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Why does Mario Kart have such shitty music?

Whoa. I'm shocked that anyone would criticize Mario Kart 8's music like this. It's quite possibly the best Nintendo game music ever.

I think this proves that you can never, ever please everyone. It's impossible. There will always be at least one person out there who will disagree with something. Amazing.
 
hongcha said:
That sounds awful. Like something I would hear in 1987 while browsing the racks at the local Kmart.

I have to agree with the OP on this one.
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ItIsOkBro said:
Is this post supposed to be ironic, and Dolphin Shoals is the worst track in the game?

Idk anything about Mario Kart but I do appreciate VGM, so I moseyed on into this topic to hear some examples. And that song isn't good at all so I feel OP.
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Cavalier said:
Good for elevator music maybe. For Mario Kart? Hell no. What the hell is with this generic trash? Ninty has to step up.
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Suppose we'll have to agree to disagree, I appreciate VGM as well and I love the living stuffing out of this track, but to each their own.
 
eXistor said:
Expect a backlash.
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toowoomba-flood-o.gif

See you downstream, OP.

Don't worry, OP, I agree with you. Stay strong, bro!
 
There are times where some people have opinions that are so painfully wrong that I just cannot respect them.

This is one of those times.
 
mario kart 8's music is ok but after hearing it for the umpteenth time, I was actually looking for an option to disable it (there is no such option, thanks Nintendo). I want to listen to my own music now.
 
Fudgepuppy said:
EDIT2. What kind of music I like? Grimes, GY;BE, Muse, Lorn, Trentemöller, Crystal Castles, Black Angels, Tool, Marvin Gaye, Sigur Ros, Danger, QOTSA, Lykke Li, Nick Cave, Antony and the Johnsons, Electric Wizard, CHVRCHES, Deltron 3030, Health, Portishead, DJ Shadow, Susanne Sundför etc.
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Did you really go into Mario kart expecting anything but the music presented? Really?
 
Couldn't disagree more OP, the orchestred music is delicious and the way it reacts in game such as when you go underwater or in the storm in cloudtop cruise is simply fantastic.
 
iamaustrian said:
.

This is like saying the earth is flat.
it's just wrong. even if you have different taste in music you should not call it "shitty" or poor by any means.
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I disagree a little here. Technically sound does not automatically make it good or really even average.

I would think that a fair number posting here will have happily applied that logic to games, the same is true of music. Probably more so in the case of the latter as music relies heavily on emotional responses in the listener.
 
Interceptor said:
Next week on GAF:

Why is the music in smash so bad?
and
Why are Nintendo fans so whiny if you don't like their stuff?
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Week after:
Why is the music in Sonic bad?

Honestly I understand not liking something, but calling it "shit" is crossing it.
I listened to some bands he listed and did not care for them. I guess by his logic they are "shit".
 
honestly after listening to some of the youtubes like the mute city one that was posted like 4 times on the first page, I find myself siding with the op more than the fans.
Somebody now is probably " we can't all have good taste" as if they are sophisticated but hey whatever , Gaf is hardly a place known for great taste in music

OsirisBlack said:
Beautiful.
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I genuinely find it obnoxious
 
CaptainGyro said:
honestly after listening to some of the youtubes like the mute city one that was posted like 4 times on the first page, I find myself siding with the op more than the fans.
Somebody now is probably " we can't all have good taste" as if they are sophisticated but hey whatever , Gaf is hardly a place known for great taste in music


I genuinely find it obnoxious
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As a musician I think that Mute City and Hyrule Castle, while full of nostalgic pathos, are some of the weakest songs in a pretty good and interesting soundtrack. It's not so much about taste, you can hear the quality of the original score in the game.
 
Fudgepuppy said:
EDIT. Yeah, it was stupid of me to phrase it as shitty when it's really about me not liking big-band jazz. I apologize.

