30 day video game music challenge!

alright, for underrated music, im gonna go with A Bite Too Far from Runner 3. Despite being the third title in the long running Bit Trip Runner series (which is itself one of a number of Bit.Trip games), this game doesn't seem to get a lot of attention which is a shame cause it has a jammin' soundtrack. This song in particular is quite wacky, with a whole bunch of random sound effects playing during the first half of the song, but i think that's a good representation of what the Runner series has become: incredibly weird and kinda out there, but still pretty great fun, and the fact that such an odd song can go from something so silly to gradually transitioning itself into a grander sounding orchestral piece without any of it feeling too out of place is, to me, a testament to how good a job the composer did
 
day 24: music you constantly have stuck in your head
my head kinda defaults to a few select music tracks whenever it cant think of anything else to loop. usually its mario land 2 music for whatever reason! and theres a few others i cant think of
 
Day 24: Impossible Ascent - The Messenger

Not all that much to say here, honestly! Well, other than that this is indeed one very catchy theme. The Messenger has a memorable soundtrack in general, it's the perfect kind to put on in the background and listen to when you have music you want to do some work with. This one just loves popping up unbidden in my head, though.
 
Day 24: Music you have constantly stuck in your head
I've been watching more movies than playing games so I've had more film scores stuck in my head than game tunes, though one that does come up in my head often is the Theme of Super Metroid because I keep imagining what the next Prime 4 trailer and soundtrack will be like.
 
Day 12: Music that makes you sad
Choice: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire Of The Rift - Sorrow
The first song that I thought of when it comes to sad songs is this one, mainly for the moments when it's played in that game and also how sombre it sounded. Basically that game is a version of Final Fantasy Tactics, but its gameplay takes after the first (Final Fantasy Tactics) Advance game while its overall setting takes place after Final Fantasy XII's version of Ivalice as opposed to the original Final Fantasy Tactic's.

Day 13: Music you like from a game you don't like
Choice: Yoshi's Island DS - Wildlands
If I can help it, I would not have picked a Mario game, but unfortunately, I can't quite think of a game I dislike with music that I like from a different game, except for Yoshi's Island DS. The gist on why I dislike that game is because it brought up the term "star children" which is like forming an exclusive party, which is largely meaningless outside that game but people still bring up that game as some sort of arbiter on who's important and who's not. The game has its other flaws as well, such as the inconsistent graphics. There's one theme that I can recall from this game, and that is the Wildlands, which is kind of a no-brainer pick since it's a choice song in the Smash Bros. series.

Day 14: Music featuring vocals
Choice: Sonic R - Super Sonic Racing
Sonic R may be a mediocre racing game featuring Sonic with balance issues, but there's one shining point about this game that managed to make itself well-known: the soundtrack. This game featured vocal soundtracks for each of the five courses, the credits theme, and a special song when the player got Super Sonic. The latter felt like a reward worth getting, not only because of how broken Super Sonic is, but also because it's accompanied by this song. Even its instrumental version of this soundtrack is really catchy.

Day 15: Boss battle music
Choice: Super Bomberman 5 - Boss Battle
I went for an unorthodox choice here, from the fifth Bomberman game on the Super Famicom (it never got a release on SNES). Of the Bomberman boss battle themes, I am fond of this, since it's not as fast as the others but it's still quite tense. The battles can last for a while since they don't have a time limit, but the bosses ability to take multiple hits will nonetheless make them quite a challenge, especially later ones where the field is smaller and can be accompanied by extra enemies.

Day 16: 16-bit music
Choice: Kirby's Dream Land 3 - Grass Land 1
There are so many potential choices for 16-bit music that it's a tough one, but went with a comparatively humble song from Kirby's Dream Land 3, which is played on the first level. The song is very idyllic: it's upbeat and peaceful and fits very well with the crayon aesthetic that the game is going for to create an environment of purity.

Thank you for reading.
 
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There's no way I'll ever catch up if I try and do these all at once so let me do them in some batches, here.

Day 16. Music from a 16-bit Game. - Castle/Fortress from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

I was highly, highly considering putting this down for Day 17. For reasons that are inexplicable to me, I can listen to this piece of music again and again and again. It's almost hypnotic, in a sense. It doesn't actually transfix me, but I can't tire of it. If you asked me to pick one piece of music to listen to on loop for the rest of my life, I'd have to pick this piece. And the worst part is, I can't even explain why I find it appealing. It just works for me.

Day 17. Music You Never Get Tired Of - Megalovania from Undertale

Look, here's the thing, all memes aside, Megalovania is just a superb piece of music, one with the right mix of energy, drive, and variation to keep you interested and engaged no matter how long you listen to it, or how many variants you hear.

