Games with Distinct Music

So I had a youtube video going while I was putting away some laundry when some SNES music came on, and I thought, "Hmm... they're using Super Castlevania IV music."  No mention of the game or anything; it was just used in the background. It got me thinking, what game music is so distinct in your mind that you could hear any song from its soundtrack and know immediately what game it is from (and can distinguish it from other games in the same series)?



For me:

NES:

Legend of Zelda

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Super Mario Bros. 1-3

Bubble Bobble (is this cheating?)

Crystalis



SNES:

Super Castlevania IV

Secret of Mana

Seiken Densetsu 3

Donkey Kong Country

Final Fantasy VI

Chrono Trigger

Super Mario World

Yoshi's Island

Lufia and the Fortress of Doom

Energy Breaker

A Link to the Past

Demon's Crest

Plok



N64:

Ocarina of Time

Majora's Mask

Super Mario 64



There's probably others, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. What about you guys?

Comments

  • The music for Double Dragon and Double Dragon 2 on the NES is easily recognizable to me.
  • For me: TMNT2, Mega Man 4, SMB 1-3, Pokemon R/B.
  • If I played it, I can recognize the music. However, I am quicker on picking up tunes from JRPGs. Crystalis, Secret of Mana, and Chrono Trigger have the most memorable music for me though.
  • Mega Man 2

    Simon's Quest

    Tecmo Super Bowl

    Snake Rattle n Roll
  • Ghosts n Goblins, at least the classic theme that everyone knows.
  • music from skate or die...
  • Pretty much everything you listed, OP. I'd also add Street Fighter II to the list!
  • Baseball Stars.
  • Mortal Kombat 1-UMK3 (arcade versions, of course) are up there for me.
  • There is sooooooooooooo many so I will just put franchises instead.



    Mega Man - 2/3

    Castlevania  1/2/3/4

    Final Fantasy - All of them that Nobou worked on

    Dragon Quest - All of them

    Mario - All of Them

    Ghosts n Goblins

    Mortal Kombat - 1/2/3

    Chrono Trigger

    Secret of Mana

    Zelda - All of them

    Kickmaster

    Donkey Kong - 1/2/3

    Diddy Kong Racing

    Halo - 1/2/3

    Crash Bandicoot 1/2/3

    StarFox - All of them

    Battletoads

    Tetris

    F-Zero

    Dr.Mario

    Pokemon - Red/Blue/Yellow

    Contra

    Metroid

    Ecco

    Earthbound

    Ducktales

    Doom

    Kirby

     
  • Nes



    Mega Man 1-6

    Castlevania 1-3

    Contra

    LifeForce

    Jackal

    River City Ransom

    Ninja Gaiden

    Legend of Zelda

    Temco Bowl 1-2

    RBI Baseball

    Dragon Warrior 1-4

    TMNT 1-2

    Super Mario Bros 1-2



    Snes



    U.N. Squadron

    Mega Man 7

    Mega Man X 1-3

    Castlevania 4

    Super Metroid

     
  • Any of the Zelda games, Gun.Smoke, Super Mario Bros 1-3/World/64/Galaxy, and Pokemon R/B/Y are the ones that come to mind (as they are all some of my most played games).



    Games that I haven't played as much: Earthbound and FF7, both have very recognizable OSTs



    It would actually probably be easier for me to name games that I played a ton that don't have instantly recognizable music. Diablo II/Warcraft 3/anything Blizzard for sure. I recently put on the D2 soundtrack on youtube and didn't recognize any of it. I tended to have the game music muted, so that makes sense. Pretty much every fighting game except for Smash Bros as well.
  • So many! But ones I haven't seen mentioned yet: F-Zero and Street Fighter II. Whether it's Big Blue or Guile's theme, those tunes are so distinctly awesome!



    edit: oops toxie beat me to F-Zero lol
  • Maniac Mansion
  • Wouldn't your list be anything that you played a ton?



    I mean, my list would consist of some pretty oddball stuff (Super Ghouls N Ghosts, Super C, Rollergames freeway level, etc), but that wouldn't make them "games with distinct music" per se.
  • Originally posted by: captwarmonger



    Wouldn't your list be anything that you played a ton?



    I mean, my list would consist of some pretty oddball stuff (Super Ghouls N Ghosts, Super C, Rollergames freeway level, etc), but that wouldn't make them "games with distinct music" per se.



    Most of the time, yes. However, some games have a distinct sound to them. For example, from my list, I've never actually played Super Castlevania IV, I've just heard the music. I've only played Demon's Crest once, but it has a distinct sound. I have not played much Bubble Bobble, but really only has one song. I have played through the Seiken Densetsu games only a couple of times, but the instrument set is different from other games that I've heard anyway. Etc...

     
  • Originally posted by: TheFinder

     
    Originally posted by: captwarmonger



    Wouldn't your list be anything that you played a ton?



    I mean, my list would consist of some pretty oddball stuff (Super Ghouls N Ghosts, Super C, Rollergames freeway level, etc), but that wouldn't make them "games with distinct music" per se.



    Most of the time, yes. However, some games have a distinct sound to them. For example, from my list, I've never actually played Super Castlevania IV, I've just heard the music. I've only played Demon's Crest once, but it has a distinct sound. I have not played much Bubble Bobble, but really only has one song. I have played through the Seiken Densetsu games only a couple of times, but the instrument set is different from other games that I've heard anyway. Etc...

     

    Ah, that makes sense.



    Kinda like how when you hear a song from Kirby, you just know it's from Kirby from that happy upbeat tempo to it.



    Also: 

     
  • Originally posted by: captwarmonger



    Ah, that makes sense.



    Kinda like how when you hear a song from Kirby, you just know it's from Kirby from that happy upbeat tempo to it.

     



    Exactly. And that link you posted was sweet. Never heard of that game before.

     
  • Arcana, SNES
  • Any Camerica game. I could have never played or even seen the game before and I could tell it was one of theirs from the music.
  • Pretty much any Castlevania title

    Mario 1-World

    Mega Man 2

    Streets of Rage 2
Sign In or Register to comment.