Ep12: Rob’s Fave Video Game OSTs 1991 - 2000 [Playlist Included]

recorded 10/14/2021 with Robert Rabel

 

Rob's favorite Video Game OSTs Pt1

 

Intro: 00:00

Overview and general impressions: 00:43

Playlist Breakdown: 34:42

Stuck Mojo digression: 1:24:03

Wrap up: 1:31:40

 

Rob sez:

 

Why these specific games/tracks:

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1. Special to me/nostalgia
2. Tended to favor rhythmically interesting over atmospheric for Richard's benefit
3. Just good tunes
4. There are many other tracks from games that I love, but weren't as interesting to talk about or required specific experience because they're more mood builders/enhancers

 

Why this is an especially difficult topic:

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So much of what music does for a game comes from the context in which it is experienced. This means that without the visuals, control feel, sound effects, story, characters, etc that comprise a game, you're never going to get the full understanding of what the music "means" to the experience.

 

Also: better to do a more personal retrospective or a more medium-representative one? I went with personal, since you can find any number of Best Gaming OSTs of the 90s/00s/10s out there, and they usually contain the same few games. Or stuff like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, or Grand Theft Auto which contain primarily or solely licensed music created outside the scope of the game. All of the music I've chosen for these lists was written specifically for these games, often in creative tandem.

 

Very interested to see how these hit Richard's ear, because despite me still *believing* that I think it's all good music, I can't honestly say that I'm hearing it objectively. For instance, every track on here (to varying extents) calls to mind some part of the game it's from and even some tangentially related memories.

 

Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWvzvA9F-7moCMAnko3hlnRAzv_FWxjTg

 

Part 1: 1991-2000

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Sonic the Hedgehog 1

- Masato Nakamura, 1991, Mascot platformer, Fast

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

- Masato Nakamura, 1992, Mascot platformer, Fast

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

- Various (and more, incl. Michael Jackson), 1994, Mascot platformer, Fast

Streets of Rage 1

- Yuzo Koshiro, 1991, Beat-em-up

Streets of Rage 2

- Yuzo Koshiro, 1992, Beat-em-up

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

- Michiru Yamane, 1997, Metroidvania (the O.G.)

Final Fantasy VII

- Nobuo Uematsu, 1997, JRPG

Deus Ex

- Alexander Brandon (and more, incl. Reeves Gabrels), 2000, Immersive Sim

Pictionary

- Tim Follin (Tim chill it's just Pictionary), 1990, Board Game