(NES) Ghosts 'n Goblins stage 1 music

[OldSchoolGamer]

I recently got into video game music. Over the years, I've played basically all the classics and best games for the NES. I recently started downloading lots of NES game music along with Winamp and it's plugins to listen to them, etc.

I must say that (NES) Ghosts n' Goblins stage 1 music fits the stage the best. There's no other NES games' music that is a better fit for it's game than stage 1 of Ghosts n' Goblins. It's a masterpiece of a perfect match to the stage.

What games' music do you guys think is a perfect match for a particular game? It can either be the entire game sound track, or it can just be a particular level.

[Ike]

I've been listening to the FF7 soundtrack a lot lately for no particular reason, and it's gotten me thinking about the game. Now, I have a massive amount of nostalgia for this game, but given age and wisdom and time, I've realized that FF7 is really kind of a clusterfuck on nearly every level, but that the soundtrack is really what holds the game together. The sound quality of the songs really isn't even that good. Square had some kind of fetish for strange SNES-quality MIDI instruments around this time (as FF7 isn't the only game that uses this), while nearly everybody else was using sampling for their songs. But, somehow, it all works, like a desk cobbled together from old doors.

This is still one of the best world map themes in any game.

[ReyVGM]

The entire soundtrack to the SNES GnG is entirely fitting.

Also, Norfair in Super Metroid.

[shelverton]

Jun 10, 2012 1:32:41 GMT -5 OldSchoolGamer said:

I must say that (NES) Ghosts n' Goblins stage 1 music fits the stage the best. There's no other NES games' music that is a better fit for it's game than stage 1 of Ghosts n' Goblins. It's a masterpiece of a perfect match to the stage.

I have a similar feeling when playing the very first few rooms of Shadowgate, also on NES. I just think the music fits the situation so damn well. It has this heroic yet tragic sound to it. The song itself is a bit of a masterpiece too.

Another game that got the entire soundtrack right was the original Castlevania. It's hard to say if the songs really "fit" the levels, or if I'm just digging the songs so damn much. But there're few things that makes me so pumped for killing stuff as the Entrance Hall to Dracula's castle and the song "Vampire Killer" playing in the background.

[OldSchoolGamer]

Another game that got the entire soundtrack right was the original Castlevania.

Yea, I agree, the NES Castlevania music is great. The SNES Castlevania music is even better.

It's hard to say if the songs really "fit" the levels, or if I'm just digging the songs so damn much.

Yea, it's hard to put aside nostalgia and feelings towards a game when choosing which music fit's it's game the best. I was going to mention the music to SMB1 (world 1-1 and world 1-2) as a honorable mention, but I thought to myself... Do I just think the music fits the game so good because of how much I like the game, my nostalgia, it being a classic, etc. I thought, if I had never played the game and if it was never a classic and face of the NES, would I still think that the music fit the game so well? Even though I love (NES) Ghosts 'n Goblins and it's a classic, I made sure to be unbiased when making my decision on the game.

[saucedupone]

Jun 10, 2012 12:23:00 GMT -5 shelverton said:

Jun 10, 2012 1:32:41 GMT -5 OldSchoolGamer said:

I must say that (NES) Ghosts n' Goblins stage 1 music fits the stage the best. There's no other NES games' music that is a better fit for it's game than stage 1 of Ghosts n' Goblins. It's a masterpiece of a perfect match to the stage.

I have a similar feeling when playing the very first few rooms of Shadowgate, also on NES. I just think the music fits the situation so damn well. It has this heroic yet tragic sound to it. The song itself is a bit of a masterpiece too.

Another game that got the entire soundtrack right was the original Castlevania. It's hard to say if the songs really "fit" the levels, or if I'm just digging the songs so damn much. But there're few things that makes me so pumped for killing stuff as the Entrance Hall to Dracula's castle and the song "Vampire Killer" playing in the background.

Those Kemco games sure kicked ass in the music department. I was piss scared of Deja Vu (as well as Shadowgate) when I was a youngster because the music just chilled my spine, and also because the mugger kept owning me.

