Video Game music makes me smile
June 29th 2011 01:25
Remember the game music from back in the day? The stuff you forced your parents to hear day in and day out? Good stuff. I'm taking a look back at some of my favorite games and the music that played on in my head, long after hitting the power button.
Oh let's go waaay back, to the 80's. When game controllers consisted of ONE GIANT BUTTON. "Press here to do stuff."
JET SET WILLY (1984)
Jet Set Willy has the very best 8-bit soundtrack. It's so darn peppy. The game came out in 1984 for ZX home computer, and some online versions have been made since.
This music makes me want to jump up and play the game that is my life. Did I oversell it?
PAPERBOY (1984)
Alright, let's move forward to the NES. We have a few more buttons to work with now.
The music in Paperboy would annoy the crud out of my Mom. I'm lucky she didn't throw it out the window. This game had everything... mad dogs, cars, break dancers, skateboarders, crazy cat ladys, the grim reaper. And introduced the fun of "destroyable environment" before Duke Nukem did.
Now for the PC games. Why? Because that's what I mostly played in the 90's. Sierra Entertainment and Lucas Arts pretty much ruled my harddrive.
Sierra Logo tune -
DAGGER OF AMON RA (1992)
Dagger of Amon RA is a super fun adventure/mystery game involving a museum and crazy characters. In the middle of the game, you enter a speakeasy where a funny song suddenly starts.
I remember my sister and I laughing like crazy every time we heard it. Plus, it was digital (gasp!). Here you are, playing a game.. you just spent the last 5 to 10 years listening to MIDI instrumentals when all of a sudden this digital song, with real human voices, starts playing over your Soundblaster. What?! How?! We were amazed.
The Archaeologist Song
written by Chris Brayman
GABRIEL KNIGHT (1993-1999)
The Gabriel Knight series is highly memorable. With highly memorable music.
KING'S QUEST (1984-1998)
King's Quest 6 - Girl In The Tower. I didn't like this song but hey, it sure was hyped.
GRIM FANDANGO(1998)
Grim Fandango is hands down my favorite adventure game. And in my top 10 of favorite games ever. It has a unique storyline that makes you want to keep playing. The Film Noir and Day of the Dead themes are great. This tune is a good example-
MONKEY ISLAND 2 (1991)
Oh monkey island, how many hours I spent playing you. This intro song, with all its island flair, is from Monkey Island 2.
WOLFENSTEIN 3D (1992)
Moving on to first person shooters... Castle Wolfenstein music was one of my favorites. It was understated despite being a first person shooter. And it made the game seem so serious. At least to a 13 year old girl. Turns out the military march from the intro is the actual Nazi anthem.. uh, thats creepy ID software. What the heck.
DOOM!!
Then of course there's DOOM. Not so much serious, as it was kicking serious a**!
This music gets me pumped up every time.
DOOM
DOOM 2
DOOM 3
HITMAN - BLOOD MONEY (2006)
Stealth games are winners every time, and the Hitman series is great. Hitman "Blood Money" was an almost perfect game
in my eyes. I played every difficulty rating, twice! It has some great ambiance music.
Ambiance music from the Heaven/Hell level:
The "Bad Singer" from the Heaven/Hell level:
FALLOUT 3 (2008)
Alright here's a slightly newer one. Fallout 3. I really like this game. It has quickly moved up to my top games of all time. And the music is genius. Below is one of the songs you hear in the game via Galaxy Radio. This one is Butcher Pete. An actual song performed by blue singer Roy Brown. It's the perfect song for the game's post-apocalyptic, ghoul-ridden world.
So, gamers, can you guess these two? I left some hints.
I really wished this NES game had a Save Game option-
This game is often considered the first to appeal to non-gamer women -
Oh let's go waaay back, to the 80's. When game controllers consisted of ONE GIANT BUTTON. "Press here to do stuff."
JET SET WILLY (1984)
Jet Set Willy has the very best 8-bit soundtrack. It's so darn peppy. The game came out in 1984 for ZX home computer, and some online versions have been made since.
This music makes me want to jump up and play the game that is my life. Did I oversell it?
PAPERBOY (1984)
Alright, let's move forward to the NES. We have a few more buttons to work with now.
The music in Paperboy would annoy the crud out of my Mom. I'm lucky she didn't throw it out the window. This game had everything... mad dogs, cars, break dancers, skateboarders, crazy cat ladys, the grim reaper. And introduced the fun of "destroyable environment" before Duke Nukem did.
Now for the PC games. Why? Because that's what I mostly played in the 90's. Sierra Entertainment and Lucas Arts pretty much ruled my harddrive.
Sierra Logo tune -
DAGGER OF AMON RA (1992)
Dagger of Amon RA is a super fun adventure/mystery game involving a museum and crazy characters. In the middle of the game, you enter a speakeasy where a funny song suddenly starts.
I remember my sister and I laughing like crazy every time we heard it. Plus, it was digital (gasp!). Here you are, playing a game.. you just spent the last 5 to 10 years listening to MIDI instrumentals when all of a sudden this digital song, with real human voices, starts playing over your Soundblaster. What?! How?! We were amazed.
The Archaeologist Song
written by Chris Brayman
GABRIEL KNIGHT (1993-1999)
The Gabriel Knight series is highly memorable. With highly memorable music.
KING'S QUEST (1984-1998)
King's Quest 6 - Girl In The Tower. I didn't like this song but hey, it sure was hyped.
GRIM FANDANGO(1998)
Grim Fandango is hands down my favorite adventure game. And in my top 10 of favorite games ever. It has a unique storyline that makes you want to keep playing. The Film Noir and Day of the Dead themes are great. This tune is a good example-
MONKEY ISLAND 2 (1991)
Oh monkey island, how many hours I spent playing you. This intro song, with all its island flair, is from Monkey Island 2.
WOLFENSTEIN 3D (1992)
Moving on to first person shooters... Castle Wolfenstein music was one of my favorites. It was understated despite being a first person shooter. And it made the game seem so serious. At least to a 13 year old girl. Turns out the military march from the intro is the actual Nazi anthem.. uh, thats creepy ID software. What the heck.
DOOM!!
Then of course there's DOOM. Not so much serious, as it was kicking serious a**!
This music gets me pumped up every time.
DOOM
DOOM 2
DOOM 3
HITMAN - BLOOD MONEY (2006)
Stealth games are winners every time, and the Hitman series is great. Hitman "Blood Money" was an almost perfect game
in my eyes. I played every difficulty rating, twice! It has some great ambiance music.
Ambiance music from the Heaven/Hell level:
The "Bad Singer" from the Heaven/Hell level:
FALLOUT 3 (2008)
Alright here's a slightly newer one. Fallout 3. I really like this game. It has quickly moved up to my top games of all time. And the music is genius. Below is one of the songs you hear in the game via Galaxy Radio. This one is Butcher Pete. An actual song performed by blue singer Roy Brown. It's the perfect song for the game's post-apocalyptic, ghoul-ridden world.
So, gamers, can you guess these two? I left some hints.
I really wished this NES game had a Save Game option-
This game is often considered the first to appeal to non-gamer women -
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