Which shoot 'em up game have the best soundtrack?

Fighter17 · Post by **Fighter17** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 2:56 am

Which shoot 'em up game have the best soundtrack?
I like Lords of Thunder for the TurboDuo a lot. I think that game got the best soundtrack. The metal music just rocks my world.

LUNardei · Post by **LUNardei** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:12 am

I can say...mmm...Ikaruga!

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:15 am

Well, music, like anything else, is very subjective, and one person's favorite soundtrack may be despised by someone else, depending on their tastes...if you want my personal opinion though, I like Radiant Silvergun's music a lot, since I tend to go for symphonic/classical kinds of stuff. At the same time, though, I have a hard time resisting the Parodius series' wonky takes on pop tunes, classical standards, and Konami music from their other games. Though I'm not quite as hot on the actual gameplay, I also like Axelay's atmospheric mix of music as well...though if you want purely cheesy hair-guitar riffs and the like, DoDonPachi's hard to beat there. There are others too, but I don't remember 'em off the top of my head.

Reiki · Post by **Reiki** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:22 am

I'm a fan of the LOT music too (LOT SegaCD, it has better quality music), though it's not my favourite SHMUP soundtrack. That honour goes to M.U.S.H.A. and Thunderforce 4. Actually a lot of Mega Drive SHMUPS have my favourite music, there's something about the sound chip that makes them cool.

Darkcomet72 · Post by **Darkcomet72** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:23 am

Prepare to get bombarded by Insanely large lists in this topic....

My favorites:

Axelay: Kukeiha club is very consistent with making the music give you a true "You are a hero" feeling, and this is best shown in Axelay. Well... Actually, mabye not. Still, the music is pretty diverse, it's hard to get tired of it.

19XX: I got hooked when I heard the High score chart music. After you get to the stage 1 boss, every music has been memorable. The stage 4 music is my favorite.

Pop'n Twinbee: Twinbee series has always had some great music, but this one steals the cake. It's really hard to describe why I like this music better than the others in the series.

Other amazing ones:

Kingdom Grandprix(Is it true that this music was an inspiration for some of Manabu Namiki's music?)
Battle Garegga
Dodonpachi DaiOuJou
Ketsui(Stage 5 music blows me away)
Mushihime Sama(Really amazing)
Ikaruga(I liked it better than Silvergun)
Thunderforce 5
Battle Bakraid
Metal Black
Gun Frontier
ESPgaluda(Very underrated)
Border Down
Rayforce
G-Darius
Apidya
And Many more...

As for Borderlines: Galaxy force by Sega has some Great music.

My favorite Shmup music composer is Manabu Namiki. He has an extremely fine cosistency that even the most revered video game musician dosen't have (Many Zuntata members)

Anyone played Hotdog storm? Play it on Mame, It is pretty slow paced, but It has AWESOME music(Stage 1 and 5).

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:25 am

Wow. I'd have to say SegaCD LoT, MUSHA, and Thunderforce 4, too! Most people seem to prefer the Turbo Duo LoT music, but I think the SegaCD one has a more refined professional quality to it.

Nemo · Post by **Nemo** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:39 am

Gradius Gaiden, end of story.

gs68 · Post by **gs68** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:57 am

Cho Ren Sha and Gradius Gaiden. RayStorm's soundtrack isn't too bad either.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:59 am

@Nemo: hohohohoho!!!!!!!! We are on the same tune.

Also:
Radiant Silvergun
Ikaruga
Thunder Force V
Soukyugurentai
Lords of Thunder/Winds of Thunder (what I have heard of them)

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:05 am

Reiki wrote:Actually a lot of Mega Drive SHMUPS have my favourite music, there's something about the sound chip that makes them cool.

Yes indeed.

Thunder Force III and then TFIV, Life Force, Forgotten Worlds and Layer Section. Late 80s/early 90s had the best action game music.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:19 am

Can't pick just one, so in alphebetic order:

Axelay - Entire game is full of phenonenal music (stage 2 tops it all)
Cho Ren Sha - awesome. Still can't believe it's a home-brew.
Gradius Gaiden - especially the last few stages.
Gradius V - love it all.
Strikers 1945 series - especially II's airship level.

I'm also a big fan of Raiden's level 1 music (raiden dx's 1 as well)

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:25 am

Thunder Force 3/5 and Ikaruga.

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:40 am

Anything by Kenta Cho.

Kiel · Post by **Kiel** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:45 am

MUSHA Aleste
Ketsui (stage 4,5, boss!)
ESPGaluda
Dangun Feveron
LORDS OF THUNDER

I'm sure I'll think of more later

Anyone played Hotdog storm? Play it on Mame, It is pretty slow paced, but It has AWESOME music(Stage 1 and 5).

The Buffalo Wild Wings by my friends place has a dedicated cab.

Fighter17 · Post by **Fighter17** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:45 am

landshark wrote: I'm also a big fan of Raiden's level 1 music (raiden dx's 1 as well)

I love Raiden I level 1 music. That same music help me remember that is game is Raiden in the first place!

