Old game music giving commercial music a run for its money

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Sun May 04, 2008 10:38 pm

Sometimes I'm sitting there playing some old game and I'm absolutely amazed at how advanced some of the composition is.

It might just be me, but listening to Koshiro's Streets of Rage 2 stuff has me sitting there thinking that it sounds just as good as, if not better than, a lot of modern dance music.

It could be because I'm battering folk to bits at the same time, but even on the sound test menu, it gives me shivers down the spine. I can't believe its running off an ancient MD cart.

Anyway, here's my list of stuff that springs to mind that fits the bill of the thread header, and I'd be curious to hear everyone else's input.

Streets of Rage 1 & 2 (Some of the darkest and most addictive beats in game music legend.)

Last stage of Rocket Knight (too raw for its own good.)

Fighting the flying alien boss on the last level of Contra 3 (Sounds like a movie.)

Fourth level of Mushihimesama (Pure gaming euphoria.)

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Sun May 04, 2008 10:43 pm

Hat Trick Hero 2

elfhentaifan · Post by **elfhentaifan** » Sun May 04, 2008 10:47 pm

Golden Sun is a game for GameBoy Advance, but has (for me) surprisingly amazing designed tracks, which surely doesnt sound like tetris.
It sounds even more awesome when you connect them with external speakers.

To be true i have no idea what you mean with your header, but i guess i understand this when i analyzed this topic.

mr_m0nks · Post by **mr_m0nks** » Sun May 04, 2008 11:10 pm

well not counting most modern games (as for most current systems there are no technical limitations preventing you from producing music just as good as that in the charts)

i would have said that the turning point was the Sega Mega Drive ( i would love to say it was the C64's SID chip but despite its awesome sound it cant really sound like anything other than a SID chip!) as it contained the same type of sound chip found in the Yamaha FM synthesisers that revolutionised pop music in the early 80's

unfortunately as you moved on in time into the era of the PS1 the limitations on the technology disappeared as it became possible to just take any music and just reduce its sample and or bit rate to fit it on your CD rom. it even became common for pop/rock artists to have there music on games. NIN doing the quake soundtrack or Pop Will Eat Itself doing the Loaded soundtrack come to mind

now look at what we have.

do EA even have an audio department anymore or do they just pull a load of random chart tracks out of a hat and shove them onto their games!!

The GTA series is guilty of this too but i think rockstar at least use mainstream music in context and with a lot more creativity.

as a person studying music with an intention of getting into the videogames audio industry the current state of affairs boils my piss!

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Sun May 04, 2008 11:24 pm

The reason I love chiptune so much is the limitations that artists are forced to adhere to. The Famicom only had 4 channels of sound, for example, and one of them was just a white noise channel. So how do you work around this to get more complex tunes? You only need to listen to the Recca soundtrack to see what you can do with such limitations. I would go as far as to say that limited resources almost always produce a better product at the end.

Thus, some games where the composer was restricted by whatever, and produced better music as a result:

Silent Hill (Crappy PSX soundchip makes for truly scary sounds)
Dokutsu Monogatari (Bleepy tinny glory)
Muchi Muchi Pork (Energetic arpeggiated bliss)
Pink Sweets (Earbleed toungue in cheek euro-rave)

SamIAm · Post by **SamIAm** » Mon May 05, 2008 1:41 am

I've often said that at its best, the old-school style of video game music has long been the last bastion of sophisticated pop melodies. I'm no authority on the subject, but I have studied and used music theory before, and it seems to me that both the melodies and the basic chord progressions of many video game tunes just have a lot more going on in them than most pop music today. Many music enthusiasts are quick to reject VGM for a number of reasons, but I find that lyrical merit aside, VGM often offers a lot more to really listen to than other pop genres.

It's a shame that although that style is still around in a limited way today, it's being subjugated by the recent trend of movie-style scores and "genuine" pop music in games. The landscape of the industry is changing all the time, though, and I have a hope that we'll see what the more creative underdogs have up their sleeves before long.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Mon May 05, 2008 1:56 am

Music in commercials ain't got anything on elevator muzak

ED-057 · Post by **ED-057** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:02 am

I've always been a gamer and a chiptune fan, and haven't payed a lot of attention to commercial music. But I guess that in Japan at least, game music is commercial music, as soundtracks and remixes are released regularly. There's at least one site where you can buy them online at amusement-center.com (including FM, CD-audio, Roland SC-55, and even the humble PSG)

Among the tracks I have burned to CD for playing in my car are tunes from Ys, Sonic, Lunar, Phantasy Star, Grandia, Usas, Langrisser, Gradius, Cho Ren Sha, Sol Feace, and some others

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:31 am

ED-057 wrote:But I guess that in Japan at least, game music is commercial music, as soundtracks and remixes are released regularly.

