Hottest NES Music Track

Moderators: Friday, LaserBeing

Hottest NES Music Ro40

Poll ended at Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:11 am

18. Rygar - Cave
2
17%
39. Fester's Quest - Mothership Battle
1
8%
24. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out: Fight Theme
5
42%
31. Solstice - Title
4
33%
 
Total votes: 12
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Friday
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Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Friday » Tue Sep 15, 2015 8:43 am

We've done boss themes. We've done the best of the best games.

That shit was easy mode.

1. Contra - Stage 1 (Jungle)
2. Contra - Stage 5 (Snowfield)
3. Contra - Boss
4. Megaman 2 - Metalman
5. Megaman 2 - Wily's Fortress
6. The Legend of Zelda - Ganon's Dungeon
7. The Legend of Zelda - Main Theme
8. Zelda 2 - Palace
9. Castlevania - Vampire Killer
10. Simon's Quest - Bloody Tears
11. Gremlins 2: The New Batch - Stage 3
12. Wizards and Warriors - Title
13. Mega Man 3 - Snake Man
14. Final Fantasy - Matoya's Cave
15. Dragon Warrior/Quest - Overworld
16. Dragon Warrior/Quest 3 - The Final Battle
17. The Guardian Legend - Area 0: Naju Gateway
18. Ninja Gaiden - The Masked Devil
19. Ninja Gaiden - Stage 4-2
20. Ninja Gaiden 2 - Prologue
21. Ninja Gaiden 2 - Stage 3-2
22. Rad Racer - ARE YOU ASKING FOR A CHALLENGE????!!!?!?!?!11
23. Double Dragon - Stage 1
24. Castlevania 3 - Mad Forest
25. Castlevania 3 - Riddle
26. Sweet Home - Battle Theme
27. Silver Surfer - Stage 1
28. Batman - Streets of Desolation (Stage 1)
29. Metroid - Kraid's Lair
30. Ducktales - The Moon
31. Shadow of the Ninja - Stage 1
32. Crystalis - Fields
33. Rygar - Cave
34. Journey to Silius - Stage 1

35 through 64 will be WRITTEN IN! Music is an incredibly subjective thing. I put 34 of my favorite NES tracks up there (though actually a few of them I just put up there cause they're super popular) but I'm leaving almost half the poll open to your whims.

That's 30 NES tracks. I can think of like 10 more right now I could add myself, but I'll let you guys decide instead. Here's how it works:

If you're too lazy to link the music, it's not going on the poll.

Nominate up to 5 tracks.

That's it!

WRITE EM IN BOYS
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zaratustra
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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby zaratustra » Tue Sep 15, 2015 9:14 am


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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Mothra » Tue Sep 15, 2015 10:28 am

Lifeforce - Easter Temple
Lifeforce - Volcanic
River City Ransom - Shop Theme
River City Ransom - Password Screen

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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby LaserBeing » Tue Sep 15, 2015 3:52 pm

WURM: Journey to the Center of the Earth - Act 04: Ziggy
Blaster Master - Area 1
IronSword - Prologue
Final Fantasy III - Eternal Wind
Gimmick! - Strange Memories of Death


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François
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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby François » Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:51 pm

Might & Magic - Cave (one of Masaharu Iwata's early works, three years after he got in the industry)
Bionic Commando - Area 5
Magician - Lake (Japanese composers are rad but dang did some Western fellas have a unique sound)
Kirby's Adventure - Nightmare Battle
Dragon Warrior IV - Aktemto (i coulda filled my slots with DW4 music but today this is the one I'm picking)


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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Bongo Bill » Tue Sep 15, 2015 11:21 pm

3D World Runner - Stage
Pictionary - Title
Super Glove Ball - Stage 1
Kirby's Adventure - Ice Cream Island
Mega Man 3 - Title
...but is it art?


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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Caithness » Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:19 pm

François wrote:Magician - Lake (Japanese composers are rad but dang did some Western fellas have a unique sound)


This sounds remarkably like a Commodore 64 soundtrack.

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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Newbie » Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:33 pm

I was going to complain that conditioning in my formative years means that I can't make any nomination that doesn't include Adventures of Lolo's main stage theme, which is frankly not good music and therefore a waste of a nomination slot, but fortunately we're past 30 nominations, anyway, sparing me the agony.
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François
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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby François » Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:18 pm

Caithness wrote:
François wrote:Magician - Lake (Japanese composers are rad but dang did some Western fellas have a unique sound)


This sounds remarkably like a Commodore 64 soundtrack.


