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Iconic
Forgotten
Timeless
Innovative
These are the soundtracks that help shape and define what we hear in the video games that we play. I am Nitro, and this is the M Disk Playlist Video Game Music Primer, 2010.
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VVVVVV, composed by Magnus Palsson
Six V's but only pronounced with one. A game that looks and plays like a Commodore 64, or Amiga platformer, but sounds like you're in a chiptune rave party. Magnus Palsson, who frequently composes under the name "SoulEye: takes pride in his style of chiptune music. He describes it on his website as "flagship triumph that transcends what is normal chiptunes and explodes into your mind, leaving your mouth open, knees trembling, and thoughts in disarray."
Palsson also states his mission to write "the best piece yet" everytime he writes a new piece of music. Other games Palsson has contributed to were Extreme Road Trip, Garden Gnome Carnage, Space Phallus, and #ModArchive Story 2. Fitting with the C64 and Amiga aesthetic, Palsson sites in an interview with Nintendo Enthusiast, how he admires and respects composer Chris Huelsbeck, who has worked on games like the Turrican series, The Great Giana Sisters, and the original R-Type. The games score was released on the album PPPPPP, largely due to the fact that the title of every piece of the score begins with P.
VVVVVV is a homage to the Comodore 64 and the Amiga in every aspect. The game design, the aesthetic, and even the score. Magnus Palsson understood what that era of music was like, and modernized it in a way that blends what made the scores of that era so catchy, with original chiptune EDMs that would make waves across the music industry this decade.
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NieR, composed by Keiichi Okabe, Kakeru Ishihama, Keigo Hoashi, and Takafumi Nishimura
One of the games highlighted in the 2003 VGM Primer was Yoko Taro's Drakengard. NieR takes place after Drakengard's true and final ending, with the real world that had been in complete disarray for at least a thousand years over the events that had transpired during Drakengard's finale.
Keiichi Okabe served as the lead composer. He took part in a myriad of learning experiences to help hone his skills such as learning how to record in different ways, and working with different bands. His first professional scoring experience came with working for Bandai Namco, working on games like the PlayStation One versions of Ridge Racer, Tekken 2, and Xevious 3D/G. He also composed the original, arcade score of Tekken 3. He became a freelancer in 2001, allowing him the opportunity to score for more than just video games. During his freelance period, he formed the music studio Monaca. It is through Monaca that NeiR got two of it's additional composers; Kakeru Ishima, and Keigo Hoashi. Takafumi Nishimura was added to the sound team durectly through NieR developer, Cavia.
Also contributing to the NeiR score is vocalist Emi Evans. Before NieR, Evans was a commercial vocalist who would occassionally perform at local events. She even got to work on an arrangement album for the game Etrian Odyssey. Through chance, she met Okabe, and was recruited both perform and write the vocal songs for NieR. She would write her songs in multiple different languages, including one she would describe as "chaos language." A language meant exclusively for the lore of the game. This job was so successful for her career, she would be recruited by other composers to perform for their scores.
Keiichi Okabe and Emi Evans' contributions to NieR helped make the games of Yoko Taro stand out, and give his games a signature sound that couldn't be replicated anywhere else. After NeiR, they would collaborate with Taro again on Drakengard 3, and NieR: Automata.
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Red Dead Redemption, composed by Bill Elm, Woody Jackson, Jose Gonzalez, Ashtar Command, and William Elliot Whitmore
Throughout the 2000s, Rockstar Games made a name for themselves with their large open world games. But as big as those games were, there was almost always one thing missing; a largely original score. Their 2006 game, Bully, had an original score, but a lot of the music for each of their other games was licensed. Red Dead Redemption would add to the list of original scores in a Rockstar Game, as well as being the largest game developed by Rockstar Games at the time. The primary composers were Bill Elm, and Woody Jackson. The two met and collaborated with each other in 1995 working with bands like Friends of Dean Martinez. Throughout the 2000s, each would build their resumes in film and television. Elm would be known for his work in documentaries like Fast Food Nation, Cheeseburger, and Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea. Jackson would be known for films like Monkeybone, The Devil Wears Prada, and Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.
The biggest problem with authenticating the western sound of the American frontier circa 1911, was that there was no definitive "western sound of the American frontier circa 1911" according to Jackson in an interview with Gamasutra. The idea of a "western sound" originated through 60s spaghetti westerns composed by Ennio Morricone. What helped with the composition process was the kind of instruments used. After purchasing a German guitar, which Jackson claims had a perfect tremolo to help match the Morricone style of western music, he was able to write the main theme of Red Dead Redemption. There are parts of the score where a single instrument is used. Like the campfire music, which features a sole harmonica played by Tommy Morgan. Or the saloon, primarily featuring a piano, performed by John Kirby. There were 15 different solo pieces for each instrument, to help differentiate how they were used and where they were used in the game.
