The videogame music thread

[DomsBeard]

https://david-housden.bandcamp.com/

Link to the ost for Lost Words, Beyond The Page.

Great soundtrack but "memories" is a stand out, with or without context

[Richard]

Maybe it's the current global climate, but I have been on a real '80s nostalgia escapism kick lately. Underneath, Slayaway Camp is a sliding block puzzle game; however, the charm and attention to detail in the theming goes beyond mere tropes, and really captures the essence of what it was like for me as a kid going to the video store and browsing the shelves of VHS horror tapes.

This remarkable song, "Love Is Like A Machete," an ode to '80s power ballads, plays when you fail to finish a level, complete with a long credit scroll.

[Stalkedbycats]

Brigador's soundtrack by Make-Up&Vanity Set is simply stellar but I feel like the whole 80's Synthwave has been a bit overrepresented on the podcast lately. Luckily, the soundtrack for Brigador Killers seems to be a) equally stellar and b) having a bit more of a Klepeckian industrial-techno vibe to it (I don't really know what words mean), which I doubt will ever be overrepresented.

[Gingertastic01]

Hello Sound of Play,

I have been spending some of my lovely lockdown time jumping into the fantastic Octopath Traveler. It is typically not a genre of game I play very often but I loved the look of it so much I decided to dive in, and am so glad I did as I am absolutely loving it. One of the many aspects am enjoying so much is the music by Yasunori Nishiki, so I would like to request the main theme from the game.

Enjoy

[JadePhoenix]

I'm a huge fan of both the Persona games and the Warriors beat-em-up games, especially the ones based on other franchises I've loved, so I was naturally super excited when Atlus announced that they were working with Koei-Tecmo on a Warriors-inspired Persona 5 sequel. One of the biggest reasons was the prospect of getting some awesome metal remixes of the already fantastic Persona 5 soundtrack, and this version of Last Surprise does not disappoint:

[Richard]

In Sound of Play 245, Leon and Tom were discussing racing games, anxiety, and nostalgia, and immediately this track from 198X jumped into my mind. While I understand there are pitfalls to looking back too far or rose-tinting the past, this short indie game transported me back to my early years where I cut my teeth in the local arcade. I can so vividly recall everything, the smell of cigarette smoke and greasy pizza from the joint next door, playing Out Run and Space Harrier in the dim neon room. As someone who has contended with a lifelong anxiety disorder, the arcade was my childhood escape from home, school, and the world outside, transporting me to a place of safety.

[shadowless_kick]

‘Silver Ice Sheet’ is the stage 4 theme from Capcom’s shoot-em-up ’19XX: The War Against Destiny.’

It's one of those tracks that managed to cut through the din of the noisy arcade and make a real impression on me on the few occasions I was able to play this game in the wild. I love the laid-back, almost loungey vibe of its main groove, which makes for an interesting contrast with the dogfighting action it accompanies.

Composed by SYUN Nishigaki

[rob25X]

A beautiful piece from one the most beautiful looking games of 2019, 'Degrees of Separation'. The track is called 'Reflected Lights'. Enjoy

[wisheewashee]

.

[Richard]

Here's one more hyper-nostalgic piece before I return to the present. At first blush, Stories Untold might seem like some sort of Stranger Things ripoff. However, after the opening credit scroll (which I had to check to make sure wasn't the actual theme from Stranger Things), what I found was one of the weirdest, wildest, and ultimately disturbing puzzle games I have played in quite some time (which is saying something, considering I just wrapped up The Return of the Obra Dinn). The gameplay is unusual and varied, and the sound effects and music are both top notch. I highly recommend it (and its synth-heavy OST)!

[Octorok385]

About once a year, I dust off my Wii U to replay Earthbound, a game which has cemented itself as my favorite of all time. The culminating battle of the game has been written about extensively already, but this piece of the soundtrack was burned into my brain long before internet forums and blogs had dissected the game's villain and themes to pieces. The first section of the music references the final battle of Earthbound's prequel, Mother. The second section is its its own beast entirely.

Thank you all for continuing to put out some great work!

