The videogame music thread

[Beck]

I'm really fond of the game Tearaway, I received Tearaway one christmas as a surprise gift and fell in love with it's charm. My favourite track is The Orchard

[ratsoalbion]

Some great suggestions, thanks all. Keep 'em coming, folks!

[papapishu]

After listening to Sound of Play 14 I had to dive deeper into the Parappa the Rapper songs. Watching and listening to these old soundtracks sparked a nostalgic memory of playing Gitarro Man Lives! on my PSP way back when.

While the game is generally quite energetic and over the top, it takes a completely different shape on one of the levels where U-1 has a moment with a girl named Kirah who bears a striking resemblence to his "old flame" Pico. U-1 plays this beautiful acoustic song called "Legendary Theme" that still to this day makes the hair on my arms stand up.

[Flabyo]

I think the only bad thing about that track is that the level before it is so horrendously hard that hardly anyone gets to it.

[ratsoalbion]

Are you talking the dub reggae robot shark? No problem at all, that - as long as you know the layout of the PlayStation buttons without thinking about it (and have decent rhythm).

Mojo King B on expert though, that was tough!

[Flabyo]

The one after that where he changes form, I don't think I ever got past it.

[papapishu]

I recently picked the game up again and it all went smooth until I got completely stuck on just that "dub reggae robot shark", it's a rough spike in difficulty and I have yet to wrestle that shark into submission.

[DomsBeard]

After the trailer the other day I have to put this in. It fits perfectly with the video and sounds like a cross between a Bond theme and an end credits song, very Kojima and harps back to the Snake Eater song. Brilliant



Also Apotheosis from Journey. There's certain games in your life you will play and will always remember a piece of music when it comes on as it fits absolutely perfectly into the game and the section it is in. This is one of those instances:

[Flabyo]

Evolution of a theme time... Metal Gear's 'Theme of Tara'.

Metal Gear


Metal Gear Solid (where most will know it from)


Smash Brothers Brawl (bonus points for adding the Mission Impossible sting)

[brutaldeluxe09]

I've recently been hooked on the now controversial vita game TxK by Jeff Minter and though I never quite finished it before selling my vita I think this track, Junosix - Noise Pulse is my favourite

[Todinho]

As if having one of the best licensed soundtracks full of 80's classics wasnt enough the ost in MGSV is superb

[Scrustle]

I saw the post on Facebook about not having enough submissions, so I thought I would chip in.

This song from Braid is actually a licensed track (as is the whole soundtrack), but it is so closely associated with the game, and fits it so well, that I don't think it really matters. I'd like to suggest "Downstream" by Shira Kammen. It's a brilliant folk track with lots of strings that has a sense of eeriness to it, but also a great upbeat feeling too.

[Flabyo]

I'd like to request something from Overclocked Remix...

The original is Nobuo Uematsu's theme for the character Terra from Final Fantasy 6, one of my favourite pieces in Final Fantasy history.

The OCRemix arrangement is from professional video game composer Jeremy Soule, who gives it a bit of an Elder Scrolls spin without losing it's original charm.



(There are several other good versions of Terra on OC Remix, I really like this one as well)

[mikeleddy83]

It's probably been long enough since I last posted this and it always puts a smile on my face so... (first time I noticed it sounds a bit like faith no more's we care alot)



This isn't half bad either



This probably is though

[FollowMyRuin]

In what feels like the podcast-suggestion equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel I'd like to put forward the Final Fantasy prelude.

While they're all largely variations on a theme I've shared the prelude from Final Fantasy IX for the arbitrary reason that I like it most...



Uematsu famously composed this in only ten minutes, which belies the fact it's one of the only persistent threads that runs through this important series.

It's a beautiful and simple track, and a true prelude to some of the heavier pieces in the games themselves. I like the prelude to IX in particular as it's like a lullaby, which evokes a sense that you're drifting off to sleep before going into the game. I doff my hat to Uematsu for this gem.

