Videogame music has changed over the years. In the 80’s and early 90’s game tunes were catchy, melodic, and at the forefront of games. Now, many games have one nice, catchy theme with variations of said theme throughout, but mostly just background music that is, well, just background. I’ve given some thought as to why classic games such as Castlevania, Megaman, Zelda, Mario, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, and even Ducktales on NES for that matter, all have extremely catchy, hummable music, and all different music for each stage.
A lot of that can be boiled down to the change in the gaming experience and length of levels. Before, game levels only lasted a few minutes, then it was over. That meant music could be incredibly melodic without getting tiring quickly. The nature of the music also added a lot more excitement to the games. Given the limited abilities of the hardware, incredibly deep, atmospheric immersion wasn’t really a factor in games, so background music that took a backseat wasn’t really something people thought about. It was all about excitement and catchy tunes. Just a simple search on youtube will prove just how much people liked those songs. So much so, that they do renditions that pay homage to them.
Currently gaming music has changed due to longer stages and deeper immersion. Hearing the same melodic piece play over and over for an hour straight as you make your way through a level would probably get really tiring. Instead, composers got smart and stuck to music that picks up during battles and back down afterward. This adds dynamics and variety to the mix. The current trend seems to be having one main, recognizable theme for the game, and adding variations of that one theme throughout. For example, Gears of War plays variations of the same theme throughout the entire game. Even the Metal Gear series is guilty of this. While they are great themes (and in the case of the Metal Gear theme, it is a fantastic and memorable one), it would still be nice to hear a variety of themes. In the past, there were different songs for each level.
To remedy the repetitive nature of that, why not vary those themes up throughout a stage and add climaxes, dramatic crescendos, etc. during battles? That would add variety throughout the levels and throughout the game, giving them multiple catchy themes like the old days, not just one. I understand that they are trying to make a song synonymous with a particular game, but I really do miss the old days of games with a plethora of catchy, melodic songs. Thankfully, some games like the Castlevania series, and even newer ones like Guilty Gear, still maintain that, but I wish others would catch on. At least this is still better than some others, who just play mindless, entirely forgettable techno drivel in the background. I’ll take sweeping orchestral scores over that any day. Let’s just add some variety and more melody to that from here on out, game companies. We want our catchy, exciting tunes back!
video game music hasnt so much evolved, but devolved in my opinion. more and more games are using liscensed music as apposed to original music, thus , in my opinion, killing originality. some of our favorite old school games (secret of mana, non next gen Final fantasy, contra, chrono trigger) had original soundtracks that were so good, they actually sold CDs. Now, everyone wants to copy off of GTA and get liscensed music.
That urks me, too. I really miss the great original soundtracks of days of old. Many games have music now that is largely forgettable compared to the classic songs of older games. Like you said, there are many soundtracks out there for classic games like Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Castlevania. Yes there is a Halo soundtrack, but does it compare to the plethora of Final Fantasy soundtracks out there? Bring back our creative, catchy game tunes!
i can even accuse zelda of reusing their old songs and not making more original music. I mean, they can make a great soundtrack if they use originality. Music is so important in games because it gives the feeling of epicness (is that even a word?) when you are playing climatic moments. When you were fighting Liquid at the end of MGS4, the change in music really made that moment for me and gave it a real cinematic touch