This game features four vocal tracks, and some of them go beyond "enhancing the gaming experience." In one of the game's most famous moments, you control main protagonist John Marston as he is riding his horse on his way to Mexico. While you are traveling, the music normally played is replaced by the track, Far Away, by Jose Gonzalez. The way the song is used helps depict Marston's foreboding journey into unknown territory, away from the last of his friends and family. Jamie Lidell's song, Compass (Red Dead on Arrival), is used in a similar fashion. After Marston deals with Dutch van der Linde, one of the game's primary antagonists, Marston rides back to home to be with his family. Instead of the regular music, Compass is played. Part of the lyrics to the song are "and now I know the only compass that I need is the one that leads back to you." A perfect meatphor, knowing that there is only one destination for Marston at that moment, is his home with his family. The third vocal track is a cover of a 19th century folk song titled, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie, performed by William Elliot Whitmore. This song is used after a tragic event that occurs during the game's finale. And the final vocal track, Deadman's Gun by Ashtar Command, is used as the game's credit sequence. Instead of a song depicting John Marston's life, we get a song depicting the idea of exacting revenge on the one man responsible for John Marston's whole journey in the first place, FBI agent Edgar Ross.
Bill Elm and Woody Jackson would also compose for the game's stand-alone expansion, Undead Nightmare. However, Jackson would be the only composer of the two to work on the 2018 Red Dead Redemption 2. Regardless, the original Red Dead Redemption would go down as one of the best games of 2010, and the score would serve as one of the most prominant, and one of the more modern examples of music literally enhancing the gaming experience in dynamic ways.
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Xenoblade Chronicles, composed by Yoko Shimomura, Manami Kiyota, ACE+, and Yasunori Mitsuda
Xenoblade Chronicles started as writer and director Tetsuya Takahashi's way of increasing morale of the Monolith Soft staff after disappointing sales of the Xenosaga series forced it to become a trilogy, instead of a six-episode series. It would morph into one of the Wii's most anticipated JRPGs, even leading to multiple fan-lead campaigns to get the game localized in North America as for a moment, it seemed like it would only be released in Japan and Europe.
The music in this game consisted of three composers, and a group of composers working together under the name ACE+; ACE originally was a duo consisting of Tomori Kudo and Hiroyo Yamanaka, whose prior experience working on video games include Tamagotchi 64, and Bomberman 64: The Second Attack. When Kenji Hiramatsu joined, ACE became ACE+. The majority of the score was composed by Manami Kiyota, who according to the Xenoblade Chronicles soundtrack liner notes, declared she would become a video game composer in her elementry graduation book. Outside of Xenoblade Chronicles, Kiyota is known for her works as a vocalist and lyrisist on the Final Fantasy Song Book: Mahoroba album.
Yoko Shimomura, who had already solidified her status as a popular JRPG composer with the Mario role playing, and Kingdom Hearts franchises, only composed 10 pieces from the game. But some of her pieces are ones you will hear more than others in the game, like the game's regular battle theme, Time to Fight! She also composed the game's main title screen theme. Yasunori Mitsuda, who has worked with Takahashi on games like Xenogears, and the first Xenosaga, composed only one piece; The game's vocal track used in the games ending; Beyond the Sky, performed by Sarah Lim.
One of the unique characterisics of the Xenoblade Chronicles score is how it enhances the game's day-night cycle. In certain areas of the game, there is a piece in the background that plays during the day, and there is a different piece that plays during the night. Usually the day versions of the area themes are more upbeat, and lifting. While the night versions are more subduded and mellow.
Xenoblade Chronicles helped put Monolith Soft back on the radars of gamers, becoming not just one of the Wii's most popular games, but one of the most critically acclaimed JRPGs released in a long time. The game was re-released in 2020 for the Switch as Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, featuring a completely remastered score featuring the same composers. Ten years later, Xenoblade Chronicles is still just as beloved for its gameplay, story, setting, and score as it all was when it was originally released in 2010.
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Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, composed by Anamanaguchi
Throughout the 2000s, Bryan Lee O'Malley told the story of Scott Pilgrim and his fight against the seven evil exes of Ramona Flowers to win her heart. The story ended in 2010, just as it was getting a film adaptation, as well as a video game adaptation. What helped make Scott Pilgrim so beloved was the references to video games scattered throughout.
With a story filled with video game references, it seemed natural for a game to be made based off the graphic novel. To complete the video game aesthetic, the developers sought the music talents of bitpop group, Anamanaguchi. Before this game, Anamanaguchi had released independent albums, with their debut album Power Supply featuring a track that was used as the theme song for GamesRadar's old podcast; TalkRadar.
