• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Game graphics have got better, so why hasn't the music?

R

Rocked

Member
http://dkc2bramble.ytmnd.com/

Just listen to this. You very very rarely hear original game music as beautiful as that today. In Mario Kart DS I noticed the new music was shit compared to the retro ones too.

The catchy tunes are what I REALLY miss about old gaming. I think all composers should be forced to make their tunes on a Commodore 64 or a NES then remix them.
wink.gif
I don't understand why modern music isn't so memorable.
 
D

dog$

Hates quality gaming
There's plenty of good VGM that is made today.

Nothing clouds the senses like nostalgia.
 
W

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
maybe he's talking about new nintendo games. he did reference DKC2 music and Mario Kart DS.
 
R

Rocked

Member
Wario64 said:
maybe he's talking about new nintendo games. he did reference DKC2 music and Mario Kart DS.
Click to expand...

Yes, it was mainly Nintendo's games I was considering actually. I just know New Super Mario Bros will disappoint in this aspect.
 
R

Rocked

Member
Wollan said:
God of War, SOTC, Oblivion..etc.
Click to expand...

You really think you'll still be able to remember those games music 10 or 15 years down the line like we can with stuff like Sonic, Mario, Street Fighter 2 etc? I doubt it.

Agreed on Katamari Damacy though. :)
 
A

Archie

Second-rate Anihawk
Rocked said:
Yes, it was mainly Nintendo's games I was considering actually. I just know New Super Mario Bros will disappoint in this aspect.
Click to expand...
can i borrow your time machine?
 
M

meltpotato

Member
Rocked said:
You really think you'll still be able to remember those games music 10 or 15 years down the line like we can with stuff like Sonic, Mario, Street Fighter 2 etc? I doubt it.

Agreed on Katamari Damacy though. :)
Click to expand...

woah... are you serious with that statement???
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Rocked said:
http://dkc2bramble.ytmnd.com/

Just listen to this. You very very rarely hear original game music as beautiful as that today. In Mario Kart DS I noticed the new music was shit compared to the retro ones too.

The catchy tunes are what I REALLY miss about old gaming. I think all composers should be forced to make their tunes on a Commodore 64 or a NES then remix them.
wink.gif
I don't understand why modern music isn't so memorable.
Click to expand...
I disagree. Game music has changed, but I feel that it has improved. Game music is better than its ever been and there are some truly outstanding soundtracks out there...many of which come from games you've probably never played.
 
L

LakeEarth

Member
I like Oblivions title track.

And this thread just reminds me how much I need a surround sound system for my games. Sure I have an HDTV, but I can feel that without the sound I'm missing something.
 
M

Mifune

Mehmber
While I think there are plenty of current games with great music, I do agree that nothing tops the early Castlevania or Contra tunes in composition. A lot of 8-bit music was incredibly complex but memorable, mostly because the musicians had to make up for the technological limitations of the NES.

One listen to any of the Advantage albums and you realize that video game music just isn't as complex today as it was twenty or so years ago.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Some of the recent Mario endeavors haven't been up to par, but hopefully that'll change with NSMB and Mario 128. Same with Zelda.

And Nintendo games made by Retro and Intelligent Systems have outstanding music.
 
O

Odrion

Banned
Oh god how I loved DKC2's soundtrack.

Rareware has and continues to write excellent music for their videogames.
 
D

Doogdogg

Member
Odrion said:
Oh god how I loved DKC2's soundtrack.

Rareware has and continues to write excellent music for their videogames.
Click to expand...

dkc2 does have a good track that blends with the whole pirate theme. great stuff for sure.
 
I

imastalker co.

Banned
you're out of your mind. there's some legendary music that's come out since the nes days.

the fact that someone would say such a thing gets me mad at humanity.
 
Demigod Mac

Demigod Mac

Member
If there's one series whose musical score has declined, it's the Suikoden series.

I long for the greatness of I and II.
 
W

Wollan

Member
Phoenix said:
Oblivion does not have good music. That soundtrack is as forgettable as they come. Its really the games only weakness.
Click to expand...

I totally disagree. It's Jeremy Souls best soundtrack yet imo.
Though Morrowind's main theme stand supreme.
 
M

meltpotato

Member
Mifune said:
While I think there are plenty of current games with great music, I do agree that nothing tops the early Castlevania or Contra tunes in composition. A lot of 8-bit music was incredibly complex but memorable, mostly because the musicians had to make up for the technological limitations of the NES.

