I think it's safe to say that music have played a huge role in video games throughout the years. From the 8-bit era's blips and blops to todays fully orchestrated soundtracks. Personally are music one of the most important aspects of a game for me - heck, why would I remember all these tunes if it weren't?
Yea, we all got our favorite Mario, Zelda and Megaman tunes, but I'm gonna take you guys through my personal top 20 of all time. A list that's quite varied, but common for them all, are that they gave and still gives me 'The Feeling' - or in other words, a wave of those good old times.Check it out.
Whatever he tried to do with that song, does it really deliver on all aspects. It has everything really... Starts slow, but quickly gets some up-tempo drums going, along with some hectic 'violins'. I can't really describe it, but this song has something mystical to it and it had me spellbound from the moment I heard it for the first time those many years ago. It makes you feel part of the Halo world, a world thats both beautiful and dangerous at the same time... Good from the core.
Being a reorchestrated version of the original did it take everything that was amazing about the first and made it even more fantastic. Well I don't even know what to say here... It's just legendary and fits the game, both in mood and in memories. We're all familiar with it, so why not let the music speak for itself.
Composed by Frank Klepacki back in the mid 90's, is it one of the most amazing adrenaline "lets go kill something" songs out there. Klepacki joined Westwood Studios when he was only 17 years old, and have made music for almost all of their games, including their C&C, Dune and Bladerunner series. With it's heavy guitar riffs, sound of marching soldiers and "shout-outs" does it deliver on all aspects... Building up a base and go to war with this one in the background never fails.
Duck Tales was made by Capcom, and the musical score was composed by none other than Yoshihiro Sakaguchi. The guy who's also behind the legendary music found in Mega Man 2. As one said: "This tune stands out in my mind as the theme of the eight-bit era. When you listen, you first hear a small tune, like the leftovers of the video game crash in '83. It gets momentum with more tunes, and it explodes, just like the NES' popularity by '89". Flatout awesome.
I can't count the hours I've spent playing Diablo. The world is just fantastic, and one of the reasons for that was indeed the music. The Tristram theme plays when you enter, you guessed it, Tristram. A city threatened by evil forces. It takes you on a journey of fear, darkness, wonder and calmness at the same time, and manages to catch the dark, gritty mood of the game perfectly. From the small 'pricks' to the countless echoes, and finally the awesome guitar part starting at 2.30. Yea, this song sure does bring some good memories with it.
The whole soundtrack was directed by Stephen Rippy, and aimed to have bits from all the different cultures in the varied music, and let me just say that it really turned out awesome. I had quite a hard time deciding which song to pick, since there's so many I love from the game, but I ended up with Shamburger as my overall favorite piece. As with the Halo theme does this song bring something 'mystical' with it, the drum beat is spectacular and it's just soothing to have in the background while you build your town up from scratch. Trust me, it immerses you right into the game like no other.
I absolutely loved both Simcity 3000 and 4, but one of the things that really got me hooked was indeed the soundtrack. There were a lot (A LOT) of awesome songs to choose from, but one in particular stood out to me, and that was 'Metropolis' from Simcity 4. And hey, this is actually one of the non jazz tunes in the series. Building a city and watch it at night with this mellow, dreamlike tune was just fantastic. It calmed you down and sucked you right into the whole world like few tunes have ever done to me.
And let me be honest with you - I'm not sure if I picked right, cause it feels like I could fill this spot with 20 different Mario tunes and they would still all be awesome. Guess that tells a little bit about the quality of the music in this series. However, you can't go wrong with the original masterpiece from before I was born. Koji Kondo is one of the most acknowledged and best video game composers out there, and this timeless piece will undoubtly go further down in history as one of the best.
The soundtrack was composed by Jun Ishikawa back when Kirby was still white, and sports some up-tempo tunes that really gets the flow of the game going. Green Greens stands out to me, as one of the best songs on the Gameboy platform, and takes me way back to the countless hours i've spent playing this game in my younger years. Just like the Mario theme above is it on one hand very simple, but on the other hand so well put together that you can't help but love it. A true masterpiece.
Anyways, the Morrowind theme is flatout epic. It's a very touching song composed by the award winning Jeremy Soule, but at the same time does it also makes you want to saddle up and go out and explore the world. It's filled with adventure and heroism, but also sorrow. It tells a story of a land with a great history behind it, both in good and in bad. It's not often I get these kinda relationships to a song Iv'e heard in a frikkin' video game, but this one have always stood out to me as one of the finest... And hey, I'm not even that big a fan of the games.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Lets end it here for now. Whew, definitely found out that it's kinda' hard to explain why you really like a song. Guess that's one of the cool things about video game music - it's more than just the music, but also the situation at the given time, both in the game and your real life that influences why you really like it.
It's easier to just let the music speak for itself... and sometimes that is all that's really needed. Hope you like what you've read/heard so far. What's your favorite video game music? Let me know!
- mnB
Log in to comment