ITT discuss music from video games [specifically SNES?]

[Guest The Elements of Style]

Today, I've put away my jazz, electronic, and indie crap to return to my roots:

I can never decide whether VI or VII has the better soundtrack: they both have tons of great leitmotifs, they'll both be stuck in my head till the end of my time on Earth, but VI is just a little tighter stylistically, while VII, of course a much bigger game, has a much bigger span of musical influences. VI mostly sticks to orchestral instrumentation, while VII brings in electronics. (I'm aware of the irony, it's all electronic, really.) When the VI soundtrack does attempt industrial and electronic music, more rarely than in VII, they end up being standout tracks, like the music from the research facility (likely not a piece that immediately springs to mind for most?).

 

Right off the bat, I don't give a damn about the opera suite or "One-Winged Angel," the two things everyone immediately thinks of for those two soundtracks. The opera is a victim of 1994 technology limitations, and 1WA is a victim of dorks on the Internet getting really excited about the game breaking free from 1994 technology limitations. In and of themselves, they're just flashy. The real gems of the VI soundtrack are the little character themes that you hardly get to hear, like Relm's double-reed/strings piece, or Gau's cello/flute feature. I've held these in such high esteem since, well, let's be honest: the only way you can hear the soundtrack in its entirety (unless there's something I don't know about) is to listen to it straight from the SNES synthesizers, and flutes and sustained strings are probably the best facsimiles that the SNES will provide. (The PlayStation's attempt at low brass just sounds like a really shitty sawtooth waves, and this mars a lot of VII.)

 

As much as I love the music here on its own merits and treasure it as an irrevocable chapter of my childhood (I played this game for fucking hours and hours once upon a time, but didn't we all?), it's not without its misfires. The world map/airship theme from most of the World of Ruin fails for that reason: I prefer my aimless wandering by foot to be musically separated from my aimless wandering by air, thankyouverymuch, and the half-baked "Searching for Friends" song is somewhat inappropriate to zipping around the orangeish-purplish skies in the smoldering post-apocalyptic ruins, and wholly inappropriate to trudging along brownish-grey wastelands. The church organ-led march of death that plays in Narshe and the first few phases of the WoR is perfect, though I can see where it would really wear you down after 40some hours of level-upping. The tossoffs like Crazy Old Man's House and the Colosseum lobby suck, but are too inconsequential to really resent. Still, the best of the best in the realm of video game music. The only stuff that's more recognizable would be your Mario themes and maybe a few Street Fighter stages. I'll upload it if people still don't have a copy.

 

EDIT: How could I forget the organ fugue from the Light of Judgment right before Kefka, the best cognitive dissonance in the game?

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

The opera is a victim of 1994 technology limitations

 

What about Celes's Theme, which iirc is basically just the main opera theme minus the awkward "singing." That's some heartrending shit. That scene when she tries to commit suicide and it's playing in the background is just the saddest fucking thing.

 

 

 

 

Oh also I always liked Terra's Theme even if it does sorta sound a whole lot like Zamfir.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Terra's Theme is probably my favorite videogame piece ever, in its various incarnations. Hearing that, playing the prologue, and taking my first trip into Narshe (with its own amazing music) pretty much had me set for life at 13.

[Guest The Elements of Style]

By "Terra's theme," do you mean the world map music (which I think is technically called "Terra" on the official track listing) or her variation on the theme for Terra-specific scenes? They both have the same leitmotif. Because the world map theme is awesome (and so is the one from FF7, this is a damn close call) while I don't care for her personal variation so much.

 

"Serpent Trench" is a fun and easy song to play on piano, because it's just major-seventh chords, which I love. Shadow's theme is too much of an Ennio Morricone nod to make any contextual sense whatsoever in this parallel universe of theirs, but I suppose the existence of a cowboy ninja with an attack dog is just the sort of mixed-metaphor charm we should expect from the Japanese. See also: the music (and mere existence, for that matter) of Costa del Sol and Wutai in FF7. Any and all variations on the Vector theme are great, especially the army base variation. Know what, I might as well just review all sixtysome tracks at this point.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Well, I guess it's the world map music more, though I like her variation as well. So many great music setpieces early in that game.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Another thing,

 

The church organ-led march of death that plays in Narshe and the first few phases of the WoR is perfect, though I can see where it would really wear you down after 40some hours of level-upping.

