Official Nintendo Consoles Music Thread (Thanks for Listening!)

Yeah, alright then, I'm game for this. I think 45 posts is optimistic, though, so I can't promise I won't just use week 150 to end this thread.

Luke Jonathan "Buska "Drunkalilly" Lilly" James Summerhayes, the Master Cheese, World Excite Truck Champion of the World,
presents
THE TOP FIVE NINTENDO SOUNDTRACKS

Honourable mentions:

5:

4:

3:

2:

1:

Balla's top five:

Yeah, count me in.

5:

4:

3:

2:

1:

Drunkalilly wrote:

Yeah, alright then, I'm game for this. I think 45 posts is optimistic, though, so I can't promise I won't just use week 150 to end this thread.

You wouldn't dare! Nah fair enough, if the discourse stops before we hit 989 then go for it.  However I'm pretty sure you and I alone could post enough grand pieces, feedback, and general back-and-forth to ad-hoc our way there.  Factor in other people, and it shouldn't be a problem, I would think/hope!

Drunkalilly wrote:

Pokémon Silver
Rival's Theme

Drunkalilly wrote:

I think you'll find with mine, and you should have noticed this already, that I can't separate the soundtrack from my emotional attachment or otherwise to the game.

You don't say. Not that I'm saying it's a bad soundtrack if you can battle through the chiptune soundset, but I notice that 'or tune' gets thrown in as an afterthought in your comment.  I wonder if the same likewise is true for Jay and Mother 3?  It's a good soundtrack (the battle themes stand out for me), albeit hindered by the GBA soundset beyond simple chiptune-ness, but top in all music ever?  

Which I guess brings me to another question: do you gents listen to a lot of videogame music outside the games themselves?  Apart from for e.g. this thread and Jay's.

(In my turn, I never finished Banjo, found DKCTF alright elevated to great by its music alone, thought SMG was overrated, and gave Default a 7/10.  My equivalent of that pick would be Sapphire, but sadly it aged with the GBA.  I think I treat games and their music very separately!)

Other beedfack:

Balladeer wrote:

Which I guess brings me to another question: do you gents listen to a lot of videogame music outside the games themselves?  Apart from for e.g. this thread and Jay's.

*butts in*

Not only do I do it, but it's darn near the only thing I listen to. Heck I've even got a small shelf filled with game and anime original and arrange soundtracks from specific composers and games that struck a chord. Game soundtracks have come a long way from their beeping and booping origins, and personally I find them far more enjoyable than "normal" music whose lyrics are often about subjects I have no relating to/absolute contempt for and whose instrumentation leaves a lot to be desired.


---------------

Anyhow I'll probably just sit on the sidelines and watch, my tastes tend to differ from the norm and I'd honestly find just naming five single tracks from all available soundtracks too much. I can't even do that with single games!

Mate you don't have to post single tunes if you don't want to, just name games. And different is good! Up to you, natch.

And I think I knew you listened to a lot of gaming stuff. I too enjoy them more than most stuff with lyrics. Do you listen to much classical at all? Most of it has no lyrics, and the orchestral stuff does use a wide variety of instruments. Stuff like Serpent Eating the Horizon is closer to classical in nature than almost all modern music.

Balladeer wrote:

Drunkalilly wrote:

Pokémon Silver
Rival's Theme

Drunkalilly wrote:

I think you'll find with mine, and you should have noticed this already, that I can't separate the soundtrack from my emotional attachment or otherwise to the game.

You don't say. Not that I'm saying it's a bad soundtrack if you can battle through the chiptune soundset, but I notice that 'or tune' gets thrown in as an afterthought in your comment.  I wonder if the same likewise is true for Jay and Mother 3?  It's a good soundtrack (the battle themes stand out for me), albeit hindered by the GBA soundset beyond simple chiptune-ness, but top in all music ever?  

If I was looking at this list purely from a composition standpoint then there are obviously better soundtracks out there. But surely the point of a videogame soundtrack - or movie, anime or TV show soundtrack for that matter - is to compliment the game itself? That's why I don't mind the fact that the context of the games themselves colour my impression of their soundtrack. The drama of Phoenix overturning a case wouldn't be half as exhilarating if it weren't for the Pursuit theme spurring him on. Brief spoilers for this one:

Mother 3 early-game spoilers:

Sure, the bombast of an Elder Scrolls soundtrack is likely more impressive from a pure musical standpoint, but a warrior scrapping with a dragon means nothing to me compared to most of Mother 3's soundtrack. To each their own though!

