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10 video game sounds that are seared into my brain

5/12/2017

43 Comments

 
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Sounds; they truly are foods for your ears. And just as you never forget a good - or bad - casserole, you never forget a good - or bad - sound. Graphics and gameplay are but two of the elements which make up a game; another, perhaps less appreciated, is the sound. Yet think of your favourite games, and the music and effects are synonymous with the on-screen action.

Here 10 examples of video game sound which have stayed with me - sometimes for close to 30 years.
THE MAIN THEME FROM ALEX KIDD IN MIRACLE WORLD
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This was video game music of a sort I was unaccustomed to; more than one channel, with a "swoosh-y" percussion... and it got stuck in my head primarily because a) It was really catchy, b) It was used for both the title screen and the first level, c) I rarely made it much past the first level, and d) There were no saves in those days, so I had to play through that first level every time I played the game. 

It was composed by Tokuhiko Uwabo, who provided music for a bunch of Sega games - most notably Space Harrier - his last being 1994's Sonic & Knuckles. Uwabo later left composing and video games behind, to become a venture capitalist. Because that's a logical career progression.
THE SOUND OF ERIC'S FOOTSTEPS IN SKOOL DAZE
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Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop... this is the sound that a naughty boy's feet makes as he hurries through school, apparently. The Spectrum wasn't known for its sonic capabilities, but its 1-bit output was responsible for some truly iconic bleeps n' bloops.

Case in point: Eric's footsteps in Skool Daze. It's likely I played Skool Daze more than any other ZX Spectrum game. Given that there was a lot of walking, those footsteps shall never leave me. They are the sound of me hurrying away from the suspiciously cool Mr Withit. You chose to work in an all-boys school did you, Mr Withit? Yeah, I bet you did.
YOSHI'S THEME FROM SUPER MARIO WORLD
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Super Mario World boasts one of the greatest game soundtracks of all time, but few moments in gaming are as joyous as when you clamber onto the back of your special dinosaur friend, and the music gets one hundred percent jauntier.

​The extra percussion which played when Mario was riding Yoshi - hel-loh! - made full use of the Super Nintendo's ability to emit a whopping eight sounds simultaneously, and was testament to the 18 months it took Koji Kondo to compose the soundtrack. 
WHEN YOU GO IN A CAVE IN SUPER MARIO WORLD
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While we're talking Super Mario World, the point at which the game blew my mind was when I first entered a pipe - he-loh! All the regular sound effects, and the music, became all echoey, as if I was indeed in an underground cavern. It underlined that the SNES was a proper next-gen machine, and demonstrated how a little something like echo could really enhance atmosphere.
ZX SPECTRUM LOADING NOISE
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I don't know why the ZX Spectrum had to make that horrible noise while it was loading. I don't know why they couldn't have made it a nicer noise, like a harp or birdsong, or just muted it altogether, but - as unpleasant as it was - to an entire generation that horrid screeching would herald the imminent arrival of gaming treats.

You know: akin to your mother shrieking like a banshee as she handed you your birthday gifts.
THE FIRST LEVEL THEME IN JAMES POND 2: OPERATION ROBOCOD
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Another game from the pre-save era, and a bit of an underrated gem. The lack of saves once again meant that every time I played Robocod I was assaulted with the dangerously catchy first level music. Notably, the Amiga version borrowed from the Robocop theme, but this was altered once the game made its way to the Mega Drive. Probably for legal reasons.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG "SEGAAAAAAA"
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Sega pulled out all the stops with the original Sonic The Hedgehog, determined to prostrate it before the world as new epoch in 16-bit gaming. It began from the second you booted up the game, with the appearance of the Sega logo, and a choral burst of "Seyyyyy-gaaaaaah!". Get this: that digitised vocal sound took up 1/8th of the entire cartridge. Worth it though. Totally, yeah?
ALL THE SOUNDS IN SPACE INVADERS
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Sometimes less is more. The Space Invaders music was comprised of a mere four notes, but those notes sped up as the invaders got closer to the bottom of your screen. It was an effect not dissimilar to famous theme from Jaws. It was the first time music had been synonymous with the game it accompanied, the first time in-game music influenced a player's emotions - and it was terrifying, 
THE SCIENTISTS IN HALF-LIFE
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"Greetings!"

