The videogame music thread

Here's where you can discuss and share music from videogames
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JaySevenZero
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by JaySevenZero »

Jobobonobo wrote:Cheers Jay! Oh just one quick little question, will there be a Halloween special this year? I have a particular creepy tune in mind that would be perfect for such a show.
Possibly, although we've not discussed currently anything a themed show wouldn't be too much of a hassle.
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Jobobonobo
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Jobobonobo »

All sounds good, looking forward to whatever ye cook up anyway!
grey

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by grey »

Im not sure if you've done anything from The Last of Us yet but here's my suggestion.

Well first I have a confession to make; I've never played The Last of Us. But I've watched entire play throughs on YouTube and this game has completely captured my imagination. The entire soundtrack is on point for telling the story of the game but there is one very short, 1min and 42sec, track that tells the story of the game the best in my opinion.

The track is called The Choice (track 11 on the soundtrack) and it opens with this distorted guitar playing a dark and somber, almost blues-like, melody that paints a picture of reluctance, sadness and lost hope. Then about halfway through the track the melody changes and has an almost bright and hopeful feel to it. A subdued string section comes in at this point and because of the lack of distortion a new clarity is added to the track. Its as if the music has literally gone from muddled contemplation to making its "choice" and with that choice clarity of thought and the light of hope are possible. But with the game being set in a post-apocalyptic zombie infested world that hope and clarity fade and the darkness returns to the track but this time a glimmer of the string track comes back at the end. To me that represents optimism being crushed by the gravity of reality but the spark of human will power is kindling the fire of hope in spite of the odds that somehow this choice will lead the way out of the darkness.

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krakkenunleashed
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by krakkenunleashed »

Hey! Im Krakken (im a male in case you need to use pronouns if my requests are read on air) , longish C&R listener and lately I've been marathoning SoP during my laboring work! I love both podcasts!

Anyways I thought Id pitch in with a few selections for you to consider (i hope multiple requests at once is okay)

1: Main Menu theme from Age of Empires 2: the Age of Kings

Soundtrack composed by Stephen Rippy, Kevin McMullan (i assume)
I know this is a short track, but i still would like to request it. AoE 2 was (if memory serves) my first "real" videogame. After seeing some cousins play it over the holidays i immediately requested it as a present from my parents (probably for my birthday). Looking back, I realize i was never very good at the game, having to cheat a lot to win almost anything, but I still had a blast playing that game's campaign. However Musically the opening title theme, and especially that melody in the first few seconds has stuck with me like little else since that time. I still find myself humming those few bars, and to this day the opening title music remains my ingrained ideal of medieval themes.


2. The Labyrinth from Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (read as "sharp F E")

Music and lyrics by Hiroshi Yoshida, Aranged by Manao Doi, Vocals by Yoshino Nanjo
Back to one of Sound of Play's favourite genres, the JRPG, with one of the latest Wii U offerings. This surprising game, which began as a crossover of Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem, became so much more than that. TMS#FE is in it's final form a JRPG based on the Japanese idol and acting industries. (I'd Love to see this covered by C&R, but as it's a JRPG, a spinoff of 2 long game franchises, and likely to be overlooked i have little hope for a main podcast, so i will at least show off its music). Befitting the Idol theme of the game music is a HUGE part of what makes this game special, and the way it is used in game i found to be very unique. All the music of the game was produced by AVEX Group which is known for the "Love Live" idol anime and rhythm games. I hear the main composer Yoshiaki Fujisawa, had difficulty in making the music as he was used to TV music and not videogames (though his work is still brilliant.) However my chosen track is not one of his but rather one of the many j-pop songs sung by one of your Party members, Kiria, in the game. (I almost chose "Reincarnation" as the song which is also sung by her, and while its my favorite, its also the one on almost all the promotional trailers so it's easy to find, though i still recommend people listen to it) What makes TMS' use of the Idol Songs is really the various contests they are used in the game. they are not just 1 time use tracks. Rather each song is preformed once at the end of a character side quest as the climax of that sidequest, become a character revealing piece. Secondly when walking around town, various shops will play the various songs you have encountered really selling that your friends are becoming widespread idols. Thirdly and most importantly, each musical performance become a special move within the battle system. So in the case of "the Labyrinth" a huge blizzard erupts on the stage when it is activated, while Kiria sings the heart reding chorus line. It's an wonderful piece and one that i let run in full (not skipping) every time it appeared in battle.