[Flabyo]

Good call. I think I just prefer the version in 7 to the one in 9, probably because it was first version I heard, but has there actually been a bad version of prelude? Even the silly up tempo one in Curtain Call isn't *that* bad (the one in Dissidia is interesting as well, it's more ethereal and floaty)

[hornash]

I'd like to request the opening theme for Legend of Mana on the Playstation 1. Secret of Mana on the SNES is still my favourite game of all time and when i found out there was a game set in the same world i tracked down a US copy on eBay, I never regretted it. I don't think the gmae was well received and held up against FF7 you can see why, but i still consider Legend of mana my favourite game on the system . THe hand painted backgrounds and variety in combat as well as the ability to have differant pet monsters follow you around really gave the game a reeal depth and all the differant stories inside still hold up today, but teh music is really something else, a full orchestra was used and it is the first and only game soundtrack i have ever bought with the opening theme is the real standout. I have no idea what the lyrics mean but i still think it is one of the most beautiful pieces of game music written and will always put a smile on my face when it comes up on the random song list on my ipod.



the original is over 7 minutes long but this is the short version



full opening for anyone interested. still gives me chills

if a mod can edit this to embed the videos because I am struggling as to how and my wife is getting annoyed watching me

[ratsoalbion]

Ha ha, no problem Hornash.

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the request (a personal favourite of mine too)!

[Catatonic Nali]

Heard you're running out of listener contributions so I've got a load that I've been meaning to share for a while. I'm actually surprised that in 24 episodes none of them have ever come up given how iconic some are.

Bloody Tears from the Castlevania franchise.
Originally included in Castlevania II: Simon's Quest this piece has gone on to feature in 20 Castlevania games as well as a few other Konami titles, most of them played in their own style distinctly different from the others. From the humble basic 8-bit Castlevania II version to the ominous organ followed by a swell of strings in the Super Castlevania IV version to the rocking electric guitar number included in the Sega Saturn release of Symphony of the Night. Any time I hear Bloody Tears it stays stuck in my head for at least a couple of days following, it's just such a catchy piece of music.
I'm including a link to a compilation of the theme cut together from 12 Castlevania games. Clocking in at 9 and a half minutes I don't imagine you'll want to play the entire thing but whoever is tasked with editing the show can pick a section from it or choose their favourite and include it. I'm particularly fond of the Super Castlevania IV version but that's just me.



Intro music from Mega Man 3.
There's really not much to say about why I love this piece of music. It's just so damn cool!
This is a looping track and this is the shortest video I could find of it. The first loop ends at about 53 seconds.



Flight - Panzer Dragoon
My only memory and knowledge of Panzer Dragoon was playing it for 15 minutes on a display model Sega Saturn in Hamleys on Regent Street, back in the days when the video games section was relegated to the small back corner of the top floor. This track, Flight, plays over the first level and as you'll no doubt agree is a masterpiece and perfectly accompanies flying on dragonback above a sea littered with ancient ruins. Even though I only played Panzer Dragoon for a few minutes the best part of 20 years ago this piece of music has always stayed in my head.



Viewer - Resident Evil 5
Not a game I'm particularly fond of, being much more of a fan of the old style Resident Evil games. This music would play when you went into the library viewer section to look at things like little action figures of the characters and I remember leaving that menu open for ages in order to listen to an endless loop of the calm, dreamy music while I was doing something else. Not being too harsh to RE5 I hope but for me this piece of music might be my favourite part of the whole game.



Faces That I Understand - Charlie Murder
I played through Charlie Murder recently and although the gameplay didn't particularly grab me I did think the music and design really stood out. The game is themed around punk and heavy metal iconography with tons of horror, gore and other such disturbing things. This song plays over the bad ending which also really stood out to me. To give a bit of context Charlie and Paul were childhood friends who started a band together. At some point Paul was kicked out of the band and immediately afterwards Charlie Murder got their big break while Paul spiraled downwards. The song, Faces That I Understand, is clearly supposed to have been written and played by Paul during this time of depression and I find it quite haunting and moving, especially when combined with the cutscene that makes up the bad ending.

[gallo_pinto]

I know that Persona 4 has already been represented once on the show, but I'm hoping you'll allow for another one since it has one of the best and most unique soundtracks out there. I think the ending theme from Persona 4, "Nevermore" is really great. I was reluctant to try Persona 4 Golden on the Vita because I had heard about the hour count required to beat it. I gave it a shot and 87 hours later, I wished there was a way for it to keep going forever. By the end of the game, I felt closer to the Investigation Team than to most of my real friends and "Nevermore" really captures the bittersweetness of finishing a long game; both the triumph and the sadness that it's now over. The part when the music cuts out at about the 4:30 mark still gives me chills.

Also Apotheosis from Journey. There's certain games in your life you will play and will always remember a piece of music when it comes on as it fits absolutely perfectly into the game and the section it is in. This is one of those instances:

Also, I wanted to echo DomsBeard on Apotheosis because that song is beautiful.