The Video Game Music Challenge [Official Game Thread]

[WillLem]

Spoiler

First round!

(I've posted links to the music)

1) Favorite music that's used in a main title screen - Captain Planet and the Planeteers on Amiga. It's a brooding and rhythmic synth piece that evolves into a full-on battle of the solos if you listen long enough!

2) Music that you like from a game you haven't played yet - The first three Ace Attorney games (the music is used in Lemmings Plus VI, which I have played!) I particularly like the Trial theme. It's quirky and dynamic, and having listened to more of it there's an incredible amount of variety. Exciting stuff, might just give these games a look!

3) Music from a game that was first released the year you were born - Tetris by Alexey Pajitnov (first version released on Electronika 60 in 1984)
A piece that needs no introduction - here are my favourite versions of the main theme: GameBoy / Blitz / Tetris 99
And here's a video following the evolution of the game and its music, great watch if you're a fan: Evolution of Tetris (1984 - 2020).

[Dullstar]

Spoiler

2) Music that you like from a game you haven't played yet - The first three Ace Attorney games (the music is used in Lemmings Plus VI, which I have played!) Here's an Ace Attorney playlist. It's quirky and dynamic, and having listened to more of it there's an incredible amount of variety. Exciting stuff, might just give these games a look!

Spoiler

I can highly recommend the Ace Attorney series, it's quite good. The original trilogy is also available on a number of platforms now, including a Steam release.

Suggestion: maybe include the current set of prompts in the OP to make them easy to find?



I'm treating this as a music sharing thing with a theme, so if multiple came to mind, rather than picking one I just put both.

My Picks

Favorite Music in Main Title Screen: L2 Title Screen; Cave Story Title Screen

Music From Game I Haven't Played: Sparkster (SNES), Boss Battle 2; honorable mention FF6 Opera Scene: I've played FF6 a bit, but I've never beaten it and haven't gotten this far in the game; as far as the classic SNES RPGs go, I played Chrono Trigger first. On one hand, it's a great game, but on the other hand it's cleaned up the battle mechanics so much that the other ones feel really clunky by comparison.

It didn't come out my birth year in my country, but the releases in different countries were spread out over several years and one of them overlaps, so close enough: Pokemon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow: Professor Oak's Lab

[Nessy]

Suggestion: maybe include the current set of prompts in the OP to make them easy to find?

Done! Good suggestion I think I'll start doing that from now on.

[WillLem]

Come now, that's clearly not in the spirit of the game:

1) You will be given three short descriptions of a certain type of video game music, and it's up to you to write down the title of one specific video game track...

Ah yes, good shout. OK:

Spoiler

My track for 2. Music that you like from a game you haven't played yet is the Trial theme from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

I've updated my original entry as well.

Also, @Proxima - whilst we're reminding each other of the rules, please be sure to put my quote (in your previous message) in spoiler tags as per requirement 2. Cheers

Spoiler

I can highly recommend the Ace Attorney series, it's quite good. The original trilogy is also available on a number of platforms now

Spoiler

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll play the first one on Citra and if I enjoy it I'll invest in the full trilogy on 3DS.

[grams88]

How are we doing?

Here's my list, hope I done this right.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wIFv2betIk (Enchanted Land atari st version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L2Xgm-Hqls&list=PL43516D2ACB876976&index=40 (Star wars knights of the old republic, my brother loves this game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z04gO6FL2Is (Menace) I like menace

[grams88]

Good game idea Nessy, I like this one. It gets people talking about the games and music.

Spoiler

Captain planet and the planeteers, weird I was just playing the atari st version of that game, mind you just a very quick attempt, I notice you have to grow trees to get by in certain levels. You must really like your amiga games Willlem, I'm mad about the atari st.

Spoiler

I notice megaman has came up a few times, I don't know much about that game but I do hear that those games are meant to be super hard to complete without cheating

[607]

1.1:
Favourite music, now that's almost impossible to do within an hour. I'd have to first think of nominations for a while, and then listen to them all to rate them. I've got a list of nominations for Menu music for a video that I would like to do once... but that's a bit different from Title Screen music, I'd say.
After a minute of contemplation...

Spoiler

I will go with Mario Kart Super Circuit's title theme!
This one's a bit special because it's got two different intros. For most of the game, you'll hear this intro, but when you've got a *** rating on all Super Circuit cups you will hear this intro instead. Both intros are followed up by this.
It's just so good!! If only Nintendo wouldn't have compressed the samples down so much, so it would sound a bit cleaner... Still, this is a beautiful theme, that really makes you excited to get into the game.

1.2:
Hm, a game I haven't played yet...