Besides, no track can rival the majesty of Digimon World's finest piece.

Re. the link:

Each to their own as you say.  I'll be honest: eventually I'll probably have listened to more BotW music (to pick a topical example) as background sound on YouTube than I did while playing the game.  I'll still remember the context, natch, but when it gets to that stage the pure music quality is a greater factor.  That's why I asked the question about general soundtrack listening to yerself and Drunka.  

There is, as ever where music is concerned, no right answer.

I do indeed listen to game music. It isn't all I listen to, but for the most part all the music I like is because of attachments to something else. I like songs and scores that I heard in games, films and television. I like songs that remind me of people or nights out or good times. Even beyond that, I tend to discover an artist through hearing them in one of those contexts and then go on to listen to more of their stuff.

And because of that, like Jay said, I often appreciate music, OSTs especially, more for how they compliment onscreen action than for any pure musical value.

The exceptions are tunes I just love to DANCE to.

Argh! So little time... I did do a Nontendo prelude, but that got out of hand and was silly. I even managed to think of some from this millennium!

10. Banjo-Kazooie - Agreed with the Balls-man that Mad Monster Mansion is awesome. Not higher up this list mind, as, and I love Grant Kirkhope, but the tunes sort of intermingle. But still - Christmas time!!!!

9. Mario Kart 8 - Yes, it's quiz show rock. But it's all great - possibly helped by the fact I know it's a band. You can't play the bass like this guy.

8. Super Matroid - Epic space pop. Both bits of Brinstar - this bit and this other bit - stand out.

7. Paper Mario: The  Thousand Year Door - Was trying to avoid having 2 of the Marios, but this is a lot different from the (ultimately better) Mario Galaxy soundtrack. This has crazy pop stuff like the sewer theme. This ain't yer regler Mario.

6. Splatoon - Has there been another game franchise started in the last 5 years that has a unique sound? Don't think about it, because you'll come up with one, and I'll look silly. It doesn't even matter what the lyrics are. There's also Squid Dubstep and for crying out loud, Squid Metal.

5. Mega Man 2 / 3 - I couldn't choose! A combination of these two would be the best NEW game ever. MM2 and MM3 titles are both intense. Then let's pick Quick Man, Bubble Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man, Snake Man, Top Man, and what should have been in the Best Last Levels topic but isn't actually the last level, Dr. Wily's Theme from MM2.

4. - Earthbound - I know now that it took a lot of the music from Mother and tidied it up good, but still. Alternating between dub reggae (Hospital Helpers), quirky sampling nonsense (Your Name Please)  and All of the Feels (Ness' House). Makes me want to play it again just listening to it.

3. Super Mario Galaxy - As you all have said. Although I didn't see a link to Gusty Garden Galaxy aka The Tune That Convinces You Life Is Worth Living.

2. Donkey Kong Country - This might be seen as blasphemy, given you guys' previous answers, but I actually prefer the original SNES versions of the music. I give you Jungle Japes, Forest Frenzy, the ahead of its time Fear Factory, and of course Aquatic Ambience. Nothing else on the SNES sounded remotely like it.

1. Legend of Zelda - A Link Between Worlds - This would've been LttP, but this is essentially that, but remastered. But for crying out loud, which ever game you played first, hearing Hyrule Castle, Dark World/Lorule and of course The Main One - it's like "DO IT! GET A GOIN'!". Bonus points for the afore-mentioned Wind Waker with Dragon Roost Isle of course.

I probably missed something, but this already got out of hand. I had to remove Solar Jetman and everything.

OH MY GOD SLATOOOOON!
Assume that sits at my number 6 as well.

I played LttP first, and still prefer ALBW. But then I would, wouldn't I. More Jimbob feedback coming soon, although Splatoon's soundtrack is another one I still don't understand the love for.

Balladeer wrote:

Splatoon's soundtrack is another one I still don't understand the love for.