3. The Lunar Sanctum - Kid Icarus Uprising

Yuzo Koshiro & Takahiro Nishi (according to YouTube, there are 5 composers on the soundtrack)
This track comes from one of my favorite levels of Kid Icarus Uprising (a game a genuinely love, never having issues with cramping or whatnot that plagued others). Partially because the whole level is basically one big Star Wars Homage, basically starting off with a whole "That's no Moon' scene before diving straight into a trench run. You can even hear the shift in tones of the level in the music as this goes over the on-rails portion of the game. At around the 1 min mark you can hear that the dialogue heavy opening if changing to the main action as the intensity rampps up with a John Williams-esque melody in the middle (to complete the Star Wars Comparison).

Hope you Enjoy those Picks! Keep up the amazing work!
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macstat
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by macstat »

Hey Krakken :) Good picks :) Little tip, you can embeed youtube videos in you post by using [youtube] tag and inserting part of the link after equal sign. For example

[youtube]RRtlWfi6jiM[/youtube]
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by grey »

Thanks to whom ever added the link for me lol
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ratsoalbion
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by ratsoalbion »

No problem grey!

And hello and welcome to Krakken.

And thanks for the tip macstat, I was just about to post something similar, saved me a job.
:)
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krakkenunleashed
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by krakkenunleashed »

Thanks macstat and ratsoalbion! I fixed that post, I'll try and remember that!
Todinho

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Todinho »

Really cool post by Yatch Club on twitter showing how Shovel Knight would've sounded on a Famicon
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by hazeredmist »

Here's my first submission!

This is such a great track from Command & Conquer: Red Alert. It was easily the best tune for me on the PS1 version of the game which I used to play with back to back TV's at my friends house as a kid. The track builds and builds from a soft introduction and is a superb example of games music electronica. I've played this track in DJ sets and managed to get away with it :lol:

papapishu

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by papapishu »

I've always loved the point-n-click adventures, but sometime in mid- to late 90's I was introduced to a game that completely blew my mind.

Everything was made out of clay and stop-motion animation, and I mean everything; the characters, the backgrounds, the menus, even the mouse cursor was this wiggling little clay arrow. The game had a lovely kind of silly humor and weird puzzles, except for the Hall of Records where you had walk through screen after screen of corridor with writing on the walls for about 10 minutes to reach an item at the end that was needed to progress, only to realize that you had to take the same way out.

The game is called The Neverhood and its soundtrack was composed by Terry Scott Taylor. Its Wikipedia article describes the soundtrack better than I ever could: "... horns, Muppet-like vocals, clunky banjos and percussion that often sounds like it's simply falling out of its storage box"

The song I picked is called "Southern Front Porch Whistler", hope you enjoy
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by gallo_pinto »

The Mass Effect franchise has been featured several times on Sound of Play, but there haven't been any songs from Mass Effect 2, which is my favorite of the series. The whole game is about preparing a team of specialists to go on a suicide mission on the far reaches of the galaxy. You spend dozens of hours getting your team prepared, but unlike most games, everyone can die if your team isn't ready or if you don't make smart decisions on the mission. There's no going back once you jump through the Mass Relay and this music starts pumping as soon you arrive at the base. It perfectly captures the tension and what's at stake. This is one of the most thrilling moments I've ever experienced in a video game.

Boundless

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Boundless »

Hello There,

This is my first post so I figured I would throw some suggestions in that match my name. Apologies if the embed doesn't work. No idea what I am doing.

First off is the Winters theme from Earthbound:



There are so many great tracks in Earthbound you could probably spend a whole episode on them. This one sticks out to me in particular because of how well it encapsulates the feeling of winter. Being a Canadian I am well versed in dealing with the cold, darkness, and isolation that a winter can bring. Those undertones are present in this track but are uplifted by the joys of being able to relax and hide from the elements. In the game of course this doesn't happen as, for me at least, the first time visiting Winters was always a difficult portion of the game. Anyway, this is a track I think of any time I go walking about in the snow.

Second we have MiiO from Bound by Flame:



I have no idea what the person in this song is saying. But that hardly matters when the song itself holds more personality than the game it came from. While Bound by Flame was largely forgettable this song stayed with me long after the credits. Something about that clicky noise in the background with the soft tones throughout locked in to my memory the sense of hopelessness this game had. It seems to me this song perfectly sums up what goes through my mind any time something dramatic I have no control over happens. Weak game, powerful song.

Hope everyone enjoys these as much as I do!

P.S. I am a guy if you need to use a pronoun.
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Yacobg42 »

I feel like talking about Hotline Miami in context of video game music is almost cliche, but I also feel like the second one is weirdly neglected. Maybe it's because the gameplay walks on the wrong edge of unfair, or maybe it's just because it's virtually impossible to visually distinguish them with a glance. HOWEVER, I think it deserves more than a fair shake for its ambitious narrative, interesting and disturbing new characters to play, and holy hell that music. Although the first one has an arguably more 'pure' soundtrack, two delivers an insane variety of tracks, sometimes surprisingly quiet and full of pathos, other times as pulse-pounding, body-shaking as they come.