Spoiler

I suppose Donkey Kong Country 2 would count? It's not on Switch yet and I haven't got an SNES... I have listened to it a whole, whole lot, though, because I find it very beautiful. I could pick any theme from the soundtrack, I suppose, but right now I feel like picking In a Snow-Bound Land. Clear inspiration from Antarctica by Vangelis, I'd say, but that doesn't make it any less good.

However, you could say that doesn't count, as I have played the game on GBA. Here's from a game I haven't played at all, then:

Spoiler

Kokiri Forest from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! I don't think I've ever played any version of this game; I haven't even seen a walkthrough of it. I've listened to its soundtrack numerous times, though, because it's a Koji Kondo classic!

1.3:
I could only think of one game that was released in my year of birth, 1999, and it is my most played game of all time.

Spoiler

I am talking about Re-Volt! My father got this game from Abandonia in 2007 and I started playing it then too. I had numerous breaks, but since 2015 or so I am part of the Re-Volt community, so even when I'm not playing it I have to do with it. However, interestingly, I don't know the soundtrack well at all! This is because the soundtrack was considered copyright-unsafe by Abandonia, and as such excluded from the download. I got so used to playing without music that I don't want to play with it now. I got the N64 version fairly recently though, so I know some of the tracks from there. I'm not particularly fond of the style of the soundtrack, but I'll find one I like. Ah, right, I can dig this one! The tracks aren't named on Zophar and I honestly don't know the name either. (the tracks do have names, though)(this is from the Dreamcast version of the game, I'm not sure how different it is to the pc version)

[607]

Responses to Colorful Arty's picks

1.1: Heyy, that's a nice pick. I tried arranging that for piano at some point, but it didn't really work out (not enough hands ). But yeah, a great song, and it fits the mood very well! ... and now I just realised that my actual favourite title theme is probably the one from Harvest Moon: Animal Parade... oh well, maybe I can use that one later for a different question.
I actually also thought of Baba Yetu, and also thought that it wouldn't quite fit the challenge.

1.2: I had never heard of that game (nor have I heard of CLANNAD other than from your videos ). But it sounds interesting! I couldn't really follow it at my first listen, but it sounds like a track that grows on you as you hear it more.

1.3: I'm a big Mario fan as you might know, but I'm not sure if I've heard this theme before! It's pretty goofy for a boss theme.

Responses to Proxima's picks

1.1: Well, I haven't ever heard of that, but it sounds pretty nice! Quite simple, but very pleasant. Honestly, I want to keep listening instead of moving on to the next pick. xD I'll add it to my Watch Later, I think I'll want to add this to my music collection when I can access it again.

1.2: I've heard a lot about Touhou music, but I haven't heard a lot of Touhou music. This one is a bit too busy for my liking, but that does fit the games, I suppose. (the Touhou games I've seen were of the bullet hell genre)

1.3: Yeah, the older you are, the harder this is going to be. This is hardly notable, indeed.

Responses to IchoTolot's picks

1.1: I actually have not ever heard this! It's funky, though!

1.2: Nor this one. But wow, almost 3 million views on YouTube?!? Wow, this is quite rough . It's long too, I won't listen to the full thing. I like it, though!

1.3: Aah, good one. I don't think this is a very popular track, though! Not one of my favourites either, I've got to say. But every track in the PC-Adlib Lemmings soundtrack is good.
I love how this one is so pleasant on the ears, while your other two picks for this round are rather rough.

Responses to SQron's picks

1.1: Aah, Chris Hülsbeck! Not sure if I'd ever heard this one, but it's great for sure! Good pick. Pumps you up!

1.2: Wow, that's a homebrew game? Looks and sounds very official! Nice one.

1.3: That's another game I'd never heard of! You have played it, I assume?

Responses to DireKrow's picks

I don't think you're supposed to pick your favourite unless the category says so. I might ask about that in the discussion thread if it seems an issue.

1.1: Groovy indeed! Agreed, it's nice when title themes make you want to jump into the game.

1.2: It's interesting that you say most music you listen to is from games you haven't played yet. I don't think that's the case for me. Nice pick! Reminds me of the kind of stuff on SupraDarky's best vgm list (sadly his channel got terminated yesterday... ).

1.3: Might've listened to Mega Man X before, not sure! Nice music indeed, though.

Responses to mobius' picks

1.1: Another game I've never heard of. The theme really fits the cover art, I wonder what kind of a game it is!

1.2 Nobuo Uematsu is the only video game composer I know of whose video game tracks have been featured in film music collections and main-stream piano books. Maybe that's understandable, though, his music is of quite a high quality. (but personally I think not only his is )

1.3: Cool.