One listen to any of the Advantage albums and you realize that video game music just isn't as complex today as it was twenty or so years ago.
Click to expand...

I would slightly disagree and instead say that it was a vastly different approach. NES music had to work within a very definted set of parameters and did amazing things within that space. todays music (SOTC) has the task of creating an all-encompassing atmospheric expirence. I think you could argue that the majority of 8-bit tunes were good were as there are a greater number of shit-tastic tunes currently.

ps: Advantage is fucking amazing
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Yes, David Wise is indeed a god of music.

Despite Rare being off in terms of game development, their music has always been consistently great.
 
J

jett

D-Member
I really like listening to NSF, SiD files and the like, and even I can see that this is one nostalgia-ridden thread. OF COURSE music has improved in certain respects, when it comes to audio and technical quality. Back when composers were extremely limited when it came to amount of simultaenous instruments and their quality(because of the hardware and memory limits), they had to resort to simplistic, catchy tunes that would stand out. You couldn't even attempt simulate the sound of an orchestra, because it was, well, impossible. Creating an atmospheric, immersive soundtrack was pretty freaking hard 15-20 years ago, although a few could(see: Tim Follin).

Nowadays, those limits are nearly gone. There's a bunch of soundtracks which would lose a whole fucking lot if you would turn them into chiptunes(8bit-gen sounding music), because of their complexity and depth(I can't even fucking imagine how would Silent Hill sound on an NES). If you can't hear it, you're deaf...or maybe you're just a Nintendo exclusive fanboy...in that case, I sympathize with you, because Nintendo's latest soundtracks are mostly forgettable crap with shitty, N64-level samples.

So yeah, music has most certainly improved.

BTW, very, very few NES/SNES soundtracks sound like the ones David Wise composed. :p
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
Game music has only improved, imho. Some of the more nostalgia worthy series may have had their best soundtracks in earlier titles, but as a whole we're in awesomeville all over the place.

Also, for no reason at all I'm going to say I like the soothing music in Pikmin 2. Just because I like to reccomend that game whenever I can.
 
Thaedolus

Thaedolus

Gold Member
It's not so much that there isn't good music in today's games, it's just that the good stuff has moved away from your average kiddy games. And I mean that with no disrespect, I love me some Mario Kart and such, but recent musical additions from Nintendo sound more like carnival music than the catchy pieces they'd put out in the past.
 
J

JavyOO7

Member
Rocked said:
http://dkc2bramble.ytmnd.com/

Just listen to this. You very very rarely hear original game music as beautiful as that today. In Mario Kart DS I noticed the new music was shit compared to the retro ones too.

The catchy tunes are what I REALLY miss about old gaming. I think all composers should be forced to make their tunes on a Commodore 64 or a NES then remix them.
wink.gif
I don't understand why modern music isn't so memorable.
Click to expand...

Metal Gear Solid 3 says hello.
And the entire DMC series.
And Soul Calibur 2.
And Katamari Damacy.
And many others.

And Mario Kart DS had incredible music. Delphino Square and Donkey Kong's snow level come to mind.

Now, if we're talking about purely Nintendo that their strength of music has diminished, you MIGHT make an arguement. But Pikmin, Zelda Wind Waker, Metroid Prime series and Fire Emblem also laugh with their full pot bellies.
 
B

Barnolde

Banned
Fuzzy said:
We need more music like this



and this

Click to expand...

At least the Advent Rising soundtrack was good.

Also: Otogi 1 & 2 both have incredible soundtracks, same with JGR and JSRF, GGX2 and GG Isuka. Breakdown's wasn't bad either. That's all that sticks out from recent memory.
 
R

Rocked

Member
It's not nostalgia, more my personal taste and how I don't like the direction it's going in. I realise some people love it, but I don't like orchestral, epic soundtracks that sound like they're from movies. I like catchy tunes that get stuck in my head and even the 'kiddy' games let me down in this area... have you heard Sonic Rush's music? Rancid.

My favourite soundtrack of recent times is Gitaroo-Man and I loved the theme for Luigi's Mansion.
 
W

Warm Machine

Member
Music has only gotten better in the vast majority of games, especially western ones. I don't even have to make a list. Perhaps in more Japanese games the music is worse and by listening to Mario Kart, Mario Party, etc I'd say it is true.
 
