The Greatest Video Game Music Playlist of All Time [Video Game Music Thread]

[ArmsAreLoud]

There aren't very many things that make me feel good about my American citizenship

This is one of them.

[Siegmundfried]

Welp, got sucked into this series again.

[Artisticpolo]

I started playing Worms Armageddon again and hell yes

[CSJ]

Well, this seems like a wonderful game, I wonder what it's like on the hardest diffic-


The music it plays as your empire is slowly crushed into nothingness...

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

hey pkmn ruby luv u bb

[Stij]

I started playing Worms Armageddon again and hell yes

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aww yiss W:A was the game that got me interested in video game soundtracks. Bjorn Lynne is a great musician.

[LastingZeppelin]

Mega Man 8 and Mega Man & Bass have soundtracks that are rater unique when compared to the other games on the series.

The GBA port of this game was terrible, too bad that was the only port of this game that was released outside of Japan.

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End of Spam.

[Superfrequency]

Adore the MM8 soundtrack, but just beat this




Well ok

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8 is great

[LastingZeppelin]

Adore the MM8 soundtrack, but just beat this

~TMNT 3~

So many hours wasted playing this.

Never actually finished it, I think.

[Graknorke]

I don't know if anyone's already put this here, but I though that the music for FFIII was really nice. Especially because you have to get a taste for them after hearing every song SO MANY TIMES. But they're good as standalone pieces of music too.

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All of the musics man. I think I might pick up my DS version (which I'm pretty sure I have) and try to finish it this time.

[BRPXQZME]

Technically, yes. I have put that here. But the NES version. I don’t like the re-done versions of the FF soundtracks, to be honest; they tend not to capture that certain charm that the originals had. And while I can’t hear ’em, a guy I know claims the FF4DS version has some wrong notes and rhythms. Yikes!

[Superfrequency]

Parts are shifted up an octave in the remake, but otherwise it sounds faithful to me.

If you play them simultaneously as I did you will discover that the remake is just slightly faster, but they are compositionally identical.

[BRPXQZME]

Comparison of the battle theme:

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The trumpet #1 part has been reproducted almost right, exept the very fast notes at the very end.
The trumpet #2 part has been a lot altered (same rythm but plays different notes)
The strings parts have been completely altered (plays different chords)
The bass has been altered in quite a few places, even if it sounds completely off in my opinion.
The drums have altered fills too.

This from a guy who’s made some MIDI sequences on vgmusic.com... oh right, he also didn’t like how the GBA ports by TOSE sounded so he fixed that.

One thing I just noticed that he didn’t list is that the second turn on the trumpets, about after 0:15, is different (which I guess plays into the whole “different chords” and “almost right” thing). Admittedly, I’m usually pretty awful at hearing these sorts of things.

But as for the instruments, I can certainly say I don’t like the new ones as much. (It might be altered articulation, too—the impact is different, whatever the difference is).

[Superfrequency]

I wouldn't expect every song to be identical to the original. That'd be boring.

[BRPXQZME]

I’ll grant you that, but as a matter of tact I excised his opinion of the, ah, musical abilities of whoever put it together. I’m sure I could coax a full bash of it out of him if the world was ready for it.

I don’t think the world is ready for it.

Katamari Damacy: This song is not about “me”. It is about “you”.

[Superfrequency]

I don't think they improved it, but I don't agree with your buddy's reasoning. It sounds faithful and well done to me.

Also far be it from me to doubt the musical expertise of someone who refers to 16th notes as "very fast notes".

Just sayin'.

I recently got 100% collection in KD. The soundtrack is a masterpiece but I'm so sick of it right now. So much Cherry Tree Times on failed Make Taurus runs.

[Frost]

Technically, yes. I have put that here. But the NES version. I don’t like the re-done versions of the FF soundtracks, to be honest; they tend not to capture that certain charm that the originals had.

Got to agree with this. And I'm pretty sure it's not just nostalgia (for once!), since I often prefer the NES tunes even when I played the remakes before the originals. That's not to say I think the new versions are bad, just slightly inferior.

I guess it's what happens when you try to rewrite something into a scope for which it wasn't originally designed, while having to stay very faithful to the original? It's not like they could just re-record the original tunes exactly, but with higher-quality instruments; they'd probably end up feeling pretty hollow and primitive without some sort of backing track, even when a backing track will muddy the composer's original vision. And even just switching up the instruments might lead to them having longer sustain times, or a change in the relative intensity of the melody and submelody, etc.

A few of my favourite NES tunes, anyway:

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[Artisticpolo]

16th notes

Semi-quavers, man. Although you could argue how the name semi-quaver is unnecessary and "16th notes" is just a far simpler, more straightforward way of referring to note length but still, saying semi-quaver makes me feel like I know what I'm talking about.
Like for example "one hundred and twenty eighth note" is far more simpler than saying 'semihemidemisemiquaver'. I can't even believe that's a thing people would say.

It is amazing how british musicians will scold others for using american terms, though.

Anyway,

Koji does not disappoint

[BRPXQZME]

In terms of playing trumpet, very fast isn’t really inaccurate. Wouldn’t faze a solo virtuoso, no, but put it in front of mere mortal players, tell ’em it has to be that speed, and you’d probably get dirty looks. Then again, those are not hard to get from trumpet players HIYOOOO

As for my own opinion, the resulting changes in tonality and articulation in this piece make for a less musical result (on the other hand, only the sound output from the DS or the PSP would be a good judge of the mix and equalization, so I’ll leave the pumped up bass and drums alone). Of particular demerit is that the trumpet section sounds less like a working pair of trumpets and more like some sloppy synth work, leaving a muddy trail of poor dynamics with little mind for the prevailing melodicity of the upper part against the lower. Again, I could not say whether or where any notes go wrong, but at the end of the day, they don’t come together feeling right to me, and that’s what gets my goat. The fact that there are changes don’t bother me as much as that the changes here don’t seem to make sense. Not sure who was really responsible for that, but the credit for arrangement goes to Jun'ya Nakano, who is perfectly capable of making music that makes sense:



Maybe someone was having their style cramped or something? Idle speculation, of course, but Nakano was never really that prominent out of Square/SE’s pool of composers (doesn’t even work there now, apparently). Maybe something was going on over there that we’ll never know about. Perhaps FF4 was a bad fit. I dunno. Then again, it’s possible he isn’t to blame when there are many more obscure positions that could be responsible (sound programmer?).

Of course, while I’m on a rant, oh do I sure wish (J)RPG battle themes weren’t so monotonous. They’re iconic, sure, and they tend to be decent enough on their own, but having the same theme in the hundreds of battles over many hours gets old fast. Off the top of my head, I can name only one exception to this rule (FFVIII). Even variations on the same theme would break things up a little, and it’s not like the space it would use is an issue anymore. Well, I hope to be in a position to solve this exact problem one day, in my own little way (... technically, one of my more realistic wishes).

[Superfrequency]

Semi-quavers, man.

They're called 16th notes. I speak American.

Also: my close English friend calls them 16th notes etc as well. But we both have a background in the mathematical world of step sequencers.

[Artisticpolo]

I am quite aware you speak American. My point was that referring to them as '16th notes' is way more straight forward than the terms we use.

Also that TR-909 step sequencer looks like fun. Although, I'd like to get my hands on a TR-808 some day.

[Superfrequency]

Be prepared to spend several thousand pounds :V

[Artisticpolo]

Be prepared to spend several thousand pounds :V

Oh when that day comes I will be.

[deathsbuddy]

Was playing this again.

[Superfrequency]

Red Hot Skull

4:09