A strange thing happened to me in 2003. A mate at university had an Xbox with Project Gotham Racing whereby you can play your own music to the game. Great! Or so I initially thought… The longer I played the game, the more I realised that whenever a track came on that I liked, it didn’t seem to improve the game any. We tinkered with a few things, dabbled with a bit of Metallica, a smidgeon of Prodigy –
So I headed home that summer and dug out the Mega Drive (previously 5 years dormant, curses you Sony!) and loaded up Streets of Rage 2 and it hit me. SOR2 is undoubtedly a great game but it’s also a great experience (albeit pretty short) with I think the best gaming soundtrack ever.
Games these days certainly have epic scores (I’m thinking the Halo series) and some rely on chart music (any EA sports sim) but how many of these will you remember in ten years’ time? Let alone twenty? It’s no coincidence that a host of the best 16-
10. Gauntlet theme tune –
A change down of gear to start proceedings. Lovely acoustic version of the arcade/NES/MD game that works extremely well. I can feel myself being transported to medieval times right now, rush me my mead, squire.
9. Friends theme tune in 8-
Okay, so not inspired by any particular game soundtrack but the actual genre itself. 8 bit Universe have done a few things but this stands out to me as something that could have actually worked. Loading up my NES, strolling down to Central Perk…
8. Streets of Rage –
Now this was a hard one to include because initially it just sounds like an exact cover of the game music. But the guitar solo that leads the tune out for the last 30 seconds or so is phenom. Talented guys!
7. Streets of Rage 2 –
Coming in at number 7 of my top ten game music tributes – one of my favourite bits in SOR2 recreated expertly in “band” style. He’s done some others but this is definitely the pick (see what I did there?)
6. Street Fighter 2 –
Man, this guy can play piano! The second entry from SF2 in my gaming music tribute top ten, he’s somehow turned the Las Vegas stage into lounge music that quickens into a heartfelt, powerful homage. A must listen.
5. Tetris theme tune –
Speaking of Tetris, I found this little beauty. He’s mashed up the Tetris theme and an Avicii song to devastating effect (I haven’t said that in a while). It’s so good I’m annoyed at my colleague for phoning me in the middle of listening to it.
4. Metal 38 Game Medley –
There are quite a lot of metal versions of game themes on the Internet but this one deserves a special mention due to the mega amount of games, the technique and also the video that puts together game clips. Although we could do with less of the massive titles and more bloody Tetris! I didn’t get much of it after around 6 minutes but still hella impressive.
3. Street Fighter 2 –
The origins of this are unclear. Whether it was a tune commissioned for the many SF2 cartoon or film spin-
2. Nintendo Game Medley –
Flippin wow! Reading the description it looks like this took about 50 hours to put together and is definitely worth a listen. How he made this on Mario Paint Composer (have you tried? Go on, I dare you…) and apparently completely from ear, is phenomenal. Take a wondrous journey through NES and SNES classics in only 9 minutes.
1. Sonic 2 –
And at number one in my game music tribute top ten, the very talented Smooth McGroove! On what appears to be 8-
Happy listening and I’ll see you next time!
Dylan