I've spent two weekends with you and I'm still not convinced you're a real person. RIGHT!


Splatoon is a hell of a videogame. The control and motion is sublime: fluid movement, slick aiming and shooting, simple controls hiding enormous depth. What other game has duck, run and reload on the same button in the same move? This is tied to fun and innovative game modes, a robust (albeit moreso now than at launch) suite of multiplayer options and a surprisingly well put-together campaign.

I would wager, though, that the reason for the enormous success isn't any of that, but instead the sense of style. Dripping with that urban Japanese cool, the customisable outfits and sassy attitudes of Splatoon's inklings represent a distinct cultural vibe, a natural fit for a game essentially about graffiti. Underpinning this stylish cohesion is the soundtrack, which does a phenomenal job of mixing multiple genres and tones while remaining consistently on-brand. It does this with a general weirdness and a very unique, very cool, approach to music that sounds like it was made in the game's universe. In the past, I've seen people in this thread posting up bits and bobs from the singleplayer OST, which are great, but for me the beauty of the game's soundtrack are the randomised playlist songs from multiplayer. These could easily be the songs the inklings are listening to when they wear big ol' headphones.

Opening

Not really a song, but this opening sets the stage for what's to come. A bash of percussion, a gurgle of squidsong: this feels like a band in a garage getting ready to rock out. This isn't your grandad's Nintendo soundtrack. This vibe continues with the so-called Jam Session version of the main theme that plays throughout the tutorial.

I'll skip Splattack, as Jimbob already linked it, and move onto

Kraken Up

This one is well up there as just a piece of music I'd put on the level of any of the MP3s on my phone made by human musicians. I listen to it and want to dance and sing along, despite it being in squiddy gibberish. There is one bit where I sing along with "this is splatoon, THIS IS SPLATOON, THIS IS SPLATOON!"

Ink or Sink
Sucker Punch
Metalopod

The beauty is in the way the music could be a real piece of metal, or rock, or whatever genre it is but for the little weird touches and the squiddy voices. Genius stuff!

Hooked

Fun and funky and completely different from the other genres above, this still feels like something very Splatoon. By this point you're either starting to get what I mean or I'm looking like a proper mentallist.

Ink Me Up

In case you were ever wondering why I love the Squid Sisters. An absolute jam that I have right in there in playlists with the likes of Taylor Swift herself.

Shiokara-Bushi

The game's singleplayer campaign casts the player as Agent 3, and is spent constantly in the shadow of Agents 2 and 3, who came before. In the final bossfight, these agents appear to provide encouragement and reveal themselves to be Callie and Marie, the Squid Sisters, before launching into a liver performance like Cephalopod Cheerleaders. A great moment and a great track. This little Acoustic Version is lovely as well.

I hope that's started to explain it to you, Balla. If not, well . . . just be glad I talked myself down from posting this as Week 150 :p
Now, I must run: I want to make it home in time for Splatooooon!

Balladeer wrote:

Mate you don't have to post single tunes if you don't want to, just name games.  And different is good!  Up to you, natch.

And I think I knew you listened to a lot of gaming stuff. I too enjoy them more than most stuff with lyrics.  Do you listen to much classical at all?  Most of it has no lyrics, and the orchestral stuff does use a wide variety of instruments.  Stuff like Serpent Eating the Horizon is closer to classical in nature than almost all modern music.

Right then!  *begins writing essay*

Sad thing is I'm not actually exaggerating, I've already written up the first game's selections and it's on the intimidating side.  Two large paragraphs about the soundtrack in general and then another two for the two themes themselves.  Hope people like textwalls, because my picks are going to have a lot of them!

And nay, outside of gaming and anime original soundtracks my exposure to music is fairly limited.


Also I hated the motion controls for splatoon. But then I've always had s*** coordination so they were more a hindrance than a positive.

drunka wrote:

The beauty is in the way the music could be a real piece of metal, or rock, or whatever genre it is but for the little weird touches and the squiddy voices. Genius stuff!

This the main reason why I really like it as well, though I do think some of the single player music only works when you hear it in game which is fine & if I remember correctly some of the enemies move in sync with the beats.

Athrun888 wrote:

Also I hated the motion controls for splatoon.  But then I've always had s*** coordination so they were more a hindrance than a positive.  

