Happy World Video Game Day! Video game music as an integral part of the experience

Happy World Video Game Day! Video game music is an integral part of the players' experience, since the nuances of the notes in these productions become the trigger for a wide range of emotions; It is not only what we see that matters, but also what we hear.

Every August 29, the Day World of Video Games o Gamer's Day, in a celebration that emerged in 2008, through the main specialized magazines in this sector on the market. Until a while ago, video game lovers were considered freaks, but nowadays, it is rare that there is a house that does not have at least one console.

How does music influence video games?

Video games and music are combined in a perfect symbiosis for the user's enjoyment. The origin of music in video games dates back to the 80s, when in particular, we remember the music at the end of the game, with the consequent anger of the player: Game over. The first video games included music programmed in 8 or 16 bits, music that was not recorded in a studio, as was the case with movie soundtracks, much less live. In the early days, the problem was that music and sound were programmed, that is, translated into programming code, by a person without any musical experience.

Image property of @DarCeraPulir0

In the 1980s, a wave of great video game music composers emerged. Koji Kondo started working for Nintendo, which was a real challenge: I could only compose for four instruments, one of them being a noise channel for percussion. But video game music became its own genre, which had two characteristics and was influenced by techno-pop musical groups such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, quite popular at the time.

The first of them is that the songs almost always have main sections, consisting of a progression of four or more chords, largely similar to J-Pop and Western pop of the 80s. In addition, they had more sections than a pop song, since they were normally played as a continuous loop. The second is that they present a strong synchronization between instruments, so it would be difficult for a human to touch. They resemble Baroque musical composition and are limited in terms of polyphony. In this way, in the 90s groups emerged that took advantage of these techniques, such as The Minibosses.

Top of the best video game soundtracks

Music for video games has had a series of unforgettable milestones for gamers and music fans throughout its history. In this way they have become the most famous video game bands. We can remember the soundtrack of Super Mario Bros, from 1985, how capricious, lively and with a perfect tempo to advance the game, sounds in our heads as soon as we mention it. Another of the best video game soundtracks is Mega Man 2, from 1988, impeccable music in which each song in each stage of the game is a dizzying sprint that generates anxiety.

There have been many video game soundtracks and music composers, as we will see later, but among the best video game soundtracks in history, there are also Castlevania 4, 1991, which combines shrill organ gothic horror with a chiptune beat, or Square Enix's masterpiece Chrono Trigger with Yasunori Mitsuda's beautiful soundtrack.

Image property of @Juankitaome

The impact of the Mario Bros and Koji Kondo soundtrack

The classic plumber main theme marked a before and after for the video game industry. Mario's music was originally very different from what we ended up knowing. According to Koji Kondo, the legendary composer of the music of Super Mario Bros., he initially came across a graphic that featured Mario running on a grass field.

Later, looking for the music to have more energy, the well-known base rhythm was taken, to add chords with a sound technique and giving rise to several melodies, in order to choose the best one. In this way the theme officially known as 'Ground Theme', which had a calypso rhythm and was used in the first level of the video game.

If we look at the best songs from Super Mario Bros, we see the epic contribution of Koji Kondo, in songs like Steam Gardens, of Super Mario Odyssey (2017), a piece that is unlike any other music from any video game and that stands out for its freshness and emotion; either Map of the world 1 of Super Mario Bros.3 (1998), with a spicy melody on par with the best Mario music we have ever heard in our lives. With them, the Japanese composer has brought the music of classic video games to the general public.

Image property of @cintilatio

The soundtrack of the game Dark Souls

If we continue our journey through the history of original music for video games, it is inevitable to pay a visit to Motoi Sakuraba, one of the great masters of musical composition in this sector. His work for Dark Souls, is considered one of the best music composed for video games, with a glorious soundtrack composed in collaboration with Yuka Kitamura.

Among the best songs of the saga Dark Souls we met with Midir, the devourer of darkness, with a fearsome violin in the background, some choirs and an orchestra in perfect harmony that at times make us forget about the video game itself to let ourselves be carried away by this impressive score. The music of Dark Souls It also offers us other jewels such as Gwyn, Lord of Ash, which makes our skin crawl in the middle of battle or Sif, the great gray wolf, which combines adrenaline with an epic, melancholic and sad tone.

Image property of @hobby_consolas

Soundtrack and songs from the Death Stranding video game

One of the most special games of 2019 was Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima's peculiar and cinematic open-world title, which premiered on PS4 and PC. One of its most awarded aspects was undoubtedly its soundtrack: the work of the Swedish composer Ludwig Forssell won the award for Best Soundtrack, both at The Game Awards and at the Fun & Serious Titanium Awards. The score of this work by Kojima Productions fits perfectly into the futuristic dystopia of Death Stranding.

Composer of the soundtrack of the game Marvel's Avengers

The work of the legendary Alan Silvestri, after standing out in action films, led him to become the main composer of Marvel films. Silvestri's work in Marvel's Avengers It began precisely in 2012, and for eleven years it has been dominated by what we know as the 'avenging leitmotif'. The song 'The Avengers' has become a musical symbol of this group of heroes. From there, the step to video games was made for the composer. The soundtrack of Marvel The Avengers It has the main theme composed by this great New York composer.

Image property of @CroftGenTV

The incredible soundtrack of Mega Man 2

Mega Man 2 It is one of the most remembered soundtracks of Takashi Tateishi. This classic game, which came out in Japan on Christmas Eve 1988, is still venerated more than 30 years later. The excellent reception of this game was marked by its incredible soundtrack. It is very curious that Tateishi, according to what he told at MAGFest 2019, did not know about the popularity of his soundtrack in Mega Man 2, until more or less 10 years ago.

He also said that he created a few songs that sounded “cute,” but they were rejected in favor of songs that sounded “cool.” The only song considered “cute” by its author, which was preserved, was the one used on the Crash Man stage. Other important songs were that of bubble man stage, more piano-oriented, or Quick Man, composed by Kitamura, who asked Tateishi and a theme to make the players nervous.

Image owned by @kraist33

In conclusion, it is important to highlight that the music and the spectacular soundtracks of these composers are one of the essential parts in the creation of a video game, and there are many that are remembered today for their melodies and soundtracks. While game soundtracks have evolved to frequently use orchestras and choirs to create a more dramatic atmosphere, there are classics and myths from the 80s and 90s that are just as entertaining and catchy, and this despite having been generated with limited bits and synthesized audios.