Day 18. Music from a Game Released the Year You Were Born. - Pepsiman Theme - Pepsiman

I almost was going to choose something serious for this one, but I was looking at my options and ended up sucked down a rabbit hole. I can't offer any commentary on this, I really can't... though it's giving me a very strong sense of deja vu for some reason...

Day 19. Cover by a Different Artist - Pollyana from Mother, by Carlos Eine, Adriana Figureroa, and Sab Irene

I... I shot myself in the foot hard, using Octopath Traveler earlier in Hard Mode. Please, please for the love of all that is good, listen to FamilyJules' covers of the Octopath music. Nonetheless, this is my backup pick. In large part because, well, I never really much gave this song any attention before I found this cover of it. I knew of the song, I had heard it, but this version gripped me in the way the original did not, and, ah, I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a bit biased because I feel myself to be a Pollyana type sometimes. In the end, this messed-up, imperfect, often challenging and frustrating world we live in is a beautiful place, and we're just as much of a mess, but there's something lovely about us, about humanity and what we can do to improve this world and ourselves, too. So, I suppose, for that reason, this cover of this song holds a bit of a special charm for me. Call me a fool, call me Pollyana, but I believe this world does have beauty, and I believe we can strive to make it better than it currently is!

Day 20. Music from a Racing Game. - Don Genie's Theme - F-Zero GX

Raregold tells me it's not a waltz. Anyone with musical knowledge tells me its not a waltz. Google tells me its not a waltz, and so do logic and reason. I know that it's not a waltz, but I'm going to describe the "motion" of this song as a "waltzing" motion nonetheless. I'm a sucker for songs with that kind of "waltzing" motion in the undertone, where I can visualize and old-time, rich couple at a masquerade ball circling each other as they circle around the dance floor like they're the Floating Whirlindas. And those kinds of songs are even better when there's an intense flourish on top of that basic driving rhythm. I can think of a few songs that have parts like that, but this is the only song I really know that is entirely built upon that idea.

It's very fitting for a high-class gent like Don Genie, with money to spare and an intense ambition.
 
ZelenPixel said:
day 24: music you constantly have stuck in your head
my head kinda defaults to a few select music tracks whenever it cant think of anything else to loop. usually its mario land 2 music for whatever reason! and theres a few others i cant think of
Click to expand...
and lemme add to that. my brain also often defaults to run jump throw 2 from mario odyssey. like right now! i mean it like it a lot so i dont mind it but yea
 
Day 24: Bowser Battle - Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

"You can't dodge them all!"

Look, as phoned-in as Shrowser feels as a final boss, this music is just too catchy. Like, I haven't played the game in over a year and yet this still keeps coming back. It really fits Bowser, too. Also this isn't just Shrowser's theme either, it also plays in the other Bowser battle which is easily the best boss in the game, so bonus points for that.
 
Day 24: Music you have constantly stuck in your head

Music that gets stuck in my head isn't VGM, and it cycles through a lot of different music. So I'm going to skip this day.
 
Day 24: music you constantly have stuck in your head

when i was younger music would get stuck in my head really often, but nowadays it barely ever happens. i guess one song that got stuck in my head at some point is the paper mario color splash battle theme
i definitely prefer the origami king battle theme (at least the red streamer one), heck that theme might get stuck in my head, but i heard this song more, and it's way too catchy, i love it. also i was listening to it over and over hoping they'd announce a new paper mario a few months ago (little did i know....), and i kept hearing it in my head, for all the good reasons
 
Day 24: Music I have stuck constantly in my head [Hard Mode]

Super Mario Bros. 3 Overworld. This may be the catchiest thing I've heard in a long while which I actually discovered via Mario Maker but ever since then it's been one of my biggest earworms from music in general and as far as video game music goes it's probably the best pick for this day even if I weren't doing hard mode.

