Music in games - what's best, licensed stuff or original composition?

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Golfman

Golfman

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I have fond memories in my early gaming days of listening to original music by such geniuses like David Whittaker and Rob Hubbard. However, i think that too many games tend to take the easy way out and use licensed music for their soundtracks. Original game music is a rare thing these days. Here is a list of things that stick in my memory(can't remember all the artists sorry), in order of my gaming history:
Remember, these are all ORIGINAL compositions, not licensed music.

Outrun(Arcade)

Zybex, Draconus, Ninja Commando, Storm, Milk Race all on the Atari 800XL
Various stuff by Whittaker/Hubbard on the C64

Ninja Remix(Atari ST/Amiga) or Last Ninja (C64): Jochen Hippel
Turrican 1/2 (ST/Amiga): Chris Huelsbeck/Jochen Hippel

Streets of Rage 1/2/3, Revenge of Shinobi(Megadrive): Yuzo Koshiro
Sonic1/2/3(Megadrive)

Batman Returns(Mega CD)
Thunderhawk, Battlecorps(Mega CD): Martin Iveson
Soulstar(Mega CD): Nathan McCree

Tomb Raider(Saturn): Nathan McCree
Sega Rally(Saturn), Virtua Fighter 2(Saturn)

Tomb Raider 2/3/4(PS1)
Tekken 2/3(PS1)
SoulBlade(PS1)
Ridge Racer Type 4(PS1)
Final Fantasy 7/8/9(PS1)

Funny but there isnt much to recall on the PS2, apart from FFX, X-2.

Oblivion(PS3), IL-2 Sturmovik(PS3): Jeremy Soule

Anybody got anything else to add? If ive missed any, i apologise.
 
as long as the music helps tell the story or adds to the emotion then it doesnt matter imo. but, in general, i dont listen to music in a fps/racing game. too distracting or covers more important sounds.
 
I don't think it matters, as long as it's good music it can be either. Though in some open world games it's cool to hear familiar songs like on Vice City.
 
Dragonistic
I don't think it matters, as long as it's good music it can be either. Though in some open world games it's cool to hear familiar songs like on Vice City.
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Agree with that. But does anybody else out there remember any of the above games? Anybody care to add a few of their own? It'd be interesting.
 
[empty space];3846358
as long as the music helps tell the story or adds to the emotion then it doesnt matter imo. but, in general, i dont listen to music in a fps/racing game. too distracting or covers more important sounds.
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Interesting about your point about racing games. The PS1 Wipeout games - probably the only ones i can think of where licensed music really helped the experience. Can you imagine it without those awsome tunes?
 
Nobuo Uematsu's stuff from Final Fantasy IV and VI on snes is pretty great.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on PS1 has incredible music.

Eternal Sonata on PS3/360 has some of the best music in any video game, for good reason considering its themes.

AGREE 100% with OP about Elder Scrolls: Oblivion having outstanding music. I will sometimes just have my elf mage hang out in a field while I check emails and stuff just so I can have the music going.

I like a good mix of license and original music. The first Bioshock did a great job of this especially as a period piece.

Ikaruga on GC/DC has some sweet tunes, too!

Little Big Planet's stuff is mostly licensed I think? It seems to be a mix and the fact that the licensed music isn't all immediately recognizable pop was a good move.

edit: Oh yeah, Toejam and Earl. I've said enough.
 
Chrono Cross OST anyone :drool: ? Chrono Trigger for that matter..

Most Final Fantasies, VI/III VII VIII IX X XII 👍 .

The Metal Gear Solid theme, some Devil May Cry stuff, I love video game music. It challenges the composer to really create a very specific mood, which in my opinion makes it so much more emotive than licensed music. :)

I could start the 'Leona Lewis in FFXIII' argument, but it scares me too much :sly:

P.S. 💡 Anyone heard KatetheGreat19's great vocal covers of FFIX music? Linky

-Spiran
 
"3, 2, 1 let's go! Foot to the pedal, and da pedal to tha floor!"

LOL anybody? (Hint, its a licensed original composition)
 
I love the soundtracks for Wipeout HD, and the Elder Scrolls games. Halo 1 isn't too bad either actually.

I miss the old soundtracks from games like Quake I/II, Descent I/II. Electronica/Metal style original scores. I believe Quake II's soundtrack was written by Sonic Mayhem, and its awesome.

