Best soundtracks on the Genesis.

Samudra · Post by **Samudra** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:42 am

Inspired by all the Genesis aswell as the "best shmup soundtracks" threads I wonder what other games are out there with outstanding soundtracks.

I find myself at times not playing but simply listening to certain Genesis games.

My favorites:

Adventure of Batman & Robin, The
Alisia Dragoon
Dynamite Headdy
Ecco the Dolphin
Gaiares
Rocket Knight Adventures
Shining Force II
Sonic 2
Sonic & Knuckles
Streets of Rage II (Bare Knuckle II)
Thunder Force IV (Lightening Force)
Wings of Wor (Gynoug)

Sega CD:
Mickey Mania
Sol-Feace

Which games am I missing and am less because of it?

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:53 am

Mega Turrican!
Thunder Force II
Thunder Force III
Herzog Zwei
Elemental Master
Hellfire
Zero Wing

Sega CD: Keio Flying Squadron!

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 1:11 pm

Genesis/MD

Ristar The Shooting Star
Monster World IV (Wonderboy 6)

Sega/Mega CD

Sonic CD (Japanese/Euro)
Heavenly Symphony (aka Beyond The Limit)
Dennin Aleste
Final Fight CD

Super 32X

Knuckles Chaotix

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 1:42 pm

1.Streets of Rage 2
2.Mega Turrican
3.Castlevania Bloodlines

Honorable mentions: Super Shinobi, Streets of Rage

Shmups-wise, Thunderforce III and Biohazard battle impressed me the most.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:48 pm

Top 13 in random order.

Star Cruiser (I think this is my absolute favourite, top 3 out of any game soundtracks)
Bare Knuckle II / Steets of Rage II (technical masterpiece)
Thunder Force IV (same as above, great compositions too)
Ristar
Sonic 2
Sonic 3
Rastan Saga II (although the arcade soundtrack is MUCH better)
Strider Hiryu
Mega Turrican
Golden Axe II
Gleylancer
The Hybrid Front
Ex Ranza (Ranger-X)

...and LOADS of others.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 3:31 pm

I love a lot of them.

-Burning Force
-Road Rash (yeah)
-Rolling Thunder 3
-Castle of Illusion
-Golden Axe 2
-Landstalker
-Comix Zone (tinny, but still pretty great)
-Beyond Oasis

etc. etc. (of course I love the obvious Sonic, Shinobis, SORs, TFs, Bloodlines - pretty much everything already listed)

adam76 · Post by **adam76** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 9:23 pm

Mega Drive has some of the greatest game music ever IMO.

Some of my favourites that i can remember off-hand:

Thunder Force 3
Zero Wing
M.U.S.H.A.
Gaiares
Castle of Illusion
Streets of Rage
Elemental Master
Granada
Gynoug

dementia · Post by **dementia** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 9:32 pm

Ranger-X
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Streets of Rage trilogy

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 10:09 pm

The all-time #1 Genesis soundtrack for me is definately Revenge of Shinobi. Yuzo Koshiro's best work ever, IMO! The soundtrack was actually published on a CD, but it's probably harder to find then an original Recca cartridge.

Other then that, I would also add Fire Shark-classic arcade-style shmup music.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 10:16 pm

Some of my Favorites:
Burning Force
Sonic 1
Mega Turrican
Fire Shark
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage II
Revenge of Shinobi
Thunder Force III
Lightening Force
Ristar

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:28 pm

dave4shmups wrote:The all-time #1 Genesis soundtrack for me is definately Revenge of Shinobi. Yuzo Koshiro's best work ever, IMO! The soundtrack was actually published on a CD, but it's probably harder to find then an original Recca cartridge.

The Super Shinobi & Works is not so rare: if you're willing to shell out like 100 euro, I can point you to a couple of ebay sellers that sell it regularly.

Of all the games listed so far, I should have mentioned Rolling Thunder 2 and 3... really great music.

