What background music from a video game sets the mood very well, or is just a great song in general?
I submit the adventurous overworld theme from Legend of Zelda (tragically absent from Ocarina of Time!).
I’ve always loved the Castlevania music, from the original three NES games. Great tunes, those.
Why, that’s easy. The 7th Guest, of course! The best MIDI music ever written, by far.
TO THIS DAY I have the theme from Dr. Mario (I belive it was “cold”) perpetually stuck in my head. When was that game? '89? '90?
Great, now it’s stuck in my head too - the GameBoy version.
Columns for the Sega Genesis had great music, mostly electronic versions of classical stuff like Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor.
The music in Dig Dug is remembered fondly.
And the music played when you are invincible in Vanguard really got ya going.
Well, that’s from STAR TREK, so you really can’t count it.
REACTOR was pretty catchy, and for some reason, the music in BUBBLE BOBBLE never gets old. The music in POKER LADIES is very loungy, bachelor pad music. And the tempo quickens as the women get more and more undressed. Stylish.
The best music by far is Megaman II, with Megaman III in a real close second. Though which of the specific themes is the best I can’t say for sure. Dr. Wily stage 1 from MM2 might be it though.
Chrono Trigger, then Castlevania come in next.
Try http://remix.overclocked.org for some excellent remixes of classic video game tunes. Go late at night when the bandwidth limits are off.
The music from the bizarre Playstation game, Incredible Crisis, is a real blast; fully orchestrated hyperactive Japanese ska. Fits the game well.
I’m a huge fan of Matt Uelmen’s music for the Diablo series, especially the stuff from Lord of Destruction where he had a whole orchestra to play with. I have a CD of it almost perenially in my CD player.
I’m definitely with you on The 7th Guest and Dr. Mario. I liked the cut-scene music for Chrono Trigger, but not the music that played during the actual game so much, especially the combat music. But, whatever. I haven’t played any of the other games mentioned, though.
I’ve got a lot more suggestions, but I didn’t want to be the only one posting. Since others have gone, here goes:
Mystic Cave 2 from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Opening scene in Space Quest IV. Theme to The Attack for TI-99 (not sure if that’s its original system). Dire Dire Docks from Super Mario 64. Forest Temple from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. My friend once had a Mahjongg (Taipei) game with different theme boards, each with different background MIDIs, but I don’t remember the game’s name. Anyway, the SciFi board from that game had a really goofy song.
Also, probably nobody here is familiar with Star Control II, my favorite video game, but it has some great MOD themes. Excellent mood music includes: Opening Scene, Combat, Hyperspace, Earthling, Arilou, and Yehat. Also, the Umgah, Pkunk, Spathi, and Melnorme themes are just fun.
Are you sure about that? I thought it was an older, possibly classical piece.
I’ve always loved the Final Fantasy 3 soundtrack. Every single piece works so well together.
I also constantly listen to the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 soundtrack, along with the Quake 2 soundtrack (yay, Sonic Mayhem!).
I’ve also been a longtime fan of the Super Mario RPG soundtrack, and the Super Metroid soundtrack, and the Descent 2 soundtrack, and the Mechwarrior 2 soundtrack, and the Diablo 2 soundtrack (notice all the 2’s).
Basically, most of the music I listen to either came from a video game, Pink Floyd, or Weird Al.
Counting PC Games too? Well then it would have to be Monkey Island! I’d say X-wing/TIE Fighter, but that doesn’t count.
My favorites:
Rob Hubbard’s classic International Karate+ theme on the c64
Robert Holmes did a great job setting the mood in the Gabriel Knight series, as did Clint Bajakian’s excellent music in Outlaws
(special mentions: Space Control 2,Grim fandango,FF3, Last Ninja)
I went through a phase a couple of years ago where I was grabbing every Final Fantasy .mp3 I could find. The symphonic and orchestral ones are pretty impressive, in a nerdy, cheesy sort of way. The jewel of my collection is an orchestral version of the opera scene from FF6 (FF3 in the USA). All 26 minutes of it.
“Peter Gunn” theme on Spy Hunter. For years, I knew that tune as “The Spy Hunter Theme.”
These are some of my favorites:
The main theme from Final Fantasy III
All the background music from Sonic 3-D
The two songs in the remake of Lunar: Silver Star
Like nearly all of my original C64 software, it probably doens’t work any more but one of my programs is a collection of music and sound effects from a few games published for the 64. My favorite of these is the theme from “Roland’s Rat Race”. I never played the game but that is some infectous music. Yes, UK dopers, this game is based on the Roland Rat show. Would anyone know if the show had the same music?
Don’t forget the awesome music in the Tomb Raider franchise! [listening to it now…] Clever use of the clarinet, harp, and all those Gregorian-chant sounding voices.
Streets of Rage 1 and 2 (bare knuckle for some)
oh and possibly also R type delta