What type/genre of music do you think most "fits" shmups?

[Squire Grooktook]

Kind of an odd question.

I was reflecting on how some people tend to complain about certain shmup osts (most notably Touhou) that the music style doesn't "fit" a fast paced shooting game. Now I'm aware as anyone that this is baloney: There are lots of different aesthetics and atmospheres for shmups (and all genres) and all of them can add to the game in unique ways.

That being said, I do think it's an interesting question if people have certain preconceptions or preferences about what kinds of music are naturally fitted to the action and chaos of the genre.

Perhaps a better way of phrasing the question is: What type/style/genre of music just screams "shooting game" the most to you?

[Strikers1945guy]

Ehhhhhhh it almost depends on the shmup. Usually just some sort of electronic stuff that is very atmospheric fits best. I like cave games but often not caves soundtracks. Garegga has an AMAZING soundtrack IMO. Fits perfectly.

I don't even mind the Psikyo stuff in the strikers games although lots of people say it's so bad it's basically offensive >_>
Sadly I think the SDOJ stuff works even though its almost influenced by dubstep? I guess?

I love the Ibara kuro ship select screen it gets the blood pumping

[Squire Grooktook]

Sadly I think the SDOJ stuff works even though its almost influenced by dubstep? I guess?

Only the boss theme, heh.

[Strikers1945guy]

Sadly I think the SDOJ stuff works even though its almost influenced by dubstep? I guess?

Only the boss theme, heh.

Oh just the bosses? I've watched videos but never played the game yet so I wasn't sure really haha

[cave hermit]

Mainly techno, electronic, hard rock, and metal (not death metal, closer to glam metal, although I don't really understand sub genres so...)

[Squire Grooktook]

Sadly I think the SDOJ stuff works even though its almost influenced by dubstep? I guess?

Only the boss theme, heh.

Oh just the bosses? I've watched videos but never played the game yet so I wasn't sure really haha

Yeah, it's all more typical electronics until you get to the boss. About midway through the boss fight theme there are some WUBWUBWUBWUB sounds.

[professor ganson]

Experimental electronic music.

[nosorrow]

Mainly techno, electronic, hard rock, and metal (not death metal, closer to glam metal, although I don't really understand sub genres so...)

I agree with this.

By the way, I don't mind Psikyo games (I own quite a few ports), but I'm pretty sure its games would rate much higher in my personal top shooter list if the soundtracks weren't so drab and unmemorable.

[iconoclast]

Mainly techno, electronic, hard rock, and metal

This. Though honestly, after a few days I usually turn off all game audio and listen to my own music instead.

[Squire Grooktook]

Seems like a lot of people are answering electronic music. I can kinda see it: The psychedelic patterns and colorful chaos of bullet hell patterns does have a kind of DDR sugar rush vibe to it.

That being said do you all actually like that style of music or do you just think it fits shmups better?

[nosorrow]

Shooters, and VGM in a broader manner, made me appreciate electronic music. I used to listen to (melodic) metal almost exclusively but these days I am generally more into VGM OSTs, namely classic stuff I have always loved like CV, Mega Man, NES Ninja Gaiden, early Ys, Tecno Soft and Compile music, but also more recent stuff like the OSTs from Cave and Raizing titles. I really enjoy the mid and uptempo melodic tracks you can hum.

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

Here are the best choices of music genres that fit shmups.

Melodic, epic, sad music. Examples: Raiden series (NOT Raiden Fighters), RefleX, Kamui, Alltynex Second, Taito hardware music (Ashura Blaster and Gun Frontier are the best examples), certain stages in Strikers 1945 III, even music in the style of Mega Man and some Street Fighter tracks fit perfectly.

Heavy Metal: Examples: Jets 'n' Guns, Dodonpachi, Lightning Fighter 2 on iOS, Danmaku Unlimited 2, Storm Strikers

Trance/Atmospheric, Ethereal music: Examples: Certain stages in DeltaZeal, Stage 1 of Ether Vapor, most music by Cyber-Rainforce, most melancholy melodic trance you can find on YouTube.

In general, most electronic music and metal fit shmups well, as long as it has lots of melody, sad, epic vibes, and a feeling of flying and soaring high above the clouds, engaging and destroying enemy aircraft.

Stuff that doesn't fit: Happy, excessively upbeat music (such as Dodonpachi Resurrection Smartphone Mode), pop music in general, and drum n bass (like in Raiden Fighters series, please save that stuff for a racing game or something)

[Skykid]

Stuff that doesn't fit...and drum n bass (like in Raiden Fighters series, please save that stuff for a racing game or something)

Get the fuck out! Drum and Bass should be mandatory in every shmup, Psyvariar proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's the ultimate adrenaline accompaniment.

Raiden Fighters isn't D&B either, it's hardcore. You're twisted up.

And RF2 OST is awesome. I'd take it over shitty J-Rock any day of the week, I don't like feeble music when I'm aggressively laying waste to a vicinity.

Leave that stuff for weaboos and neckbeards at bronie singalongs.

[ZacharyB]

When the music matches what's going on in the stage, it's appropriate. A lot of them have different styles of gameplay and demand the appropriate soundtrack.