After Scott Pilgrim's release, they became more widely known, landing appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, having their music appear in Target commercials, and even collaborating with vocaloid idol, Hatsune Miku. When describing the ending piece in an interview with Game Set Watch, band member Peter Berkman cites Queen's We Are the Champions, and Twin Peaks as inspirations. The full version of the piece made its debut at Penny Arcade Expo 2010.
The game itself was delisted from Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network in December 2014. In September 2020, however, publisher Ubisoft announced that the game would be rereleased for the Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the PC. Between the delisting and the rerelease announcement, fans clamored for the day they would experience the game again. The music could still be enjoyed officially through streaming services, but that only amplified the memories and anticipation of the game, and it's eventual resurfacing.
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Shantae: Risky's Revenge, composed by Jake Kaufman
Jake Kaufman in his own words; "Worked both inhouse and freelance on over 50 commercial games on GBC, GBA, DS, N64, PSX, PS2, PS3, PC, Xbox360, and Wii… despite having started out as a high school dropout with a total lack of work ethic and no concept of timeliness or organization." Kaufman started his journey as a composer working on arrangements for Overclocked ReMix under the alias, Virt. Professionally, he would work mostly on Game Boy Color games, including the very first Shantaue, regarded as one of the last great games to be released on the platform.
The cult following that the original Shantae amassed helped build anticipation for the sequel, Risky's Revenge. It would be released on the Nintendo DS' DSiWare, Nintendo's portable version of their eShop service that they started using for their digitial games with the release of the Nintendo Wii. In an interview with Nintendo World Report, Kaufman compares working on Risky's Revenge to an opportunity to arrange his works on the original Shantae. In otherwords, an opportunity "to fix all the naive song structure and melodic sincs I committed as a young lad."
Risky's Revenge was a welcome addition to fans of the original Shantae. It helped turn Shantae into a beloved franchise for WayForward Technologies to be a bigger developer name in the 2010s than they were in the 2000s. Jake Kaufman would remain the sole composer of the Shantae series until new composers were brought in to work on the 2019 Shantae and the Seven Sirens, due to schedule conflicts on Kaufman's end.
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Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, composed by Nitin Sawhney
Enslaved had the experienced minds of the entertainment industry beyond video games to help bring the game to life. Co-written by Alex Garland, who is known for his works on the films 28 Days Later, Dredd, and his most successful film, Ex Machina. Before winning accolades for Ex Machina, he would win his first award from the Writers Guild of Great Britain for this game.
Nitin Sawhney's music experiences started on the BBC Radio-turned-TV show, Goodness Gracious Me. He would go on to release studio albums, and collaborate with established musicians like Paul McCartney, Sting, Sinead O'Connor, Joss Stone, and so many others. His album Dystopan Dream became a stage show in 2017. His film score experience includes Breathe, and Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, both directed by Andy Serkis, who happened to be a motion capture actor for this game.
Despite all the acclaim, and experience he's had all over the world and all over the entertainment industry, he has only composed two video games. This one, and Ninja Theory's previous title, Heavenly Sword. Sawhney describes the theme of Enslaved's score as revolving around journey, transition, and resolution. To help him with the score, he worked with Garland closely to learn more about the game's animations and story.
The game contains two vocal tracks. The first is Pigsy Blues, performed by Richard Ridings as the aforementioned Pigsy. The second vocal track is the game's ending theme, No Death in Love, performed and written in Enlish and French by Tina Grace.
Sawhney has practically done it all with music. Film, television, music, theater, and of course, video games. He may not have composed another game after Enslaved, but his contribution to the video game industry helped make Sawhney's resume more eclectic and diverse, and helped give Enslaved a more polished and experienced piece of music that could only come from a composer whose resume goes everywhere that music is needed.
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Kirby's Epic Yarn, composed by Tomoya Tomita
Good-Feel, the game's developer, had initially been developing educational games for the Nintendo DS. They were able to branch out into platformer territory with the 2008 Wario Land: Shake It, and they were able to make a puzzle game in 2010 called Looksley's Line Up, released in Japan and European territories. Their third game outside of the educational genre would be a different kind of Kirby platformer, with all of the aesthetics made from yarn and different kinds of fabric.
Tomoya Tomita had been a self taught guitar player since the age of 13. He got into the game industry by joining Konami's sound team, working on notable titles like Pop'n TwinBee, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. When much of the staff who worked on the Ganbare Goemon series left to form Good-Feel, Tomita joined them as well, with Wario Land: Shake It being the first game he composed for them, and this game being the second.
