So, I thought I'd do something cool for the holiday, as I've got time to blog when my University duties are diminished. A few weeks ago, I mentioned I'd finished Collins book, Game Sound. I've been thinking as well about this question: if I were to set up a class that examined game audio, what game music should I include? Of course, any teacher/writer is going to focus on those works that s/he knows and finds to be most interesting, memorable, and worthwhile. For me, those would be games in the Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Mario series, as well as others... notably RPGs and Action/Adventure games popular in the US when I was growing up. However, there are other games and genres that I don't know as well, but want to study more. Example: never drawn much to first person shooter games (although I did play Wolfenstein 3D), but this is a genre whose music I need to explore more.
My premise is this, dangerous as it may be: if Collins book would make a good textbook for a class on video game music, then perhaps the games she mentions in the book are notable ones whose music I should make sure to explore. I could say the same about a music text about other subjects and studies-- but, because of my training, the more classical and genre specific to my field of studies the music gets, the more my opinion and experiences would shape my thoughts over the highlights of the music. Game music isn't an academically studied field-- certainly not widely studied-- so, instead of just my gameplay experience, I'm using Collins expertise to determine which games might have important audio to encounter. A little heady, no? As a note, by some game titles, I've made a note of an important feature and others are just a title, but this doesn't necessarily correlate to how much attention she gives the game-- it's just just me making notes to myself. Without further ado, here is the list of games Collins mentions in Game Sound as they appear in the text:
Pong
Super Mario Bros
Halo
Computer Space
Paddle Ball, TV Hockey, Hockey TV, Astro Hockey, Winner, Leader (Pong clones)
Space Race (clone: Asteroids)
Barrel Pong, Gotcha (attract function of games)
Missle Radar, Jaws Man eater (moving toward realism)
Space Invaders, Asteroids (first continuous music)
Donkey Kong, Mario Bros
Rally X, Carnival (early repeating musical loops)
Sheriff, Battle Zone, Missile Command, Front Line (certain sound chips)
Alpine Ski, Jungle Hunt (four sound chips, sound plus effects)
Gyruss (five sound chips, one chip for Bach's Tocatta/Fugue D minor)
Speak n' Spell, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (voice effects)
Discs of Tron (stereo sound)
Tutankhamun, Miner 2049er, Jungle Hunt, Dig Dug, Congo Bongo (non-looping '82-'83)
Gyruss, Sewer Sam, Tarzan, Burger Time, Antarctic Adventure, Up N Down (looping '84)
Donkey Kong Jr, Popeye, Devil World (first home console releases w very short loops)
Frogger (first dynamic music), Cavelon, Dig Dug
Tapeworm (unusual melody by technological constraints)
Up N Down: arcade music vs Atari VCS version
Buzz Bombers (flight of the bumblebee)
Castlevania (Boss Music: poison mind)
The Legend of Zelda
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! Gauntlet 2 (5th channel sampler)
Ultima (counterpoint in pulse channels)
Metroid ("Mother Brain", "Kraid"-- vibrato, echo effects)
Maniac Mansion (noise channel as radio static, skipping record)
Journey to Silius, Contra, Crystalis (5th channel used for music)
Ultima III
King's Quest
Times of Lore, Rock Star Ate My Hamster (random sequencing)
Lazy Jones
Zak McKracken (Chopin, Funeral March) Bringer of War (Holst, Mars) Wicked (Bach, C minor Prelude)
Frantic Freddie (Sylvers, Scott Joplin, Paul Simon, Beethoven, Queen, ELO)
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (Star Spangled, Oh Susanna, Yankee Doodle, Campton Races)
International Karate (Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence) Super Pipline (Dragnet)
Neuromancer, California Games (credit cover artists)
Mayhem in Monsterland, The Great Giana Sisters (NES style music/design)
Choplifter
Guerilla War (victims call out)
Space Harrier, After Burner, Ghouls' 'N Ghosts
Sonic the Hedgehog
Shadow of the Beasts
Toejam and earl: Panic on Funktron (music side scrolling game)
Looney Tunes: Desert Demolition (Mickey Mousing of music)
Shadow of the Beast II (rock and roll influence, MOD tracker)
Phantasy Star (RPG) Vapour Trail (shooter) Fatal Rewind (puzzle)
Pirates of Dark Water
Adventures of Dr. Franken (dance music early 90s)
Biker Mice from Mars (hard rock)
Barkley Shut and Jam (hip-hop)
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Joe Montana Football, Cliff Hanger, Demolition Man, Judge Dredd, Biometal, Ken Griffey Baseball, Adventures of Dr. Franken, Air Cavalry (include sounds from the artists, sporting event, movie, for cross marketing)
Super Mario World (layering)
King's Quest IV, Police Quest III (TV/film composers as audio software improved)
Loom, The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit the Road (SCUMM/ iMUSE)
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Jill of the Jungle (noisemaker for player to hear game sounds ahead of time)
NARC
7th Guest
Myst
The Sims
Doom
Wolfenstein 3D
Thief: The Dark Project
SimAnt, SimCity 2000, The Sims 2
Tempest 2000 (commercially sold soundtrack)
Twisted Metal 4 (possible to insert your own audio CD)
Final Fantasy VII
Banjo and Kazooie
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (speaker in Wii controller adds to bow/arrow 3D sound)
Simon, Touch Me, Super Simon, Merlin, Copy Cat, Einstein
Dance Aerobics, PaRappa the Rapper
Elite Beat Agents, Electroplankton
Donkey Konga, Guitar Hero, Beat Mania (controls represent game audio)
Pump It Up, Britney's Dance Beat, Dance Dance Revolution
FreQuency, SingStar
Computer Matician 3010
Aladdin
Pac-Man, Galaga, The Incredible Machine, Leisure Suit Larry (mobile versions)
Bejeweled Multiplayer, Ragnarok Mobile Mage
Sudoku
Tetris
Airborne (Ride of the Valkyries)
Warbears: Mission 2 (interactivity)
Star Trek Empire, Airfight, Dungeons and Dragons, Mazewar, Dungen
Ultima Online, EverQuest, Asheron's Call, Second Life
Lair, Gods of War 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, (composer comments)
Crash Bandicoot, Half-Life (blending)
Auto Assault, Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, Super Mario Sunshine (surround sound)
Grim Fandango
Man Eater, Shark Jaws
Wing Commander III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (voice acting)
Journey's Escape, Revolution X, Motown Games' Rap Jam, Summer Heat Beach Volleyball, 50 Cent: Bulletproof (synergy with popular songs/artists)
Rise of the Robots
Inferno
Quake
Year Zero
Wipeout Pure (soundtrack game)
Adventures of Dr. Franken, Dracula Unleashed (Moonlight Sonata/Carmina Burana)
Rock n Roll Racing (lots of rock music)
Madden NFL 2003, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, FIFA 2006 (synergy with pop music)
Driver: Parallel Lines
Downhill Jam
Electroplankton (a way to see sound)
Second Life
Asheron's Call 2: The Fallen Kings
Grim Fandango (sound effects)
New Super Mario Bros (timing of game effects to music)
EyeToy Kinetic
God of War (leitmotif)
Vib Ribbon (music creates structure of game play)
Need for Speed: Carbon
Halo: Combat Evolved (bored switch)
Anarchy Online
Ballblazer
Mario 64
Russian Squares
Lazy Jones
Multiplayer Battletech
No One Lives Forever
DOA: Dead or Alive
No comments:
Post a Comment