nkarafo
Member
So recently, i was browsing youtube, listening to some video games music. Got me in the mood of some Starfox tunes and ended up listening the whole SF64 soundtrack. But the weird thing was that the reason i listened to the whole thing was the comments sections. Basically, everyone is quoting everything the characters says in each level the music corresponds to. So i was listening to the music, reading the quotes while having the character's voices in my head. It was pretty fun.
I really like the voice acting in SF64 and it seems that the internet mostly agrees with me. Many people remember it fondly and there are even some memes spawned from it like the "do a barrel roll" thing or the various remixes of "can't let you do that Starfox". But why? Why is SF64 so memorable? The quotes themselves aren't really special. I mean "can't let you do that Starfox", why is this quote so memorable and burned in my head so badly? Just about everything everyone says, especially the villains and bosses, brings a smile to my face.
So i though about it and came up with some reasons of why i love SF64 voice acting so much, especially considering that i'm the kind of gamer who doesn't give a shit about story, voice acting and cutscenes generally:
-Nostalgia. This sounds like a valid reason since the game is so good and i remember it fondly. But i don't think it's the sole reason. Many old games that i love had voice acting but its the aspect that i care less about in them. SF64 seems to be the only game that i mostly remember because of it's voice acting. Which is even stronger than the music (99% of the time, the one thing that triggers nostalgia in old games is the music).
-Delivery. The reason i hate voice acting in most games lately is because it seems they all take themselves so seriously. Most modern cinematic games make me cringe because of this. With a few exceptions (Portal for instance). SF64 sounds like something you would hear in a 80's TMNT cartoon show. Everyone sounds like is having fun instead of trying to win an oscar for best dramatic actor (and fail miserably).
-One liners. Despite the game having tons of speech, there's not really a lot of dialog in it. Most of the voice acting is one liners or various characters reacting to what's happening. There are no long cutscenes with characters telling the story of their lives.
-Repetition. Because of the way the game is designed (score hunting, no check points) you have to repeat the same levels/planets over and over again. As a result, you hear all these one liners and quotes in repeat. Add to that the fact that back in the day we only had a few games to play, especially on the N64. SF64 was like the only game i was playing for more than a month, trying to win all the medals. So maybe i/we just got used to the voices?
What other games fall in the same category? Are there any other reasons why SF64 voice acting is so loved?
I really like the voice acting in SF64 and it seems that the internet mostly agrees with me. Many people remember it fondly and there are even some memes spawned from it like the "do a barrel roll" thing or the various remixes of "can't let you do that Starfox". But why? Why is SF64 so memorable? The quotes themselves aren't really special. I mean "can't let you do that Starfox", why is this quote so memorable and burned in my head so badly? Just about everything everyone says, especially the villains and bosses, brings a smile to my face.
So i though about it and came up with some reasons of why i love SF64 voice acting so much, especially considering that i'm the kind of gamer who doesn't give a shit about story, voice acting and cutscenes generally:
-Nostalgia. This sounds like a valid reason since the game is so good and i remember it fondly. But i don't think it's the sole reason. Many old games that i love had voice acting but its the aspect that i care less about in them. SF64 seems to be the only game that i mostly remember because of it's voice acting. Which is even stronger than the music (99% of the time, the one thing that triggers nostalgia in old games is the music).
-Delivery. The reason i hate voice acting in most games lately is because it seems they all take themselves so seriously. Most modern cinematic games make me cringe because of this. With a few exceptions (Portal for instance). SF64 sounds like something you would hear in a 80's TMNT cartoon show. Everyone sounds like is having fun instead of trying to win an oscar for best dramatic actor (and fail miserably).
-One liners. Despite the game having tons of speech, there's not really a lot of dialog in it. Most of the voice acting is one liners or various characters reacting to what's happening. There are no long cutscenes with characters telling the story of their lives.
-Repetition. Because of the way the game is designed (score hunting, no check points) you have to repeat the same levels/planets over and over again. As a result, you hear all these one liners and quotes in repeat. Add to that the fact that back in the day we only had a few games to play, especially on the N64. SF64 was like the only game i was playing for more than a month, trying to win all the medals. So maybe i/we just got used to the voices?
What other games fall in the same category? Are there any other reasons why SF64 voice acting is so loved?