S

SupaFlySoccerMom

Banned
Rocked said:
You really think you'll still be able to remember those games music 10 or 15 years down the line like we can with stuff like Sonic, Mario, Street Fighter 2 etc? I doubt it.

Agreed on Katamari Damacy though. :)
Click to expand...
What??? Oblvion and SoTC! HELL YES I WILL!
 
B

Belfast

Member
Amir0x said:
Game music has only improved, imho. Some of the more nostalgia worthy series may have had their best soundtracks in earlier titles, but as a whole we're in awesomeville all over the place.

Also, for no reason at all I'm going to say I like the soothing music in Pikmin 2. Just because I like to reccomend that game whenever I can.
Click to expand...

I'd have to agree and add a note that we likely notice the good music of the past because most developers didn't put that much effort into their game soundtracks. By comparison to their contemporaries, it *was* good. Nowadays, good music is so pervasive that it's hard to pick one OST out from the crowd. Katmari Damacy does a good job of that, if anything, on the virtue that it has employs a variety of musical styles.
 
G

Ghengis Cohen

Banned
Amir0x said:
Game music has only improved, imho. Some of the more nostalgia worthy series may have had their best soundtracks in earlier titles, but as a whole we're in awesomeville all over the place.

Also, for no reason at all I'm going to say I like the soothing music in Pikmin 2. Just because I like to reccomend that game whenever I can.
Click to expand...
My wife discovered Pikmin 2 and now she is monopolizing my TV.
 
K

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
JavyOO7 said:
Metal Gear Solid 3 says hello.
And the entire DMC series.
And Soul Calibur 2.
And Katamari Damacy.
And many others.

And Mario Kart DS had incredible music. Delphino Square and Donkey Kong's snow level come to mind.

Now, if we're talking about purely Nintendo that their strength of music has diminished, you MIGHT make an arguement. But Pikmin, Zelda Wind Waker, Metroid Prime series and Fire Emblem also laugh with their full pot bellies.
Click to expand...

Zelda: TWW Dragon Roost Island music waves to nostalgia, screams "FTW BITCH!" and then has it bend over.
 
J

jko

Junior Member
fellow game music buff here, i as well grew up in the 80's and LOVE the game music as TP mentioned. but recently, i've been tuning in to the 80's station while at work, and it dawned on me...

alot, i mean ALOT of the 80's music sounds like game music!...like NES music. the thing is, it ISNT game music that's changed, MUSIC IN GENERAL has changed throughout the years. and the games you play nowadays reflect upon what music's popular nowadays.

of course there are exceptions(as in all things), but this is generally the revelation that i came to...
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
Belfast said:
I'd have to agree and add a note that we likely notice the good music of the past because most developers didn't put that much effort into their game soundtracks. By comparison to their contemporaries, it *was* good. Nowadays, good music is so pervasive that it's hard to pick one OST out from the crowd. Katmari Damacy does a good job of that, if anything, on the virtue that it has employs a variety of musical styles.
Click to expand...

It's a new subcategory of diminishing returns! You make a good point... there really is a fairly high quality of music among games now... makes it harder to be impressed or remember a particularly remarkable one. That's why soundtracks like from KD and SotC make such an impact, imo.

Billy Rygar said:
My wife discovered Pikmin 2 and now she is monopolizing my TV.
Click to expand...

You've got a good wife. You can always trust her.
 
T

Trojan X

Banned
I love this song! I remember when I first reach to that stage which has this song as BGM I use to turn the volume on my tv till near max; the speakers burst on that TV now but its ok. Memories...

There are many classic games that has some amazing musical scores, like SOR on the megadrive, Tenticle on the Atari ST and even the rainbow loading screen on the Commodore 64. I love these music and I would love to have many of them on MP3 to listen to.

I do understand what some of the guys/girls are saying here though: essentially, games these days do not features the same quality musical scores as the games in the yesterdays. Sure, they sound more chart-entry but not all of them are memorable which is a big problem for me.

A bit of a side topic but custom soundtracks options are all well and good but give me a great original gaming musical score anyday!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu finds recent game music “boring” – here’s why
Opinion
37
2K
Guilty_AI replied
90s game music was legit cool.
2
65
2K
ReBurn replied
Why are younger generations embracing the retro game revival? [Guardian]
2 3
120
4K
Guilty_AI replied
Jedi Survivor is the best SW game so far
48
2K
Synless replied
Nintendo DS's unique sound - Why DS games sound chaming
Opinion Platform
27
3K
cireza replied
Top Bottom