"Ah, Gordon - there you are."

"A resonance cascade scenario."


The scientists that you meet at the beginning of Half-Life, prior to the botched experiment which unleashes all manner of holy heck on Black Mesa, are some of the most chipper fellows you could ever meet.

They were played by a variety of actors, mostly uncredited, who doubled - sometimes tripled - up on roles. They included Brice Armstrong, who voiced various roles in the animated series Dragonball Z, Harry S. Robins, who cropped up again in Half-Life 2, and Mike Shapiro, who spoke on behalf of various passers-by in Grand Theft Auto V.
TINGLE
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What is the deal with Tingle? Of all the characters Nintendo has created, he is - without a doubt - the most bizarre. His weird outfit (green, skin-tight, bodysuit, clock necklace, belt, and red pants), and his peculiar dancing would be odd enough - but the jabbering and giggling really sold it. More distressingly, we know now that Nintendo considers him to be a 35 year-old man, who is "obsessed with forest fairies". 

"Tingle, Tingle! Kooloo-Limpah!" he would cry, which is no way for a man in his 30s to behave, and the reason his father was forever telling him "to grow up".

His debut appearance in Majora's Mask was at odds tonally with much of the rest of the game, which might be why he met with a less than favourable reception. Director Eiji Aonuma chose not to include the character in Twilight Princess, stating that "some American people didn't like him very much". We can all guess which ones... #MAGA

We have learned in subsequent appearances from the character that Tingle has three brothers: Ankle, Knuckle, and - inexplicably - David Jr. 

However, it was his incessant shrieking that has stuck in the memory. 
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43 Comments
Sevenlegs
5/12/2017 10:09:40 am

cake hammer earth apple tap

didn't james pond have penguin product placement? as in the biscuits, not the comedy animal

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Glyn
5/12/2017 08:43:02 pm

CHEAT (solidarity)

I think it did have Penguins like Zool had Chupa-chups.

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Matt
8/12/2017 08:07:03 am

Lips, Ice Cream, Violin, Earth... damnit, can't remember what the 'S' one was.

For the extra lives cheat in the first level.

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Da5e
5/12/2017 10:20:13 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JolY2Y5ae-4 - just gonna put this here because it has Space Invaders sounds in and they're a great band and the chorus is beautiful and I promise it doesn't have death metal vocals in the whole time.

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Gaming Mill link
5/12/2017 10:25:05 am

I loved the music on the Amstrad CPC version of Paperboy.

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Cuss Monkey
5/12/2017 01:07:26 pm

It was copied from Legend of John Cage.

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Paul
5/12/2017 10:49:43 am

Asteroids had a similar background sound to Space Invaders, which sped up as pressure mounted to clear the level.

I played Space Invaders at the Centre for Computing History. I’ve not played it a proper cabinet for ages, What did I take away from that experience? Burning pain in my wrist. Bloody RSI. Never got that in my yoof.

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Sam
5/12/2017 11:12:15 am

I'd have to add getting a major item in Ocarina of Time

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Nikki
5/12/2017 11:22:49 am

Eric's footsteps were exactly what I had in mind when I did the walking sound in the Aunty Donna game :)

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Jareth Smith
5/12/2017 11:55:14 am

There are innumerable instances I can think of, but the 16 bit era has certainly left me with noises buzzing around in my head. The Super Mario games, for sure, such as collection a coin and jumping. Mario's yells and whoops during Super Mario 64. Earthworm Jim's "Groovy!".

More recently, many noises from Half-Life 2 - the foot soldiers' shuffles and buzzing intercoms. And plenty more now thanks to the masterpiece that is Breath of the Wild - when you click on "Begin game" it makes this wonderfully chiming noise.

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RG
5/12/2017 11:57:50 am

The theme tune to Rainbow Island - it started off as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and then morphed into something altogether more funky.