Day 1 - Title Screen - Donkey Kong Country Returns
Day 2 - Opening Level - Super Bell Hill (Super Mario 3D World)
Day 3 - 8 bit - Super Mario Bros. 1 Ghost House (Super Mario Maker)
Day 4 - Console Exclusive Series - Soft Light (Super Paper Mario)
Day 5 - Hub/Overworld - Rogueport (Paper Mario TTYD)
Day 6 - Relaxing - Cosmic Cove Galaxy (Galaxy 2)
Day 7 - from an indie game - Sweden (Minecraft)
Day 8 - from a shooter game - N/A
Day 9 - from a liscenced game - Level Builder / Nocturnal Activities (Lego Indiana Jones 2)
Day 10 - RPG Battle - Bowser's Inside Story main enemy battle theme
Day 11 - from a puzzle game - Angry Birds title theme
Day 12 - sad music - Luma (Super Mario Galaxy 1)
Day 13 - from a game I don't like - Mario Kart Wii Rainbow Road
Day 14 - music featuring vocals - jump up, super star! (Super Mario Odyssey)
Day 15 - boss battle - Koopaling battle (NSMBW/U)
Day 16 - 16 bit - SMW Overworld
Day 17 - Music I never get tired of - SM3DL Overworld
Day 18 - Music released in the year I was born - Teehee Valley from M&L: Superstar Saga
Day 19 - Cover of music by a different artist - Qumu's Ricco Harbour (from Super Mario Sunshine)
Day 20 - Music from a racing game - N/A
Day 21 - music you associate with frustration - super mario bros game over
Day 22 - town/village - paper mario 64 toad town
Day 23 - underrated vgm - super mario land 2 graveyard
 
24 - Music I have constantly stuck in my head

Mario Kart 8 (Electrodrome) - Electrodrome is one of the more memorable courses in Mario Kart 8, as is the music, in my opinion. The music, for some reason, is permanently stuck in my head. I like the "technological" tune, it matches the style that Mario Kart 8 I'd going for.
 
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at first this was one of the hardest picks for me, cause i dont really get VGM stuck in my head often because it's primarily lyricless, and all the series i'm really familiar with i've already used, and even then i still wouldnt think of them as songs i get stuck in my head often... but yesterday i had a stroke of genius and came up with something from a video game that i genuinely do get stuck in my head, so here it is: Baka Mitai from Yakuza 5 (and 0 and Kiwami). This is an option for the karaoke minigame in various entries of the Yakuza series, and i just really love it?? i listen to this even outside the context of listening to game soundtracks. it's such a smooth, melancholy song and i just find myself 'singing' it in my head even though i dont even speak japanese, so there you go.
 
Day 24: Stuck in my head

Ok so yeah, two FEs in a row but in defense I have been refraining from posting FE just to not get repetitive. But this theme got stuck in my head recently and my mind likes to default to it when it's thinking of good music. And honestly I'm not complaining. So far, this is my favorite theme from Three Houses.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Chasing Daybreak)

This especially feels powerful right on the first map where it plays. It's a beautiful composition that gives away the state in which the world's been in for the past five years without even saying anything. Even then, there's still this ray of hope that appears towards the end of the track.

Good theme.
 
Day 25: I'm Back (To Rise!) - Killer Instinct (2013)

If there's one thing you need in a Fighting Game, it's music that gets you in the mood to fight. I'd argue this is true of many game genres, for example RPGs need good battle music, so you don't get tired of hearing it for the nth​ time. The original Killer Instinct was pretty good at this, as it had a great soundtrack, but the reboot is even better. It's done by Mick Gordon, who you may know as the composer as the DOOM reboot, and while it doesn't feature the style used in that game, I'd argue it's just as good, if not better. It arranges many of the songs used in the original two KI games, but rather loosely at times, and this is one of those cases, turning a rather short electronic song, into almost nine minutes of Hip-Hop. Many of the elements of the original still appear, such as the vocal samples, and the entire last minute is a full arrangement of the original, but for the most part it takes a lot of creative liberties. It's a great song, in fact I'd argue it's one of my favourite songs, which is a pretty bold claim to make.

Also while we're talking about Fighting Games, here's my answer for Day 14 (I mention I delayed a song, and the song I chose today was the one I delayed).

Day 14: Smell of the Game - Guilty Gear: Strive

Perch was very rude and stole my choice for today, so I've had to find another song 😠

In all seriousness, I had no plans to use any Sonic vocal music. It's a bit too obvious of a choice, and there's some vocal songs from other series that I feel deserve some attention. However, I have changed my choice for today after seeing a later day that the song applies to, and as I want to save this until as late as possible, I've decided to save it until then. It was a song from a Fighting Game, and I've decided to keep in line with that for the replacement choice, being Smell of the Game from the upcoming Guilty Gear: Strive. If you've heard about the Guilty Gear series, or even played a game from, then you should know that it has a great soundtrack that's very much Metal. Strive is no different, and even turns it up a bit, with many songs having vocals, and this applies to the Main Theme as well. I can assure this games soundtrack is amazing, and it hasn't even released yet.
 
day 25: music that gets you pumped
i dont even know but my first thought was the teensy highway levels from rayman 3 for some reason (maybe because i saw a tweet earlier)
www.youtube.com

Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc OST 'The Teensie Highway'

That funky beat! Credit for the awesome quality goes to: http://raytunes.raymanpc.com/
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
wow. i wonder how many times ill have answered rayman 3 music by the end of this
 
Day 25: Music that gets me pumped [Hard Mode]

not sure if this is allowed since this one does appear in lego indiana jones 2 which i have used already but it was in lego indiana jones 1 which came first obviously, although i doubt that this is where it came from but....

