A little repost from before the board died, but with the addition of links to many of the soundtracks I'm recommending, if anyone's interested
I'm a big fan of game music; in fact, I have been for years (I used to do the beat of Megaman songs with my mouth as a kid when going on road trip with my family; it annoyed my sister to no end). But thanks to console emulation, there are now many music players and/or player plugins that allows me to listen to the original soundtrack of many old games. Since it's the major part of the music I listen to everyday, I thought it would interesting to share our musical tastes on the subject. So here are my favourite game soundtracks grouped by system:
NESMegaman II, III, IV and V: The Megaman series has always been one of my favourite ever since I first played one of the game. To me, the music composition really got interesting with the second game and maintained the variety up until the fifth game. The sixth one has good tunes too, but like everything in that game, they're just not that memorable. None of the Gameboy, SNES and PSX games of the original series managed to have soundtracks as good as those four.
Play the following with a NSF player:
http://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman2.ziphttp://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman3.ziphttp://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman4.ziphttp://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman5.zipAkumajo Densetsu (Dracula's Curse JAP): Of all three Castlevania game on the NES, the third one had the biggest and best soundtrack. What most people don't know however, is that the japanese cartridge had a special sound chip inside to improve the music with more channels and instruments. All the songs sound a lot better and almost too good to be from an NES game.
http://www.zophar.net/nsf/akuden.zipSNESStarfox: You can't compare the music between Starfox and it's remake Starfox 64. You just can't. The first one has tunes with rythm that keep you in the action for the entire game, and the second has generic music that's less intense than in the original game. They corrected the problem with Starfox Assault by having the N64 themes reprised with full orchestral sounds and much better composition, but I still feel that the original sountrack remains the best.
Play the following with a SPC player:
http://www.snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=sfContra 3: The Alien Wars: A classic. I've always liked the music in the first two Contra games, and the third one continues the tradition of fast-paced music that fits the mood and/or action of each stages.
http://www.snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=cntr3N64Castlevania: Legacy Of Darkness: Unlike the more baroque and flamboyant Symphony Of the Night (PSX) with diverse compositions of varying styles and orchestral goodness that matched the style of the castle, this one is more ambiant and thus is better at establishing an atmosphere in the various levels of the game. There are no loud recognizable tunes like in previous CV games aside from a few like the first boss battle and the Dracula fight. Rather, the music flows more smoothly. For example, the songs for the Underground Tunnel and Underground Waterway are sombre, depressing pieces, especially "Invisible Sorrow" for the tunnel which is a sad and haunting tune. Definitely a more ambiant soundtrack and one that can be enjoyed better without having played the game I think.
Play the following with a USF player (like the
64th Note Winamp plugin at the bottom of the page at
http://www.hcs64.com/usf/):
http://www.hcs64.com/usf/sets/prelim/Castlevania%2064%20-%20Legacy%20of%20Darkness%20-%20Parasyte/(You need to extract
cv2lod.usflib from the first archive in a directory, and then the content of the second archive in the same place to get the track names. Due to emulation problems, the music isn't always identical to the one in-game, but it's a lot smaller in size than the whole thing in mp3s)
The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask: What can I say? Zelda games have always had great music, but as much as I liked Ocarina Of Time, Majora's Mask beats it in almost every category. The music in the four temples stand out much more than in the various temples of its predecessor. There's also the town music that changes with each day, becoming darker and more sinister as the cataclysm draws near, and the last night is the most emotional piece that underscores well that the world is about to end. Add all the ocarina tunes that are better than in Ocarina as well as finally getting the classic Overworld theme that Ocarina had denied us, and you get my favourite Zelda soundtrack.
http://www.hcs64.com/usf/downcnt.php?lozmmusf.zipGameboy AdvanceSonic Advance 1, 2 and 3: I'm a big fan of the Genesis Sonic game and their music, but although the Advance series didn't convince me at first, they eventually grew on me. I now prefer their soundtracks, with a preference for Sonic Advance 2. Not a whole lot to say about it, but if you like traditional Sonic music, give them a try.
Play the following with a GSF player (like the
Highly Advanced at the top of the page at
http://www.caitsith2.com/gsf/):
http://gsf.caitsith2.net/gsfs/sonicadvance.rarhttp://gsf.caitsith2.net/gsfs/sonicadvance2.rarhttp://gsf.caitsith2.net/gsfs/SonicAdvance3_gsf.rarThe Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap: One of the most polished 2D Zelda game so far, The Minish Cap also has the best soundtrack IMO, beating A Link To The Past simply for having technically superior music. A lot of classic tunes are back, such as the Hyrule Castle song from the aforementioned game in two versions, a more upbeat and regal one for the intact castle and the classic one for the castle after being taken over by the villain Vaati. Definitely a soundtrack that would benefit from being remade on a CD with real instruments.
http://gsf.caitsith2.net/gsfs/minishcap.rarGenesisContra: Hard Corps: A pure techno-metal-rock soundtrack, or at least the closest the Genesis can get to one. Since the game is pure action with almost no breather, the music follows suit. The boss music are especially engaging and all songs have lots of well-done drums.