The motion controls can be switched off, though for me they're essential. I miss them when I play shooters on other machines now.

Jimbob feedback:

Splat feedback coming toon.  Before I get too into it, though - I like my grandad's Nintendo, albeit with a more modern set of instruments, and I suspect that's where we'll part ways musically speaking!

Right.  Splatoon.

I think, I think, I understand why you, Drunka, and others like it now.  And also why I'm not going to be a convert.  A couple of reasons for that.

The game does do a good job of videogamifying a number of genres, whereas the likes of SMG basically videogamify instrumental classical and that's it.  And herein lies the rub: I don't like most of those genres.  'Up there with Taylor Swift': I would never voluntarily listen to Taylor Swift.  'I listen to it and want to dance': clubs for me are places of horror and stickiness.  'The music could be a real piece of metal, or rock': I do like some metal and rock, but it's basically all instrumental.  No vocals, gibberish or otherwise.

That's not entirely the end of the story. Splatoon does some very interesting things with melody, but I didn't find a lot of those tracks hummable per se. The melodies didn't get stuck in my head, and some I downright disliked.  Prime culprits: Jam Session, and the three pieces above the third pic.  Shiokara-Bushi is my favourite out of the lot, and it had a much more conventional harmony, and an easily hummable tune, than some of its fellows.

There's also the fact that I find annoying a lot of sounds that I suspect y'all don't.  Remember our differing views on Scorch 'n' Torch?  A lot of this is probably that times ten.


This is my trying to put some reason behind it, when a big reason is probably just 'I ain't played it for long enough'. And to be fair, there's stuff I liked in that post.  Roll on Spla2n, I guess, and me actually buying the damn thing.

Hmm.

On this occasion I will allow you to live.

Thank goodness, that allows me to post this:



Lunar Colony



MK8D doesn't have a lot of music all of its own, but it does have this absolutely glorious piece.  It's like what the new Rainbow Road might have been if freed from the shackles of the 'doo DOO doo DOO' motif.  Shame it only appears in Battle Mode really.

I'll also link to 3DS Wuhu Town, which is nowhere near as good but is a reminder that actually the Wii Sports Resort main theme is chuffing brilliant, and it wasn't the composer's fault that Nintendo tried to shove Wuhu Island into places where it didn't really belong.

Woah, woah, woah, we can't just do a Chat Very Good all the way up to episode 150! Anyway, this is the best new tune in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

I know I promised it, and here it is!  I've been toiling away at this for a good few days now, carefully going over my soundtracks to select just the right themes to highlight and then gush over in a large amount of text!  

Without further ado, here it is, Athrun888's Top Five Game Soundtracks Featured on Nintendo Systems!  Should be mentioned that there are some seriously astounding soundtracks on Nontendo systems as well and at some point it might be worth doing a top five for them too.  Games like Nier Automata deserve recognition for their eargasmic soundtracks!

And yes, I realise this turned in to a blog post!

Number 5: Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)

As much as I've sometimes criticised this game and its soundtrack as a tad overrated (come on, lets be fair, when you play as many JRPGs as I do it has a ton of competition), but it's still a stellar soundtrack with some absolutely superb music.  
A conglomeration effort from ACE+, Manami Kiyota, Yoko Shimomura, and a guest appearance by Yasunori Mitsuda, you'd think the result would be a bit of a trainwreck in terms of consistency.  You'd be a little right about that too, not everything synchs up tonally, although most of it does.  On top of that the few odd ducks out are so amazing they leave you thankful they made it in.  

The Picks:

I'm sure plenty would wonder why I didn't mention any of the extremely obvious themes, like Gaur Plains or Eryth Sea.  Simple: everyone already knows how good they are.   I'm sticking to two themes here, and most have played and know of Xenoblade's soundtrack.  Honourable mentions to Fight (Yoko Shimomura), Mechonis Field (ACE+), and Snowy Mount Valak Night (ACE+)!