Unlike previous Kirby games, which used more instrument samples, and were composed by Jun Ishikawa and Hirokazu Ando, this game had a much more mellow and minimalist sound. For the most part, this was due to the original game not being a Kirby game at all. It was originally intended to be a game about Prince Fluff without any references to Kirby. After the game was converted to a Kirby game, Tomita second guessed his scores and how the Kirby staff at HAL laboratory would perceive it. Lucky for him, he got support from HAL's sound designer Tadashi Ikegami.
More last minute development ideas inspired newer scores that weren't even planned from the start, like the game's action sequences. And of course, it wouldn't be a Kirby game without an arrangement of Kirby's original motif, Green Greens.
Tomoya Tomita went into this game not knowing what it would end up being. Despite all the extra pressures placed on him from the game becoming a Kirby game, and all the additional late development ideas, Tomita was able to work with what was given to him to produce a balance of minimalist and relaxing music with the cheerful nature of the music you would expect to hear in a Kirby game.
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Fallout: New Vegas, composed by Inon Zur
In the 90s, Inon Zur was known for his works in television, most notibly shows that aired on the Fox Kids block. In the 2000s, he became known for his video game scores. Games like Men of Valor, Crysis, and Dragon Age: Origins helped Zur become one of gamings most popular composers. And then there's his work on the Fallout series. His first Fallout game was the 2001 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. But his name wouldn't be associated with the Fallout series until the 2008 Fallout 3, the first to be developed by Bethesda after they acquired the series from its original developer, Interplay Entertainment.
Zur's approach to Fallout was to match the setting of the game without exposing himself to the music that was licesnsed for the in-game radio stations. For New Vegas, his approach to composing the game was based on his own interpretation of Vegas; more about the deserts of Nevada versus the aesthetic of Vegas itself. Music also played a part in the development of New Vegas' setting. For example, on your way to New Vegas, you'll encounter a faction called The Kings. The Kings are all impersonators of legendary entertainer Elvis Presley. And throughout the city of New Vegas, you'll hear booming in the background the licensed swing and jazz songs, bringing to life the hustle, bustle, and booming activity of the city in the middle of a post apocalyptic desert wastleland.
As it always says in the beginnng; War, war never changes. War turned the world into a wasteland. But in New Vegas, a shining city emerges as a beacon in the middle of the wasteland you are in. How you choose to approach it is up to you. But along the way, you may experience Inon Zur's music that enhances the desert environment more than New Vegas itself. You may also come across various music influences that help enhance the gaming experience, as well as enhance the city of New Vegas, and its surroundings.
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Super Meat Boy, composed by Danny Baranowsky
Super Meat Boy was one of the independant titles of the current gaming generation that helped raise awareness of the independant gaming scene, and how sometimes, independant games can be just as good, if not better than games worked on by developers with much larger budgets.
Danny Baranowsky had a passion for music, but didn't take it seriously at first. He was an active member of OverClocked Remix in the 2000s, even serving as panel judge, helping decide which OC ReMix tracks could be on the site and which couldn't. The judging process helped him expand how music in video games can be perceived. As fun as OverClocked Remix was for him, it wouldn't lead him to professional work. He would eventually find professional work in the Phoenix area, and would start his own business; dB Soundworks.
His first professional video game score would be this game. Baranowsky expressed a lack of fun in the more modern video game scores at the time, referring to many of them as having too much cynicism. He is quoted in an interview with PC Gamer as saying "Game music does not always have to be incredible art-it can just be complimentary to something else."
Originally released on Xbox Live Arcade and PC, Super Meat Boy wouldn't be released on other platforms until 2015. When the game did get ported in 2015, the entire score was changed due to Baranowsky retaining the rights to the original Super Meat Boy score after leaving developer Team Meat. The new score was composed by Ridiculon, David Scatiffe, and Plants vs Zombies composer Laura Shigihara. The only way you can experience Super Meat Boy with its original score is through Xbox Live Arcade, and through the PC, which allows you to choose which score you want to hear in the game.
Danny Baranowsky had a love for music, and a fondness for the video game music he grew up. His experience with OverClocked Remix gave him the motivation to make original works for video games in a way that was fun and enhancing to the game itself. After leaving Team Meat, he would be known for games like Desktop Dungeons, working alongside former Rare composer Grant Kirkhope. And he would be known for another critically acclaimed independant gaming series, Crypt of the NecroDancer.
WRITTEN SOURCES
Big Lion Music
dannybstyle.blogspot.com
db Soundworks
Gamasutra
GameInformer
Game Set Watch
Hey Poor Player
Laced Records
Magnus Palsson
MonsterVine
Nintendo Enthusiast
Nintendo World Report
PC Gamer
Rockstar Games
RPGFan
US Gamer
VGMOnline
WayForward
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