Bayonetta has some cool music too

In games like gran turismo or NFS Shift i turn the music off to better hear the engine =D

Edit: FF13's score is great too
 
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Contra 1, Castlevania 1, Myke Tyson's Punch-Out!, MegaMan 1/2, Ninja Gaiden 1/2, Tiger-Heli, T&C Surf Design (sk8 stage music), Rock 'N Roll Racing (licensed), StarTropics 1, Little Big Adventure 1. Check out Minibosses albums if you like original NES music.
 
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Cant believe i forgot about this one: Sonic CD on the Mega CD had some incredible tunes by Japanese rave artist MIKI. It was re-released on the PS2 in a compilation pack called Sonic Gems, but almost all of the music was replaced or redone! If you get a chance to play the original Mega CD version, do it, if only for the tunes. Interestingly, although a bit off-topic, the Atari 800XL system when connected to the cassette system(as opposed to the floppy drive), had the ability to allow your tapes to be played through it while you played the games! So you could have your own music collection as the game soundtrack. How cool was that? I actually didnt go for the usual choice of C64/Spectrum/Amstrad systems that everybody did. My old faithful Atari 800XL gave me some of the best games iv ever played. It was a seriously clever machine, underrated. And iv just found out that my favourite games on the system, done by a company called Zeppelin Games, are now called Eutechnyx -a company i have constantly slagged off elsewhere in these forums! God i feel like an idiot.
 
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Everything from Hans Zimmer is excellent...

This is a must for a site like this:
Gt1-GT5p Ost
Burnout Paradise OST
Burnout revenge ost
Forza 2 Ost
PGR3 Ost
Midnight Club3 ost
NFS series OSt

(quite every car related game soundtrack)

Hitman has an excellent Ost too
Heavy rain OSt is epic


A lot of games got very good Ost.
This were does coming directly to mind
 
I have a little off-topic question... Well not totally off-topic, but can someone tell me what sample is in this song??? I've been listening to it for a while and I cant figure out if it was Contra or Double Dragon??? Im leaning more towards Double Dragon, because I believe I can hear the footsteps... :p

 
Blitz187
I have a little off-topic question... Well not totally off-topic, but can someone tell me what sample is in this song??? I've been listening to it for a while and I cant figure out if it was Contra or Double Dragon??? Im leaning more towards Double Dragon, because I believe I can hear the footsteps... :p

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It's the first couple bars to Contra. I think the 'footsteps' are the explosion sound effect played repeatedly. It's definitely Contra, though.
 
tyl0r_r
It's the first couple bars to Contra. I think the 'footsteps' are the explosion sound effect played repeatedly. It's definitely Contra, though.
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Thanks for clearing that up... was really bugging me I couldnt figure out which game it actually was... 👍
 
As a huge fan of video game music, I wanted to see if there was anyone like me here on GTP. I could go on forever listing my favorites, but I'll try to keep it short! :dopey: Share your favorite song, soundtrack or even composer.

Here's a few of my favorites that I couldn't possibly rank...

Quartz Quadrant Good Future (Sonic CD JP/EU Soundtrack)
Your Name, Please (Earthbound/Mother 2)
Chemical Plant Zone (Sonic 2)
Pearl Blue Soul (R4: Ridge Racer Type 4)
Let Mom Sleep (Jet Set Radio)
Nights Pinball Music (Sonic Adventure)
Desert Replay Music (Sega Rally Championship)
Vacant Lives (1080 Snowboarding)

and of course...
Manufacturer Car Select (Gran Turismo)


Like I said, I could keep this up for days. But that would be boring. What do you guys like?
 
I'd also like to add...oh, just the entire Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game soundtrack. It's beautiful.

 
The Halo games have won best original soundtrack several times, and the deserve it. Uncharted 1 and 2 have awesome soundtracks. And Ghost in the Shell for the PS2 has an original soundtrack from Yokko Kano, so you know it's pretty sweet. Burnout Paradise probably has the best soundtrack of any racing game. Hard to beat Guns and Roses. :P

on the Licensed music side: Grand Theft Auto has the best. GTA4 was the most expensive game ever made and why? Because of all the licensed music tracks in the game. Red Dead Redemption has a great soundtrack as well.
 
Gulity Gear OST FTW!!!
"Holy Orders: Be just or Be Dead"

"Awe of She"

Super Street Fighter IV
Cody's Theme

BlazBlue series
 
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On the PS2, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty. A great soundtrack, by the guy who also did the music for the movie Enemy of the State starring Will Smith.
Harry Gregson-Williams I believe.
 
IMO all the PS MGS games have had good music. I am not familiar with the other ones.

SF4 Abel and C.Viper themes are my favorites. Also the music in Afro Samurai is sick (prod by RZA) but the game is horrifyingly bad.
 

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