Maybe this is a silly notion, but perhaps the sign of a true artistic OST release is in remixed tracks, instead of the "two loops + an intro" radio format on most OST releases. The Splinter Cell soundtrack is an example of it done more or less right - a track begins, goes through its variations, and then ends, without reminding you that it's just a bunch of loops.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:13 am

Forgot about Cho Ren Sha, what an awesome soundtrack.

And also Recca, stage one part two, with the wavy purple background (to be precise) is dying to be turned into a nasty drum and bass track.
Anyone got the skills?

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:44 am

Skykid wrote:
And also Recca, stage one part two, with the wavy purple background (to be precise) is dying to be turned into a nasty drum and bass track.
Anyone got the skills?

Hold that thought. I'm planning on organising something cool after I've got some work out of the way.

D · Post by D » Mon May 05, 2008 10:51 am

Super Famicom/SNES Secret of Mana.
The compositions are great! But are probably stolen from existing music. nevertheless they sound great. about half of the tracks from that game are classics!
Castlevania IV

I used to think I was nuts for recording Amiga and SNES music on tape.
I'm not nuts, I like good music

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Mon May 05, 2008 11:48 am

MX7 wrote:
Skykid wrote:
And also Recca, stage one part two, with the wavy purple background (to be precise) is dying to be turned into a nasty drum and bass track.
Anyone got the skills?
Hold that thought. I'm planning on organising something cool after I've got some work out of the way.

Boy, if you could do that track justice (simplistic as it is) that would be amazing. Good luck!

Super Famicom/SNES Secret of Mana.
The compositions are great! But are probably stolen from existing music. nevertheless they sound great. about half of the tracks from that game are classics!
Castlevania IV

Wholeheartedly agree with both of these. Mana is a terrific soundtrack, as are nearly all the Vania's.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Mon May 05, 2008 12:45 pm

Just listened to some tunes from Kirbys Dream Land (GB) and was really surprised how powerful they are. Really crisp and punchy.

Also, I really love most of the tunes found in the Ridge Racer series.

It seems I almost completely stopped playing games these days, but end up listening to VGM almost every day. At the same time, I am tired of seeking for music I like in the "real music business".

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Mon May 05, 2008 1:51 pm

Last level of Mushiimesama Futari + first pre-boss... you really don't want to stop shooting like a maniac :]

oh and Apidya

Gaming has always had incredible ost btw, expecially in modern ages, with orchestras and stuff. Can't praise Shadow of the Colossus too much, really, for how awesome the soundtrack is.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Mon May 05, 2008 2:15 pm

The Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack deserves special mention. A lot of people seem to think that it evolved from a purely filmic legacy, and for a lot of the time, this is indeed the case. Otani Kow's score is certainly remenicent of Williams at his most dramatic, and also manages to to evoke the epic drama of classic japanese monster films, like Godzilla. However, I always thought the best success of the soundtrack was its adherence to videogame music archetypes. The infinite looping, stress being placed on a single strong melody, and the trigger related advancement of the themes all hark back to classic videogames. I always thought it was a shame that the tracks didn't loop on the OST CD: it seemed to trying to distance the score away from its videogame origins. Still highly reccomended.

Phil12 · Post by **Phil12** » Mon May 05, 2008 2:19 pm

If anyone ever manages to get a chance. Go on Myspace and check out "8 Bit Weapon" on the music section. It's a project where they make music out of the old 8 bit NES music. Pretty neat stuff.

Ozymandiaz1260 · Post by **Ozymandiaz1260** » Mon May 05, 2008 3:00 pm

Phil12 wrote:If anyone ever manages to get a chance. Go on Myspace and check out "8 Bit Weapon" on the music section. It's a project where they make music out of the old 8 bit NES music. Pretty neat stuff.