Raiden Fighters with its manic beats fits perfectly with how many tasks the player has to juggle at any given time.

Eschatos's long journey with its constant waves; always flying towards the next area. The music complements the bright graphics that skirt "cartoon".

Both R-Type Final and its music is very slow. R-Type Leo has playful music in comparison and features snappier gameplay.

Rayforce's spacey technological assault as we constantly aim for things in the background, defeat a boss, then advance more and more on the core of the Earth.

Under Defeat's steady rock beat matches the steady pace of the chopper. In this case, we even get a little catachresis: The memorable final stage introduction. When this kind of music choice appears within the tracklist, it can put the rest of the music into perspective.

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

Stuff that doesn't fit...and drum n bass (like in Raiden Fighters series, please save that stuff for a racing game or something)

Get the fuck out! Drum and Bass should be mandatory in every shmup, Psyvariar proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's the ultimate adrenaline accompaniment.

Raiden Fighters isn't D&B either, it's hardcore. You're twisted up.

And RF2 OST is awesome. I'd take it over shitty J-Rock any day of the week, I don't like feeble music when I'm aggressively laying waste to a vicinity.

Leave that stuff for weaboos and neckbeards at bronie singalongs.

I have not listened to Psyvariar's music, but RF2 is the only listenable soundtrack from the RF series (the name entry and staff roll music are the best tracks on there) but it's not something I would seek out and listen to outside of the game, RF1's music was nothing special, and RFJ's was singlehandedly the worst godawful fucking shit that I've ever heard in a shmup. All the Raiden Fighters' series music is such a letdown to the Raiden name, and RFJ's music was a huge shitstain on the legacy of Raiden's music, almost makes me want to learn how to compose music and write a GOOD soundtrack for it, jeez
I don't see how people say that soundtrack grows on you, it's fucking ear-grating garbage with so many annoying out of tune screeching sounds mixed in. It makes the shitty quality music from the "NEW" versions of Raiden 2/DX sound like a masterpiece.

[trap15]

I hope you've not been listening to RF music through MAME? The emulation is still quite bad. PCB or RFA or OST release is the only way to listen to them. RFJ does take some getting used to, and does have a few... awkward patches... that make it the least "listenable" of the 3. But RF1's got a great soundtrack and RF2 gets me going whenever I hear it.

[emphatic]

Ken Ishii. It's like hearing extra Garegga tracks.

[cools]

Frenchcore

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

I hope you've not been listening to RF music through MAME? The emulation is still quite bad. PCB or RFA or OST release is the only way to listen to them. RFJ does take some getting used to, and does have a few... awkward patches... that make it the least "listenable" of the 3. But RF1's got a great soundtrack and RF2 gets me going whenever I hear it.

No, I've been listening to the official soundtrack, but it just isn't "Raiden". Same goes for Raiden III's soundtrack. The only tracks on there that were "Raiden style" were Stages 1 and 3. The rest belong in Raiden Fighters. I get that the Fighters series is worlds apart from the main series, but you would've thought there had to be at least a bit of influence from the main series' music. Guess not. Here's how I see it: RF1 was the first to experiment and break away from the old soundtracks, and it wasn't outstanding, but it wasn't total garbage either. RF2's soundtrack really upped the intensity and it just sounds more cohesive and flows together better than RF1. Now RFJ, I don't know how the music just went to flat out terrible. Whether it was intentional, or because Yasuhiro Hashimoto composed it instead of Go Sato, I'm not entirely sure. I just know that the RF series music just doesn't do it for me, I get that it's a different pacing than classic Raiden, but I really miss the melodic Raiden vibe in it. It's Raiden but at the same time it's not.

[trap15]

It's not supposed to be Raiden, RF was never related to Raiden in any way other than the dev company until the marketing department decided it'd sell better with the Raiden name on it (probably a smart move, tbh). If you're looking for Raiden, you're looking in the wrong place.

[Heavy Viper]

Given the roots the genre has in arcades and home platforms, I'd say shmups do work well primarily with electronic music styles. It's more of a holdover from when everything had to be done through on-board PSGs or synths-on-a-chip, so most of the time, yeah, you'd be getting some kind of electronica pumping in the background. Though personally speaking, I don't really associate shmups with any particular genre of music. I think shmups are a very interesting genre musically given how many of them use a musical score that DOESN'T gel with the visual aesthetic.

FFJP mentioned DDPDFK's smartphone mode soundtrack as an example of what doesn't work, but I'd have to disagree - I found the smartphone arrangement to be far more memorable than the original soundtrack! Something about how excessively, ear-bleedingly HAPPY it is completely juxtaposes what's going on in-game (except maybe when the bosses appear), and yet somehow it just works. Hell, then you have DFKBL's soundtrack, which is like getting punched in the face by an giant angry modular synth holding an eight-string electric guitar, and that still ended up being one of my favourite STG soundtracks of all time.

Not to say that's my golden rule, though. Some of my favourite soundtracks are inseparable from the game in my mind. Metal Black's soundtrack is a good example of an incredibly fitting soundtrack for what's going on in-game. I'd raise games like Fantasy Zone and DonPachi as having fitting soundtracks as well.

