Whilst rummaging through the demos on XBLA the other day, I came across N+, which is a port of a Flash platformer/puzzle game involving Ninjas. The game itself is kinda frustrating but I can see its appeal as it accurately simulates the discipline required to be a Ninja. Your character is super-fast and can jump quite high, cling to walls etc. But the gameplay requires a lot of patience, which is something I find annoying. It’s like being a superhero then having to exercise restraint with your powers, this I simply couldn’t handle.
But I digress. The game’s music by Joris de Man totally blew me away; an awesome mix of 8-bit chip tunes and modern beats, but with a dark, serious tone, which is something you don’t often get with this kind of “chippy” music. The best quality can be heard on the composer’s website under the Projects section (flash site so no direct link). Interestingly, his KillZone work appears strongly influenced by Harry Gregson-Williams of Metal Gear Solid 2 fame.
Now I would buy this music in an instant, but annoyingly, BOTH the iTunes and Amazon MP3 stores impose geographical purchase restrictions on the album. WTF? Encourage piracy, what? Annoyingly, I can’t even find it on the usual pirate channels.
While I’m on the topic, another awesome theme can be heard in Geometry Wars Retro Evolved on XBLA – a game which can only be described as “Asteroids on Acid”. Check out the music and the truly chaotic gameplay in this YouTube video. The sequal is also awesome but lacks the variety in weaponry.
And just for good measure, here’s a list of my all time favourite video game music, with links where I could find them (I take back every bad thing I said about audio-only YouTube videos).
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty – Harry Gregson-Williams
- Metal Gear Solid 2: The Other Side – Norihiko Hibino
- Diablo 2 – Matt Uelmen
- Quake 2 – Sonic Mayhem
- Machines (more info) – Jim Croft
- Red Faction – Dan Wentz
- FX Fighter (another) – Martin Gwynn Jones, Justin Scharvona
- Grim Fandango (another) – Peter McConnell
- Halo – Martin O’Donnell & Michael Salvatori
- Tekken Tag Tournament (another) – Namco Sound Team
- Entomorph – Danny Pelfry
Inspirational!
That particular track from Halo sounds a little odd by itself, but it suited the level (the outdoor section of The Truth and Reconciliation) really well. Metal Gear Solid is an interesting case. There aren’t many game designers that take themselves seriously enough to use music like The Love Theme from MGS4, which, incidentally, is the Solid Snake theme in Smash Brothers. It’s histrionic but I still like it. Other decent music off the top of my head, Little Big Adventure (not LBP), Tetris (original Gameboy, it just doesn’t get old), and Dune II. It’s probably not appropriate to say Grand Theft Auto, since the soundtrack is effectively a compilation, but there is something great about driving around the city to She’s on fire (GTA3) and 1979 (GTA4).
Hey thanks for the lengthy comment!
I agree with you “Under Cover of Night” from Halo track was probably not the best choice. So I’ve changed the link to point to “Covenant Dance” which has both the signature vocals and drums but still plenty of mystery
I am reminded of Final Fantasy 7 (possibly 10?) listening to some of the strings in the Halo soundtrack.
There is a lot of the MGS2 soundtrack that I have deleted because it doesn’t fit with the rest. I haven’t heard the whole MGS4 soundtrack but after a quick listen, it doesn’t really appeal to me. I also added another link to Countdown to Disaster, which is actually my favourite track from MGS2. Part of the reason I love the MGS2 soundtrack so much is it is VERY similar to the Enemy of the State soundtrack which HGW also worked on.
I have the Chatterbox MP3 around here somewhere, and whilst its not music, that station easily got GTA3 over the line in terms of humour quota. I burnt a copy for my sister who for a while just left it in her car stereo to see if anybody noticed
They did.