The composer, Neil Baldwin, worked on a few C64 soundtracks before he co-founded the late Eurocom Entertainment Software and worked on several NES games. A few years ago he connected with the chiptune scene, and put up a website with commentary on his past work and various insight on the creative/technical process. He also released a couple programs that allow people to compose new music with the same characteristics as his early soundtracks. It's all a great read if you're into that sort of thing.

Magician was Eurocom's first NES release, and despite its flaws, the quality of it is impressive, considering that the "devkit" they got from Taxan consisted of six standard Famicoms and untranslated hardware spec documentation, and they had to enlist a couple Japanese girls from the local university to help them make any sense of it.

Newbie wrote:I was going to complain that conditioning in my formative years means that I can't make any nomination that doesn't include Adventures of Lolo's main stage theme, which is frankly not good music and therefore a waste of a nomination slot, but fortunately we're past 30 nominations, anyway, sparing me the agony.


Dang I don't know if I'd call it a waste of a slot, that mofo is catchy as hell.

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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby LaserBeing » Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:02 am

François wrote:
Newbie wrote:I was going to complain that conditioning in my formative years means that I can't make any nomination that doesn't include Adventures of Lolo's main stage theme, which is frankly not good music and therefore a waste of a nomination slot, but fortunately we're past 30 nominations, anyway, sparing me the agony.


Dang I don't know if I'd call it a waste of a slot, that mofo is catchy as hell.


No. No you don't understand. It sounds catchy on first pass right? It's not terrible to listen to, it's jaunty and upbeat and fun!

That 25-second loop is the only music you will hear in the entire game.

Constantly. Over and over. Punctuated only by Lolo's shrill, tortured death scream when a Don Medusa spits a sword into his back.

For fifty fucking levels.

In my case it was Lolo 2 but the psychic scars remain the same. They will never heal.


OH GOD NOW IT'S STUCK IN MY HEAD NEWBIE WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME

I'M PRESSING SELECT BUT IT WON'T EVEN LET ME KILL MYSELF

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Friday
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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Friday » Fri Sep 18, 2015 3:43 am

Alright, we're just gonna all of em. This means we'll have more than 64 but who cares you're not a cop I'm not a cop nobody on this board is a cop

I'm also adding the following:

TMNT - Opening
Battle of Olympus - Caves of Argolis
Battle of Olympus - Peloponnesus

That gives us the following list:

1. Contra - Stage 1 (Jungle)
2. Contra - Stage 5 (Snowfield)
3. Contra - Boss
4. Megaman 2 - Metalman
5. Megaman 2 - Wily's Fortress
6. The Legend of Zelda - Ganon's Dungeon
7. The Legend of Zelda - Main Theme
8. Zelda 2 - Palace
9. Castlevania - Vampire Killer
10. Simon's Quest - Bloody Tears
11. Gremlins 2: The New Batch - Stage 3
12. Wizards and Warriors - Title
13. Mega Man 3 - Snake Man
14. Final Fantasy - Matoya's Cave
15. Dragon Warrior/Quest - Overworld
16. Dragon Warrior/Quest 3 - The Final Battle
17. The Guardian Legend - Area 0: Naju Gateway
18. Ninja Gaiden - The Masked Devil
19. Ninja Gaiden - Stage 4-2
20. Ninja Gaiden 2 - Prologue
21. Ninja Gaiden 2 - Stage 3-2
22. Rad Racer - ARE YOU ASKING FOR A CHALLENGE????!!!?!?!?!11
23. Double Dragon - Stage 1
24. Castlevania 3 - Mad Forest
25. Castlevania 3 - Riddle
26. Sweet Home - Battle Theme
27. Silver Surfer - Stage 1
28. Batman - Streets of Desolation (Stage 1)
29. Metroid - Kraid's Lair
30. Ducktales - The Moon
31. Shadow of the Ninja - Stage 1
32. Crystalis - Fields
33. Rygar - Cave
34. Journey to Silius - Stage 1
35. Super Mario Bros 1. - Stage 1-1
36. Dr. Mario - Fever
37. Orb 3D - Main BGM 1
38. Action 52 - AND NOW... THE CHEETAHMEN
39. Battletoads - Pause
40. Lifeforce - Easter Temple
41. Lifeforce - Volcanic
42. River City Ransom - Shop Theme
43. River City Ransom - Password Screen
44. WURM: Journey to the Center of the Earth - Act 04: Ziggy
45. Blaster Master - Area 1
46. IronSword - Prologue
47. Final Fantasy III - Eternal Wind
48. Gimmick! - Strange Memories of Death
49. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out: Fight Theme
50. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out: Bike Theme
51. Tetris - Music 3
52. WURM: Journey to the Center of the Earth - Title Theme
53. Castlevania - Wicked Child
54. Might & Magic - Cave
55. Bionic Commando - Area 5
56. Magician - Lake
57. Kirby's Adventure - Nightmare Battle
58. Dragon Warrior IV - Aktemto
59. Godzilla - Title theme
60. Crystalis - The Angry Sea
61. Crystalis - Floating Tower
62. Metal Gear - Jungle
63. Solstice - Title
64. 3D World Runner - Stage
65. Pictionary - Title
66. Super Glove Ball - Stage 1
67. Kirby's Adventure - Ice Cream Island
68. Mega Man 3 - Title
69. Castlevania III - Stream
70. Mega Man III - Magnet Man
71. Little Nemo the Dream Master - Boss Battle
72. Super Mario Bros. 3 - Ending Theme
73. Balloon Fight
74. That which will drive the soul straight out of your body
75. TMNT - Opening
76. Battle of Olympus - Caves of Argolis
77. Battle of Olympus - Peloponnesus
78. Radia Senki - Overworld
79. Downtown Special: Kunio-kun No Jidaigeki Da Yo Zenin Shuugou! - Track 9 (Hills)
80. The Immortal - I Forbid You To Come Any Closer! (Battle)
81. Fester's Quest - Overworld
82. Fester's Quest - Mothership Battle
83. Bayou Billy - Stage 1
84. Stinger - Main Theme

