, i used to goto a local leisure centre to swim and always look forward to playing this after, with the semi deluxe cabinet sat between the upright version of Turbo Outrun and normal cab of Operation Wolf i used to plough so much money into the game. I loved it and still do, great game, great music, yu suzuki at his best. Enough Said

Good tune, great arrangement, perfect for a driving game

[mikeleddy83]

[Poperamone]

Can I have 2?

First off the theme from Xenon 2. The megadrive was the best sounding system of the era, no argument. There is just something that soundchip that wasn't beaten. Xenon 2 featured a bomb the bass song as the theme and the megadrive version was particularly dirty. I would leave the game running so I could record the song onto mixtapes. One of a handful of megadrive songs I still listen to now.




The Bastion soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks of the last few years. Somebody cut Build That Wall / Mother, I'm Here / Setting Sail, Coming Home into one epic youtube video and it works as one movement. Every time I hear it the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I won't take up 7 minutes, so here is Setting Sail, Coming Home the end credit theme.

[ratsoalbion]

Music Monday: Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
http://caneandrinse.com/music-monday-ca ... key-mouse/

It’s been over a year since SEGA Studios Australia released their (to me) hugely disappointing remake for contemporary platforms, but, as is not unusual, I woke up feeling nostalgic for the music of AM7’s Mega Drive/Genesis classic, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse this morning.

Let’s hear how some of the brilliant Grant Kirkhope‘s orchestral-style remasters stack up against the amazing originals of Tokuhiko “Bo” Uwabo and Shigenori Kamiya.

Before we move on, just a reminder that we, along with expert guest Dan Clark, covered the loose ‘trilogy’ of Disney platformers – along with Quackshot Starring Donald Duck and World of Illusion Starring Mickey & Donald – for MD/Genesis back in issue 54 of the podcast. It’s one of my personal favourite Cane and Rinse episodes...

http://caneandrinse.com/music-monday-ca ... key-mouse/

[The_Rooster]

The Walking Dead game music is brilliant. It's atmospheric whilst being completely baron at the same time. It wasn't the main theme that stuck with me after tho it was however the final song when the credits roll end of season 1 had me transfixed.



After everything you had just been a part of and witnessed over the 7/8 hours in total this song pulls the strings and really uses the lyrics to explain what we all thought. "Take us back" so we can start it all over again.

[Katieee120]

The sing I'm going to suggest is a track from a recent game. The song is called "The Dawn Will Come" from the game Dragon Age Inquisition. I won't spoil the scene but when this song was played it sent chills down my spine and made the hairs on my arms stand on end. It's such a cool, atmospheric piece and quite inspirational as well.

[Flabyo]

With a podcast on Chrono Trigger coming up, I assume there's going to HAVE to be a Music Monday for it...

Can I write you one? I'm something of a Mitsuda fanboy...

[ratsoalbion]

By all means please do!

[Ash]

Hey everyone. I think the new podcast is brilliant! A perfect companion piece to the enthusiasm of the main show.

It would be so tempting to go mad here and list hundreds of my favourite game tracks but I've managed to restrict my selections to just three that are very special to me. It would be awesome if you could play one of these on the show.


The Secret of Monkey Island – Main Theme (Michael Land)
One of the reasons I love The Secret of Monkey Island is the incredible sense of place the game evoked with its lovingly crafted pixel postcard environments. Primitive it may have been but the wizards at Lucasfilm Games made every screen somewhere you’d be happy to spend hours in as you searched around for those elusive puzzle solutions. The music of course cemented this sense of place and every time I hear the main theme my mind is whisked back to the beauty of the Tri-Island Area once again. My name’s Guybrush Threepwood, and I want to be a pirate.





