NinjamicWZ
Banned
I always sucked too much at Star Fox as a kid to like it that much (64 was my god damn jam, though), but hell yeah, the soundtrack was and still is amazing.
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SNES Star Fox music is too rad
- Thread starter illadelph
- Start date
SNES's dpad wasn't made for this kind of shit.
VARIA
Member
I've been playing this 16-bit masterpiece on my good ol' Super Nintendo in preparation for for the new game coming out later this year, and goddamn, the soundtrack has some jammin' tunes. The music combined with the crazy ass proto-3D graphics makes for what is arguably the most rad video game ever created. Discuss.
motherfuckin' CORNERIA
METEOR (awww shitt)
dat VENOM SURFACE doee
gotta have some crunchy BOSS TUNEZ
when you and your dope ass animal squad CLEAR THE STAGE
OP, I love you. Most gamers don't understand how integral the music is to the gaming experience. Starfox music has never recovered from the amazathon (stupid adjective I know) that the first soundtrack made. Everything that has come after has made a sad attempt to duplicate SNES starfox soundtrack but failed, yes, even SF64.
64's is slightly superior imo because it has the Menu music
I shit you not, I still listen to this single track on the regular when I'm feeling stressed out or have a lot on my mind. It's one of the most relaxing and comforting things to just shut my eyes and listen to.
I shit you not, I still listen to this single track on the regular when I'm feeling stressed out or have a lot on my mind. It's one of the most relaxing and comforting things to just shut my eyes and listen to.
Metalstrike
Member
Corneria <3
sono
Gold Member
This game is just perfection, including the music.
An all time classic.
Edit:
HOLY SHIT
An all time classic.
Edit:
HOLY SHIT
Yeah Corneria is the raddest if not the baddest game soundtrack ever. I slightly prefer the Smash Brawl rendition that's a bit more techno.
https://youtu.be/70IdRlblGv0
I was championing it in the best game OST election and for some silly reason nobody was following my obviously superior taste. Good thread OP!
https://youtu.be/70IdRlblGv0
I was championing it in the best game OST election and for some silly reason nobody was following my obviously superior taste. Good thread OP!
jacob armitage
Banned
I love everything about SNES star fox, just wish there was a way to play it in a better framerate 
Interceptor
Banned
Best music and best Starfox game to date. It´s only downhill from here.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I'd never heard this version. Definitely captures the feel of the original while updating it.
Makes me want a Star Fox 1 remake.
Alex Connolly
Member
Corneria indeed. Pumped up any clown.
VARIA
Member
The limitations of midi forced musicians/composers of the 16bit era to make great catchy music (due to the memory limitations of the cartridge). Nowadays, things have this bland soundtrack vibe to them. It's like (many mainstream) videogame music composers have their hands untied with unlimited resources and tech but they attempt to emulate a cinematic feel instead of going for a more punch in your face sound that a simplistic composition can offer.
This is why I love Hotline Miami. Shit has a brutal sounding soundtrack with an archaic vibe.
This is why I love Hotline Miami. Shit has a brutal sounding soundtrack with an archaic vibe.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
If say that's less true of many Japanese games. They're still full of tunes that are front and centre melodies.
Auto-Reply
Member
I feel the same sometimes, not saying they are all bad, very few are but they are also forgetable because they are missing a distinct tune that stands out. Not always a necessity for every game of course but it is when you want to have a memorable tune.
ResidentDante
Member
Corneria is awesome, brings back my childhood days!
the androgyne
Member
That song and the entire soundtrack is fantastic.... but i've always thought the very start of Corneria is ripped straight out of Afterburner! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-OEmUFyJo
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Wow. You're not wrong.
VARIA
Member
Forgettable!!! That's precisely what I meant! I feel ya bro.
StarFox is the best game in the series, and it never recovered.
