Which cartridge based console has the best music?

[samsonlonghair]

The Nintendo 64 definitely has my vote. I've noticed some extremely lifelike thunder sound effects while playing Castlevania 64. I almost thought there was a storm outside.

Obviously the music is great too, we can't forget Super Mario 64 water stage music.

Not to mention the integral role of music in Ocarina of Time.

[J T]

The Nintendo 64 definitely has my vote. I've noticed some extremely lifelike thunder sound effects while playing Castlevania 64. I almost thought there was a storm outside.

Obviously the music is great too, we can't forget Super Mario 64 water stage music.

Not to mention the integral role of music in Ocarina of Time.

I see the N64 as video game music in its adolescence. It still sounds a bit like the younger generation, but it's trying hard to be more mature and act cool. Sometimes it pulls it off, but sometimes it's new manly voice squawks and it sounds awkward and forced. Be a boy or a man, it's up to you.

[Sarge]

I thought it sounded good with streaming audio, but I really didn't like the soundfonts used for Zelda, honestly. I thought the same for a lot of PSX games, too, like some of the stuff used in Final Fantasy VII.

[marurun]

The N64 and PS1 did sometimes fall into sounding like MIDI with a low-quality instrument set.

[Sarge]

The N64 and PS1 did sometimes fall into sounding like MIDI with a low-quality instrument set.

Yep, that's definitely what I'm complaining about.

[Tanooki]

I thought that primary was what N64 went with, MIDI or some variant of it as it takes up a lot less space than actual samples or musical tracks due to the no CD shenanigans.

[Sarge]

Yep, you're absolutely correct. And something like the Final Fantasy games on PSX did the same to save space for those awesome (okay, some of them are less awesome now) movies.

[J T]

I was playing a bunch of Atari 2600 games today. There's not much music, but when there is, I love how it sounds like a sad circus. It goes great with the harsh swaths of strobing neon color. There's something almost psychedelic about the 2600.

[marurun]

I thought that primary was what N64 went with, MIDI or some variant of it as it takes up a lot less space than actual samples or musical tracks due to the no CD shenanigans.

MIDI doesn't do anything for you without a sample instrument set, and once you have those sampled instruments, you're only saving space over streamed or Redbook audio, but not over other sampled music types, because MIDI IS a sampled music format.

[Tanooki]

I know you have the samples in a sound font, I used to use one, but I was speaking more along the lines of recorded vocals, effects, instruments, etc that can take up considerable space. MIDI, even basic (think Windows 3.X era) the files both for the font and the track files themselves are very small in comparison to redbook audio, full blown CD tracks, even MP3s and other compressed digital formats (MOD, XM, etc.)