 

They kinda tried that in FFVII with the world map music permanently changes to that really bleak/hopeless sounding dirge-thing after Meteor is summoned. I get what they were going for there, but I thought it got kind of oppressive by the end.

[The Man in Blak 0]

There are two legitimately great moments in the FFVII soundtrack: Sephiroth's theme and that absurdly epic world map theme. Save for those two tracks and maybe the gooey "Interrupted by Fireworks", the rest of the FFVII audio canon is pretty much forgettable. (Yes, that means that "One Winged Angel" is an overblown piece of shit, arranged far beyond any semblance of reality because Uematsu had a chubby on having a full choir and orchestra! on hand for the first time.)

 

FFVI, on the other hand, is the peak of Uematsu's contributions to the series, even without the much-debated opera stuff. The first hour of that game may very well be flawless from an audio standpoint, organs crashing, ominous bells tolling behind the introduction of magic, and the stirring approach into Narshe that Paul mentioned earlier. And "Searching For Friends" is a great song, you dickhead, because the unearthing of the airship is the first ray of hope for the team after the world has been Ruined, the first sign that they may actually be able to mount any kind of resistance at all against Kefka.

 

The "golden age" Square games from the mid-90's (yes, Chrono Trigger, obv., but don't forget Secret of Mana and FFIV) all have amazing music. I'd be lying if I said that those tracks didn't inspire me to dive into a music education through high school and college.

[Guest The Elements of Style]

awwwwwww I just got called a dickheaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddd

 

Give 7 a little more credit. The Shin-Ra theme and variations are a perfect update to the Vector Empire stuff: same sinister feel, same instantly recognizable phrase, but easily molded to fit slightly different scenarios. You have the main theme, which is monolithic and oppressive without any sort of humanity to it unlike the imperial bombast of 6, then the stark chromatically ascending variation when you have to run up all those empty stairwells, and the Mako Reactor variation which is more industrial and percussive. Versatile little motif. It's been too long since I've played the game for me to remember for sure where the track "The Shin-Ra Army Wages a Full-Scale Attack" was used, but I thiiiink it was when the good guys and Shin-Ra have to join forces against the Weapons or something, and as such, it goes from being cold and evil to blustery and almost courageous. And don't tell me that's not awesome on the main theme, when everything drops out except the drums and the chimes.

 

As for other truly great and memorable stuff on the 7 soundtrack (I agree completely with all three of yours: I take my orchestral schmaltz where I can get it in this game), I'd submit Aeris's theme, the motorcycle chase, the forgotten capital, and the battle theme, which never quite wore me down as much as FF6's did. Maybe not being as infectious was to its benefit as the song you have to hear more than any other. The Northern Crater song "Judgment Day," I think there may have been others in that part, has always been one of my favorites, but I don't expect it to be widely celebrated or anything. I think the FF7 score is kind of frontloaded, actually. All the really good stuff seems to be between Midgar and Aeris's death.

[Guest Brady's Torn ACL]

Serious Business like Nobuo Uematsu? Not quite, but still one of my favorite game soundtracks as a kid. I think Miyamoto was always really butthurt about the DKC games because the graphics and music were so many lightyears ahead of Super Mario World (though obviously not of the same cultural currency, by far) while the gameplay was inferior. I dunno. I thought the gameplay was just fine, but of course it was about the graphics and music! Listen to songs from early SNES games, and then listen to the DKCs. Model T-->Space Shuttle on the same console. Remarkable stuff. The first game's music is all really good, especially the underwater theme and the factory, but DKC2 is my true love.