I will have to say that my definitive personal choice for a favorite stage music is a tie, of course, between Guile's Theme from Super Street Fighter 2 and Moon Beach by Yuzo Koshiro from Streets of Rage 2. Those songs are embedded in my brain. These songs make me happy when I think of all the great memories I have of playing those games with my brother, cousins, and friends.

But playing games by yourself is a deeply personal experience as well, so I'd be remiss if I left out the Phantasy Star series, especially Phantasy Star 2. Every few years I will sit down and play these games and I never get bored of it because I can pace myself well and the music keeps me bopping along.

[AfroRyan]

Jun 10, 2012 3:32:12 GMT -5 Ike said:

I've been listening to the FF7 soundtrack a lot lately for no particular reason, and it's gotten me thinking about the game. Now, I have a massive amount of nostalgia for this game, but given age and wisdom and time, I've realized that FF7 is really kind of a clusterfuck on nearly every level, but that the soundtrack is really what holds the game together. The sound quality of the songs really isn't even that good. Square had some kind of fetish for strange SNES-quality MIDI instruments around this time (as FF7 isn't the only game that uses this), while nearly everybody else was using sampling for their songs. But, somehow, it all works, like a desk cobbled together from old doors.

This is still one of the best world map themes in any game.

What a moment in time. That music, taken any other way, just isn't as good; it HAS to be that mid-90's midi sound or it just doesn't sound right. I don't typically feel that way; a lot of SNES game's attempts to make music sound "realistic" fall completely flat (although that classic SNES 'horn' sound is nice). FFVII's midi doesn't actually attempt anything realistic (other than piano), instead mostly sounding kind of like synth-keyboard music; in my opinion, it's some of the best synth-keyboard music in existence.

For me, Toejam and Earl's theme on Sega Genesis embodies everything good about both the game and the Sega Genesis soundchip.


It had a pretty danged good bass sound, and creative sound engineers could pull all sorts of unique synth sounds from it. That said, I think bass-driven songs sound the best.

Then again, you could still make the Genesis sound awesome even without much bass. Case-in-point:


To me, this doesn't just represent Socket, a forgotten videogame character; it represents all forgotten would-be classics that just didn't quite have what it takes. It's a fun, happy song that embodies all those things Socket could have been with just a little more polish.

Also it's a song about a radical duck with lot's of 'tude. God, the 90's sure were fun, weren't they?

[ommadawnyawn]

Speaking of NES, I always loved that blues jam from when you face the hammer bros in SMB3 as it felt like they had their own theme music playing.

Here's a great remix of it:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=80rTcuRdRnc

[jorpho]

Blaster Master Stage 1, surely?

Aug 20, 2012 3:53:24 GMT -5 AfroRyan said:

What a moment in time. That music, taken any other way, just isn't as good; it HAS to be that mid-90's midi sound or it just doesn't sound right.

I dunno, the official orchestrated version has its charms. But you're probably right, it doesn't exactly qualify as an improvement.

[timnoldzim]

Aug 20, 2012 3:53:24 GMT -5 AfroRyan said:

It had a pretty danged good bass sound, and creative sound engineers could pull all sorts of unique synth sounds from it. That said, I think bass-driven songs sound the best.

Then again, you could still make the Genesis sound awesome even without much bass...

Yeah, the Genesis sound chip is just awesome. It's in that unique position where it's better than an 8-bit chip, but it still has a lot of limitations that a composer has to work around in order to make it sound good. The SNES' was much less rough and could do a lot more, but with the right composer, the Genesis could actually end up sounding BETTER- take New Junk City, for instance.





The SNES, for all its might, just can't replicate the pure hard-rock styling of the more primitive Genesis. And that's badass.

[ReyVGM]

The SNES' sound chip sure can, it's at the composer's discretion if he's going to go that way though.

[Kyle]

There's just something special about this track to me that makes me think of Final Fantasy:





As for a more recent title though, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, it has to be this battle music that just says 'epic monster battle':

[nilson]

The cave music from the NES version of Dragon Quest is particularly unnerving. It goes well with clawing about in the 8bit darkness.

[HolyDragSwd]

Speaking of Ghosts 'n Goblins stage 1

[OldSchoolGamer]

cool