Number 4: Xenoblade Chronicles X

Ooh boy I can see the pitchforks waving angrily in the distance already!  This was always going to edge out the first game's soundtrack for me due to a personal bias towards its composer, Hiroyuki Sawano.  Typically an anime original soundtrack composer working on such titles as Gundam Unicorn, Guilty Crown, and most well known, Attack on Titan.   Speaking of those soundtracks if you liked any of X's music give stuff like UNICORN and BIOS a listen, ruddy amazing stuff (and if I'm honest a fair bit better than most of X's soundtrack).  

The Picks:

I'm not going to throw out Xenoblade X honourable mentions here for one simple reason: you're better off looking up some of Sawano's other works.  So instead I'll name those!  Krone (from Guilty Crown), Full Frontal (Gundam Unicorn), BANSHEE (Gundam Unicorn), X (Blue Exorcist), and Idaho Potato (Guilty Crown, and yes, if it wasn't obvious Sawano's soundtracks frequently have nonsense for titles)

Number 3: Bravely Default

Another out-of-left-field choice of a game composer, Revo, was brought in to compose the score for old-school RPG callback Bravely Default.  And boy does he nail the feel, all while bringing a contemporary flair to proceedings when needed.  His blend of epic orchestra and banging rock brought the game to life and are also a darn good romp out of context.  

The Picks:

Number 2: Fire Emblem Fates

These games had many flaws with their stories and scripts, but everything else regarding presentation was on-point, including the original soundtrack.  As fitting with the game's two different factions and third force three disinct styles featured heavily in the game's musical presentation.  Nohr, being a european styled nation, had themes featuring plenty of horns, flutes, trumpets, and all that good stuff.  Hoshido, being an asian based nation, had themes that again channeled that nation musically (this is where my lack of instrument name knowledge shows me up lol).  Meanwhile the third force has an almost-celtic bend to things.  

As such I'll be doing FOUR themes, as I feel anything besides showcasing each nation with a theme plus a generally awesome theme is doing the game a diservice (they are techically three two games after all!)  

The Picks/essay:

Honourable mention to Desire Below, a lovely spellbinding theme that has a bit of a hint of Zelda to it.  


Number 1: Etrian Odyssey IV Legend of the Titan

And this is where I completely depart from the known with Atlus's super niche Etrian Odyssey series.  However don't ignore this just because it's niche or "weeb", for its composer is none other than Yuzo Koshiro, which most of you know from his Streets of Rage heritage, and I know for his Falcom heritage (yes, that's right people, I've managed to get Falcom pedigree in this topic without their ever gracing a Nintendo platform properly!)  

Now, I'll preface this by mentioning I haven't actually finished the game (although I have played a good twenty hours).  Even so this soundtrack is just incredible stuff, as Koshiro mixes the more energetic compositional traits of his with some astonishingly good mellow themes for the labyrinths.  Indeed if any of the themes strike one's fancy I highly recommend checking out the full soundtrack, odds are you'll find some other themes to fall in love with.  

The :picks/essay:

*Ahem*  

And with that I conclude my Top Five Game Soundtracks on Nintendo Systems (not to be confused with my top five game soundtracks in general, as I said at the start there are some astonishingly good Nontendo soundtracks out there.  There are times I wish to make a top 15 of various themes, although I know I lack the audience to make it worthwhile).   Hopefully those who took the time to read and perhaps listen to these (thanks if you did!) encountered some great new things to listen to and enjoy,  or perhaps found a newly discovered love for themes they may have already known about.  

Athrun888 signing off.  Peace!  

And yes, I will be going over the previous ones posted, I just need a break first after typing, listening, and editing so much lol!

What a shock: five JRPGs

I'll give those a proper listen later on, don't worry, but I'll say this: I'm not bothered by anyone claiming XCX had a better soundtrack than XC. I just didn't like the game as much, so the music didn't resonate with me or get listened to enough to stay in my head.

I can't help it if jrpg's are the games that get the most consistently awesome soundtracks!

Slash most of the games you play.

Shorter than I expected!  Will give 'em a listen later on, especially the top two.  No qualms about three through five though.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Woah, woah, woah, we can't just do a Chat Very Good all the way up to episode 150! Anyway, this is the best new tune in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

I wasn't that fond.

Chiming on the ol' Splatters chat - whilst I really appreciate how unique the tracks sound, I'm not fond at all of the gibberish squid lyrics that are present in some of the tracks so as a whole I'm not huge on the soundtrack.