Responses to Armani's picks

1.1: I like that one, but I don't recall it playing on the title screen. Might just remember it wrong!

1.2: 20 million views for a video game music video?!?

1.3: That is scary! Not enough happens in it for my liking, but I suppose that that adds to the atmosphere in-game. Lol, just when I pressed pause on the video the actual church bells started sounding (it turned 9 o'clock), that was weird. xD

Responses to Nessy's picks

1.1: Oh yes! It's been a while since I listened to Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. It's a really unique soundtrack. And this main theme is really good!! Nice one.

1.2: Heeey, I know that track!! I didn't know it was from Final Fantasy, though! Wow, this is strange, it's been years since I heard this. I think this was in some Flash game I played as a kid, maybe one of the Sonic RPGs. It's quite nice. I know Dancing Mad and One-Winged Angel, but hadn't heard this one since hearing it in that Flash game!

1.3: Pretty good!

Responses to Turrican's picks

1.1: Second Chris Hülsbeck theme for this question! Interesting pick!

1.2: Well, that's a bit chaotic.

1.3: Hm, I couldn't find anything either!

Responses to WillLem's picks

1.1: Wow, that's a bit long for me right now. Even assuming it loops at the half-way point of the video. I skipped around a bit, and I think I can see what you mean by the battle.

1.2: Yes!! That is great. I forgot how good it was. I played Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney with my brother on vacation to England last year. We enjoyed the music quite a lot too! Even before playing the game, I knew the Turnabout Sisters theme, which is amazing. I should maybe add the soundtrack to my collection some time (from a rip, of course, because I don't suppose this was released commercially...).

1.3: Tetris is a classic indeed! I added the 'evolution' video to Watch Later.

Responses to Dullstar's picks

I will only listen to the first of your picks if you give multiple, to save time.
1.1: Yes, nice one! I know it, of course.

1.2: I'd never heard of that game, though! Nice track.

1.3: For the first Pokémon game, that is an interesting pick! I thought you would've gone for the Poké-Center theme, or Pallet Town, or Route 1, or even the Bike theme, but not this! It's not bad, but it's so short.

Responses to grams88's picks

1.1: I'm always surprised to see ST music in any list, but I do recall you being a fan. I did not know this one, but it is very interesting! Very unusual vibratos and glissandos. I like it, though, I'll add this to my collection as well, I think. The graphics look ridiculously good for the ST by the way, I should play this! Hey, seems like I knew of the game before, I looked up a gameplay video and I have my thumb up on one of the comments.

1.2: Why is there applause in the music?

1.3: That video isn't great for listening to the music, it's got sfx in it. I know the music from Lemmings though, and it's very good!

Man... That took an hour longer than I had planned. I guess I should have expected it to take so long. It's really cool that so many people participated, thank you all! If you can, include a sentence or two about your pick, I think that makes it more fun. Unless other people disagree, of course.

[Colorful Arty]

Now that I think most people have uploaded their choices, I'll start giving feedback on the tracks I listen to, and will update this post as I listen to more.

Responses to Proxima's choices

1) That's an old school title screen theme if I've ever heard one. I like it. A bit of a sad tone, but an enjoyable song.
2) THIS THEME IS EPIC. I was hooked immediately upon hearing it (I'm a sucker for a good violin). And then how it turned slightly mariachi-esque halfway through blew me away! I'll remember this one for sure!
3) Yes that would be a tricky year to find a video game title screen theme from. I remember playing Mr. Do! as a kid. I always thought of it as a slightly worse version of Dig Dug, but the death theme is forever ingrained in my head.

Responses to IchoTolot's choices

1) A rocking one to be sure, those guys looked like they were having fun playing this one. It seems very you; have you put this song in a Lemmings level before? It sounds familiar. I like it.
2) Another rocking one. You definitely have a knack for picking the rock songs. I love the guitar in this one.
3) Funny you pick that DOS Lemmings song of all of them, as that one tends to be on my lower end for the DOS songs. I prefer Rondo Alla Turca, Patience, and the Infernal Galop as my favorites, but this one is still very enjoyable! It's just a bit quiet for a DOS song when compared to the others.

Responses to SQron's choices

1) A very nice title screen theme. Turrican 2 has some nice music to it, and this one definitely fits with the rest of the soundtrack. I especially love the part at around the 1:20 mark.
2) Interesting track. Is it my imagination, or does the audio seem lower quality than the Turrican 2 track? I don't know. It's a nice one for sure.
3) Never heard of this game before, but it has a great track name. I love how it turns into the Dance of the Reed Flutes!