The track I've picked is definitely from the latter category. The song plays in a nightclub, which is appropriate because this track leans far more into dubstep than many of the earlier, synth-y pieces. "She Swallowed Burning Coals" gets under my skin and into my brain like few other songs have, from this game or otherwise.

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seansthomas
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by seansthomas »

Some ideas...

I for one, am more excited by the new Zelda after the last E3 because of the amazing music and effects in the trailer than the actual gameplay. The final minute of this trailer indicates that this could well be the best Zelda score yet:



At the time, I was one of the few people who thought Syphon Filter was a better game than MGS. In hindsight, and having attempted to replay the second in the series, I have been proven to be very wrong indeed. But at the time, I really enjoyed the trio of games and their more action orientated gameplay. This theme was a great throwback to classic TV themes of my youth like Airwolf and would probably be a nice intro to one of your shows!



Despite never being quite as good as the Monkey Island series, Simon the Sorcerer was a great diversion and featured Chris Barrie voicing the sarcastic and reticent wizard. This theme does a good job in conveying the magical tone of the quest.



Zeewolf was a bloody tricky game to control on Amiga, where you piloted a helicopter around. At the time, it had polygon based graphics and looked amazing to my young eyes, so as you did back then, I persevered with the controls for far longer than I would nowadays. The theme was fun too.

TheStuntLady

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by TheStuntLady »

A year ago, a little game called "Undertale" completely stole my heart. I've already requested my favorite track from the wonderful score by Toby Fox, but I'd like to draw attention to another (perhaps my next-favorite).

There are 2 previous arrangements of "Megalovania": the original from "Radiation's Earthbound Halloween Hack," and another for the webcomic "Homestuck." Each have their individual merits; however, Undertale's version is where I think it reaches perfection.

In Undertale, this piece essentially becomes Sans's boss music, and I can't imagine anything else accompanying this fight, which triggers only if the player has reached the lowest depths of depravity. If you have slaughtered every innocent creature in every level of the game and blackened your Soul beyond saving, you eventually end up facing Sans - a once funloving jokester whose friends and family are now dead at your hands. You expect a fight. You encounter sheer madness. Sans's arsenal of attacks is bullet-hell insanity, further emphasized by Megalovania's hammering rhythm, dizzying pace and bombastic instrumentation. This auditory pounding drives on relentlessly while Sans tauntingly dodges your every move and delivers an assault that switches gears almost as quickly as the music. This is precisely why I love this track so much: it not only highlights the fury and frenzy of the battle, it also flawlessly reflects the player's mindset as an evil, heartless murderer - the true villain at this point in Undertale.

So grab your knife, have a bad time, and get dunked on to the fantastically unhinged Megalovania.

Lokhe

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Lokhe »

Recently gave Dragon Age: Inquisition another shot. I didn't quite get along with it when it came out but I did recall really liking the music. I never quite made it to the part of the game where this piece plays out but this time, when I did, it blew me away.

It's not a perfect game, but in the end I came round to it and ended up quite liking it. One thing is for sure though, the soundtrack is enthralling!

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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by gallo_pinto »

TheStuntLady wrote:Undertale's version is where I think it reaches perfection.
I totally second Megalovania. I took the Undertale soundtrack with me on a run once and when Megalovania came on, I unintentionally ratcheted up the pace of the run, waaaay beyond what I was physically capable of doing. I ended up having to walk the last two miles home. This song is unbelievably good.
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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Craig »

When I was a teenager, the GameCube was in its prime. Relatively speaking though, that still meant a while between releases at times so when I heard of a weird new game was coming called Doshin The Giant, I was immediately interested.

What made things even better was that this was only coming to Europe in the west. It seemed at the time we were getting this cool weird God sim, and instead America was getting some game about animals that looked like an N64 game. Clearly we were getting a better deal! (And animal crossing released in the UK a few years later anyway.)

All things considered I hyped myself up for the game, and convinced myself I was going to enjoy it and then when it came out... Well, I was confused. Not really sure what to do or what the point of the game was, I didn't get very far before I shelved it, disappointed but unable to really admit it to myself.

Years later and the internet being so prominent in documenting games I decided to check out some videos to see if I could work out what the hell it was all about. Not really. I'm still confused.

But it's got some wonderful music.

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Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

Post by Flabyo »

Megalovania would've likely been one of my picks if I was asked to guest again. And I've not played Undertale at all. Sometimes a piece is just that good that you know as soon as you hear it it'll be brought up time and time again. I think for me it's the drop just after the quiet intro, it's near perfect.
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