gaming The one thing I miss from the older days of gaming

[Discordian 6,013]

Now see, I've never been the type to believe the older eras of gaming were better for any reason (same with newer eras too, I believe they are both equal but in different ways) but I gotta say there's only one thing that really stands out to me:

 

Stage music. Nowadays you get one theme that fits all situations of a particular type but you rarely see anything that has specific music for a specific level and doesn't go to other levels. Megaman X: Every stage had different music. Castlevania: Every stage, different music.

 

Now? Not so much. Look at Castlevania: Lords of Shadow that uses one track for fighting, one track for bosses and one for exploration and little deviation no matter where you are in the game.

 

Also, I should mention that it's not that I don't like music from games these days, in fact I think it's only gotten better for the most part, but I still miss this particular aspect of music.

[AngelofDeath 259]

I agree the older games had better music...well not better...but music that stuck more in peoples heads than modern gaming music.

[Crispy 5,563]

Depends on where you look. Touhou, Super Meat Boy, Scott Pilgram vs. The World, Skullgirls, all fantastic soundtracks.

[Discordian 6,013]

Well I didn't say it was gone completely. It's just not as widespread as it used to be.

 

Some genres will never lose that aspect like fighting games but other games these days seem to focus more on situational music rather than stage/theme music. Situational music is great in itself but it leaves little room for variety in soundtracks.

[Radiance64 7,051]

Well, music doesn't always have to be blaring all the time in a game, sometimes the lack of it can make for a cool atmosphere, especially in more isolated games.

[Titan Rising 2,156]

Depends on the games you're comparing of course, but to be honest it's mostly because you rarely find heart put into games anymore. To me it seems games are made with statistics rather than heart to find "what the gamers want" in order to create a game that's a logically good investment, and in the process they sacrifice any artistic integrity the people actually working on the game have. And it works, because people are too bored with their lives to care whether it's a genuinely unique experience. Well I'll get off this rant now.

 

In my opinion Nintendo is one of the only developers left that put the integrity of the game's creators before the cash that they'll make off the game. Money is important of course but I don't feel like they let it control their decision making process to a big extent.

 

Companies that make crappy games now because they put cash before artistic integrity:

 

Square-Enix

Thanks for ruining Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. Who needs platforming and adventure and exploration when you can walk down hallways for 50 hours straight

NamcoBandai

Thanks for turning the 'Tales of' series into a High School Drama adventure anime series

Microsoft Game Studios

Thanks for ruining Fable three times in a row now

 

And theres a ton more I'm sure but these are the more recent examples I can think of.

 

Anyway, as for music, I generally like the music in a lot of games now. Skyward Swords soundtrack was great and I can always count on Animal Crossing to deliver. There's also a ton of great new melodies in Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, but aside from all the series well known for their music I would generally agree with you that I rarely hear anything special from games that aren't so well known. But that really just comes down to opinion in the end anyway.

[letterone 1,203]

What about Sonic, Mario, Zelda, Music games, etc?

[Spring Veil 254]

I think every Halo game has had an awesome soundtrack.

[CUINJALE 120]

See, the reason video game music was more varied back in the day was because there wasn't as much to work with. You could only produce around three notes at a time, so you had to make the best of it, and focus on the melody. Nowadays we've got massive symphonies and pop stars doing video game music, so there are more opportunities for every track to sound less memorable. Also, tracks are often reused as a means of recalling previous scenarios in the game, like in Castlevania III. It's not necessarily the industry's fault, there just aren't as many people focused on creating a varied and memorable soundtrack these days.

Edited June 20, 2012 by Bames Jond

[Gigachip 148]

I think every Halo game has had an awesome soundtrack.