Responses to DireKrow's choices

1) Dude, this theme is banging! I LOVE the jazzy feel of it! Even though this is my first time hearing it, it feels nostalgic to me for some reason. The piano in particular is so good!
2) Epic rock song. I love the how the piano adds an extra something to the overall rocking feel of the song. It just really pushes it over the edge.
3) I never got into Megaman X. I played it a little bit, but I just preferred the classic series. That said, this song is pretty great. Definitely better than most music from Megaman 7 which was on the same system.

Responses to mobius's choices

1) Never heard of this before. I like the science-fiction feel it has, especially when the electricity sounds start.
2) I just found one of my new favorite video game tracks ever. I have never played this FF game, so I don't know where it plays, but I can perfectly picture the setting, a rainy town near a forest, where you're looking for someone. This music does such a phenomenal job of painting a picture in your head!
3) I love the Mega Man 3 soundtrack, and Top Man's stage is no exception! Even though I'd rank it as one of the weaker robot master stage songs, it's still super good, which goes to show how good the soundtrack is. The music really made this stage for me.

Responses to Armani's choices

1) Oh yes, I love the Tetris Type A theme, and the Tetris 99 remix of it is truly epic! One for the ages!
2) Love this song. Definitely not the kind of song you'd expect to hear in a video game, but the guitar(s) just make this super epic.
3) Very atmospheric. I'm sure I'd appreciate it more had I played Fallout before, but I haven't. It definitely sets the scene, but it's not music I'd go out of my way to listen to.

Responses to Nessy's choices

1) Ah, Paper Mario. I love the soundtracks to these games, and Thousand Year Door's title screen is definitely one of the best! Indeed, I missed out on the song it turns into after around 20 seconds unless I got a game over, where it skips straight to that part.
2) More Final Fantasy music I haven't experienced before. A very nice song; it does sound a bit familiar to me though.
3) I always thought Mega Man 7's soundtrack was a bit lackluster compared to the NES Mega Man games. That said, Slash Man's theme is one of the best from the game. I like how it combines Wave Man's theme with Quick Man's.

Responses to Turrican's choices

1) Ooh, more Amiga music. I never had an Amiga growing up, so almost every song from it is unfamiliar to me. This one is very nice; I love the gentle choir buildup in the background; it gives it an almost angelic effect.
2) Never heard of this game before, but man is the music good! It almost reminds me of a higher-quality version of a Genesis song you'd find in an old-school Sonic game.
3) Suddenly I feel like the young'un now. Yeah, it would be hard to find video game music made in 1978.

Responses to WillLems's choices

1) Nice theme from a game I never would have known exists. Amiga has some very good music, I'm learning.
2) I adore the Ace Attorney series, and their soundtracks! The trial theme is indeed amazing, although I think the trial theme from Justice for All is the best; it just fits the courtroom feel so well. I strongly recommend these games to anyone looking for a good story.
3) Tetris theme is amazing. Probably the 8 bit song that is the catchiest and most loved.

Responses to Dullstar's choices

1) Both great title themes. I never played Lemmings 2, but it definitely has a catchy title theme, with a good amount of Sports tribe incorporated into the song. Cave Story has an epic soundtrack, especially the remastered one from Cave Story+ and Cave Story 3D.
2) Interesting game art. Cool song, as I'd expect from the SNES era.
3) I never could get into the Pokemon series, so I probably don't have the same appreciation for the soundtrack that others have. That said, this seems like a typical nice GBC song.

Responses to grams88's chhoices

1) This is a nice 8 bit song. I also like the graphics that were on screen. It seems like a cool game.
2) If it's a Star Wars game, it's going to have great music. This is definitely no exception.
3) Which song from Menace in particular? I grew up with DOS Lemmings which has a Menace song in it, which I always liked.

Responses to 607's choices

1) Oh man, I forgot about Super Circuit! It's probably my second least-favorite Mario Kart (after the SNES one), but it did have some good music. I never knew about the two different intros though, probably because I was never able to even get a gold trophy in every cup.
2) DKC2 has an epic soundtrack, and one of the few games I played on the GBA originally and still think the SNES soundtrack is superior, THAT'S how good it is! In a Snow Bound land is honestly one of the weaker tracks I'd say, but it's still a bop! Kokiri Forest is one of the classics of the N64 era, and one of my most nostalgic tracks. I strongly recommend playing OOT eventually; it's my #1 favorite game of all time!
3) I've never heard of Re-Volt before. This track is a nice one; I love how the guitar? sounds. That opening instrument has such a nice sound to it. I also love the part at 1:20!

