Do You Listen to Other Music When Playing Shmups?

[Terramax]

--and, if so, what do you listen to?

I almost always used to listen to the music of shmups when playing them, unless they were completely terrible. However, I've recently been a few shmups on the Tokyo trains with my headphones on, listening to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, and for certain shmups, I found this kind of music to fit really well, if not even giving me an even greater adrenaline rush whilst playing them. For instance, I was I was playing Dragon Blaze when 'Back in the Village' on Iron's Powerslave kicked in, and I got so lost with the combination that I missed my stop!

So, what about you? Is it always the in-game music, or do you, at least from time to time, spice it up with something else blaring in your ears?

[Squire Grooktook]

Usually I'll go with the intended aesthetic of the games ost unless it's really non-descript (some psikyo games) or outright absent (some doujin games that use freeware music, etc.)

[Weak Boson]

I'll always start playing the game with its original sound, but I find even the best OSTs wear thin after a certain amount of time, then it can be really good to play something else. I actually do this with non-shmup games too, but that has more mixed results.

Agreed that metal does the trick but anything with enough energy can be good. At one point I cultivated a playlist of songs so I would always have ideas. Now that I think about it I remember a particularly blissful Futari session with the Mars Volta backing me up.

[Shepardus]

The games I enjoy playing also tend to have great soundtracks, so I keep the music on. Also, for arcade games you usually can't disable music separately from sound effects, and I'm uncomfortable playing without sound effects (I tried this for Dragon Blaze back when I still played it a lot and it really threw me off). Music can also be a useful cue; sometimes I forget what's coming up until I hear the music reach a certain part.

[chum]

Since I score grind ILs I often use music on repeat to keep me in the zone. The most successful song I've played on repeat is Blue Monday by New Order. So many of my highscores in STB/DS were completed while listening to Blue Monday on repeat.

Second most successful song was Love Stepping Out by Disco Inferno. Some others I've had some success with but haven't used as much includes You Got Shot Down by Zelienople, Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode, and Catch the Breeze by Slowdive. The key I find is music that isn't too dynamic and doesn't grab your attention, but something that strikes a balance between a hypnotic quality and catchy hooks to support the grind. So for example Ambient or Drone music might be hypnotic but without any kind of hooks of pop sensibilities it lacks the repetitive spark that supports a good repetitive grind (grinding ILs means I do the same 30-120 secs of gameplay over and over - less than the length of a pop song). Music with too much dynamic hooks, like say Peaches en Regalia by Zappa, just takes my attention away from the game instead and becomes grating.

I prefer not to listen to full albums or playlists, as there is no way I can focus on listening to music while I am playing. it is just a backdrop to the real action and a good way to stay in the zone if you find the right songs. This probably doesn't work as well with most shmups though as the normal length is 20-40 mins, which spans many songs instead. So in most shmups I don't get anything out of listening to different musics.

[iconoclast]

I'd guess at least 95% of my total shmup playtime has the game muted with my own music playing (or podcasts). Hearing the same stage/boss tracks over and over gets on my nerves after a while, especially when practicing one thing repeatedly. It kinda sucks when there are helpful audio cues, like when a boss health break is coming up in Espgaluda, but that's a trade I'm willing to make.

I listen to a variety of things, but I mostly stick with my BiS + all associated acts playlist. (I was listening to My Ixxx when I got 3 billion in DOJBL)

[Lyv]

Sometimes, yes. Especially when playing Psikyo games, since the music is sadly quite dispensable.
I did some of my best runs listening to various stuff, including ambient rock/metal, pop, psytrance, and podcasts.

Last time, I used to restart the same album at each new full run attempt. It somehow became the new game soundtrack for me, and helped me keep focused.

[MintyTheCat]

No, don't listen to other music for Shmups. I occasionally do for other genres of games though.

[CloudyMusic]

During long grind sessions (stage practice or frequent restarts) I'll usually put on a podcast or something just to keep myself from getting bored of the repetition. If I'm doing serious full runs, though, I'll usually keep the game's audio on to help me focus.

[XoPachi]

Naw. Honestly there are VERY few shooters that I like to play that have music I don't care for. Usually if I don't, it's an arrange of a soundtrack that I felt didn't need to be touched like DoDonPachi 5. I hate the XBox 360 mode music there, but thankfully most shooters give you the option to change soundtracks these days which is rad.

The best shooter music fits it's own atmosphere of the levels and syncs nicely with the action at the right volume settings. And just sounds amazing.

[BuckoA51]

The best shooter music fits it's own atmosphere of the levels and syncs nicely with the action at the right volume settings. And just sounds amazing.

Pretty much always the games soundtrack. Any half decent soundtrack should do this, plus my musical tastes are fairly broad I'm just as happy with dancy type genres as rock and pop.

[chempop]

I like to blast Super Chample youtube videos to give that authentic Japanese wtf feeling and excitement.

Look it up on YT

[tizerist]

Most Darius games, yeah I’ll usually put on some dubstep instead.