Music is the often-forgotten but crucial part of the game experience. Whether it’s soaring orchestral epics in an RPG or a complete absence of music in a tense horror game without an appropriate score, a game will never be able to engage with you on an emotional level.
So this week we’re going to chat about music! What are some of your favourite game themes and scores and why. Sound out below and have a great weekend! (and if you’re Australian, enjoy the start of daylight savings and the extra day off 🙂 )
I'll make a longer comment with a full list of my most memorable music scores when I have a little longer, but to kick things off I'd like to mention Crysis 2. Now, I'm not a big fan of shooters, but the Hans Zimmer theme that kicked Crysis 2 off pulled me straight into the game and the story. A very, very impressive feat to be sure.
There isn't one game where I could happily listen to the entire soundtrack for the rest of my life, though there are some select Zelda tunes that are my favourites: Molgera Battle, Geurdo Valley. I do like God of War's music, as well as Metal Gear Solid.
Well, you probably read all of my Killer Soundtracks articles that contained the soundtracks that I enjoyed the most over the years. That included games like (and in no particular order besides how I remember them) Final Fantasy VI, Super Mario Galaxy 1/2, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, Star Ocean: The Second Story, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark and its sequel, Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Jet Force Gemini, Star Fox Assault, Star Fox 64, Kirby Air Ride, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Wario Land: Shake It!, Viewtiful Joe, Sonic the Hedgehog (multiple), Mario (multiple) Zelda (multiple), Mega Man (multiple), and so many more.
two extremes come to mind: Souleye's VVVVVV soundtrack and the Bioshock score by Garry Schymann. lovely stuff. oh, and one more: Waveform has an incredibly catchy soundtrack. I found myself humming it a lot in the last few weeks without really remembering where it came from. (have a listen: http://scottmcfadyen.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-the-video-game-waveform)
Not a favourite, but an example of something done well. I've just finished Vera Blanc: Full Moon, a comic-strip adventure that was recently bundled as part of the Groupees Winter Wolves deal. It's a very simple game with a Fighting Fantasy structure, some OK minigames and a great plot. The thing that tied it all together was the music – simple, resonant bass lines for the thinky bits, electric guitar for the action, and not much else. It's obviously been done on a budget (using some free media assets, as far as I can tell) but it works very nicely indeed. It certainly added to the air of professionalism around the game, and it's whetted my appetite for the rest of the bundle.
Theatrhythmn: Final Fantasy is beautiful, but Super Hexagon also has an amazing soundtrack, of which I'm wrapping up the review on today. 🙂
The World Ends With You. The music really built the atmosphere and I still find myself listening to the songs outside the game nearly five years later (despite a lack of passion for songs in similar genres).
Other than that, nearly anything Sonic is nice. The 16-bit Mega Drive noises, cheesy rock songs, orchestral pieces, and remixes all appeal to me. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door gets a shoutout for the Doopliss theme as well.
I can never hear the music over my tears. 🙁
That damn hexagon…
I know. It's tough isn't it!
I like a lot of classic game music basically just because its iconic. Super Mario and Street Fighter are just two that come to mind off the top of my head.
As far as current games, the Halo theme has always been a favorite. Big epic sweeping score, pretty cool stuff and it fits the game perfectly.