[Jobobonobo]

Banjo Tooie has a reputation as being a darker game than its bright and cheery predecessor. It starts with your arch nemesis killing one of your friends, your house and homeland being destroyed, and the world is going to be drained of its life in order to get the villain’s body back. And this is all in the first five to ten minutes of the game! It is a much more dire set of affairs with a lot more at stake. A lot of Tooie’s soundtrack reflects this change in tone with the mournful Isle O’Hags, the circus jingle tinged with cynicism of Witchyworld and the harsh chants of Mayahem Temple. Grant Kirkhope really flexes his musical chops in this title and does a wonderful job of capturing the different tone of this sequel. But there is still plenty of the catchy bouncy fun of the original in this soundtrack and this is best exemplified by the lovely Jinjo Village. There is a real exuberant joy to this tune which is up there as some of my favourite pieces from this series. It has a triumphant tone that reassures you that everything is going to go back to the way it was. It is an iconic, memorable melody that sums up the Banjo series as a whole alongside classics such as Spiral Mountain. Just a lovely piece.

[Marco]

I've been playing through Borderlands 3, a game that I was not expecting many surprises from but one that has managed to throw a few unexpected moments my way. It's fair to say when this particular boss fight began, I was not prepared to hear this piece of music. To me it felt very much like I should be cruising in Outrun, not dodging and blasting away at the thing in flying around me. The juxtaposition made me laugh more than anything else in the game so far and had me smiling long after the battle was done.

(NB Not representative of other in-game music.)

[Simonsloth]

I've been playing through Borderlands 3, a game that I was not expecting many surprises from but one that has managed to throw a few unexpected moments my way. It's fair to say when this particular boss fight began, I was not prepared to hear this piece of music. To me it felt very much like I should be cruising in Outrun, not dodging and blasting away at the thing in flying around me. The juxtaposition made me laugh more than anything else in the game so far and had me smiling long after the battle was done.

(NB Not representative of other in-game music.)

Amazing choice. To me it felt like a Spanish hotel lobby’s evening mode music. If you close your eyes you can almost smell the mojitos.

[Marco]

Amazing choice. To me it felt like a Spanish hotel lobby’s evening mode music. If you close your eyes you can almost smell the mojitos.

Thanks. Good shout with the type of music, I just couldn't imagine another videogame that would be a more natural fit for me.

Hitman in a Spanish hotel?

[Simonsloth]

Borderlands is all over the place in terms of tone it fits perfectly. I can’t think of many other games it would work in. Again I tip my hat to you, an excellent choice.

[Mr Ixolite]

Wing Ding, from Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, Composed by David Wise
Having not cared that much for the original DKC trilogy, I also skipped the David Wise adoration that seems to color any discussion of video gaming music. But having fallen head over heels in love with Tropical Freeze, I can only say: I get it now. The game is chock full of unique and memoriable tunes, as varied as the levels themselves, and to me the greatest earworm by far has proven to be Wing Ding. From the first second it has my head bopping to the beat, and as it proceeds to switch up its instrumentation and mood the music takes you on a journey as much as the level itself. But it never loses its main goal: making you barrel gleefully towards the next precarious platform

[Richard]

Over the past few rocky months, I have managed to take a few minutes each day to putter around my own private island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I know some people are spending hundreds of hours tricking out their villages with promenades and piazzas and going full bore on playing the stalk market, but I have mostly just enjoyed walking through the trees and listening to the ocean waves, a welcome reprieve from the daily headlines. As part of my usual weekly routine, I always make sure to swing by my plaza on Saturday evenings to catch a performance by K.K. Slider. This track, Two Days Ago, is by far my favorite I have heard so far.

[rwgibbons]

I've been wanting to submit a track from Runner 3 for a while now, because I think the soundtrack is genius. The problem is it's so hard to pick just one. I finally settled on A Bite Too Far for my submission.

This game was featured in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality--one of many insanely quality games that were part of that bundle. The brilliant thing about this and the previous games in the series is that the music is amplified the better your do and the more you collect. This is the version you get if you play the level perfectly.

As an aside, my daughter played this game along with me when it first came out, and at age 5, she was obsessed with it. She hand-animated a book about the characters and I sent it to the creators via Twitter, who of course loved it.

[Gingertastic01]

Hello Sound of Play,

I have been enjoying the new TurboGraphx-16 mini these last few weeks and I think it might be my favorite mini console to date. Having not played so many of the games it has been incredible to discover all these great titles in one package.

I have been spending most of my time on the fantastic Solider Blade, which compared to many other vertical shooters is fairly accessible. Having said that, the last few levels are proving to be a bit of a challenge but am getting close.

Music in the game is a highlight and would like to request the music from ‘Operation 2’

Enjoy