Mega Man X: “Password”
Burning Rangers: “Angels with Burning Hearts”
Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge: “Praying Hands”
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: “And My Name’s Booster”
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I almost went with a Sonic 2 song. Can’t go wrong with Emerald Hill, Aquatic Ruin or Chemical Plant. On a compositional level, maybe I even admire those tracks more than those of CD. They’re such tightly constructed pop songs packed with hooks and memorable melodies, part of a more holistically satisfying game altogether. CD’s songs aren’t very hummable, they aren’t narrating a neatly structured Saturday morning cartoon, they’re encouraging a workout session to untangle and tango with jigsaw jungle gyms. Playing the game (especially for the best ending) can be a chore! So the verses, choruses etc. aren’t as distinct (which makes it difficult to choose my candidate song) perhaps because trancier grooves better suit the more diffuse design of the stages…like you’re wrestling with intricate mazes so the shape of the songs are simpler and more about creating groove and texture…? Anyway I listen to it more than any other Sonic/videogame OST. It’s good for working, dancing, playing pick up basketball…I guess it feels useful to me in a real world context more than most videogame soundtracks I like.
And all the (just about) unintelligible voice samples rule. They enhance the strange fourth wall/dimension breaking that comes with time traveling between different versions of the same level. The tunes aren’t heroic adventure anthems, they’re more dissociative, an often sinister meta-chorus like here or here (you get some positivity in the good future levels though like here and the lovely birds here). The songs seem to be coming from the outside looking in. You’re locked up in their (lovely little) nightmare nightclub world. The real instruments might also add to the permeating sense of juxtaposition throughout. A lot of it was probably SEGA wanting to show off the CD’s capabilities like with the animated intro, but it all adds up to maybe my personal favourite Sonic? That this was the soundtrack to a kids game with an animal mascot in 1993 is…supremely hip imo.
And this one’s as awesome as it is corny (they were definitely going for an MJ soundalike with that singer? (ok, maybe not, there’s just one inflection that gives me that vibe))
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I’m in a completely different mood today…I think I want to redo mine.
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So hard to pick just four!!
Mother - Youngtown
Katamari Damacy - Lonely Rolling Star
Kirby’s Adventure - Rainbow Resort
Sonic R - Living in the City (I’d put this whole soundtrack on here if I could)
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this classic vaporwave album “I’ll Try Living Like This” by Death’s Dynamic Shroud (considered by some to be the best vaporwave album) makes some good use of Sonic R samples, to the point where i associate that soundtrack with this album now.
particularly tracks 8 and 12 use Sonic R pretty heavily (12 uses “living in the city”).
i bought this album on colored vinyl when they did limited pressings because i’m a dork.
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Many Many Years ago SB1 did mixtapes based around themes were we all privately sent a poster mp3s and then the poster organized it into a playlist.
Seems like with youtube and spotify it’s never been easier.
Also if someone wants to put all these into a playlist to hangout with that would be cooooooolllll.
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oh wow yeah i remember that
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That’s a good record! My favorite shameless vaporwave videogame sample is this one, but it is definitely less artfully done:
Also shoutout to that time James Ferraro like chopped and screwed wii menu music.
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Another time, we exchanged physical mix CDs in the mail. I don’t even remember who I sent one to, but I still have the one I received. This was probably the Gamer’s Quarter forums and not Insert Credit.
I think it would be nice to have this thread in MP3 form, but I guess that would take more work than simply searching Soulseek for things in the Song of the Moment thread (which I do periodically).
I can youtube-dl all of the links and strip out the audio from them after we close if there’s interest? No guarantee of quality
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I have a huge collection of video game music, so I can provide anything you can’t find if you need. Might sound better than shit you download from YouTube depending on the video.
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Blessing to anyone who wants to compile mp3s - youtube-dl and ffmpeg is just the easiest way to do it in a batch without much input but it probably isn’t satisfactory to the people who want mp3s to begin
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reminds me i should probably put some of my huge x68k music collection on youtube
I still have the Racing Across a Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland one, somewhere… some tracks on there, I still have no idea where they come from, but I love them dearly.
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Yesss I love the System Shock 2 soundtrack it’s a perfect artifact.
My fave (not a nomination) is Hydroponics
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it’s a killer techno album but so enhanced by being the soundtrack to a videogame
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the woman who did vocals for tribe (I forget her name) also did level design and the voice of shodan because the Boston electronic music scene and videogame scene had a lot of overlap at that point
also where harmonix came from after looking glass packed it in
really hope boss fight likes my book pitch lol
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with all ethical constraints removed, generation X are free to explore new possibilities
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