"Status Screen" from lego indiana jones 1 - features the main melody of the indiana jones franchise, and feels pretty uplifiting as i believe this is the tune that plays when you beat a level so i associate it with accomplishment (although i haven't played this game anytime recently unlike its sucessor which i much prefer)

  • we believe in you mario from ttyd
  • the invincible mario theme (my favourite is the spm version but others are good too)
  • blast off to the moon from ttyd
  • super paper mario title screen
  • the starship sails from galaxy 2 (the one where you get the world map for the first time)

Day 1 - Title Screen - Donkey Kong Country Returns
Day 2 - Opening Level - Super Bell Hill (Super Mario 3D World)
Day 3 - 8 bit - Super Mario Bros. 1 Ghost House (Super Mario Maker)
Day 4 - Console Exclusive Series - Soft Light (Super Paper Mario)
Day 5 - Hub/Overworld - Rogueport (Paper Mario TTYD)
Day 6 - Relaxing - Cosmic Cove Galaxy (Galaxy 2)
Day 7 - from an indie game - Sweden (Minecraft)
Day 8 - from a shooter game - N/A
Day 9 - from a liscenced game - Level Builder / Nocturnal Activities (Lego Indiana Jones 2)
Day 10 - RPG Battle - Bowser's Inside Story main enemy battle theme
Day 11 - from a puzzle game - Angry Birds title theme
Day 12 - sad music - Luma (Super Mario Galaxy 1)
Day 13 - from a game I don't like - Mario Kart Wii Rainbow Road
Day 14 - music featuring vocals - jump up, super star! (Super Mario Odyssey)
Day 15 - boss battle - Koopaling battle (NSMBW/U)
Day 16 - 16 bit - SMW Overworld
Day 17 - Music I never get tired of - SM3DL Overworld
Day 18 - Music released in the year I was born - Teehee Valley from M&L: Superstar Saga
Day 19 - Cover of music by a different artist - Qumu's Ricco Harbour (from Super Mario Sunshine)
Day 20 - Music from a racing game - N/A
Day 21 - music you associate with frustration - super mario bros game over
Day 22 - town/village - paper mario 64 toad town
Day 23 - underrated vgm - super mario land 2 graveyard
Day 24 - music i have constantly stuck in my head - super mario bros 3 overworld
 
Day 25: Sevii Islands Theme - Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green

The Lake of Rage theme has always been a special one to me. It's got the perfect vibe of exploration, of striding out into the unknown, of heading somewhere you've never been before - and as someone who loves going out and about in a huge city, who really enjoys finding New places, it has the perfect vibe for that sort of thing. Every time I listen to it I get pumped up to go out and about, to find a new spot in NYC that I've never been before and to go there today in order to see what's over the next hill. And as much as I love the GSC version, the FRLG remix captures that vibe even more strongly than the GSC version in my view, so it's the one to go up today.

and then HGSS completely missed the point of the song mrgrgr
 
It's all Mario games this time!

Day 17: Music you never get tired of
Choice: Mario Party 9 - Select a Minigame!
It's a very short theme, but it never fails to be exciting to hear this because it's associated with minigames. It's also one that I strongly associate with the new Mario Party games, which represents an exciting new direction for the Mario Party series (though not everyone shared the sentiment), and for the most part, the spirit of the series is still intact, with the boards only representing the major issue for a lot of people, even if I appreciated that they ventured into a new direction.

Day 18: Music in a game released the year you were born
Choice: Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988) - Overworld
When I looked at a list of video games in 1988, I felt like there aren't many choices. Mega Man 2 is one but I didn't really felt attached to it. Therefore, I went with another Mario game, which is Super Mario Bros. 2 because its main theme is pretty different from every other main theme out there, compared to Super Mario Bros. 3. Of course, it also represented how different Super Mario Bros. 2 was from every other Super Mario game released for the rest of Mario's life.

Day 19: Cover of music by a different artist
Choice: Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games - Super Mario World
I am a bit confused on what this topic is asking for, so I assumed it's asking about an official type of cover. As such, taking a song from a Mario & Sonic game is what I ended up doing since their covers are quite great overall. I went with Super Mario World, which sounded better when Mario & Sonic played it compared to its original theme, which I admit sounded tiring after hearing it too often.