Other soundtrack music I like are:
Gradius V
Axelay (i really like stage 2 music a lot!)
R-Type III (this game rocks, so does the soundtrack)
Battle Garegga (Stage 4 music rules!)
M. U. S. H. A. (the music is just good.)
Ikaruga (stage 3)

Wow, I can't believe that many people like LOT sega cd music a lot better. I really hate the Sega CD version of the game, the SE was way too loud, you can't even hear the music. Also the game was way too easy, and the color of the game sucks (its a Sega CD). I'll always like the TurboDuo version of LOT.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 5:03 am

Wow, lots of mentions here I like too.

One that wasn't mentioned was Super E.D.F. for the SNES... I liked it for some reason..

I also LOVE the music in Twinbee Yahho!

U K Narayan · Post by **U K Narayan** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 5:53 am

My top 5 :

1.) Rayforce
2.) Einhander
3.) Battle Garegga
4.) Gradius V
5.) Radiant Silvergun

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:54 am

Gradius II and salamander 2 have my favourite music for coinops..

..for home versions, chris huelsbeck's version for R-type tunes on the c64 version is amazing and my most famous SHMUP soundtrack ever.

..and if you want to know what I'm talking about, you can play it on a sidplayer, and then try playing any shmup to see what I mean. especially level 2 tune.

Oh yes, Guwange's character selection music is also stunning.

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 7:35 am

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned Giga Wing 2's OST. It's so ethereal, especially stage 4.

Battle Garegga also has a fantastic soundtrack. Both the Original and the Saturn Remix (they're even better on the OST CD included with the Madness DVD).

Gradius Gaiden
Ikaruga
Thunder Force 5
Whip Rush
Silpheed
Gradius V
ESPGaluda
Blazing Star
Twinkle Star Sprites

Andi · Post by **Andi** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 8:29 am

Darius Gaiden! It's kind of operatic and trip-hoppy.

If not that, then the NES version of Sky Shark. The little snare sample they use is surprisingly awesome.

IlMrm · Post by **IlMrm** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 8:48 am

Giga Wing 2 - Cool, haunting music, especially in the factory stage. The last boss is cool too.

Dragon Spirit - The fairies cut scenes have nice tune to it.

llaoyllakcuf · Post by **llaoyllakcuf** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:11 am

I'll throw in a word for Pulstar, which features a very smooth
& dramatic score to create a nice sort of desolate ambience.

For more upbeat and rock-styled tunes, my favs. are:

- Gate of Thunder
- Sapphire
- Dodonpachi

On a similar note, I'd recommend listening to Konami's "Shooting Battle"
albums for a variety of great rock versions of their shmup music.

Darkcomet72 wrote:Anyone played Hotdog storm? Play it on Mame, It is pretty slow paced, but It has AWESOME music(Stage 1 and 5).

I agree! Ever since I first saw that game I've always thought it had really catchy BGM.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:15 pm

I can't believe I'm the first to mention Super Aleste. I feel so lonely.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:43 pm

Here are some of mine:

Raiden
Pop 'n Twinbee
Gradius
Gradius Gaiden
Nemesis
Twinbee GB
Alcon/Slap Fight
Guardian Legend
Life Force
Zanac
Twinbee Yahho
Detana Twinbee
Cho-ren-sha

zimeon · Post by **zimeon** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:45 pm

All Shrine Maiden games, but mostly

Perfect Cherry Blossom

I'm a games music maniac, and in my book, there's no competition at all. And with no competition, I mean NO competition. No other shmup comes close.

Knoskoloz · Post by **Knoskoloz** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:07 pm

zimeon wrote:
Perfect Cherry Blossom

Yeah, it has awesome music

some other game soundtracks I like:
Gunbird2
Gigawing2
Progear
Dangun Feveron

antime · Post by **antime** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:32 pm

Dangun Feveron, Mega-Apocalypse, Delta. While most new shooters have good music, they're far too forgettable.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:57 pm

Oh please...

Apidya

No other shmup soundtrack come as CLOSE as this one
and everyone who did NOT say Apidya obviously never played the game

I just found someone is coding a remake of Apidya, and while it's in early stages, it's looking real accurate. Maybe now this BRILLIANT game may be getting more known (People probably don't bother much about Amiga emulation)

So, I say again

Apidya

Please
Stop the discussion right now
Apidya

ED-057 · Post by **ED-057** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 7:35 pm

I started on a list of my own but realized it would be about half of all the shmups I've ever played so I changed my mind... I don't think anyone else mentioned Air Buster though, I played the arcade version in MAME and thought both the music and sfx were excellent.

Also, Soldier Blade is impressive if you hook up to the stereo audio output on your Turbo Grafx.

jp · Post by jp » Sun Feb 06, 2005 8:16 pm

Blast Wind
Thunder Force III/IV
Soukyugurentai
Radiant Silvergun
Border Down
Metal Black

Those would be my picks. But the music for the final fight of Blast Wind is just :Drool: