What do like and not like in game music?

With me, I just don’t care for game soundtracks that are "orchestra-heavy". I find them slow and generally have one or two memorable tunes in them; the title or the options, etc. A for instance here is Lost Planet; love the game but listening to the s/t independantly from the game makes me tired…

Another I do not like is (which may be heresy!) is "old" game music. I am old myself (38) but cannot stand NES type of game "music" (I call it blips and bleeps). Even a lot of SNES. Though DKC is amazing I find it to be an exception.

What I do like; upbeat stuff like Lightning Volcano from Armored Core Nexus or just about anything from the Mega Man X3 ~ Zero Remastered games. Sonic games are waay up there too:)

The Original Sonic game soundtrack was cool.

I mostly hate soundtracks that don’t go with the mood of the game. For example, Daytona USA (not the redone one). You’re racing and you have this dumb jazzy J-pop music "Daytona! let’s go away!" that sounds horrible.
Some great soundtracks I can think of are Resident Evil 2. There were a couple of times where I actually jumped, and it was all ’cause of the mood. Also, the Original Tomb Raider was very suspenseful, and the Saturn’s Panzer Dragoon had a soundtrack that fit the theme.

I kind of like the old NES soundtracks, like Crystalis, and Blaster Master, I could play those games over and over, and not get tired of the repetitiveness.

Another type of soundtracks l hate, are short repetitive ones. It get’s so tiring after a while.

I like interactive game scores that react to whats on the screen. i especially like military suspense themes like what you find in rainbo six games.

Also orchestral with electronic elements.

What i don’t like is Japanese game soundtracks where all they rely is on poppish sounds and overly loud instruments.

Rap, simply put, any rap in a game usually sucks, as if rap already wasn’t bad enough in real life. Love almost everything else. To be honest, I prefer music without vocals and a great lively orchestration or composition. Also, horrible attempts to use vocals with a language you don’t speak is a no no. Tired of hearing a japanese dude trying to sing in english lyrics that just fall flat on the ground.

I dislike when the menu music is stupid and boring.
In The Groove 2 had brilliant menu music.
I like when the music fits the scene…
Like when you are alerted on Metal Gear Solid, and the music changes to drum and bass, with a bit of instrumentals.
Another thing that bothers me about music is when the ingame characters sing a song.
Like in Final Fantasy X-2…
Gag me with a spoon.

Rap, simply put, any rap in a game usually sucks, as if rap already wasn’t bad enough in real life. Love almost everything else. To be honest, I prefer music without vocals and a great lively orchestration or composition. Also, horrible attempts to use vocals with a language you don’t speak is a no no. Tired of hearing a japanese dude trying to sing in english lyrics that just fall flat on the ground.I disagree with the rap part, don’t get me wrong, I hate soundtracks with Rappers rapping about the actual game, for instance Snoops Gran Turismo rap. If a game’s gonna include rap like the GTA series, that’s fine, it’s just making the environment more realistic. But anyways, to each his own. As for the Japanese "Karaoke" singing, I totally agree my previous example of Daytona USA.

About FFX-2 most definetly agree.

Off Topic:
If anyone’s interested in hearing people’s remix versions of video game music, check this site out: Overclocked Remix (http://www.ocremix.org)

They have some great remixes.

I kind of like the old NES soundtracks, like Crystalis, and Blaster Master, I could play those games over and over, and not get tired of the repetitiveness.

Another type of soundtracks l hate, are short repetitive ones. It get’s so tiring after a while.

In defense of NES (I guess) I never owned one nor was I a gamer back then but to hear that stuff NOW and hear people rave about such and such soundtrack and I just sit there and think… umm that’s not even music it’s more like a series of beeps or tones strung together. I imagine if you played those games in the time frame though you would have a different opinion, so I understand the love I guess.

NES music was great, it’s just the sound quality wasn’t all that good in the period. But some games produced classic lovable music despite the limitations. Double Dragon, Megaman, Ninja Gaiden, Mario Bros., Castlevania and others to name a few.

Today, we remix the music and you can see how great they are in better quality as demostrated by the people behind overclocked remix. As for Rap, I haven’t liked it since 1993, but there are a few that are good in games, just rarely…very rarely unless they are actual tracks from artists original music.

Also another notority in gaming, music that doesn’t match the game, or anime it’s in. Take for example the guyver TV series, beautiful dramatic music, but doesn’t fit with the action in the anime and isn’t so memorable. Same thing can be said about a lot of games, like that techno crap in a lot of PS1 games or heavy metal and hard rock music set in ancient china (though I love the Dynasty warriors music)

Typically I don’t like Boss Music either…

I think I SORELY overstated the SNES/Gen not being up to snuff. Wow, over the past few days I’ve d’l the Mega Man 7 and Ecco soundtracks and they are among my FAVES. I played these back in the day and am AMAZED at how good these chip sets have held up!! WOW!!

So, here’s your shot; I’m willing to give the NES a chance now even though I am totally unfamilar with the games… what’s the NES got that I need? Tell me some great ones to listen to:)

Also.. what are some more SNES goodness??

So, here’s your shot; I’m willing to give the NES a chance now even though I am totally unfamilar with the games… what’s the NES got that I need? Tell me some great ones to listen to:)

Also.. what are some more SNES goodness??

I actualy still prefer listening to some NES tunes, it’s just that some of us would prefer better sound engines. Anyways, I got plenty of good songs you can look up, actualy look at the few I mentioned above, and check out the midi music versions on www.vgmusic.com The fact I haven’t played most of those games for 15 to 18 years and still remember how to remember every beat off them all says something.

Also take listen to Robowarrior and the captian Tsubasa game trakcs. There is also of course all the mario games on the NES and Zelda. Hmm… lot’s more but I think I mentionedm ostly my favorites from the NES. Just look up all the castlevania gameso nthe NES, SNES, and Genesis and you’ll be pleased.

I think I SORELY overstated the SNES/Gen not being up to snuff. Wow, over the past few days I’ve d’l the Mega Man 7 and Ecco soundtracks and they are among my FAVES. I played these back in the day and am AMAZED at how good these chip sets have held up!! WOW!!

So, here’s your shot; I’m willing to give the NES a chance now even though I am totally unfamilar with the games… what’s the NES got that I need? Tell me some great ones to listen to:)

Also.. what are some more SNES goodness??Here’s a small list.
Castlevania 1 & 2
Contra (It’s Okay)
Mega Man series
Original FF (most of what you hear on today’s FF games all started with the simple bleeps of FF1 – you’ll be like "HEY I know that song!")
can’t think of anymore, but i’ll add more as they come to me.

I went to Atomic Fire and listened to Mega Man NES music… and sadly I am still not moved by it. Not to be cruel but NES style music sounds like either an illegal alien icecream truck or a childs "My First Casio", neither of which is a good thing:)

that’s a shame you view it liek that. No offense fo course, but it’s the composition that’s so great about it, and the mood it set in the game, but like I said, NES sound was limited, and they sound horrible by todays standards.

that’s a shame you view it liek that. No offense fo course, but it’s the composition that’s so great about it, and the mood it set in the game, but like I said, NES sound was limited, and they sound horrible by todays standards.

Yea, I wish I could open up to it; there would be another 1,000 soundtracks for my iPod. I think you must have played the games back in the day to get the most out of it.

What’s there not to like? Game music is God….God is Game Music….

Like: Tension Music – Trance Music
Hate: "The DK Rap" from Donkey Kong 64 and Super Smash Brothers Melee