[TheExplodingHead]

Megaman 2?

Pretty much.

I'd also nominate SMB3 and Zelda 1.

[Why would you do that?]

Japanese version. Only factual answer. Soundtrack so awesome that a custom cart had to be created to contain it's awesomeness.

Yes, Castlevania 3 in Japan uses the sound from the custom VRC-6 chip, but there were custom chips for other games, too, and they were technically better.

Larange Point (Konami)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2wm6IzavA
Used a chip by Konami called VRC-7. It created music with FM Synthesis, making what sounds like a very interesting hybrid of NES and Genesis music.

Erika to Satoru no Yume Bouken (Namco)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNW726amwak
Used a chip by Namco called N106. The music uses custom instruments.

The music has better capabilities, but I wouldn't consider them factually better because of the sound chip. In fact, there are people who prefer the American Castlevania 3 music over the Japanese one. Though I'm not one of them...

[Shaheed79]

Castlevania III (Japan version especially, because of the added soundchip) does have great audio for sure, but Journey to Silius is even better, and doesn't use an added sound chip, either.

Oh thank god black falcon. You have to tell me what NES game this song is from.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvT8jG1OVdI

At 3:27 mark. I've been trying to remember what game that was from for the past 4 months.

[Dreams-Visions]

The fight theme song for Punch Out!

[The Awesomest]

I'd like to throw Fire Emblem 1&2 into the mix. Mostly the second one though.

Victory
Celica map
Celica nearing victory
World Map 4
First 50 seconds of the ending medley

[Svafnir]

God this thread is so god damn nostalgic, why is 8 and 16 bit music so amazing?

[Fredrik]

The Last Ninja - C64
Last Ninja 2 - C64

Nothing comes close imo.

[Shaheed79]

Yes, Castlevania 3 in Japan uses the sound from the custom VRC-6 chip, but there were custom chips for other games, too, and they were technically better. Larange Point (Konami) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2wm6IzavA Used a chip by Konami called VRC-7. It created music with FM Synthesis, making what sounds like a very interesting hybrid of NES and Genesis music. Erika to Satoru no Yume Bouken (Namco) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNW726amwak Used a chip by Namco called N106. The music uses custom instruments. The music has better capabilities, but I wouldn't consider them factually better because of the sound chip. In fact, there are people who prefer the American Castlevania 3 music over the Japanese one. Though I'm not one of them...

That Larange Point soundtrack sounds better than a lot of 16-bit soundtracks. I guess they can completely bypass the NES sound chip and just use their own?

[Kokonoe]

Can you honestly listen to this and not agree that this was the pinnacle of 8-bit musical achievement? I don't care if they cheated. In the immortal words of Karl Rove "if you ain't cheating you ain't trying". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdlOdjd1DMo

Been listening to this since you've posted it. This is pretty good.

[Myriadis]

Silver Surfer.

I don't know how it's possible to create such sounds on the NES.

[Why would you do that?]

That Larange Point soundtrack sounds better than a lot of 16-bit soundtracks. I guess they can completely bypass the NES sound chip and just use their own?

IIRC it uses the NES's noise + dpcm channels for drums and percussion, but everything else is their own chip. That's why the music sounds like Genesis music with regular Konami NES drums.

While it's not my favorite NES soundtrack, it is really awesome. Unfortunately, while Castlevania's VRC-6 was used in other games like Madara and Esper Dream II, Larange Point's VRC-7 was only used in that game. It's a shame Konami made something so cool and used it for only one game.

[Mr_Appleby]

Yep I agree, there's great C64 stuff but western devs were simply behind Japanese devs in music and used a lot of ugly/crunchy sounds, and given the NES is way more Japanese overall it has better soundtracks overall. And it's not nostalgia foe me, I had equal access to both systems back in the day, actually more to C64 really as everyone pirated so they had heaps more games than NES owners (I didn't own either system myself until later).

There's a little thing called personal taste. I happen to love ugly/crunchy sounds.

[Shaheed79]

Been listening to this since you've posted it. This is pretty good.

If you haven't played this game I highly recommend it. I don't know if there is a way to play an English version with the Japanese stdk though. It would be an awesome addition to eShop if Konami did that.

[blizzardjesus]

Metroid

[The_eJoker]

Can there be any other answer?

I simply love this song. I didn't play this game till 2008, but this is so nostalgic.. It's a bit weird.