 

I'm with you right there

 

I ended up getting the Halo 3 edition Zune..(yes I said Zune) because it came with the soundtracks

[Mudhawk 1]

You know what I miss? How shooter games from ps to ps2 had modes like big head mode. Cheats and codes are not so big in video gaming anymore D:

[Gone Airbourne 21,969]

Now see, I've never been the type to believe the older eras of gaming were better for any reason (same with newer eras too, I believe they are both equal but in different ways) but I gotta say there's only one thing that really stands out to me:

 

Stage music. Nowadays you get one theme that fits all situations of a particular type but you rarely see anything that has specific music for a specific level and doesn't go to other levels. Megaman X: Every stage had different music. Castlevania: Every stage, different music.

 

Now? Not so much. Look at Castlevania: Lords of Shadow that uses one track for fighting, one track for bosses and one for exploration and little deviation no matter where you are in the game.

 

Also, I should mention that it's not that I don't like music from games these days, in fact I think it's only gotten better for the most part, but I still miss this particular aspect of music.

 

I miss the fact that back then you could get all of your friends and split-screen on a whole bunch of awesome games! Nowadays the only games that are splitscreen are shooters or from what I have seen.... I really miss the splitscreen multiplayer alot ... Not that online gaming is bad but I just miss it...

[Hylian Warrior 17]

I totally agree, gaming was better in the 90s. The N64 is my favorite system and the one I enjoyed the most, nowadays people only care about CoD, and I won't lie, I like the game too, but I wouldn't call it one of my faves, I want the game industry to bring the good old games back, I;d say my fave game of all time is Zelda ocarina of Time, I like the new ones too but, there's something missing, back in the date, look at all we had, Mario Zelda, Sonic, Pokemon, Resident Evil, Castlevania. I know we still have new stuff from the series but is not the same, maybe it's because games used to be challenging and would get u stuck for days unlike today all u have to do is get headshots, also old game music was always pumping you up in battle. I'm ok with today's gaming but seriously miss the classics, they're flawless =)

[Sepia-chan 495]

Some newer games have AMAZING soundtracks.

FOR EXAYAMPLE: Ace Attorney. Go look up this games series's sound track. It's amazing.

[Motown 0]

You need to play Portal 2, it has an amazing soundtrack that goes perfect. I think I can relate becuase were both looking for something atmospheric, at the heart.

 

Music is what makes the game.

[Thunderstorm 120]

I must agree about the music. Take Spyro the Dragon (PS1) for example. It had great graphics, Music and storyline. Such a great game.. <3

 

Classic Spyro (the three) will always be better then what anyone else throws at us.

All said in my opinion. You cannot hate me for that.

[warhawk927 1]

I will sometimes play older games just for the music because it's much better than most games' I usually play. xD

[Platinum Rook 93]

ohh i love oldschool games, i am currently working on a DooM Episode 1 Nightmare Speedrun.

Nightmare difficulty is INSANE!!! my best is dying on the 4th map, one of the easiest maps aswell.. :/

oh yeah and the music in Doom is awesome :3

[Ethan Pow 332]

Well I can agree with the OP about this, some games had very horrible theme that didn't fit the mood but others normally the great hits have very good soundtracks, maybe if they added a few more tracks to blow my mind, I didn't hate them if they did make it annoying... If its good game play and I can mute music, then I play my own music in its place.

[The Awesome One 1,314]

Let me give you an example from Need for Speed, guys. The Need For Speed 2 had this awesome techno soundtrack. Extremely exotic cars like the NAZCA or ItalDesign Cala or the Mclaren F1.

 

What is the sound track of Need for Speed today? Raps and ****.

[spas-ticShotty 3,582]

I pay some attention to video game music. Probably the best example for me is MW2's multiplayer menu theme. Since MW2 is mah favorite CoD, it' the one I'm playing the most. Whenever I'm waiting for a lobby, this theme pops up, and I really like the suspenseful mood it puts on . It's also pretty neat that Hans Zimmer did MW2's main theme

 

The older games in general though seemed to have had much more memorable themes. I'm not sure why, but they just did

Edited August 6, 2012 by akimBrony