I'll run the first round in batches of 8, with 5 leftover. I think Romo wanted to add some to the list, so he'll round out the first round with 3 more.
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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Sharkey » Fri Sep 18, 2015 3:39 pm

Caithness wrote:
François wrote:Magician - Lake (Japanese composers are rad but dang did some Western fellas have a unique sound)


This sounds remarkably like a Commodore 64 soundtrack.


Oh man. Dat arpeggio.

Magician was one of those games that I truly, desperately wanted to like, if only for the soundtrack and the art direction. The rune based magic words were pretty neat, as well. Such a shame everything else about the game itself is a fucking impossible mess. I half wondered if it could even be completed, but of course some motherfucker made an 11 minute speedrun.

Edit: Turns out that yeah, there are a lot of common bugs that will make key items vanish, among other things. Which would explain a lot of my frustration. That shit was impossible in the days before gamefaqs and whatnot.



It's kind of neck-and-neck with The Immortal on my "Fuck this game, I love this game" list. And the only two on the "weird games about a wizard made by a western developer that are also worth a damn" list. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that one was based on someone's old D&D campaign with a particularly assholeish DM. I'd have thrown in some tracks from that if they were's so comparatively short and repetitive.
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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Friday » Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:56 am

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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Friday » Sat Sep 19, 2015 7:09 am

As usual, I won't vote unless there's a tiebreaker needed, but if I was voting, I'd go for:

Ninja Gaiden 4-2: One of the best upbeat tracks in any video game, period. Shame it's only played one time in a short level in the whole game, but I guess that makes it that much more of a treat when you do get to that stage.

Magician - Lake: I had never heard this track before. I was hoping to get some new chiptunes to listen to by running this poll, and boy did you guys deliver with this one. Amazing.

DQ3 - Final Battle: I admit to being slightly biased because I love DQ3 so much, but this composition really hammers home that the game is through fucking around with you and you're now facing down the source of all evil in the world.

Guardian Legend - Naju Gateway: I don't know why I love this little ditty so much, but I do.

Crystalis and FF3 are close. I'd vote for them over Dr. Mario and Cheetahmen, which both have never been to my liking. Sorry Zara.

EDIT: Going out of town for a few. Will leave this first poll open 4 days, but after that it'll be the standard 1 day (barring further me leaving)
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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Kayma » Sat Sep 19, 2015 2:51 pm

Man, I love these threads.

I didn't play much Ninja Gaiden back in the day (I had Shinobi instead, which I disliked), but I have to say this track is hot shit. Probably my favorite from this batch.

Fever from Dr. Mario is one of those earworms that I I've caught myself humming out loud every few days for my entire life. Hip Tanaka, man.

Eternal Wind doesn't have a nostalgia factor for me, but I like the way it makes me feel. Feels good.

DWIII Final Battle isn't necessarily my favorite tune of the bunch, but I agree, you know that shit just got real. As an adrenaline mechanism it's very successful.

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Re: Hottest NES Music Track

Postby Esperath » Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:05 pm

I never played Ninja Gaiden, but damn did VVVVVV bite that awesome sound.
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