However, yes, it's impressive the amount of good music on Megadrive, if you consider it has one of the most hated and poor sound chips around. Every developer interviewed said he hated it, but as with Gameboy sound, overcoming the hardware's limitation was a great motivation that led to sound miracles.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:32 pm

Rocket Knight Adventures' boss song is SCARY. Most of their music is scary, and I mean it.

For me, Toejam and Earl 1, Fantastic Dizzy, Cool Spot, Landstalker, Aladdin, Sonic & Knuckles, and of course, Ecco.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:44 pm

Whoa, Fantastic Dizzy. Yeah, that's a nice soundtrack.

Add: Forgotten Worlds - more audible than the arcade soundtrack

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:07 am

TF4. Period.

Also, the Android Assault soundtrack is pretty good.

Nemo · Post by **Nemo** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:40 am

Most have already been noted, but:

MUSHA
ThunderForce III
Elemental Master
Streets of Rage 1 and 2
Castlevania Bloodlines
Shinobi III
Verytex
Granada

Sega CD:
Earnest Evans CD
Final Fight CD
Lords of Thunder (though the Duo version sounds better)
Android Assault

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 1:05 am

Rob wrote:Whoa, Fantastic Dizzy. Yeah, that's a nice soundtrack.

Add: Forgotten Worlds - more audible than the arcade soundtrack

You forgot Forgotten Worlds

Actually, I like the soundtrack in that game too.

Some other Genesis games with great soundtracks:
Whip Rush
Earthworm Jim
Truxton

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 9:59 am

Turrican wrote:However, yes, it's impressive the amount of good music on Megadrive, if you consider it has one of the most hated and poor sound chips around. Every developer interviewed said he hated it, but as with Gameboy sound, overcoming the hardware's limitation was a great motivation that led to sound miracles.

Bah, it's really a great chip. Far more capable than say, the SFC/SNES chip. A real synth is always better than sample/General Midi crap.
The japanese developers seem to like the YM2612, and know how to use it.

Skyline · Post by **Skyline** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 11:05 am

Gunstar Heroes! C'mon! Don't deny the greatness that is THEME OF SEVEN FORCE!

Streets of Rage 2, 3, and 1 (in order of kickassery). Yes I'm one of the very few who actually like the sound Koshiro went with for SoR3.
Sonic 2
Sonic 3
Road Rash II
TF III and IV
Robo Aleste

32X: Tempo

theevilfunkster · Post by **theevilfunkster** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 11:35 am

Skitchin
Thunder Force IV
Sonic 1-3+Knuckles
Streets of Rage 1+2 (Dont rate 3s music at all)
Toejam & Earl 2 (certainly the funkiest soundtrack ever)
Ristar
Rocket Knight Adventures

32X
Chaotix

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:32 pm

Streets of Rage 1 and 2
Revenge of Shinobi
Shinobi 3
Sonic 1,2,Knuckles

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 7:53 pm

After Burner II
Castle of Illusion
Ecco
Ecco II
El Viento
FlashBack
Golden Axe
Out Run
Phantasy Star IV
Revenge of Shinobi
Road Rash series
Sol Deace
Sonic series
Streets of Rage series
Strider
Toe Jam & Earl
World of Illusion

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 10:11 pm

Almost forgot-Air Diver! Awesome rockin' soundtrack on that game.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 10:30 pm

Whoa, world of illusion. I have the boss battle theme in my head right now.

It sounds weird on wav format

Post by **Shatterhand** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 11:27 pm

I'd go for Mega Turrican too.

Mega Turrican for me proves how much of a Genius Chris Huelsback is, as his tunes are great even when played in the inferior Mega-Drive sound hardware (Turrican 3 on Amiga sounds a lot better obviously, but the songs are the same)

And after Mega Turrican, I'd go with the obvious Revenge of Shinobi and Streets of Rage 2

llaoyllakcuf · Post by **llaoyllakcuf** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 12:09 am

although its rather quick, I think the intro for the CD port of Road Blaster FX/Road Avenger totally rocks.

the CD version of Snatcher is pretty nice too.

cart-wise I like: Alien Soldier, Crying/Bio-Hazard Battle, FZ Axis/Final Zone, Rolling Thunder 3, Splatterhouse 3, Strider, and TF4.