One of the reasons is the masterful soundtrack. It's brilliant, it's ambitious. It's coherent from beginning to end. Even the credits, the boss display sequence and then the actual credit roll. It still sounds like something you'd hear out of John Williams. In fact, the entire game is ambitious, and that's what made it great. Nintendo/Argonaut exploited every limitation in hardware and software to their advantage. The graphics were rudimentary, but the visual solution wasn't the design of the Arwings is beautiful simple, the enemies are great, the bosses are outstanding. Each world and stage felt unique in it's atmosphere. The sound design is delightful and satisfying. The lack of voice overs and the use of gibberish is not distracting. I much prefer it, it makes the characters seem all the more alien. Remember the first time Andross comes on the comm? It sounded like THE ENEMY. Not like a space monkey from a saturday morning show.
What really works for StarFox is that it paints just enough of a picture and suggestion of for you to complete it in your head. That's the touch of a master artist. And that was all lost with the higher fidelity and other design choices from the latter games, in my opinion. To me they never recaptured the magic.
I'm glad to see you and others enjoying it, OP.
One of the reasons is the masterful soundtrack. It's brilliant, it's ambitious. It's coherent from beginning to end. Even the credits, the boss display sequence and then the actual credit roll. It still sounds like something you'd hear out of John Williams. In fact, the entire game is ambitious, and that's what made it great. Nintendo/Argonaut exploited every limitation in hardware and software to their advantage. The graphics were rudimentary, but the visual solution wasn't the design of the Arwings is beautiful simple, the enemies are great, the bosses are outstanding. Each world and stage felt unique in it's atmosphere. The sound design is delightful and satisfying. The lack of voice overs and the use of gibberish is not distracting. I much prefer it, it makes the characters seem all the more alien. Remember the first time Andross comes on the comm? It sounded like THE ENEMY. Not like a space monkey from a saturday morning show.
What really works for StarFox is that it paints just enough of a picture and suggestion of for you to complete it in your head. That's the touch of a master artist. And that was all lost with the higher fidelity and other design choices from the latter games, in my opinion. To me they never recaptured the magic.
I'm glad to see you and others enjoying it, OP.
He didn't retire, he did a fair bit of game music after leaving Nintendo. And they could contract him to do more now.
And I haven't heard much of Star Fox Zero's soundtrack to know what tier it's on.
My hope is that they have some of the younger composers on this, because some of their work is phenomenal when taken out from under Koji Kondo's thumb.
spazchicken
Member
As someone who likes the SNES game's music way more than the SF64's, this is all new to me and I am shocked. I could tell it was a different composer after SF2 but I had no idea he/she just altogether hung it up.
This makes me sad.
the androgyne
Member
It's probably just a small homage to be honest though.
Every time i go to hum one of them, i end up continuing into the other by mistake
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Totally agree.
Also, the animal pilots in StarFox were like this bizarre Japanese choice at the time. The action was strictly realistic space shooter, but it starred animals (much like ancient Japanese wall scrolls depicting animals in realistic samurai battles). I never took their inclusion as being loveable and kid-pandering. It always seemed like a bizarre inclusion... and I liked it.
But as the technology improved, and voiced cutscenes came along, it kind of just devolved into "this is a kids cartoon game starring furries" like any random Disney thing. I think the odd juxtaposition of animals and realistic sci-fi is completely lost... now it just looks like another cartoon universe.
Finally, people who understand how amazing the first Star Fox ost was.
EDIT: Whoa, and then illadelph used the best boss music as an example in the OP too? No one ever brings up that theme, you've got great taste.
Venom boss is equally awesome:
What other games did he do? I really hope Nintendo lets Platinum kick things into overdrive, and Zero becomes another Splatoon or Mario maker story. From "Wow who wants this" at first look, to "OMG this will be GOAT" after release.
EDIT: Whoa, and then illadelph used the best boss music as an example in the OP too? No one ever brings up that theme, you've got great taste.