 

"Stickerbrush Symphony": this is the song of songs as far as these two games go. Of all fifteen (I think there were 15) kinds of levels interspersed throughout the game (and there were always three of each kind), the one that made the least sense at all was the brambles. Pirate ships, mine shafts, fortresses, swamps, forests, and volcanoes are all fairly straightforward platform game fare, and their respective songs sound pretty much like they ought to sound (this is not a bad thing), but a giant maze of brambles in front of a big moving sky, ostensibly part of a theme park? I didn't even know what a bramble was. Fairly abstract premise for a level, and how do you even score that? Sea chanties make sense, a bunch of dark gurgling sounds will get you by for a swamp, but Wise knocked it out of the park on this one: that pizzicato string/synth patch sound evokes thorns, and everything else just fleshes it out, atmospherically, or something. I also have come to appreciate the cognitive dissonance of putting the most serene and beautiful song in the game with the most annoying as hell level. "Bramble Scramble" gave me fits when I was 9. When I figured out how to access the music test on the main menu, I would just listen to this over and over. Did you?

 

HIERARCHY OF DKC2 STAGE MUSIC (I'm not bothering with other cues like Swanky Kong, gtfo):

Peerless: brambles

Brilliant Songs Whose Melodies/Rhythms Really Stick With You: cargo, castle, mine shaft, ice, rollercoaster

Very Good But Too Ambient To Really Capture Your Heart: beehive, swamp, volcano, forest, jungle

They're Catchy And Not Bad I Just Think You Overplayed Your Hand On The Whole Pirate Thing: ship, rigging, swamp-ship, bosses

Not Bad By Any Means But Gee Good Thing Mussorgsky Can't Demand Royalties: the third rollercoaster stage

[BUTT 0]

Miyamoto was butthurt because when he first showed his bosses Yoshi's Island they were all "Naah, make it look more like DKC!"

 

You're right about this being a breakthrough in SNES sound. Most early SNES games had a low-quality 32-bit MP3 sound to them, whereas the music of DKC was crystal clear. I think a lot of SNES games sound worse than Genesis games simply because while the SNES sound chip was more advanced, the Genesis music was clearer, even if it did have that annoying coil-y spring-y bass sound.

 

Castlevania: Dracula X has the highest-quality music on Super NES. Sure, all its best tracks are reused from older games in the series, but they've never sounded better!

 

[Black Lushus 0]

Ridley's Theme is a personal favorite...any version.

[Gary Floyd 0]

The music in "Street Fighter II" was pretty great. I especially loved Ken and Vega's themes.

 

[Lil' Bitch 0]

The best 10 SNES songs:

 

1.) Killer Instinct - Main theme

 

2.) Chrono Trigger - Memories of Green

 

3.) Final Fantasy 6 - Boss battle theme

 

4.) Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambience

 

5.) F-Zero - Big Blue

 

6.) Star Fox - Corneria

 

7.) Mega Man X 3 - Zero's theme

 

8.) Spider-Man & The X-Men: Arcade's Revenge - Main theme (Yeah, the game sucked ass, but the music was great!)

 

9.) BattleToads & Double Dragon - the music from Level 5

 

10.) The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past - Overworld

 

Honorable mentions:

 

Final Fantasy IV - Boss battle theme

 

Music during the battle with Dracula in Super Castlevania IV

 

The main theme from Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage

 

Chrono Trigger - Robo's theme / Glenn The Frog's theme / battle music against Magus

 

Kirby Super Star - Gourmet Race

 

The music in "Street Fighter II" was pretty great. I especially loved Ken and Vega's themes.

 

Agreed. Guile's theme was always my favorite.

[Nighthawk 0]

Series wise, it's all about Mega Man (original and X) and Sonic is very good too, particularly the first one. Heavily influenced by Yellow Magic Orchestra.

 

Mega Man 3's main title, probably my favorite of the lot.

 

Batman on the NES had some badass music too.

[Guest Brady's Torn ACL]

Ooh, good call on Mega Man III. I think that main menu song is in the YTMND fad. Funny with Mega Man X, echoing my attachment to the Bramble Scramble song, my favorite stage music there by far was the again the weirdest and least obvious: Boomer Kuwanger

Had me at that echo-ey synth line to start the song, and I love orchestra hits (almost dedicated a whole thread, not even shitting you, to Great Moments In Orchestra Hit History). The part at the end before it D.S. al codas (except there's no coda so it's just D.S.ing into infinity) is great, too. Storm Eagle is a clear second-best. I believe I was very fond of Launch Octopus. I know Armored Armadillo was a pile of crap and that was the one I had to play the most to load my eneergy tanks and try to get the Hadoken. I have to revisit these later. They are by and large very good, though.

