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What's the best 8 bit soundtrack?

Shaheed79 said:
Japanese version. Only factual answer. Soundtrack so awesome that a custom cart had to be created to contain it's awesomeness.
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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...
 
Why would you do that? said:
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...
Click to expand...

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?
 
Shaheed79 said:
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
D.Lo said:
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).
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There's a little thing called personal taste. I happen to love ugly/crunchy sounds.
 
Kokonoe said:
Been listening to this since you've posted it. This is pretty good.
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
kdBhx.jpg


Not a doubt in my mind.
 
Mzo said:
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.
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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
 
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
 
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.
 
Shaheed79 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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
 
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.
 
synt4x said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
jett said:
Ghouls N Ghosts on the C64 is another favorite of mine.
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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
 
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