Shining Force III – The Lever To Move The World (Motoi Sakuraba)
Motoi Sakuraba is perhaps best known for his understated Dark Souls soundtracks these days, but before these his numerous Japanese RPG soundtracks were actually more associated with words like bombastic, sprawling and even indulgent. He’s an acquired taste among RPG fans but I love his work. This particular track appears at the end of Shining Force III on the Sega Saturn and is pure Sakuraba; ambitious, exciting and with enough changes to make most prog-rock guitarists blush. I could listen to it forever.




Mr. Driller: Drill Land – Boku no Chikyu Bokura no Chikyu (Masaru Shiina)
Do videogames get any more lovable than Mr Driller? Its charming characters, colourful blocks, satisfying sound effects and fast-paced gameplay make it an absolute joy to play and the wildly imaginative and energetic soundtrack of Mr Driller: Drill Land on GameCube only makes the experience even more of a pleasure. I have no idea what the vocalists in this track are singing about but when I hear it I can’t help but imagine a joyous celebration of videogames themselves. Pull off a perfect descent through the depths of Drill Land while this song plays in the background and I challenge you to do it without a smile on your face.

[Tleprie]

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on the Gamecube was one of the first games that I really fell in love with. Me and my friends would play it for hours, especially the chao garden. Anyway, there are three tracks that have stuck with me years after playing. The first one is from the first level, where Sonic is trying to escape from the city. This song is so upbeat and fast that it just fits the game perfectly.
The second song is one of Knuckles levels, Pumpkin Hill. I don't really think it is too great of a song, but for me it brings back a lot of good memories.
The last song is from the final boss fight. Its fast paced and once again matches the mood of this portion of the game.

[ratsoalbion]

Music Monday: A medley of medleys from the marvellous Super Smash Bros. melange.
http://caneandrinse.com/music-monday-super-smash-bros/

We’ve gone large on Super Smash Bros. to mark the release of the latest version of the game on Wii U.
We’ve got three Quick Rinse videos of the N64 original, Melee on the GameCube and Brawl on the Wii.
We have a two-hour podcast, also covering those three games.
Now we have a Music Monday themed around the various orchestral medleys that have been composed/compiled for, and in honour of, the Super Smash Bros. series.

More than forty different composers (at the last count) have contributed to the Super Smash Bros. series’ extensive and bombastic soundtrack.

From legendary in-house Nintendo musicians such as Koji Kondo and Hirokazu Tanaka to renowned names from the SEGA, Konami, Namco and Capcom stables, it has been the Herculean task of HAL Labs’ Shogo Sakai to curate and arrange these for use in the chaotic brawler.

Get ready for around three-quarters of an hour of almost non-stop Nintendo sounds (should you dive in and listen to these back to back)...

[Flabyo]

PlayStation 20th Anniversary Medley

[Flabyo]

Over the top Japanese bombast time!

KoF 13 on console has the greatest menu music EVER.


Star Ocean the 2nd Story has a rather over the top bit of world map music, courtesy of Motoi Sakuraba


And I'm sure I've inflicted this piece from Bravely Default on people before, but it's still a massive favourite. Just when you think it's done and is just going to loop a third time it goes up a gear...

[Todinho]

I never played Bravely Default but I must have heard this track a bunch of times it's awesome!

[mikeleddy83]

I'm yet to play it too but I'll agree, that Bravely Default track hits all the right notes! Nice find

The Nintendo big band performance in this weeks Music Monday was pretty spectacular too, if you've not checked that out I'd heartily recommend it.

Argh, go on then. From my retroactive 2012 goty (sorry Okami HD) and most likely favourite game of the last decade.

[manofmanybadaliases]

If there's one piece of music that's resonated with me and in a way haunts me to this day it would be the title screen song 'The Origin' from Zone of the Enders 1, the first time i played the game was the demo version that came with my copy of OPS2 magazine that came out at the time,i was rendered silent it was the dead of night and all i heard was this barebone backwards loop both cold,distant and strangely human. ZOE1 admittedly isn't that great of a game,and i didn't get to hear the song again until the HD Collection for the ZOE games came out but when i heard this song again,it still had the same effect it had on me all those years ago. :