Play the following with a VGM player (you can find a few on the bottom right of the page at
http://project2612.org/)
http://project2612.org/download.php?id=91Golden Axe: This game goes back to the beginning of the Genesis, and although they sound old technically, it's the composition that more than saves them. It's not often that you get songs that alternate between a refrain and three different verses before finally looping back to the beginning. I first heard the game on the PC with an Adlib music card (most people probably don't even know that, as it predates the Soundblaster era) and recently rediscovered on the Genesis. Although the Genesis sound hardware sounds worse than the old Adlib, the tunes have more instruments and more refined compositions thus sound better than on the PC.
http://project2612.org/download.php?id=136Ristar: The Shooting Star: An attempt at another colorful mascot in the vein of Sonic, Ristar inherited the same colorful graphics and upbeat tunes. Since the game came out near the end of the Genesis' popularity, the music sounds better than the Sonic games and the compositions are top-notch.
http://project2612.org/download.php?id=55Rocket Knight Adventures: I hate repeating myself, so here's the deal: this game also has a cool main character like Sonic and Ristar, also has great looking graphics and great sounding music. Just listen to all of them, or better yet, *play* them all!
http://project2612.org/download.php?id=32Sonic CD (both US and Japan version): One of the first console game with a CD quality soundtrack, Sonic CD is litteraly an oral orgy. In addition to having several zones, each one is accessible in several time periods which sport remixed versions of the same tunes. For example, in the Past the music is more upbeat and almost comical; the Good Future levels have hopeful tunes and the Bad Future ones have mechanical and/or sinister songs. The music in Japan was full of J-Pop tunes and was completely re-recorded for the US release; lots of purist claim the US one is horrible, but don't believe them, they are both excellent, just in completely different styles (it should be noted that the sound quality of the US soundtracks is better than the Japan one). Besides, the US composers gave us the famous Sonic Boom! A must!
You can find the MP3s for the japanese version at the following page (you'll have to download the file one by one on that site though):
http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/1672No link for the US version, sorry!SaturnNiGHTS Into Dreams: I've never played the game, and it's a shame since it seemed like a great experience. The soundtrack at any rate doesn't disappoint. It's difficult to define exactly; it's cute and upbeat at times, dark and action-oriented at others. Fantasy-adventure might be a good description, but that could mean anything now, could it? I wish I could find a way to share this one with people as it's definitely worth listening to.
The following isn't the soundtrack as sold on CD, but all the tracks recorded from the Saturn version:
http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/2954Sonic 3D Blast: Although the game is essentially the same as on the Genesis, the music is on a whole other level. Composed by Richard Jacques, the music is an odd mix of atmospheric and upbeat tunes (I keep using upbeat but I can't seem to find another word for it) that could actually save the crappy gameplay unlike the Genesis version. The Spring level has carnival music, the snow level has a sorta-Christmas style to it, the volcano stage has this kind of adversial music as is you were up against the elements, and the Robotnik fights have great beats and sinister organ parts that really fit the super-villain motif.
http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/947Sonic R: Also written by Richard Jacques, the music to this one is a bit different. It's not for everyone for starters, as it's full of fast-paced music with upbeat and feel-good lyrics (yup, lyrics) like "Can You Fell The Sunshine", "Living In The City" or "Work It Out" sung by a female voice. Yes, the lyrics are corny, but they're really catchy tunes, and probably the kind of stuff you should listen to if you're exercising.
No link for this one, sorry!PCDune (Exxos - Dune Spice Opera): For those who have played the old PC adventure/strategy game by Cryo, you probably remember the awesome musical composition it had, even if it was one of those old FM soundtrack for Adlib/Sound Blaster. Well, when they made a CD-Rom version of the game (it was among the first CD games at the time), the music composer totally remade the soundtrack and, something unbelievable at the time, Virgin released it on CD. The result is a great mixture of synth/electro-ambiant music that sounds a little alien (which fits the theme of the Dune universe quite well) with exotic themes for the Fremen and atmospheric tunes for the main theme and for when you travel in the desert on a sand worm. I'm glad I was able to find this a long time ago.
http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/3373---
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me
