Evolution of video game music

Jason Thibeault

Very heavy Nintendo representation, but that’s perfectly fine by me. Done using, naturally, Mario Paint Composer. Listen to it without watching the video and see how many you recognize, for fun.

I laughed out loud at the inclusion of the Duck Tales Moon level theme — fucking. awesome. And the boss theme for Final Fantasy IV was great.

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Evolution of video game music

About the author

Hi! I'm a tech guy, skeptic, feminist, gamer and atheist, and love OSS and science of all stripes. I enjoy a good bit of whargarbl now and again, and will occasionally even seek it out. I am also apparently responsible for the death of common sense on the internet. My bad.

I have opinions. So do you. You want to share them with me. I would like to do likewise. Please don't expect a platform for proselytizing that will go unchecked and unchallenged, though. Contact me via the clicky thingies under my banner.

The commenting rules are simple: don't piss me off. This rule has worked for me for a decade; I have never found a need for any other rule, because any other rules leads to rules-lawyering. Just remember -- this is my property, not yours.
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8 thoughts on “Evolution of video game music”

  1. sinned34
    1

    I made the (natural) progression from NES to Genesis to Playstation, so I was lost on pretty much everything after Duck Tales. The video should be more accurately described as “Evolution Of Nintendo Game Music”. But it’s an interesting walk down memory lane, nonetheless.

  2. jthibeault
    2

    Yeah. There were only a few arcade representatives at the very beginning, very few non-Nintendo games overall, and no non-Nintendo consoles, so I’m guessing this was Baez’s memories of his own video game playing history. It was still pretty great.

  3. George W.
    3

    As a guy who was as true to Nintendo from day one as a pussy-whipped nerd on the only fat chick who ever paid attention to him, I can say that I knew almost all of them, except Kid Icarus…never owned that one.
    Really cool stuff!
    I didn’t even own a playstation until I was 20. I also was one of the ten known people who owned an Intellivision instead of an Atari. Sad, my life was….

  4. Dan J
    4

    I have the Diablo II soundtrack lying around here somewhere. Blizzard released individual tracks weekly on their website at one point. Beautiful orchestral pieces, and a couple that were just for fun.

    I think the music does a lot to enhance the gameplay. It’s interesting that games like those in the Grand Theft Auto and Saint’s Row series provide musical options within the game to suit each players’ tastes. I love the operatic station in GTA.

  5. sinned34
    5

    George,

    Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (the original and Treasures Of Tarmin) on Intellivision were both completely awesome! I was spoiled for choice in that my dad bought both the Mattel video game system AND Atari 2600, plus, my grandparents had an x86 and Coleco! Did I mention that I rarely received a sunburn during my youth?

    Dan,

    I concur, music can easily make the game. FFVII had an incredible (especially the orchestrated version) soundtrack, and seeing Video Games Live made my wife want to sign up for World Of Warcraft!

  6. George W.
    6

    OMG Sinned, I sooooo loved ADD and ADD ToT. Super excellent. I still have nightmares o being stuck in a dungeon being chased by a purple blob, all whilst being tormented by the “whoosh, whoosh, whoosh” of impending bats.
    Those games, Shark, Shark, He-Man, and Burger Time stole my youth away from me.
    Good times….

  7. Dan J
    7

    I worked at a video arcade in 1981/82. It was an exciting time for the booming video game industry. I had so much fun working and playing. Gorf, Defender, Galaxian, King Tut… So much fun.

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