Big-band jazz just unnerves me.
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Im sorry but I fucking hate you.
j/k

Nah, but seriously, is probably my favourite type of music.
If it was badly composed, repetitive or with shitty instrumentation, like the NSMB series I could understand the thread title, or hell, even Double Dash in the same series. Right now, you just dont like the type of music it uses, but it's damn good and it merries perfectly with the type of racing game it is, so I really don't see the point of this thread (at least the shitty tittle you used). Even worse when you are talking of MK8 that has the best music in the series.

Look, I also love Muse (seen it in your edit), but I wouldn't like to hear Uprising or Knights of Cydonia while racing in the mario world.
In fact scratch that, maybe hearing a big band upbeat version of knights of cydonia while racing in a western mario circuit would be epic.

EDIT Wait a sec there
Fudgepuppy said:
The music just kills my mood when playing. There's no part of me that wants to play with the soundtrack on, which doesn't happen often with Nintendo-games. The music just doesn't convey that happy go-lucky feeling I get when playing Super Mario World or Super Mario 64. I can even less imagine the songs making people excited when playing at a party or something. If anything, the music kind of stresses me.

.
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You know SMW soundtrack is actually composed as jazz big band (the music you hate so much) but with midi instruments instead of real ones no?
 
I'm with you OP. I appreciate the technical mastery on display, but it all just sounds like the soundtrack to my grocery shopping.
 
Mario Kart 8 has an amazing soundtrack, but I have to agree the previous game in the series are VERY underwhelming in the music department. That is probably the main reason I could never get into MK, until MK8. Great music is essential for me in video games.
 
Zero²;140104174 said:
Anyway, to everyone posting about the best songs, the Excitebike theme remix is the best soundtrack I heard this year, out of Tropical Freeze ofc, and thats saying something.
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Ive loved this track since I was little. Its my favourite nes song paired with Punch-Out!! music. But I was always so sad the song was like 7 seconds long.
Then Mario kart 8 came and they remixed it, and made it longer, changing tempos (just like everytime you powered up the game!)...
OMG is like an orgasm to the ears for the smaller me.
 
The music is tonally appropriate for a goofy and over the top game, so the music is goofy and over the top. It fits the game perfectly and should be praised for that, but I definitely agree its music that I "like".

Edit: A lot of people are asking for what the people who aren't into MK8's music do like so I've got a few Video Game pieces, Jazz pieces and one from Classical music that I really enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGCy9A33S4E&spfreload=10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU0UE6dhIeA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmvoknRqrbc&spfreload=10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3X04Ryhnjo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odLNJK70nvE&spfreload=10
 
CaptainGyro said:
do you guys pop this shit on in your car and as entertainment/background music when you are not playing the game?
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I have. Especially the MK8 soundtrack. The technical prowess of the performers alone makes the tracks impressive, plus a lot of them are catchy as shit.

I stopped taking this thread seriously when people starting calling jazz elevator music. Whenever I hear someone say that it's someone who has never listened to jazz and knows nothing about it. One day people are going to call things like Sinatra and Dean Martin Christmas music because that's the only place they'll hear it anymore.
 
CaptainGyro said:
do you guys pop this shit on in your car and as entertainment/background music when you are not playing the game?
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I would if there was an easier way to rip the music from my disc. I have my Legend of Zelda Symphony CD in my car, as a few other game related OSTs... Make great music to listen to with my kids as well.
 
Zen_Arcade said:
I have. Especially the MK8 soundtrack. The technical prowess of the performers alone makes the tracks impressive, plus a lot of them are catchy as shit.

I stopped taking this thread seriously when people starting calling jazz elevator music. .
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somebody said it once about dolphins shoals and it really wasn't that big of a stretch.
 
MK8 is the only Mario Kart game with music that I can actually listen to- live orchestration does a lot for Nintendo's style, and 8 really benefited from that.

I am pathologically incapable of racing on Dolphin Shoals without whistling along.
 
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