7 Bit Arcade

Hey gang, I’m back to conclude the epic list of iconic music gifted to the world by video games. Last time I counted down from 10 to 6, and probably pissed off some people with a few left-field choices. Don’t worry though, the top 5 should leave everyone feeling warm and cosy inside, and is probably quite predictable.

5. Metal Gear Solid

Anyone who has played any game in the Metal Gear Solid franchise is aware that Hideo Kojima would probably be more suited to directing sprawling epic films than his current pursuit creating the world’s longest cutscenes in games. Luckily the upside to his cinematic leanings is a beautifully crafted soundtrack to each game that really fits together with the mood and gameplay.

For this list I have decided to pick on the main theme music from MGS1. It is a powerful, stirring and instantly recognisable melody, alternately charged with adrenalin and yet also deep emotion. In my opinion it really defines the essence of the MGS franchise in auditory form and is every bit as iconic as the games themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECjDfQd8QVc

4. Sonic and Pacman

It’s a cheap move I know (and technically makes this a Top 11), but neither game has a theme tune long enough to really class as a tune. They are both really ditties, if that even. Nevertheless, both games are iconic watersheds in gaming history and both have instantly recognisable theme… ditties deserving of inclusion in this esteemed list.

Barely a couple of bars long, each is succinct and totally nostalgia inducing. I really don’t have much more to say about either beyond that they are inclusions which have little to no musical worth in and of themselves (unlike many other pieces in the list) but merely piggy bag to celebrity through the uncontested classic-ness of the games they introduce.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qYziluDD5I – Sonic (its like 10 minutes long but the bit you want to hear is right near the beginning. Finding a clip of just that bit was taking ages so I decided to slack instead.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGy8evJsK0s – Pacman (again, its longer than just the theme, same issue as with Sonic. Silly short themes.)

3. Halo (2)

It wasn’t the first console FPS but it seems like it was the first one that really popularised the genre on consoles, and for many gamers who never played the classics on PC (like Doom, Unreal and Half-Life) it became the benchmark by which all FPS games were measured. It is synonymous with Xbox and, with the almost ubiquitous nature of the 360, it remains one of the most gargantuan behemoths of all gaming franchises. Although I personally believe all the Halo games are vastly overrated (blasphemy, I know), they are still a good laugh in co-op and I cannot say a word against their soundtracks which are both epic and exciting.

The pinnacle of the Halo sound experience is surely the rocked up version of the main theme tune that introduces Halo 2. The more orchestral version from the first game had a great melody and was memorable, but from the moment that guitar starts shredding in the Halo 2 version you just feel an intense sensation of kickass-ness and I doubt you will find many gamers today who wouldn’t recognise this belting tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om0M6Ol8FjQ

2. Tetris

Tetris exemplifies the puzzle game genre and is perhaps the pinnacle of the mantra “easy to learn, hard to master” that so many game designers mutter under their breaths between shooting up with coffee and snorting lines of crushed Pro Plus. Just as classic as the game is the music that almost anyone anywhere in the world will recognise as soon as you play it.

No-one can deny this is surely one of the most well known, most remixed and most loved pieces of music in the video game world. The two tracks are equally awesome and nostalgic, but it must be Theme A that is the more iconic of the pair. Listen now to this glorious piece of Cossack composing, in 8-bit and then again covered by a full orchestra.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmCCQxVBfyM – Original

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBmZAg8HxfY – epic orchestral version

1. Super Mario Brothers

As if there was ever any doubt in your mind, there can be no video game song more well known, more iconic than the opening tune from Super Mario Brothers. Although pretty much all the music from the early NES and SNES Mario games was awesome, it is THAT track that I’m on about. You know the one. Probably the most covered piece of music in the world; to make a list of every Youtube video someone has made of themselves remixing or covering this piece of music would require 78 miles of paper. Ok that statistic is made up, but take my word for it when I say there are lots and lots. And lots. ‘K?

There really isn’t anything more I can say, as the song is so ubiquitous that you already know everything about it. Instead listen to it, and think of the long line of gamers stretching back into the mists of antiquity for whom this piece of music is the very definition of GAME.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLEMXt9Lk0E – THE original

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX5V_9s0Gfw – the same song, but played WITH LIGHTNING BOLTS

Popularity: 26% [?]