The Greatest Game Music - Page 13 of 15 - Reviews of truly outstanding game music

‘Splosion Man Soundtrack – Review

‘Splosion Man Soundtrack, Matt Chaney / John DeBorde / Joshua Mosley, 2009

You’ve just got to appreciate titles like ‘Splosion Man that take one particular, fun aspect of video games and build their entire gameplay around it. In this case, that common video game element is – of course – explosions. No matter if you’re trying to solve the game’s platforming puzzles, kill enemies, or simply jump – all it takes is an explosion from the game’s self-combusting protagonist.

In an unusual move, Twisted Pixel Games ended up dividing soundtrack duties along game mode lines. Joshua Mosley wrote the ‘Splosion Man soundtrack’s single-player cues, while John DeBorde wrote the multi-player tracks. The game’s audio lead Matt Chaney also contributed and performed ‘Splosion Man’s light-hearted ukulele theme song “Donuts, Go Nuts!” Both Mosley and DeBorde joined the project with a background in composing for various types of media (games, TV, movies).

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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Soundtrack – Review

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Soundtrack, Ron Jones / Brian Luzietti, 1997

The Star Trek: Starfleet Academy soundtrack is a prime example for how – and why – the conventions of Hollywood film music have been so deeply ingrained in orchestral game music right from the start. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was part of the short-lived craze surrounding games based on full-motion videos in the mid-1990s. And if your game looks like a film, it makes sense to also make it sound like a film.

And so, developer Interplay decided to use a live orchestra to record Starfleet Academy‘s soundtrack. In 1997, this was quite a novelty. Still, a live orchestra was integral to capturing the Star Trek franchise’s trademark romantic spirit of bold spacefaring. Interplay even went one step further and hired Ron Jones to write the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy soundtrack. Jones had done outstanding work on Star Trek: The Next Generation and would be able to maintain the Star Trek franchise’s characteristic sound.

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Swagman Soundtrack – Review

Swagman Soundtrack, Nathan McCree, 1997

Nathan McCree‘s body of work is the textbook example of one particular work overshadowing a game composer’s other accomplishments. Of course, we are talking about Tomb Raider and its many sequels, two of which McCree scored himself. Outside of some highlights, these scores don’t play too well outside of the games they accompany, and there are arguably more rewarding works in McCree’s discography. After all, his output ranges from Star Wars homage Soulstar to the creeping menace of Skeleton Krew‘s synth textures. As with so much other early Western game music, an album release was never on the cards for these titles.

Thankfully, once more a mid-90s French game magazine came to the rescue, with one of those promotional CD releases that accompanied many of these publications (see also: Formula 1, Rapid Racer). The particular album in question holds – among other works – the majority of McCree’s work for Swagman. That game is a mostly forgotten action adventure title from Tomb Raider‘s Core Design. Reviews were middling and so it’s understandable that Swagman wouldn’t be on the radar of many game music fans. As it turns out though, the game contains what might well be the best score of McCree’s career.

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The Terminator Soundtrack (SEGA CD) – Review

The Terminator Soundtrack (Sega CD), Tommy Tallarico, 1993

Discussing Tommy Tallarico’s contribution to video game music can be a frustrating undertaking. On the one hand, there’s no doubt that he has helped to popularise game music like few others artists. His Video Games Live concerts have been a tremendous success, bringing game music to huge live audiences. On top of that, