Gaming Great alternate music for games

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

By the title of this thread I am referring to music that you play in the background of games that isn't already in them, or music that you think would fit great into some game.

Whenever I play Starcraft I have Winamp playing one of my special "Starcraft Playlists" in the background. Depending on my mood (how many games I've lost in a row, hehe), it's a different playlist. The music ranges from remixes of Xenogears music so it's really majestic and triumphant to the Benny Hill theme that happens to, often enough, come on when I am getting my main base torn to shreds by a fleet. (But Starcraft is a PC game; I'm just using it as an example.)

The reason I thought of a thread like this is that I recently ran into Apocalyptica's "Refuse Resist" and I think it would fit perfectly into something like Doom. Apocalyptica plays a lot of Metallica with strings, but I don't know if Refuse Resist is a Metallica song or not. Anyway, Apocalyptica's version of it would be so awesome for an Xbox Doom3 that I'm gonna rip it onto the Xbox to see if I can play to it.

The soundtrack to Legend of Mana has some pieces that would be great for F-Zero, such as The Darkness Nova. It already sounds like it's from an F-Zero game (although better; I think F-Zero music is generally crap even though I have it on my comp).

Anyway, do you guys ever listen to music and think "man, that would be so awesome in [i]this[/i] game" or something like that? I suppose it's more frequent that people actually play their own playlists on PC games, but I find myself always thinking of music that would fit Zelda or Mario or something like that. Well, just give me your thoughts on the whole subject.

[BlueYoshi]

[color=teal]For one I think that the music in a game plays an important part. Without it I would feel lost and wouldn't enjoy the game as much had it been there.

I don't think it's wise to listen to other music though; in most cases the audio is there to help you rather than make you feel good about it, but I suppose there are a few exceptions like with fighters and beat em ups where sound effects and cheers don't really matter.

I'd say that listening to other music during a game would essentially kill it. Survival horrors sort of need that gloomy background noise to set the scene and give the added effect to players, and the same for RPGs, the tune that plays in any town will resonate what the nature of it currently is, not to mention the type of setting you're in.

So I think it's quite impossible to play music amidst the course of a game heh, well for me anyway, but I think the Mega Man games have some cool soundtracks, even if they might all sound the same.[/color]

[natetron46]

yeah it really depends on the game, for sports game ill listen to upbeat music to get my ready or pumped. for some (very few) shooters, i listen to rock or something to make it intense. the game i use with music most is transport tycoon or simcity4. there really isnt any music in the game, and there isnt really a mood to set, so i just put my own in.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

The thing is, in many games you can turn down the music but leave the SFX on. As long as the alternate music playing fits the game well, you're not taking anything away from it at all. Sometimes it's nothing but an improvement, as with Starcraft.

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Back before the GCN was out and I was still playing the original Super Smash Bros. on the N64, I'd occasionally turn the sound off and listen to some Van Halen CDs while playing. Sometimes I'd start doing combos to the beat of the song, and the cool thing is that they usually worked, heh. There was nothing sweeter than sending people flying with Pikachu's thunder attack to the crashing of cymbals.

Though I tend to usually just enjoy the music already in games, I'm sure I've a few ideas for this sort of thing before...I just can't seem to remember them at the moment. They seem to come to mind as random thoughts and then I forget all about them after I'm done playing. I'll have to think about this some more.[/color]

[Brasil]

The only game that comes to mind is Road Rash 3D, for PSX.

RR3D has a really fun soundtrack to start with, and the songs really fit the style and motif of the game, but as my brother and I were playing it, we realized that there was an abundance of Sugar Ray on the RR in-game soundtrack. We figured, why not pop in the actual Sugar Ray album? So we did, and the results were rather fun. One of the Sugar Ray albums, probably the one with "Fly," fit surprisingly well. There's not much better than kicking another cyclist off their bike to the lyrics, "I just wanna fly, put your arm around me baby, put your arm around me baby."

It was great.

[Semjaza]

I've never heard a song that I thought fit in Mario or Zelda outside of the songs that are already in the games. I think the music in them is perfect for them. Same with Doom, honestly. I really enjoyed the soundtrack for that game, even if it was cheesy MIDI.

I don't really play music alongside games... Only on Xbox console-wise, since some games allow for custom soundtracks. I only do it for racers though, like Rallisport Challenge 2. Good, fast music fits it well. Zeromancer and Bad Religion were good alternatives, although I don't really mind most of the music already in the game.

[BlueYoshi]

[color=teal]I'm going to say this out of pure randomness. Twisted Metal: Black's theme soundtrack, Paint It Black, was in my opinion the best song to have ever been applied to a game in history. It worked well with the main menu screen too, with the slow-mo of bodies flying through car screens and all, heh.[/color]

[natetron46]

[quote name='Wingnut Ninja][color=teal']I'm going to say this out of pure randomness. Twisted Metal: Black's theme soundtrack, Paint It Black, was in my opinion the best song to have ever been applied to a game in history. It worked well with the main menu screen too, with the slow-mo of bodies flying through car screens and all, heh.[/color][/quote]

Yes!!!! I completely agree. I love that song and it was nice to see it in a game. It didnt really fit the game well, but a fun multiplayer game and a wonderful song!

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]An interesting little topic if I do say so myself, which I do.

Well I don't often listen to other music while playing a game as it tends to distract me as I air-guitar through a solo, but the right music really can make the difference for the mood in a game. When I play [B]Vice City[/B] on my brother's PS2 I never listen to the music that's on the radio, the main reason is that [i]V-Rock[/i] which should have some excellent stuff to play is a load of shite, I mean the late 87's saw some great music. If I'm going on a drive-by or general massacre I usually play a lot of [B]Metallica[/B], stuff like [B]2 X 4[/B] to help me get in the mood and I have to admit that it works a treat. Other times when I'm just driving along I listen to some lighter stuff like [B]Thin Lizzy[/B] to just chill while I'm driving.

One of the only other games I'd listen to alternative music during would be [B]Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike[/B] on the Gamecube, though this would only be limited to a few levels that I have difficulty in finishing. When I do listen to stuff on Rebel Strike though it's the heaviest stuff I have as it helps me focus on just annihilating Imperial Forces. Other than that would be RTSs unless they've got good background music to them already though most of the ones I own already do.[/SIZE]

[James]

[color=#707875]Generally I don't put music on when playing games, but it does largely depend on the game itself.

For example, I often have my own music on when I play PC games -- particularly with strategy titles. I used to play C&C Generals quite a lot, with my own music going. The fact that you can turn the in-game music off and have your CD running at the same time works very nicely, especially with headphones.

However, with that game...these days I find that I tend to play it with no music whatsoever. It's a little odd; it is probably the only game I play in this way.

I think I play it like that because it becomes more like a real battlefield. Everything becomes very clear; you can hear every movement and explosion, you can hear the environmental effects (which are all great in Zero Hour) and you can react to things very quickly. Somehow, it just works. And with headphones, you get the stereo sound going, which works beautifully in that game.

In terms of console games, I will occasionally play some games with my own music going -- particularly if I'm playing multiplayer, or if I'm playing a racing game of some kind. Usually I will put music on if the game requires very little thought (ie: something like SSX for PS2). It's the kind of game where I don't have to think at all.

Other times, I feel I really need the sound of the game (like in Gran Turismo or Zelda). In those cases the sound isn't just there for aesthetic reasons, but it provides me with a greater sense of bearing and awareness in the game.[/color]

[natetron46]

I recently started playing Doom3, let me say, this is the end to me importing music to games. There is no way I could do it with this game. The sound totally sets the mood, and kind of music would just ruin the game.

[Sosogomi]

On all my Online RPG's I play music depending on which character I'm using, but as for console games I don't really listen to other music. The exception being the opening anime sequence in ToS, I play this one song by the Darkness all the time. It doesnt fit but its fun to watch anyway. Sometimes I think a song would fit a video game character but thats it.

[DiscoSnorlax]

Sometimes I like to put on 'Fuel' by Metallica, start up Diablo II with the music off and the sfx up a bit, and run around with my points-loaded-into-strength barbarian just wailing on everything in sight with my polearm. And with the amount of life I leech with all that damage, it doesn't really matter that my lousy dex makes me miss so much. :)

[Kopfgeldj]

I think that with RTS games soem back ground music works greattheir is nothng like opening an attack to rammsitens feuer firi (tans: open fire).
in game music also works in Q3a for me I mean i chuck on some death metal and i can frag like nothing else, but for other game like halflife and doom 3 it dosnt work as they need the atmosphere that the music provides