Venom boss is equally awesome:
What other games did he do? I really hope Nintendo lets Platinum kick things into overdrive, and Zero becomes another Splatoon or Mario maker story. From "Wow who wants this" at first look, to "OMG this will be GOAT" after release.
His audio production company, Faith, worked on Rose Online with MMO maker Gravity. Faith has been sometimes thought of as the Tose of music production, doing work they aren't credited for aside from Japanese cellular ringtones, because there's little to nothing that you can point to that they've done, yet they're still thriving in business and list audio production for video games and amusement machines as one of their primary functions.
It is a far cry from his work in composing soundtracks for video games, but DOLLAH DOLLAH BILLZ YO.
His style could be something that could be replicated or done in a way that harkens back to his work a bit. Really, what sets his music apart from a lot of other stuff is his outstanding work with graduated bass tones.
Current Star Fox music is just too treble, including the remixes. Like in Melee, the Venom theme had FAR too many picky violin and overly-punchy trumpets and not enough high-note cello and bass drums and French horn with less soprano trumpet.
He was a master of using bass in gradual and subtle ways to fill an environment with ominousness that's just... missing from the series and all interpretations of it since the first entry.
But it's a complaint I lob at a lot of Nintendo's compositions of late. SNES sound design had bass that you just don't hear in modern music from them, and when you do, it really stands out. See Mario Kart 8, Pikmin and Splatoon for examples. It keeps the treble punchy in a positive way, less bland and boring.
Holy crap! How have I not noticed this before. That's hilarious.
hypotc
Member
One of the best SNES soundtracks, that's for sure. Space Armada is a great hype song.
I definitely recommend "Star Fox SNES Collection (Vertiphon 2010 Remaster)"
It sounds awesome, and it really brings out the life of the tracks. I don't think I can link it here though, as it may be copyrighted.
I definitely recommend "Star Fox SNES Collection (Vertiphon 2010 Remaster)"
It sounds awesome, and it really brings out the life of the tracks. I don't think I can link it here though, as it may be copyrighted.
ohyouagain
Member
This OST is in my top 5 of the best video game soundtracks ever. I've never felt this way while playing a video game ever after.
It's also the only video game that convinced me that the quest for better graphics was over and that nothing would ever surpass it. Words cannot express how impressed I was with this when I played the first time. Nothing brings me better back to the best days of my childhood than good old motherfucking Starfox.
It's also the only video game that convinced me that the quest for better graphics was over and that nothing would ever surpass it. Words cannot express how impressed I was with this when I played the first time. Nothing brings me better back to the best days of my childhood than good old motherfucking Starfox.
FreedomFighter
Member
I felt this way for a long while. But Starfox 64 is ultimately a superior score than SNES Starfox. I think this had more to do with the sound quality, as Starfox 64 sounded like ass. The composition is boss though, and remains Hajime Wakai's magnum opus.
The new main theme by Kondo took some getting used to (a grand orchestral theme to more of a march) but that's been done justice now many times over. So I like them both.
The Hermit
Member
JaseMath
Member
I'm not going to say those are bad, but I appreciate the effort that went into making some of those anyway.
This is simply RAD! haha a must watch for any fan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXLmDRwxAUU
Oh btw if anyone wants to see MORE nes and snes Intro REMAKES i'll just leave this here.
ie: Chrono Trigger, Contra, Mega Man 2, Out of this World and so many more!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7bsEtScmC137Lmr-uVCGVg?sub_confirmation=1
balladofwindfishes
Member
I'm surprised the Main Theme never came back.
Yea, the Star Fox 64 theme is now the "main" theme of the series and will probably stay that way. But referencing the original music in level themes or something would be cool.
The main theme of Star Fox SNES is really nice. I like how the Brawl Version basically Star Fox 64'd it by making similar to the main Star Fox theme in newer games.
Yea, the Star Fox 64 theme is now the "main" theme of the series and will probably stay that way. But referencing the original music in level themes or something would be cool.