[D3RANG3D]

Castlevania 3 Superior NES version

[BocoDragon]

By the way.. I really recommend the NESMusic and SNESmusic apps on iOS. It's just great to have an NSF/SPC player on your phone.. and of course the files take up next to no space. You can even download the music files from within the app.

There's also 99c IAP to unlock playback for other consoles.

Lord knows someday you'll be drunk at 1 AM and wanting to hear Megaman 2 Wily Stage, so why not prepare now? (rather than fumble around on YouTube). The way it integrates with the phone controls makes it ideal, too.

[ghostface pizzakid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEsE42YRtws

Zillion title theme for the SMS ; _ ;

Edit, forgot about Kenseiden as well. Wonderful soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnQAU...4128FF092F41F6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHwnJ...feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-y7o...feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ7D0...feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5LBe...feature=relmfu

[Mzo]

Tons of amazing 8-bit soundtracks but if you're going for the best it's Mega Man 2. Maybe it's a boring choice but it's excellent throughout.

[Ravidrath]

Megaman 2?

Indeed.

[Littlegator]

Not a doubt in my mind.

[BocoDragon]

Tons of amazing 8-bit soundtracks but if you're going for the best it's Mega Man 2. Maybe it's a boring choice but it's excellent throughout.

There are times when I would have said other games in the series or whatever... but given two decades of hindsight, maturity, etc.. MM2 is clearly the best.

Other MM games have great music. MM2's soundtrack just might be a work of art :P

[BigWeather]

C64: Master of Magic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm5Hjsm5NZ4

Holy crap! I had *totally* forgotten about this theme. I came in here to assert Ultima series music, but this probably was my favorite piece from the time. Thanks for posting!

[cevansdust]

Wizards and Warriors Title http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ9xwkMr3e4 Compilation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAtiMclAV8s Shitty game... but fuck, that music....

Came to post this. But unfortunately, you sir are wrong about the quality of the game.

[D3RANG3D]

Came to post this. But unfortunately, you sir are wrong about the quality of the game.

The game is good.

[Lothar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KvcIyfC81o Best music in a shitty game - I present to you Gauntlet. (The song gets really good at the :30 mark)

But the best overall is this from Mega Man 4 - One that never gets mentioned - Dr Wily 2nd part
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA95aSG2FYk

And the best song from Mega Man 3 is another one that never gets mentioned, Wily Stage 2nd part
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTqp7jUBoA8
-It also gave us the greatest ocremix of a NES song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ug7_BIpG4M

Others:
Startropics 2 dungeon
Startropics 2 overworld
Life Force Stage 3
Ninja Gaiden 3-2
Shadowgate
Dragon Quest 3-Zoma
Dragon Quest 4-Necrosaro

[Cidfox]

there are so many damn good soundtracks on NES. I'm sorry but I think MM3 has a better soundtrack than MM2. Just my opinion. One of my random favorite soundtracks that I love to hate is the chip n dale ost

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCySRzfhers

[kevinski]

As tempted as I am to nominate one of the Castlevania games, I must say that Ninja Gaiden's soundtrack is still probably my favorite 8-bit soundtrack.

[LeleSocho]

Donkey Kong Land
David Wise x 8 bit?


AAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqyyF...feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFU2f...feature=relmfu

[endresults]

It's one of the Ninja Gaiden games - if not the first, then the second or third. They had fantastic soundtracks. FANTASTIC.

[Psxphile]

Oh thank god black falcon. You have to tell me what NES game this song is from. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvT8jG1OVdI At 3:27 mark. I've been trying to remember what game that was from for the past 4 months.

Not him but I'll take a stab at it. Heck, it was probably linked in this thread: It's from Wizards & Warriors.


As for the thread on hand: oh God, please don't make me choose. So many great soundtracks NES soundtracks to go over. MM2, Ninja Gaiden 2, Guardian Legend... I'm glad to see others have already gone over these and many others.

[cevansdust]

The game is good.

*High Fives* Darn right it is. I recently hooked up my old NES just to play this game and it was completely worth it. It's one of my all time favs.

[Jing_Ke]

Some great soundtracks already mentioned, however this is also one of my favourites:



Dat bass!