Also the theme to Manic Miner (In the Hall of the Mountain King) and the sound of the big Monty Python boot splatting down on the game over screen.

Also the Blue Danube playing through 8bit Amstrad for months while playing Elite.

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Col. Asdasd
5/12/2017 12:06:22 pm

Ba-ba ba ba-ba ba! Let's-a-go!

Always heard it as 'let's pickle'.

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Ve-hi-cle repaired
5/12/2017 12:11:52 pm

Every single piece of music and sound effect in Dune 2

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juux
5/12/2017 12:16:07 pm

Hearing Space Invaders takes me right back to seaside arcades in my youth. Amazing how such simple noises can evoke such strong memories.

Article would be improved 100% with embedded audio btw :)

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Burt Bacharach
5/12/2017 12:55:08 pm

I'm not sure about video games, but I do know my hit single Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head is the only soundbite you need in my life!

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colincidence link
5/12/2017 01:00:08 pm

There's a certain serendipity to a brilliant game/series having a brilliant soundtrack. Street Fighter 2, for example, would still be a great game in concept, execution and visual design if not for the music, but the music seals the package as a proper classic.

You could say that we enjoy the music more because the game is good, but more directly we enjoy the game more because the music is good.

The limitations of 20th century video game sound chips brought a melodic focus to the music, which I feel is a detail mostly lost These Days, resulting in forgettable dirges with nothing to hum.

(yet another appropriate Colin song link above)

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Jareth Smith
5/12/2017 01:54:40 pm

A soundtrack is far more integral to a game than any HD graphics nonsense, that's what the "true gamer" brigade fail to realise in their pursuit for graphical "perfection". A modern classic like Ori and the Blind Forest may look beautiful, but the stunning soundtrack is what draws you in on an emotional scale.

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colincidence link
5/12/2017 01:58:52 pm

Bingo. Jareth knows a thing or two about iconic soundtracks.

I think it's a large part of how I would rather define as a 'retro gamer' than a gamer, always followed handhelds more than home consoles, and am most loyal to Kirby, Street Fighter, Sonic, Advance Wars...

Waynan The Barbarian
6/12/2017 10:52:04 am

Child of Light - Beautiful soundtrack

Mark
5/12/2017 01:05:06 pm

F zero had an amazing sound track find myself whistling the tunes sometimes even if I have not played it for months

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Col
5/12/2017 01:17:22 pm

The "someone's spotted me" sound in Metal Gear Solid.

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PS1Snake
5/12/2017 02:01:39 pm

My pick too.

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colincidence link
5/12/2017 02:07:36 pm

good text message tone too

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Dr. Budd Buttocks, MD
5/12/2017 01:55:35 pm

I love the music in Robocod. Richard Joseph was a very talented chap. That, and the music in Lotus II (especially the snow course) is the aural embodiment of Christmas day 1991, when I got my Amiga and a pile of pirated games from my cousin. Still one of the best days of my life.

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Dr. Budd Buttocks, MD
5/12/2017 02:04:07 pm

Also this guy has done a few orchestral versions of music from Robocod (amongst hundreds of other games)

https://soundcloud.com/blaketothefuture/robocod-christmas-orchestra

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Spiney O’Sullivan
5/12/2017 02:19:10 pm

The brilliant jazzy intro to Burning Rangers, with its utterly demented and presumably mistranslated English lyrics, is still incredibly effective feel-good music for me.

Sega might have driven themselves into a fairly deserved state of near-death, but they had a real knack for catchy tunes.

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RichardM
5/12/2017 02:27:53 pm

Splash Wave for me.

Do any boffins know why the Spectrum did make those noises? Did they make that noise if you played the tapes in an ordinary cassette player? Could anyone identify which game was loading by listening to it? Questions? Questionsssss?

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Dr. Budd Buttocks, MD
5/12/2017 03:15:15 pm

What you are hearing is essentially the Speccy reproducing the sound of the data encoded on the tape. You hear the same thing if you just play the tape in a normal player. I think they made it audible so that you knew something was still happening while the game was loading. Same with the bars in the border (which is again the same binary data on the tape making the patterns)

I found that you could actually recognise certain patterns in games that you loaded all the time.