The main theme of Star Fox SNES is really nice. I like how the Brawl Version basically Star Fox 64'd it by making similar to the main Star Fox theme in newer games.
FreedomFighter
Member
This song doesn't get enough attention to me. It's so slept on... and I never really appreciated it until I listened all the way through it once I got the OST.
Such a quality piece.
This is why Starfox's OST is not a good as Starfox 64's to me... I have a handful of favorites that I listen to on the former and skip the rest, whereas I can listen straight through the latter and enjoy every second.
Also, Starfox Assault brought a lot of Kondo and Wakai's SF64 tunes to life.
FreedomFighter
Member
Sorry for double post.
It's a shame the quality of music in the series took a nose dive after the unreleased SNES sequel. I mean, N64 had some sweet tunes--I'm looking at you Starwolf's theme-- but nothing that got your adrenaline pumping the way Cornaria or Venom did in the original. They put so much emphasis on the music to build the atmosphere in the original, as the graphics were too bare bones to convey a grand space adventure on their own. The end result is a truly impacful soundtrack.
I'm sure atmosphere building lead to the addition of dialogue as well. If you look at the game without all that, it's difficult to make out what's going on. Take Andross for example. Without an epic score and some cool dialogue that fight would be incredibly lame. It's a bad polygonal face shooting tiles at you. It's not that modern games don't need such components, but Starfox had a lot to compensate for. Starfox 64 lacked this issue, and more of the budget likely went toward building the atmosphere with new technology: voice acting and graphics. If you had really awesome tracks in 64 they'd be completing with the dialogue, so I'm not sure if they felt the need to emphasize on it.
Now, that I think about it, the N64 sequel makes great use of silence to build tension... But I'm digressing at this point. Chiptune music, to me, always feels grander and more meritorious due to the limitations. To get around those limitations you're tasked with coming up with something really catchy-- especially since it's going to be repeated a TON. That's why we got such classics like the Great Fairy's Theme and Moon from Ducktales on the NES, or any of Super Metroid's incredibly atmospheric tunes. The music had a much greater responsiblity in the 2-D era. In a flat world, it's the best way to add depth. Starfox was one of the few games that had depth so the music took on a greater role: it added detail.
Just my take.
I'm sure atmosphere building lead to the addition of dialogue as well. If you look at the game without all that, it's difficult to make out what's going on. Take Andross for example. Without an epic score and some cool dialogue that fight would be incredibly lame. It's a bad polygonal face shooting tiles at you. It's not that modern games don't need such components, but Starfox had a lot to compensate for. Starfox 64 lacked this issue, and more of the budget likely went toward building the atmosphere with new technology: voice acting and graphics. If you had really awesome tracks in 64 they'd be completing with the dialogue, so I'm not sure if they felt the need to emphasize on it.
Now, that I think about it, the N64 sequel makes great use of silence to build tension... But I'm digressing at this point. Chiptune music, to me, always feels grander and more meritorious due to the limitations. To get around those limitations you're tasked with coming up with something really catchy-- especially since it's going to be repeated a TON. That's why we got such classics like the Great Fairy's Theme and Moon from Ducktales on the NES, or any of Super Metroid's incredibly atmospheric tunes. The music had a much greater responsiblity in the 2-D era. In a flat world, it's the best way to add depth. Starfox was one of the few games that had depth so the music took on a greater role: it added detail.
Just my take.
Baleoce
Member
It's like I've come home. I love this games soundtrack. It's one of the best on the SNES, and the best StarFox OST by a country mile. I really wish newer games would use its unique style as an influence. When I "hear" StarFox in my minds eye, this game is the first thing that comes to me. One of a kind.
Ryouji Gunblade
Member
I love the mechanics, style, and gameplay of 64, but SNES Star Fox has the best music in the series.
Assault piggybacked off of 64's music, but with orchestra and a different art style altogether.
Assault piggybacked off of 64's music, but with orchestra and a different art style altogether.