What is it about a platformer's soundtrack that brings good memories? Is it the pace, the variety of instruments used, the smoothness, or the chaos? I don't know about you, but most times for me it's the composer's ability to follow you along in the game with music that is fitting per scene, action, and even the simplest of jumps to make it to that next platform. It compliments and even accentuates the toughest and most interesting moments found in the game and elevates the entire experience in the process.
Nick
Takashi Tateishi (credited as Ogeretsu Kun) – Mega Man 2
Mega Man 2 was arguably my most-played action / platformer from the NES era (it or Contra). It was one of those games that I played numerous different ways. I would beat it on the hardest difficulty setting in a single sitting to see how quickly I could best it, or sometimes I would take the least intuitive boss order possible just to see if I could still beat it. The visuals and gameplay were excellent, but my goodness – that music has stuck with me over the years (decades really).
Takashi Tateishi was a sound designer for Capcom during some of their earlier days, with some minor credits such as 1943 Kai and later made his way to producing music for the Tokimeki Memorial series and his way over to Konami for various sound design roles. By far though, his best-known work would seem to be composing for Mega Man 2.
For the sake of this article, I decided to fire up the game for the first time in a long time and man – that music still slaps. From the introductory theme (especially the upbeat ‘Part 2’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT9DST_M_g8 ) during the slow vertical scroll of the game starting up, to the brief but catchy boss selection screen to the various stages throughout the game. It is worth calling out that the introductory theme is a reworking of the prior game’s credits theme (the first Mega Man was composed by Manami Matsumae, who was credited as Manami Ietel).
The music tracks, like the visuals, are distinctive between stages. For me, the Air Man stage was almost always the first boss I tackled (this was the only other stage that Manami Matsumae contributed some bars for), so it was immediately familiar and nostalgic as it was probably the stage I played the most back in the day. Wily Fortress 1 is probably my favorite tune in the game. It’s frantic pace perfectly matches the intensity of the gameplay as you near the endgame (). It’s an old game, but the music is timeless.
Susie
Retro Family - Pid
Ha! I love how we all agree with Mega Man 2’s music being the most memorable because I would have written about it too. However, Nick did an awesome job. Although, my most favorite song in it is Metal Man’s theme…
Anyways, my actual pick for memorable music is going to bring back some memories of the Co-optional Podcast where Totalbiscuit would give us an upcoming game list or talk about games he was really excited about. Enter a cute indie platformer called Pid that came out in 2012. It was developed and published by Might and Delight and since Totalbiscuit was not the best at platformers (at least, not that I can recall), I ended up being interested in the game because he really enjoyed Pid. He not only released a ‘WTF is… Pid’ video which you can see here: https://youtu.be/Zswu86qnGMs, but he also enjoyed it enough to mention it on the podcast as well! Now, as a kindred gamer that sucks at platformers, he talked about this outlier of a game to the point where I was now sold on it. I really needed to know. (In fact, this wasn’t the only game I learned about because of the podcast, but I digress…)
Now, I’m sure that people may be confused because somehow any iteration of Mario hasn’t made it on this list, and here I am choosing a platformer that I sucked at. But, I had a great time with it. You see, Pid begins with your character getting onto a bus. During the ride, you fall asleep and when you awaken again, you meet some strange creatures that tell you that you can’t simply take a bus back home. In fact, no buses have shown up in years. And this is how you learn that you’ve been transported to a new dimension and need to find a way back home.
So, one of the main things that Totalbiscuit talked about with respect to Pid is its brilliant and calm music. Nothing compares to playing an aggravating game that has soothing music in the background. Have you ever tried to break difficult codes with Mozart in the background? If you have, this game is like that. Pid does not have classical music like the game I was just referring to. Instead, it has a soundtrack full of lounge music, which very much lends itself to existing in the background without taking you out of the experience. The style of music certainly sets a tone that allows players to focus on the task at hand, and as a result, you are less likely to be raging at the game.
Let’s just listen to the first track of the game called Landing. There is something oddly relaxing about this particular song. It is carried by the piano’s melody and is fully supported by the slow drums in a big way. The song is not a long one, but it sets the mood quite nicely. In contrast, The City (Day) is much more upbeat and allows the player to feel adventurous with that amazing synthesized top line guitar-ish sound. It’s hopeful and full of character. Another favorite of mine is Catacombs which uses a bright guitar melody that is used to create a bit more of a haunting sound with a subtle reverb effect. And the bottom line keeps enough of a beat to keep you on your toes.
I’m telling you, Pid is a fantastic platformer that I’m sure many people have never heard of, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing - a lot of the reason stemming from the recommendation and the spectacular music composed for the game. There’s just something about smooth jazz that brings me back down to Earth, you know?
PY
Jake Kaufman - Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero
I've played a lot of platformers over the years and some of the music used has remained rent free in my internal stereo system. But since Nick took Mega Man, I didn't really want to go into Mega Man X with the epic, legendary X vs Zero track from Mega Man X5.
Instead, I'm going a different approach with another epic masterpiece that is from Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero: Dance Through the Danger.
There are a few elements that made this track memorable for me. The first is that the vocals are from Christina Vee who voices the protagonist Shantae. This for me helped mesh the song to the game as it's basically Shantae herself singing about how she's once again going to dance through the danger.
The second, is that the track itself has a killer beat to it that's not too much drums or synth, it finds a good mix of both so that one doesn't outdo the other. To me anyways. Lastly, what really helped make this track stick is that it's not used in an opening or ending credit sequence. It's used as the music for the opening stage which sets the tone for the rest of the platforming and dancing through the danger that Shantae will need to do with her half genie powers.
Richard
Stewart Copeland - Spyro the Dragon
In terms of memorable platformer music there’s a lot I could name. Like PY and Nick the Megaman franchise has been a big influence on me and has remained in the moldy recesses of my brain. Like PY also mentioned, the Shantae games are also really good for their soundtracks. Should I pull on Celeste? Perhaps go for the lesser known “I wanna be the Guy”? Gunvolt? Curse Crackers? Rosenkreuzstilette? A Hat in Time? All great titles, but I think I’m going to have to go with what is probably a classic title to many here, and received a really good remaster fairly recently, Spyro the Dragon.
One of the few games where I always sit through the credits, that I’ve beaten completely at least ten times, and that will always hold a very special place in my childhood memories. A 3D platformer that really exploded onto the PS1, and the second game Insomniac had ever made as a company, Spyro the Dragon was a big hit, and the soundtrack was probably a part of it becoming the hit it still is today. Stewart Copeland sure did one hell of a good job. Yes, the member of the band The Police. He’s actually done a lot, for both movies and TV series as well as the original Spyro trilogy. Apparently he would also play through the levels before designing the themes for them, which is probably one of the major reasons I’ve always felt that the theme songs for the Spyro stages were always so fitting, and I’d always seem to be doing glides or jumps at certain parts during the songs like they were timed. One of my favourite games, as well as a great old-school 3D platformer, or the reignited trilogy also was very well remastered, so feel free to take that for a spin.
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