Weird or trippy soundtracks (that are still good)

[marurun]

I think Darius Gaiden definitely fits the bill. Quasi-Operatic ambient breakbeats in a shmup? Why not?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhVdrM5me5k

I think quite a few Zuntata soundtracks qualify.

[Raging Justice]

Neir Automata's music has an odd vibe to it. It's epic and kind of operatic at times, but sounds very different from other video game soundtracks. I think the odd, female vocals in much of the music give it a unique, kind of alien sort of vibe.

The Adventures of Batman and Robin on the Sega Genesis has kind of an unnerving, crazy soundtrack from Jesper Kid. It makes you feel like Gotham City is really not a place you want to live in. Some stages sound like someone losing their sanity. Many Batman games have good soundtracks (particularly when Sunsoft is involved), but this is the only one that gives off that vibe. As a Batman fan, I think it's very important to capture what a truly messed up city that it.

Tomb Raider on the PS 1. What was so odd about it? The fact that there is so little actual music. Tomb Raider was a quiet game that gave it an air of solitude and mystery. The lack of music actually made the game more immersive. I believe Half Life 2 kind of had a similar approach. It's funny how few video games use QUIET as a soundtrack.

I also find it interesting when games mix up a dedicated music score with licensed music. It makes for an unpredictable soundtrack, kind of like Transformers the Movie from 1989. You want to talk about weird and trippy, how bout that bizarre Weird al Yankovic song?

Didn't Conker's Bad Fur Day have a literal pile of poop doing an opera song about himself?

PaRappa the Rappa. I mean, what really needs to be said? I think UnJammer Lammy gets even weirder, so much so that they censored one entire level.

Earthworm Jim 2 and I think even the first game did some weird things with music and also used some well known, classic music in weird levels. Frankly, EVERYTHING about those games was weird. Didn't one level's music have actual farts in it?

Starfox - That weird worm hole hidden level. That music was nightmare fuel. A few of the planetary themes were interesting too. I could probably also note how different that game's soundtrack was from all other Starfox games. It was music for a military campaign. None of the other games had that same vibe. The ending theme music for Starfox makes you imagine soldiers being given medals for heroic deeds.

Eternal Darkness and Hellblade - Not the music exactly, but the weird and disturbing use of whispering voices in those two games.

This may be slightly off topic, but this thread reminds me of a story I heard from a Marine once (it was actually a youtube video that this guy did). He talks about how, as part of their training, there is a particularly weird and creepy piece of music...actually I think it was some bizarre poem being read aloud by someone. Anyway, it just has a weird unnerving quality to it when you hear it. The way the guy reads it sounding like some dude losing his sanity in the process. This former marine said how they would force trainees to listen to this for hours on end as a way to build up mental fortitude. Just something I found interesting. Just listening to certain things can be akin to torture, and I bet it would be fun for people making horror video games to think about that.

[Anapan]

I always liked the Vib Ribbon soundtrack.