Best Gaming Music Brainstorming Thread

[racketboy]

I've been toying around with the idea of making a series listing the best gaming soundtracks, remixes, etc of all time.

I figured that since there are many genres and tastes in music, it would be best to group them into genres or categories.

So first of all, what genres or categories can you think of for game music? These don't necessarily have to be the same type of genres that you would normally think of in pop music. Maybe we can group by moods, styles, vocal vs. instrumental, or something else.

Once we've got some categories listed out, we can start listing nominations for the different categories. I may even have a post on the blog for nominations. (not sure)

Any other thoughts and ideas you might have to share would be appreciated.

[Ack]

Why not start by dividing it by generation, if we're going with original music. Sound quality evolved over time, and while I love some old classics in their original quality, other folks might not appreciate my love for SNES music.

[fastbilly1]

I still think Mario 2/USA and the Legend of Zelda have the best soundtracks out of most all videogames. And no, I am not being sarcastic.

[Koopin_Krackerz]

I'm not sure how to categorize soundtracks into different genres for soundtracks other than by generation, but the games with the best soundtracks or music from the top of my head 8-bit: Mario games Legend of Zelda games, 16-bit: Sonic series, Mario games, Rock & Roll Racing was really cool for its time, Toejam & Earl, 32-bit: Jet Grind Radio/JSRF. I honestly still get the music from the red/blue/yellow pokemon games stuck in head randomly. My childhood obsession coming back to haunt me. Also you should cover the worst music in games. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has the single music ever in my opinion. That song that plays during character selection, kills my brain cells if I hear too long. That's the only thing I don't like about that game, terrible music.

[Mozgus]

It cant be done.

[fastbilly1]

If I wasnt musically challenged, I would say that sounds like a challenge. Be that as it may, I am headstrong, and foolish, enough to go after it just to say that it can be.

Best I can imagine it, break it up by generation or console and by game genre.


And yes I realize that using two forms of challenge in the same sentence is poor form.

[Pulsar_t]

It's hard to categorise fruity music like S3&K versus DKC for example. So I just say put them together in technical categories (ie 16-bit platformers, 16-bit brawlers etc). Yuzo Koshiro's compositions (the best of the 16-bit era and pips about everything else imho) span different genres that are closely related nonetheless. And then you have the Final Fantasys and licensed soundtracks (eg Wipeout), the 32-bit overhaul (brought forth by the likes of Richard Jacques) and even totally experimental games like Mike Oldfield's Tres Lunas. Some of this stuff is quite interesting to cover in forthcoming articles. You could also cover how full-fledged symphonies became an everyday occurrence in games thanks to the likes of Medal of Honour and Ace Combat.

But one thing is for certain, prior to 32-bits every major software house had its distinct style of doing music thanks to hardware limitations. You could tell the Sonics from the Sparskters and the Contras from the Treasure shooters.

[Curlypaul]

I agree that its gonna be hard to categorize game music into different genres simply because I cant think of a word that would satisfactoraly sum up the music style from say, sonic or devilish. Of course we could always try to invent some labels for the genres?

The music in No More Heroes is excellent btw, especially the track thats playing during the fight with Bad Girl

[gradualmeltdown]

I don't think you can create one specific list of the best. Music is so subjective you can't make a "best" list just the ones you like. I do have an idea though.

I've been wanting to ask for a new forum for gaming music. I think enough of us here are into it enough to create a bunch of posts. Hell I bet al ot of us would post our own music. With things like riddim games, DS-10 and homebrew getting big there is a lot to chat about.

Right now I am listening to "The World Ends With You" OST and Arranged albums. The music is very electo-punk-hip hop kind of like Jet Grind Radio and other games like that. Funny thing is I just started working with a new synth and what do I find? Several of my favorite songs hooks are pre-sets!

[Flak Beard]

It's really hard to divide game music into genres, considering the music has to set different types of moods throughout a game (especially in RPGs). I think it'd be better to categorize by generation, composers, platforms and perhaps game genre.

Here's a few categories off the top of my head we could nominate games for:

Best 8-Bit Soundtrack
Best 16-Bit Soundtrack
Best 32-Bit Soundtrack
Best "Red Book" Soundtrack
Best Portable Game Soundtrack
Best RPG Soundtrack
Best Platformer Soundtrack
Best FPS Soundtrack
Best Action Game Soundtrack
Best SHMUP Soundtrack
Best Arranged Album
Best Remixed Album
Best Piano Album
Best Orchestra Album
Best Live Album
Best Game Composer
Best Sound Team
Most Ambient Soundtrack
Soundtrack The Pushed The Limits of the Console (8-bit/16-bit Generation)
Best Game Soundtrack Ever!

Just a thought.