The videogame music thread

Here's where you can discuss and share music from videogames
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Richard
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

Post by Richard »

If there's one accusation no one can level against "Later Alligator," it's being short on charm. This short indie point and click adventure from SmallBü is like playing through a mash up of WarioWare minigames and an old lost New Grounds flash animation. While it's not very complicated or challenging, it is very funny, weird, and doesn't overstay its welcome. I finished it in a few hours, which include two shorter play throughs to see everything and unlock the "good" ending.

The soundtrack from 2 Mello is also top notch. When I first encountered this piece, "Alligator Blues," I completely stopped playing just to listen.

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shadowless_kick
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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I first discovered the music of Yoko Kanno through her futuristic art pop soundtrack for the anime Macross Plus. I eventually realized that was just the tip of an insanely huge iceberg. Among her many, many other projects—and stylistically worlds away from the most popular of them—are OSTs for several games from the Nobunaga’s Ambition series. I was aware of these games from magazine ads back in the day, but I never played them, as turn-based strategy doesn’t appeal to me (well, aside from Advance Wars, that is).

But I don’t need to play the games to appreciate her beautiful music for them. The track I’ve highlighted here is ‘Days of Sunshine’ from Nobunaga’s Ambition: Haouden. It's so bright that it's almost childlike, innocent. Surely a brief moment of respite in a series of games all about war.


Tbone254
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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This comes from OverClocked Remix. It’s Kefka’s theme as if composed by Danny Elfman for a Tim Burton movie. The remix is included on the remix album, Final Fantasy VI: Balance and Ruin, and is arranged by Steffan Andrews. I had never heard of him before, so I performed a quick Google search and found that he is not just an amateur remixer, but a professional composer that has composed for television. I always like seeing things like this. Professional artists performing and creating things for fun. Steffan Andrews direction for this piece is genius. The Danny Elfman style perfectly captures the tragic figure of Kefka, and to me, this is now the definitive production of the piece.
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Jobobonobo
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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I have very limited exposure to the Professor Layton series, having only played bits and pieces of a friend's copy of Professor Layton and the Curious Village. One factor that stuck out to me was the lovely whimsical soundtrack it had. One piece in particular "The Veil of Night" by Tomohito Nishiura is a delightfully wistful tune that really paints a picture of the locale that you are exploring. Despite only playing it partially many years ago, this beautiful song has never left my mind.



While playing through the madcap adventure that is Yakuza 0, it was the substories that were always a particular highlight. These side quests really gave life and character to Kamurocho and Sotenbori, ensuring they stay within one's mind long after you have played the game. Many of these substories could get pretty ridiculous such as rescuing someone's daughter from a cult, teaching a timid dominatrix how to be better at her job, helping a living statue performer go on a bathroom break and many more. These are usually accompanied by the theme known as "You need me to what!?" which is perfect for the scenarios that you undertake. I can think of no other music that symbolizes wacky hijinx more than this and whenever I heard it in game, I had a big smile on my face just thinking "what have I got myself into this time?". To me, this goofy tune sums up Yakuza 0 and why it has become one of my most beloved games in recent memory.

Apologies for not giving the name of the composer for this but from what i can see, this is not even on the official soundtrack. So I am going to conservatively attribute this to Hidenori Shoji and others on the SEGA music team.

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Richard
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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I can't believe it took me this long to play "The Talos Principle," Croteam's excellent atmospheric puzzle game. It came out more than six years ago, but still feels fresh, immersive, and relevant. The (very deliberate) mood of an abandoned MMO world fits the current epoch like a glove. Almost every puzzle still feels well designed, and they are just difficult enough to make the player feel brilliant for figuring out each one. Coupled with all of that is the booming voice of a self-proclaimed creator deity and an ongoing existential dialogue with a waggish AI, which lends both gravitas and levity to the spaces between the challenging puzzles.

The soundtrack by Damjan Mravunac is also a standout as well. This track, "Welcome To Heaven," is a wonderful introduction to this intriguing world.

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Scrustle
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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I wouldn't be surprised if this song didn't get on the podcast, but as I've been playing through the Drakengard games lately, this one has kept coming back in to my head. This game has a really unique soundtrack, that is definitely an acquired taste, but after growing on me over time it has become a minor obsession of late. It's discordant, amelodic, and kind of grating. But it perfectly captures that dark and catastrophic atmosphere of the game. It's strangely compelling. This song, Growing Wings, is probably one of the more listenable songs on its own, being one of the credits themes, but it still captures the energy of the soundtrack really well. It's also become something of the unofficial theme song of the series.

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Richard
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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With a silly title like "There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension," I was expecting some off the wall meta commentary and plenty of pop cultural references. What I was not expecting was the amount of cleverness, polish, and heart this game delivers. On its face, it's a light-hearted point and click adventure, but the inclusion of inventive puzzles, full voice acting, and some genuinely emotional moments really create a surprising package all put together.

This piece, "My Actual Code - Gigi's Song," plays during a section of gameplay, and includes hints in the lyrics on how to proceed.

(Song performed by Julie Shields, Music by Xiaotian Shi, Lyrics by Pascal Cammisotto.)

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Whippledip
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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Richard wrote: April 19th, 2021, 11:15 pm With a silly title like "There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension," I was expecting some off the wall meta commentary and plenty of pop cultural references. What I was not expecting was the amount of cleverness, polish, and heart this game delivers. On its face, it's a light-hearted point and click adventure, but the inclusion of inventive puzzles, full voice acting, and some genuinely emotional moments really create a surprising package all put together.