Day 20: Music from a racing game
Choice: Mario Kart 8 - Mario Circuit
Of the Mario Kart 8 music, I felt that this version of Mario Circuit is the best because I felt like I can listen to it far longer compared to most others, including Mario Kart Stadium. It's also a simple, yet effective course in conveying what Mario Kart 8 is about: the antigravity and the unique course designs that are possible from it. Mount Wario is second in regards to how catchy the song is and the effective design of it (it's the first to be a loopless course), but I have to hand it to Mario Circuit because it is the most exciting Mario Circuit yet.

Day 21: Music you associate with frustration
Choice: Super Mario 3D World - Champion's Road
I am going to echo a few suggestions on this song because that level's gauntlet is too gruelling to go through, especially if almost the end is there. I guess it's made with multiplayer in mind, but the lack of checkpoints made it very difficult that I had to resort to controlling multiple characters to get to the goal. Amusingly, putting the themes of this song and the original Gusty Galaxy in sync leads to a discordant cacophony.

Thank you for reading.
 
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Day 25: Music that gets you pumped
Playing my P5 card now!

...though this is kind of tough because I really can't choose between Life Will Change -instrumental version- - Persona 5 and Take Over - Persona 5 Royal... so I'm gonna call it a tie (they are basically from the same game)!

Agreeing with what Perch said about the theme; Life Will Change was pretty much composed specifically to get you pumped, and it's the perfect theme for storming your way through the Palace right towards the boss. I prefer this version over the vocal version because that electric guitar. This was supposed to be in Smash, Sakurai.

While I love Last Surprise too, Take Over has really grown on me, and I think it might be better in my opinion. It's such a good theme, and makes battles so much more exciting.
 
Day 25: music that gets you pumped

one thing that always gets me pumped up in a game is the final level, and one thing that makes it the case is the music. sometimes it's pretty meh, but it also sometimes makes you feel accomplished for having made it this far. Bowser's Galaxy generator from mario galaxy 2 is one of those cases
everyone says that chorus makes vg music epic, but personally one thing that makes a song epic to me is d r u m s. and this song is pretty much full of them. i remember hearing this as a kid and it made me really wanna kick bowser's ass so hard. so yeah this gets me really pumped up.
 
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Day 25: Music that gets you pumped


There's the possibility that this didn't originate in the game but whatever, it gets me pumped up in an adventure where I'm killing a lot of creatures.
 
Day 26: Music you like from a game you haven't played [Hard Mode]

Dreamy Somnom Labrynth - Mario & Luigi: Dream Team - Whilst I hype playing this game very strongly, I haven't done so yet and am currently on Partners in Time... even though I usually wouldn't listen to VGM from a game I have yet to play, especially if I plan on playing it later, I stumbled on this one by accident but it was so beautiful.

Day 1 - Title Screen - Donkey Kong Country Returns
Day 2 - Opening Level - Super Bell Hill (Super Mario 3D World)
Day 3 - 8 bit - Super Mario Bros. 1 Ghost House (Super Mario Maker)
Day 4 - Console Exclusive Series - Soft Light (Super Paper Mario)
Day 5 - Hub/Overworld - Rogueport (Paper Mario TTYD)
Day 6 - Relaxing - Cosmic Cove Galaxy (Galaxy 2)
Day 7 - from an indie game - Sweden (Minecraft)
Day 8 - from a shooter game - N/A
Day 9 - from a liscenced game - Level Builder / Nocturnal Activities (Lego Indiana Jones 2)
Day 10 - RPG Battle - Bowser's Inside Story main enemy battle theme
Day 11 - from a puzzle game - Angry Birds title theme
Day 12 - sad music - Luma (Super Mario Galaxy 1)
Day 13 - from a game I don't like - Mario Kart Wii Rainbow Road
Day 14 - music featuring vocals - jump up, super star! (Super Mario Odyssey)
Day 15 - boss battle - Koopaling battle (NSMBW/U)
Day 16 - 16 bit - SMW Overworld
Day 17 - Music I never get tired of - SM3DL Overworld
Day 18 - Music released in the year I was born - Teehee Valley from M&L: Superstar Saga
Day 19 - Cover of music by a different artist - Qumu's Ricco Harbour (from Super Mario Sunshine)
Day 20 - Music from a racing game - N/A
Day 21 - music you associate with frustration - super mario bros game over
Day 22 - town/village - paper mario 64 toad town
Day 23 - underrated vgm - super mario land 2 graveyard
Day 24 - music i have constantly stuck in my head - super mario bros 3 overworld
Day 25 - music that gets me pumped - lego indiana jones 1 status screen
 
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