Nemo · Post by **Nemo** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 12:47 am

zinger wrote:
Turrican wrote:However, yes, it's impressive the amount of good music on Megadrive, if you consider it has one of the most hated and poor sound chips around. Every developer interviewed said he hated it, but as with Gameboy sound, overcoming the hardware's limitation was a great motivation that led to sound miracles.
Bah, it's really a great chip. Far more capable than say, the SFC/SNES chip.

You're joking, right? Not that the Snes soundchip is the greatest around, but comparing the Genesis sound chip to it, is like comparing the GameGear sound chip to the Turbo Duo's. I agree with Turrican, while it's technically poor hardware, composers still did some awesome things with it. It was even better when studio OSTs of said soundtracks were released so you could hear them in their true greatness.

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:42 am

The SNES had better sound hardware... yet, somehow, Smash TV's music sounded much better on the Genesis.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 2:11 am

Nemo wrote:
zinger wrote:
Turrican wrote:However, yes, it's impressive the amount of good music on Megadrive, if you consider it has one of the most hated and poor sound chips around. Every developer interviewed said he hated it, but as with Gameboy sound, overcoming the hardware's limitation was a great motivation that led to sound miracles.
Bah, it's really a great chip. Far more capable than say, the SFC/SNES chip.
You're joking, right? Not that the Snes soundchip is the greatest around, but comparing the Genesis sound chip to it, is like comparing the GameGear sound chip to the Turbo Duo's. I agree with Turrican, while it's technically poor hardware, composers still did some awesome things with it. It was even better when studio OSTs of said soundtracks were released so you could hear them in their true greatness.

Well in my book, real synthesizers are always better (especially FM synthesis, which is what MD uses) than the life-less reverb effect, General MIDI-instruments and crappy samples the SNES soundchip brought us. I don't care how much that chip cost to make.

I'm just saying that it's one damn capable chip (emulates arcade soundtracks well too, since most of those use Yamaha FM chips too). Guess that's a matter of taste though. Can't help being a soundsnob.

And oh, what's wrong with the GG sounchip? PSG rules.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 2:35 am

llaoyllakcuf wrote:although its rather quick, I think the intro for the CD port of Road Blaster FX/Road Avenger totally rocks.

the CD version of Snatcher is pretty nice too.

cart-wise I like: Alien Soldier, Crying/Bio-Hazard Battle, FZ Axis/Final Zone, Rolling Thunder 3, Splatterhouse 3, Strider, and TF4.

Strider actually sounds better on the Genesis then it does on the arcade port; and I'm talking about the PS1 Strider 1/2 double pack.

Is the issue really the soundchip, or how much each developer "squeezes" out of the soundchip?

Same with microprocessors-both the Genesis and the Sharp X68000 used the Motorola X68000, and yet the Sharp X68000 had far superior graphics to the Genesis.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 2:47 am

dave4shmups wrote:Strider actually sounds better on the Genesis then it does on the arcade port; and I'm talking about the PS1 Strider 1/2 double pack.

Is the issue really the soundchip, or how much each developer "squeezes" out of the soundchip?

Same with microprocessors-both the Genesis and the Sharp X68000 used the Motorola X68000, and yet the Sharp X68000 had far superior graphics to the Genesis.

From what I remember AC and MD Strider soundtracks are basically identical (as was the music in the Puyo Puyo 2 port).

Anyway, the issue is about sqeezing the chip, kinda.
Frequency modulation (used extensively in 80's synth music, and is still popular to some extent) demands some kind of knowledge in what you're doing.

It's a very comlex form of synth programming (which often seems illogical, to me) but the people who had done their homework (Tecno Soft, Yuzo Koshiro etc) proved the chip capable.
Tastes vary though, obviously.