SNES Euphonies

(Edit: if the audio player refuses to play on your browser, you may have to clear your cookies and caches. Also, if you tried to play all files before, you’d noticed that Lufia 2’s boss theme was at number 9. That music file didn’t work. I tried to fix that but it just refused to cooperate, so I had it changed with another tune from another RPG.)

The videogame consoles made after NES has quite a leap in the quality of sounds. The sampling rate is higher, and the bit has increased from 8 to 16. By the time gamers migrated to SEGA and/or SNES, they were beginning to hear music that sounded like they came from real instruments.

I haven’t played SEGA for a long enough time to have a top 10 list of favorite Sega music, but without a doubt Sonic the Hedgehog had some fine tunes, which was kind of like him saying, “Step aside, Mario. I run and jump faster than you do, and my taste in music is better too!”

Nintendo rebutted, “Don’t give me that attitude, Sega! You may have your Sonic techno, but I have my Yoshi chillout tracks!”

Okay, I’m kind of getting ahead of myself. Playing SNES for more than 10 years, I have, of course, grown to be very attached to its games. Everything NES had done SNES did better. The games had more stories, more styles, and of course the tracks sounded cleaner and a lot more beautiful than before.

Again, my top 10 SNES tunes, in no particular order.

1. Tetris Attack – Forest Stage Theme

This is the Yoshi chillout track I was talking about. That dinosaur starred in Tetris Attack, which is quite a good puzzle game. The title is a misnomer because it’s not really Tetris. 

2.  Terranigma - The Underworld

Here’s one RPG tune for you. In the PlayStation days people often associate RPG’s with rousing soundtracks, but way back in SNES great RPG tunes were already being made. This Terranigma composition is striking for its very somber tone, which fits the mood of the game. After all, it takes place in a post-apocalyptic world.

3.  Lost Vikings - Factory Beat

Evidence that not only did Japanese game companies get the creating of videogame music down pat. Lost Vikings are made by the publisher who later released Warcraft, and even this early their genius already shows. I still can’t name a puzzle game that surpasses this one. I dig the soundtrack too, which is full of funky new jack swing tunes.

4. Donkey Kong Country 2 - Bramble Blast

Another one of those chillout tunes. Seriously, if all the chillout tunes I hear are as inspired as those Nintendo and Rare come up with, I might not be so dismissive of electronica as “lazy music”.

5. Dracula X - Stage 3 Theme

This is actually a remix of an old Castlevania tune. it’s too bad that Dracula X sucks.

6. Starfox - Corneria

Another proof that Nintendo knows how to make great music when they’re inspired. Rock with this!

7. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island - Obstacle Course

And yet Nintendo… okay enough of that. This time here’s something that sounds like ragtime music.

8. Final Fantasy V - Battle with Gilgamesh

The best RPG battle themes are those that get the player pumped up. This one is an example.

9. Final Fantasy VI - Decisive Battle

This one is another, and it’s not surprising that both number 8 and 9 are written by the same composer, Nobuo Uematsu.That name should be familiar to anyone who has passing knowledges of videogame music.

10. Wild Guns - Stage 1 Theme

Rock with a little Wild Western sound. The game is also Wild Western, but also with robots. They need to make more games with that setting!

NES Euphonies

Call me geeky if you must, but I’m a self-professed fan of videogame music. It’s easy to dismiss videogames as mere products of amusement, that what only matter is whether it’s fun or not fun. There’s really nothing wrong with such perception, per se; I just happen to think that good music benefits a videogame as it would a movie. Take Super Mario Brothers, for example. It’s still considered one of the best games of all time, but do you know what else about it is remembered? Yes, the music. I hear people use its compositions as their ring tones. It happens because they are catchy and pleasing to the ears.

Anyway, videogame music has come a long way. In their nascent stage, videogames only had intro tracks that went for less than 10 seconds at the beginning of each level, and that’s it. Videogames then were all about how it played, and gamers were given no other objectives than to achieve highest scores; there were no rooms for superfluous things like endings, cutscenes, level progressions, music, or styles. One was more likely to deduce, or maybe interpret, a game’s story by the cartridge art and by the design of the arcade cabinets than by playing the game.

It’s when NES had come into being that videogame music began to show some complexity. Although gamers were still hearing 8-bit bleeps, they could hear melodies while they’re playing. Of course, videogame tracks of then looped after a brief amount of time (and to this day most of them still do); still, they achieved their purposes of giving the game distinct feels.

This is my 10 favorite NES compositions, in no particular order. Note that I edited all the songs, such that I made them fade out when they’re about to start looping.

1. Super Mario Brothers Level 1 Theme

Yeah, everyone has heard of it already. Moving on…

2. Super Mario Brothers 2 Level 1 Theme

Whatever anyone’s opinion of that game may be (“HOW COULD ANYONE CALL THAT A MARIO GAME?!” was the cry of many) it’s hard to deny how infectiously happy the tune is.

3. Darkwing Duck New Bridge Theme

Disney has always been identified with unforgettable (and in some cases schmaltzy) music, and Capcom manages to give its Darkwing Duck game the same unforgettable quality. What a bluesy tune.

4. Batman Level 1 Theme

It’s so Batman, don’t you think?

5. Kirby’s Adventure Title Screen Theme

This one is chirpy and lighthearted, and it may just expedite your next visit to your dentist. Incidentally, I find it funny how the quality of Nintendo games seem directly related to how good their music is. How else to you explain the bland tracks of the equally bland Kirby and Yoshi’s Island for the DS?

6. Megaman 2 Bubble Man Theme

Though there isn’t any surf-like sound effect, it still evokes the feel of ocean breezes.

7. Megaman 3 Spark man Theme

No other tunes from Megaman series makes my tap my feet as much as this one.

8. Contra Level 1 Theme

The only tune bad enough to rescue the president.

9. Journey to Silius Level 1 Theme

Actually, the soundtrack of the game is rock-solid. It’s interesting to note that Journey to Silius was originally meant to be the Terminator game. Can you imagine this song being played for that James Cameron classic? I can, because I find it just as somber.

10. River City Ransom Level 1 Theme

A very funky tune. Seriously, we need more of these! What’s more impressive here is that this one goes for almost two minutes before it starts looping. That’s not very common in the NES days.