Responses to Lana's choices

1) I've heard this one by watching a few of Simon's Jazz streams. This whole game has a nice soundtrack, and this one is no exception.
2) Oh yes, this track is amazing! I am familiar with this track, not because of the game, but because this track is used in a Mega Man Rom Hack that I've played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_GVjEtITM8
3) The only Sims game I've played is a little bit of 3. That said, I love this piano song a lot; I'm a sucker for good piano songs.

Responses to JRT's choices

1) Nice one. I like how calm it is at first, and then it picks up into something more epic. It really does sound like the beginning of a space mission.
2) My only experience with AWESOME is a certain Lemmings level. It's interesting to hear the original game's music as opposed to the DOS Lemmings version of a particular track.

[LanaAndCo]

Ah, it seems that the little challenge I had with my friends made it to the Forum. I know that I'm late now (I was away for a few days) but if you allow me to, I'd like to put back my choices here too, since not everyone has access to Discord. Also, I'd like to point out that my choices are not my favourites per say, since my friends and I had additional rules to make things "spicier" (mine was to not reuse a game franchise twice).

Title screen music

Jazz Jackrabbit - Menu (https://vgmsite.com/soundtracks/jazz-jackrabbit/idykzmzkat/1-01%20Menu.mp3)
Energetic and simple, just like the game. I specially like the instruments used, it really feels like a cartoon. And it's a childhood favourite of mine, probably not my all time one but a nostalgic one.

Music I like from a game I haven't played

Actraiser - Fillmoa (https://fi.zophar.net/soundfiles/nintendo-snes-spc/actraiser/04%20Fillmoa.mp3)
That music is just epic. It sounds like a Castlevania song but a little more... upbeat? Anyway, I like to listen to it from time to time, but I'm not interested in playing the game. It's a god simulator for the SNES and it's like if you mashed, well, Castlevania and SimCity together, so it's not really my cup of tea.

Music in a game released the year I was born

The Sims - Under Construction (https://vgmdownloads.com/soundtracks/the-sims-original-video-game-soundtrack/rqcikowf/04%20-%20Under%20Construction%20%28Build%201%29.mp3)
The Sims. Just... the freaking Sims. That game IS my childhood. The time I passed while playing it would be astronomical. Not only it got released the year I was born, it almost got released the month I was born. The choice was rough too, all the tracks from the game is god-like! The build mode and it's passionate piano, the buy mode and it's optimism, and the jazz themes from the Hot Date expansion... Maybe it's why I like jazz so much.

[grams88]

Willlem Spoiler

Spoiler

Ace Attorney, that does have some very good music in it, I remember the time my brother was playing this and he shouted at the DS I think you had to shout guilty or something like that, it was kind of funny. I really do like the music of this game I have to say.

607 Spoiler

Spoiler

You pick a quick song there, well I guess it is the intro music, it does sound quite a good one and gets you into the game itself.

Kokiri Forest from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! (that does seem to be a popular choice, Nice music though

Re-volt, I knew you pick that one. Re-volt is a really good game and choice, I would say its got to be the best RC car game out there, can't beat it. I notice the re-volt community are making tracks for another game I love which is POD, the tracks look well made with a lot of work going into them.

[Proxima]

As the next round is about to start, I'd like to make a couple of suggestions:

* I know it's not always possible, but please try to find videos of the music at its normal length rather than "extended". It takes enough time as it is to listen to all the entries without some of them being spread out for half an hour!
* If you have a playlist link (it will have "&list=" in the middle), cut out the "&list=" and everything after that. Again, this just makes it easier to listen to your picks.

[607]

* I know it's not always possible, but please try to find videos of the music at its normal length rather than "extended". It takes enough time as it is to listen to all the entries without some of them being spread out for half an hour!

I see what you mean, but most videos on YouTube fade the track out after the track's played twice (that's what I do myself ). I don't know of many that fade it out after one.
(by the way, shouldn't these posts about etiquette and such be in the other topic? :$)

[Nessy]

(by the way, shouldn't these posts about etiquette and such be in the other topic? :$)

It's alright. If it turned into a discussion then yes.

So I wasn't expecting so many people to participate which is awesome! However, it does mean that maybe it's for the best to slightly tweak the deadline for this round to give people more time to listen and respond. So I think I'll change the end of this current round to July 25 at 13:30 UTC.

[Proxima]

To quickly summarise a discussion we just had on discord:

I agree with Nessy that with the participation level being so high, it makes sense for each round to last longer than the originally planned 3 days, so that people have time to listen and respond to each other's picks. However, participation level will probably stay high, so it would be best to stick to the same round length throughout the game. I felt that going all the way up to 7 days would slow things down too much, as while it's nice to have time to respond properly to each other, I'm also excited about getting the next set of prompts. I think 5 days per round is a good compromise.