bad (ish?) games with good soundtracks

[Perikles]

This topic is tailor-made for the SFC BlaZeon (Alpha, Battle of Silence, Fighting Machine). Atrocious pacing, long stretches (45 seconds!) where literally nothing happens at all, some really awkward hitbox decisions, yet a supreme soundtrack to listen to.

Even though I like it as a game it's probably fair to mention Battletoads & Double Dragon as well (Stage 5/Stage 7).

[cj iwakura]

not totally bad per se, but Ace Combat Assault Horizon

Spoiler

Am I the only who rather liked Gotta Stay Fly BTW

on the serious note the instrumental version (aptly titled Dogfight) still as epic as other AC tunes IMHO.

Locked On The Mission
Locked on Time

For me, SMT Imagine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf2uXxZoMqM

Not a bad game, but mediocre at best. Fantastic OST, though.

[BIL]

Ninja Cop Saizou (FC): passable Shinobi knockoff, stricken by chronic unskippable text diarrhoea.



The main stage BGM doesn't make the best impression with its plinky intro, but it quickly develops into a darkly turbulent tune deserving of a better game. Missing from overseas version "Wrath of the Black Manta," possibly for BUSINESS REASONS. NB: game has no connection whatsoever to GBA grappling hook masterpiece "Ninja Cop" aka "Ninja Five-O," or as I like to call it, "Ninja Not Saizou."

Art of Fighting (PCE-CD) Good redbook audio from technically obsoleted ports could probably fill a thread of its own... I always loved this port's take on Lee Pai Long's theme. Radiates the kung fu cinema vibes! A very short loop, but the hook/lull/crescendo pattern is so perfectly cut (raving contrapuntal vocal sample included!), I don't mind at all. Perpetual chorus.

This topic is tailor-made for the SFC BlaZeon (Alpha, Battle of Silence, Fighting Machine).

Superb recommendations, as expected. Like a spacier take on Raiden II's melancholic keys+bass-driven rock, via PCE Tatsujin's warm tone.

Paging Furry Fox Jet Pilot, this is the sort of sound he digs.

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

Ninja Cop Saizou (FC): passable Shinobi knockoff, stricken by chronic unskippable text diarrhoea.



The main stage BGM doesn't make the best impression with its plinky intro, but it quickly develops into a darkly turbulent tune deserving of a better game. Missing from overseas version "Wrath of the Black Manta," possibly for BUSINESS REASONS. NB: game has no connection whatsoever to GBA grappling hook masterpiece "Ninja Cop" aka "Ninja Five-O," or as I like to call it, "Ninja Not Saizou."

Art of Fighting (PCE-CD) Good redbook audio from technically obsoleted ports could probably fill a thread of its own... I always loved this port's take on Lee Pai Long's theme. Radiates the kung fu cinema vibes! A very short loop, but the hook/lull/crescendo pattern is so perfectly cut (raving contrapuntal vocal sample included!), I don't mind at all. Perpetual chorus.

This topic is tailor-made for the SFC BlaZeon (Alpha, Battle of Silence, Fighting Machine).

Superb recommendations, as expected. Like a spacier take on Raiden II's melancholic keys+bass-driven rock, via PCE Tatsujin's warm tone.

Paging Furry Fox Jet Pilot, this is the sort of sound he digs.

YESSS!!! That was perfect!

[Despatche]

Sigh... I was actually hoping for some legit bad games to look at... nope, thread's filled with decent games. It's a useless thread. It's just another "let's post good game music!" thread, which goes against the entire point. No, bad is not nearly as subjective as people say it is, and a lot of the games listed here have been admitted as decent anyway.

First off, Predator. Second off, here are all the real candidates for the thread: Verytex, Rise, eXceed, Sonic 06, Heavy Nova, D-Force, Rastan Saga II... stuff like that. Pretty much all the other picks are memes... except for that weird game KAI listed. Please, people.