Thinking about it, actually, what I like most about shmups is that there isn't really a single genre of music that you can pin down as "shmup music." I'd go as far as to say shmups go with just about anything!

EDIT:

I'd raise games like Fantasy Zone...as having fitting soundtracks as well.

[Skykid]

I have not listened to Psyvariar's music

Shame on you. It's an epic aural experience. For educational purposes, here are some of gaming's greatest D&B hits:

Gluon
Graviton
Last Boss

The magic of opening fire on incoming crowds to the filthiest breaks in gaming: Shock Troopers.

Shock Troopers OST: Dark Matter -Boss Theme A- (EXTENDED)
Nu Era of Technology
Breakbeat Silence

And finally the perfect ultraviolence of smashing teeth out of the head of a Greek god to combo timed beats:

Gill

but it's not something I would seek out and listen to outside of the game

I'm not sure why anyone listens to game music outside of a game. There have been precious few occasions where I've dabbled in such folly only to find myself quickly bored, and most of those I've just listed above. Game tracks are made to complement the engagement and action on the screen; and while I'm perfectly willing to agree there are tons of superb pieces of work in gaming's music history that I absolutely adore, I've never found myself overly compelled to upload them to an MP3 playback device.

All the Raiden Fighters' series music is such a letdown to the Raiden name, and RFJ's music was a huge shitstain on the legacy of Raiden's music, almost makes me want to learn how to compose music and write a GOOD soundtrack for it, jeez

I get that you love the series, but there are other games. Broaden your horizons.

[shmupmaniac]

Mainly techno, electronic, hard rock, and metal (not death metal, closer to glam metal, although I don't really understand sub genres so...)

I must agree with you, hard rock and metal are the best choice. A mixture of electronic and rave with metal would be ideal in my opinion. There is sub genre of death metal called melodic death metal which is very melodic without singing suitable for when the level boss appears

[Squire Grooktook]

I'm not sure why anyone listens to game music outside of a game. There have been precious few occasions where I've dabbled in such folly only to find myself quickly bored, and most of those I've just listed above. Game tracks are made to complement the engagement and action on the screen; and while I'm perfectly willing to agree there are tons of superb pieces of work in gaming's music history that I absolutely adore, I've never found myself overly compelled to upload them to an MP3 playback device.

To each his own I guess. I've loaded up game osts to listen to while I do other stuff (or just listen to without doing anything) constantly. It of course depends on the type of game music. Not all instrumentals are made with the same type of listening in mind, but for the most part I find most game soundtracks are perfectly fitted to normal listening. I quite frequently find myself with the tunes caught in my head even when I'm not playing or even thinking about the gameplay. If it has a good melody, I enjoy listening to it any time of the day.

Also I agree with you about shitty "j-rock", provided you mean the bland pop crap with some unimpressive vocal you see shoe horned into every anime and anime influenced game these days. If on the other hand you're actually just talking about games with rock soundtracks in general (Dodonpachi, Guilty Gear, YS, etc.) those are some fighting words.

[nasty_wolverine]

lolicore

[shmupmaniac]

lolicore

Not sure why but I have the urge to kill myself after listening to that quite annoying piece of.....

[nosorrow]

The beefed up remixed OST in Raiden DX is godly - stage 1 and 2 in particular are exceptional.

[Skykid]

Also I agree with you about shitty "j-rock", provided you mean the bland pop crap with some unimpressive vocal you see shoe horned into every anime and anime influenced game these days. If on the other hand you're actually just talking about games with rock soundtracks in general (Dodonpachi, Guilty Gear, YS, etc.) those are some fighting words.

Very little of what Japan produces on a gaming front qualifies as 'rock' or 'metal' to me. I have an appreciation for many music genres, and in the past have been through rock phases that encompass everything from Hendrix and Zeppelin to Marilyn Manson and Deftones.

I think made-for melodies with guitar riffs (Dodonpachi) are perfectly acceptable for what they are and often well-suited and catchy. Arcsys stuff on the other hand is dreadful J-Rock trash to me. Waify chords and aimless direction. Elevator rock as I like to call it.

But as you said, each to their own. Unlike movies which I consider infinitely quantifiable, I think music is completely subjective and inspires people for different reasons, so I don't want to get into a discussion about it.

[nasty_wolverine]

Unlike movies which I consider infinitely quantifiable, I think music is completely subjective and inspires people for different reasons, so I don't want to get into a discussion about it.

Nothing subjective can be "infinitely quantifiable". There is no standard definition for the arts, else it becomes science. And, as you said, that is a discussion for a another thread, another time.

[Skykid]

Film is a science. So yes, infinitely quantifiable. Music less so. There are exceptions I don't consider music - more like aural torture - such as R&B and several strains of pop, that I can't forgive the human race for. But the way we interpret sound is subjective. It's more about disposition and imagination.

For instance I can't reconcile Arcsys J-Rock, but Shattered Soldier gets a thumbs up in my book. But I can understand if it's the other way around.