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Alastair
5/12/2017 08:40:05 pm

Were the sound and visuals then a better indication of loading progress than installing progress bars on a PC?

Dr. Budd Buttocks, MD
5/12/2017 10:29:09 pm

Well, it wasn't so much an indication of progress than a comforting screeching, flashing reassurance that all was well. So probably a bit less ambiguous than modern progress bars. But like I say, on some games you started to recognise when they were about to finish loading from hearing them all the time.

Starbuck
5/12/2017 11:38:30 pm

Yep, you could learn some loading sound like tunes; most had different "movements" for different sections of data, and some data arrays would create quite interesting and musical moments. Over time you'd come to know from the sequences when loading was getting there, and the excitement would build...

Trevor Cod
5/12/2017 08:06:30 pm

I nearly went nuts once as a child trying to work out why River Raid wouldn't load when I could hear it through the speccy and when I played it out loud. Turned out my mate had recorded it in stereo but only on one channel and not the one that the thing listened to. Interesting eh?!

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Bear Uppercut
5/12/2017 03:15:28 pm

Obviously the tetris noise but that probably goes without saying...

The awesome soundtrack aside, the incomprehensible noise Axel makes in Streets of Rage 2 for his forward-forward-B move (something like 'rehssofaa') has been seared onto my eardrums and is my go-to noise when impersonating any sort of martial art.

As a child without a stereo, me and my friends used to relax to the T2: The Arcade Game sound test screen or start a race in Road Rash 2 and then just leave the controller. Just those two games though, which seems odd in retrospect

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Jol
5/12/2017 03:38:56 pm

I was going to comment about Axel's move - it's called 'grand upper' iirc, although as a daft child that didn't read the manual I thought he was shouting 'grab the power'.

There's something very appealing about the scratchy, distorted digitised sound of a good 16-bit shout.

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Kelvin Green link
5/12/2017 08:36:56 pm

Ah yes, "Grand Papa!"

Streets of Rage 2 also gave us "Jinko Gary Busey" and "Why Now, Grass?"

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Chris
5/12/2017 06:31:19 pm

The bip bip bip as you bashed a monster in the head with your hammer in Panic.

That paper tearing noise when your ship rematerialized in Defender

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sonicshrimp
5/12/2017 08:26:36 pm

‘Hello’
‘Follow me’
‘Wait!’
*fart*
‘Mmmmmmmmmmmmm nmmmmmm nmmmmm’

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Dunc
5/12/2017 08:37:21 pm

Basically the whole of megalomania

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Kelvin Green link
5/12/2017 08:51:17 pm

It took me years to realise that all the in-game music in Super Mario World is the same tune, played with different instruments or at different speeds. I assume this was obvious to everyone else on day one.

Alex Kidd is a memorable one for me too, although probably more the scissors-paper-stone music than the main theme.

The end credits medley from Sonic 2 sticks in my mind, as do the vertical scrolling shoot-em-up levels on Turrican. The main theme from The Chaos Engine is a ridiculous classic and I still love the way the in-game music goes a bit epic when you get near the end of a level.

And this, from Creatures on the C64:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7C3LXkDS24

I would play the Zzap! covertape demo over and over just for that music.

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Nick
6/12/2017 12:10:46 am

Wait, what? Really?

Hundreds of hours over various iterations and I never realised that.

I'm going to go away and ponder this.

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Kelvin Green link
6/12/2017 12:49:38 am

Apart from the title screen, maps, and Bowser, yeah, they are all the same tune.

Lee
6/12/2017 05:09:16 pm

The theme song from Canon Fodder on the Amiga -

War has never been so much fun.
https://youtu.be/5Fl1pCPb504

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Matt
6/12/2017 09:18:20 pm

Super Mario World Switch Palace music.

The attack of a Dom robot in Space Harrier.

The swoop of a Galaxian.

The start lights of Super Mario Grand Prix.

Gorf asking us to 'Insert Coin'

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