Double Dragon III's overseas arcade version gets pilloried for its quarter-munching upgrade system... apparently the JP original isn't like this.

The Japanese version was made later. The reasoning behind making the overseas version completely terrible is probably the same behind Konami's nonsense.

I was surprised to find out that Kojima likes the game.

Oh yeah? All I knew about it really was that it's non-canonical. If he likes it, maybe I should give it a shot.

Once he said he liked it, another time he said he didn't. Developers, man. The legend is, when Konami started development on Snake's Revenge, some staff for the original game asked Kojima if he'd do his own sequel, which he did.

Snake's Revenge itself is a good game with the usual ton of memes against it. It's essentially a "better version" of the FC Metal Gear port.

This topic is tailor-made for the SFC BlaZeon.

This is like, a shining example of what I'm talking about. Let's pick a very specific port of the game with slightly worse music than the original, just for the purpose of this thread! I can't do it, man, I just can't. At least pick one of those legendary C64 ports or something.

[EmperorIng]

Sigh...

someone hasn't played Valis II. Trust me, it's pretty shitty.

However, to sate your insatiable appetite for more shit, please check out Jinmu Densho and Shinra Bansho.

[Perikles]

This is like, a shining example of what I'm talking about. Let's pick a very specific port of the game with slightly worse music than the original, just for the purpose of this thread! I can't do it, man, I just can't. At least pick one of those legendary C64 ports or something.

You would have preferred it if I had called the arcade original a "bad(ish) game" even though I never even played it once? Instead of mentioning a port I'm familiar with? Should I just blindly assume that the source material suffers from the same flaws as its port? And a rather mirthless pedant such as yourself would be perfectly fine with that? That's an interesting turn of events! But I'm sure there are unsubstantiated "SFC BlaZeon is a bad game" memes everywhere, it's common knowledge in the dark corners of the internet, really.

[BrianC]

Sigh...

someone hasn't played Valis II. Trust me, it's pretty shitty.

However, to sate your insatiable appetite for more shit, please check out Jinmu Densho and Shinra Bansho.

I'm reminded of Iridion 3D, when it comes to depth perception challenged games with awesome soundtracks. I need to play it for an opinion, but I heard the gameplay isn't too hot.

[BIL]

Oh PATCHY-KUN ¦3

Verytex isn't bad in the least. It's a seizing, molar-crackingly potent hit of mediocre straight to the brainstem. With godly BGM. I'm disgusted and appalled you made this beginner's mistake but you are improving.

Cool info on arcade DD3!

[EmperorIng]

Iridion 3D

Yeah, that one is not very good, but it's more mediocre than broken. Its levels take ages, with dull and uninteresting patterns, and plenty of cheap hits to make you lose your meagerly-acquired powerups. At the least Shi'en(sp?) would eventually upgrade into making respectable and fun games, but their early stuff is quite rough despite the high production values.

[Squire Grooktook]

No, bad is not nearly as subjective as people say it is

It is, unless you have some means to explain how Plato's Form Of The Good can be aligned with a computer game. In which case you have a lot of explaining to do.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Iridion 3D

Yeah, that one is not very good

I had a lot of fun with it when I first got it... but the ship hitbox does feel mystifyingly gigantic. It feels more like a tech demo than a properly polished game in that it's playable, and has very, very impressive music and graphics, but is quite rough in terms of playability. The soundtrack is perhaps the best part of the game itself; it's really, really well done.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Gave it a brief revisit, wondering if I might pick up a nice FC copy to complement the MSX2 games on MGS3's "Persistence" disc.

MSX2 games are on the HD Collection disc too! In all their pixellated glory. Much like the Arcade Advanced classics on GBA, it's pretty refreshing to see and hear games that look and sound so proudly old on much younger systems (none of the bi-linear filtering nonsense plaguing so many of such reissues).

[copy-paster]

All the tracks from FC Parodius DA!.

[trap15]

FC Parodius Da could never be considered a bad-ish game.