 

(Super) Street Fighter II (Turbo) had a lot of excellent music, but also a few clunkers, which I suppose is symptomatic of the Sledgehammer of Geography compositional style. Gamelan is obscure enough that the influences from it just lend itself to a really cool track (Sagat, Bison to an extent?), but China and Japan (Honda not Ryu) are kind of obnoxious. You can pretty much do a Cartestian breakdown of the 16 stages here, with compositional quality on the x-axis and geographic overtness on the y-axis (negative values being oblique cultural inspiration and positive ones being musical blackface):

 

+x/-y: Sagat, M. Bison, Balrog, Fei Long, Cammy, Ken

+x/+y: Vega, Dhalsim, Guile

-x/-y: Ryu, Zangief

-x/+y: Dee Jay, T. Hawk, Chun-Li, E. Honda, Blanka

[BUTT 0]

I was always a fan of the Canon ripoff at the end of SFII. You can't go wrong with ripping off the Canon unless you're Vitamin C. Also, the theme from Cammy's ending.

[Guest Brady's Torn ACL]

Reacquainted myself with the Mega Man X music. I couldn't remember much of this offhand but then it would allllll flood back at the beginning of every song. Man, this stuff was tailor-made to be covered by Japanese kids with bad haircuts playing guitar on youtube.

 

Back in '95, I was getting frustrated and juuuust a little annoyed with Super Metroid till I got to Brinstar and the music made continuation worthwhile.

 

[Nighthawk 0]

 

Some gay ass techno from Orchid's stage in Killer Instinct Gold.

 

Since it's in there, fairly appropriate character select music too.

 

Killer Instinct had a lot of good music, much of it falling somewhere between so bad it's good and so good it's bad.

 

 

 

The Mega Man III theme I just mentioned:

[The Niggardly King 0]

if anyone had the joy of playing through the first two Suikoden games... you know about how great the music is there.

 

One game that had a decent concept but sucked because of the tediously battles had some pretty fucking good music in there. Legend of Dragoon. I think I still have about 4 or 5 save points just to listen to the music on there occasionally.

 

I must say though, that Final Fantasy X had some good stuff. That unexpected metal Blitz-ball theme gets me pumped up until this day.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

I've played the original Double Dragon theme on stage, with a shitload of false harmonics. God damn that was fun.

[Black Lushus 0]

I've played the original Double Dragon theme on stage, with a shitload of false harmonics. God damn that was fun.

 

I'd listen.

 

There are two boss battle themes in Super C...I would love to hear them both played by a metal band (with some extra stuff thrown in).

[haws bah gawd 0]

 

Probably my favorite music of the 16-bit era. The Red Soil Brinstar Theme from Super Metroid. Very creepy music.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

Yasunori Mitsuda was my first favorite. Chrono Trigger is a pretty exceptional debut soundtrack for him, and he surpassed it with Chrono Cross, and Xenogears, both of which are as close to perfect as I've found in game music.

 

Then Masashi Hamauzu came along, and I think he has surpassed every other composer related with SquareEnix. Actually, it's because of him that I got into classical music, since I already liked Hamauzu, and read that he was influenced by the likes of Debussy. That classical background explains why he's been so good at arranging pieces for those piano albums. He also sang in the choir for One Winged Angel, apparently.

[Skywarp! 0]

Quick thoughts: my favorite tune from DKC played in the ice caverns.

 

The remixed music in the PS2/XBOX versions of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection contains a pretty good Mega Man III theme remix with organ sounds. My favorite original Mega Man tracks though, are probably Bubble Man, Spark Man, Snake Man, Elecman and Dr. Cossacks Citadel, Stages 3 and 4. Back to the Anniversary remixes, Plant Man from MMVI is nicely done.

 

Anyone heard the Minibosses Ninja Gaiden medley? If not, go to their site and check it out.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Since the lack of a theme for HNIC was discussed in Sports over the weekend, this seems like a good time and place for this:

 

NHL '94.

 

If anyone here hasn't heard Jim Hughson before, you're in for a treat. You may recall him as the voice of Triple Play '01 for one of the Playstations (probably PS1, at that point). I didn't, as you'll see in the YouTube comments below.