[zmet]

Konami's Space Manbow for the MSX2 is just too good:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADvL03zmIEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjTb5...feature=relmfu

[leesmapman]

Konami's Space Manbow for the MSX2 is just too good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADvL03zmIEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjTb5...feature=relmfu

these too.

[amtentori]

Megaman 2?

first reply etc

Cheetah men 2 is also good.

Forgot about Zelda 1 and 2 though. simply timeless. <3

[jett]

Oh thank god black falcon. You have to tell me what NES game this song is from. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvT8jG1OVdI At 3:27 mark. I've been trying to remember what game that was from for the past 4 months.

edit: already answered

[synt4x]

Only one mention of Gimmick!/Mr. Gimmick? Well it is pretty obscure.
The whole soundtrack is amazing but the good ending is my favorite.
http://youtu.be/7cvcHK4XBQo

Gradius 2 also has a great soundtrack.
http://youtu.be/ecZRak1gvAc

And regarding the C64, I never had one as a kid but I still love the SID sound. So it's not all about nostalgia. Actually, the two games I mentioned above I never even knew about until a couple of years ago.

Edit: Oh and one of my favorite intros on GB. Very short but very good. It doesn't sound completely right in the video though. The other music in this game is not that great though.
Wizards & Warriors: Fortress of fear intro

[thomaser]

I agree with those who rank Mega Man 3's soundtrack above Mega Man 2. I used to beat MM3 again and again just to listen to the two ending themes (starts at 0.38)... it just made me happy.

[RiderKairuu]

If you listen to this you'll feel like you can achieve anything
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPkhhLC1tf8
just ask this lawnmower.

[synt4x]

Hmm. The only piece of music in MM3 I think is better than MM2 is the intro music. In my opinion the MM3 intro music is leagues above the MM2 intro, though of course the MM2 intro is a classic in it's own right. But then again the intro to MM2 is basically just the ending to MM1 isn't it? Or at least the intro to the intro... eh.

Edit: Alright, that MM3 ending music is also better than the MM2 ending music. But the stages themselves have inferior music in my opinion.

[Dynedom]

Hmm. The only piece of music in MM3 I think is better than MM2 is the intro music. In my opinion the MM3 intro music is leagues above the MM2 intro, though of course the MM2 intro is a classic in it's own right. But then again the intro to MM2 is basically just the ending to MM1 isn't it? Or at least the intro to the intro... eh.

Agreed. It's after that where I think MM2 outshines MM3 in almost every way possible. MM3 has some good tracks but for me it is not consistent at all in quality. I don't think I dislike a single song on MM2, except for maybe the second part of Wily's Castle (you know, the Wily's Fortress song no one remembers).

Actually, I think the only other place where MM3 outshines MM2 is the Robot Master Select Scene.

[Mercurio]

One of my favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w8X2m_Yz7I

[Maxim726X]

It's Megaman 2 and it's really no contest.

...Unless you want to talk about Castlevania 3, then I'll listen.

PS- Sunsoft did have some pretty sweet tracks (Batman opening stage, anyone?) But it can't compete with the sheer quantity of great stuff from MM2. Nothing can- Ever.

[Dynedom]

Castlevnia 3 really deserves some credit to be up there if only for one song:

Mad Forest

You gotta go to the VRC6 soundchip though.

edit: Man, Aquarius still gives me goosebumps too. So good.

[synt4x]

You gotta go to Konami's VRC6 soundchip though.

Fixed! :>

[Dynedom]

Fixed! :>

Haha yeah, my bad. Worded that a bit poorly.

[OpinionatedCyborg]

Let's talk about Mega Man 5, the other Mega Man soundtrack that doesn't get enough love: Gravity Man Wave Man Gyro Man Star Man

gravity man is one of the best MM level themes. and the boss theme in MM5 is the best of the series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Hxd8Qx3iU

[jay]

Ghouls N Ghosts on the C64 is another favorite of mine.

I prefer the Ghosts n Goblins theme.

Rambo also had a few awesome tracks.

Then there's The Last V8.

Apparently there is a Hubbard versus Galway debate on the internets.

There is a lot of great Master System music people don't know well, like some of the already posted stuff (Wonder Boy III, Zillion, a superior Golvellius soundtrack). I've always really enjoyed Miracles Warriors music.

Overworld
The triplets remind me of First Steps Toward War.
Boss Battle
Ending

[Leckan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-FuwZv4oY0

That is all.