There are a ton of chiptune artists out there that aren't affiliated with any sort of game. Check out 8bitpeoples.com and blipfestival.org.

Listen to the track 'insane youth' at www.myspace.com/maru303 , probably my favorite original chiptune song (outside of any game soundtrack).

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Mon May 05, 2008 3:18 pm

Ozymandiaz1260 wrote:
Phil12 wrote:If anyone ever manages to get a chance. Go on Myspace and check out "8 Bit Weapon" on the music section. It's a project where they make music out of the old 8 bit NES music. Pretty neat stuff.
There are a ton of chiptune artists out there that aren't affiliated with any sort of game. Check out 8bitpeoples.com and blipfestival.org.

Listen to the track 'insane youth' at www.myspace.com/maru303 , probably my favorite original chiptune song (outside of any game soundtrack).

Yes! Maru is awesome. I was due to see him live about a year back, along with USK and Sabrepulse, but someone fell ill, and the gig was cancelled

If you haven't already, check out USK's ep on 8bitpeoples! It's beyond awesome.

Edit: There's also a video of USK and Maru playing an absolutely amazing version of Insane Youth/As Vivid as Possible somewhere, perhaps on USK's Myspace page. Gives me the chills, it does!

Another Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9PyickhNrM

kozo · Post by **kozo** » Mon May 05, 2008 4:34 pm

MX7 wrote:
Skykid wrote:
And also Recca, stage one part two, with the wavy purple background (to be precise) is dying to be turned into a nasty drum and bass track.
Anyone got the skills?
Hold that thought. I'm planning on organising something cool after I've got some work out of the way.

I wouldn't mind joining in/adding my own take to the mix.

I'll have to cook something up.

(few tracks on my site at connary.com...been planning some VGM arrangements for a long time now...)

indstr · Post by **indstr** » Mon May 05, 2008 6:46 pm

the magnet man music on megaman 3... ohhh this is audio bliss with the melody/bassline interaction

ninja gaiden - level 4-2 music (cave level with all the bats). awesome bassline!!!!

double dragon 2 - level 2 music (reminds me of a bad religion song the way that it's composed)

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Mon May 05, 2008 6:53 pm

kozo wrote:
MX7 wrote:
Skykid wrote:
And also Recca, stage one part two, with the wavy purple background (to be precise) is dying to be turned into a nasty drum and bass track.
Anyone got the skills?
Hold that thought. I'm planning on organising something cool after I've got some work out of the way.
I wouldn't mind joining in/adding my own take to the mix. I'll have to cook something up.

(few tracks on my site at connary.com...been planning some VGM arrangements for a long time now...)

Cool, you seem to be sussing what I'm up to. I'll start a thread about it soon. It's going to be cool!

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Mon May 05, 2008 7:17 pm

Penguin Adventure on MSX.

nuff said.

well ok... a link for people not in the know;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T3woiAcaE0

@3:06 things REALLY kick off

3:40 and on define my love for this game

@@@@@Konami: get Pentarou back in your wallet of games.
He's the one that made me love you!

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:12 pm

did you finish Penguin Adventure?

ED-057 · Post by **ED-057** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:24 am

BTW, here is another nice page with game music remixes http://park19.wakwak.com/~cherry/oto/

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:30 am

Shatterhand wrote:did you finish Penguin Adventure?

Who didn't?!?

Game was easy enough!
Saw the "good" and "bad" ending...

If it wasn't for salamander I still think this would be my fave game ever.

bakaichi · Post by **bakaichi** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:37 am

Fenrir wrote:Last level of Mushiimesama Futari + first pre-boss... you really don't want to stop shooting like a maniac :]

Wow that was amazing

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:40 am

Super Laydock wrote:
Shatterhand wrote:did you finish Penguin Adventure?
Who didn't?!?

Game was easy enough!
Saw the "good" and "bad" ending...

If it wasn't for salamander I'd still think this would be my fave game ever.

It's at the flip of a coin though.....

mr_m0nks · Post by **mr_m0nks** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:10 am

dont know if this interests anyone but a year or so ago a number of well respected chiptune artists got together and did an album of kraftwerk covers

http://www.myspace.com/8bitoperators

http://www.8bitoperators.com/

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:22 am

Zebra Muxtape Remux