This piece, "My Actual Code - Gigi's Song," plays during a section of gameplay, and includes hints in the lyrics on how to proceed.

(Song performed by Julie Shields, Music by Xiaotian Shi, Lyrics by Pascal Cammisotto.)

Someone really loves the Skyfall theme song
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ratsoalbion
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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Whippledip wrote: April 20th, 2021, 1:17 am Someone really loves the Skyfall theme song
Fairly confident that it's a knowing pastiche rather than any kind of crafty rip-off.
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Whippledip
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

Post by Whippledip »

ratsoalbion wrote: April 20th, 2021, 2:09 pm
Whippledip wrote: April 20th, 2021, 1:17 am Someone really loves the Skyfall theme song
Fairly confident that it's a knowing pastiche rather than any kind of crafty rip-off.
As am I, it wasn't supposed to be an accusation.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

Post by ColinAlonso »

Beach Buds by Mark Sparling plays at the base of the mountain in A Short Hike. It really captures the lazy late summer's afternoon vibe of folks just relaxing or ambling around the beaches and coastal paths.



There are two versions, the short hike and long hike versions. Long hike is a fuller and plays more of the variations heard in the game, but is also almost 9 minutes long.


Jobobonobo wrote: April 11th, 2021, 4:27 pm I have very limited exposure to the Professor Layton series, ...
Oooh, you reminded me of Iris (also by Tomohito Nishiura), the wonderful credits theme to the second Layton, Professor Layton and Pandora's Box.

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Richard
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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I played "Ico" and "Shadow of the Colossus" back at their respective launches, but it's been over four years since "The Last Guardian" came out, and I've just gotten around to completing it. The criticisms leveled against this divisive game are easily justified, as some of the controls, gameplay, and lack of directional markers can be frustrating at several points on the journey. However, for me, the ambitious scale, world-building, and emotional connection created between the player and Trico (your cat-dog-bird companion) more than made up for those hang-ups.

The soundtrack is very good as well, and anyone who enjoyed their travels with Trico will no doubt feel wistful hearing this piece, "Overture: Lore," which plays at the beginning of your adventure.

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shadowless_kick
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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whoa -- I'm disappointed to hear about Sound of Play's hiatus, but I understand your reasons. it's been great to be exposed to music (and games) I wasn't familiar with, as well as to revisit older favorites I hadn't heard in a while. I hope the show will return in some form in the future! if this thread stays open, I'll continue to make submissions as they come to me, just in case...

(also, regarding artists who've taken names from games, there's also an electronic musician who goes by the name 'Chrome Sparks,' which is taken from one of Chrome Dome's special moves from TMNT Tournament Fighters. deep cut!)
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Jobobonobo
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Re: The videogame music thread

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Count me as another one sad to hear that the show is going on hiatus for a while. It definitely opened my mind to how wonderfully diverse and unique game music can be and introduced me to many a new title and soundtracks that I would have been completely ignorant of otherwise. In regards to the drying up of requests I would have definitely have submitted a few more over the last year or two but I always worried that I would have ended up spamming the board if I went overboard. Now I think maybe I should have been a bit more aggressive with listener requests :lol:

Well, no use dwelling over it now. Sound of Play had a great run and I hope it returns in some form or another at some point in the future. Many thanks for all the pleasant hours of listening you guys have produced.
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seansthomas
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Re: The videogame music thread

Post by seansthomas »

Like people said above, I'll miss this show. It's been a great run and perhaps after a little break, can come back with new music to include and composers to interview.

And if not, many thanks for all your hard work. You brought games to my attention I bought purely due to the music I heard on here and it was a genuinely unique show.

It's a great legacy to leave for future listeners to discover.
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Michiel K
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Re: The Sound of Play submission thread

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shadowless_kick wrote: April 30th, 2021, 12:01 am (also, regarding artists who've taken names from games, there's also an electronic musician who goes by the name 'Chrome Sparks,' which is taken from one of Chrome Dome's special moves from TMNT Tournament Fighters. deep cut!)
That's cool! I'm a big fan of TMNT Tournament Fighters.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: The videogame music thread

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Sad to hear about Sound of Play's hiatus, still it is a wonderful 300 episode archive of videogame music and all involved should be very proud of it. It even made me track down a copy of Gitaroo Man in its early days.

I've played Mr Driller Drill Land on and off for the last few months, banging my head against level 2 (1000m) in Star Driller (which is basically regular Mr Driller with power ups and a space theme. The first 500 metres is accompanied by Star Driller, which starts with a sparse piano to really give the feeling of space before bringing in trumpets and strings later on to add the grandiose nature of space.



Then for the second 500 metres Taurus plays. A faster piece, usually instilling panic in me as the game truly begins , and then I usually die around the 800m mark.

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ratsoalbion
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Re: The videogame music thread

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Love the Mr Driller music!
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Simonsloth
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Re: The videogame music thread

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Maybe if we all start requesting songs Leon likes Sound of Play will come back. Anyone got any Puzzle Bobble recommendations? ;)
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ColinAlonso
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Re: The videogame music thread

Post by ColinAlonso »

Well, now that you mention it we got Bust-A-Move 2 with our PS1 and I have Puzzle Bobble 2 on my Switch when I need a nostalgia hit. ;)
The whole soundtrack is good and could be played in a CD player from the PS1 disc.
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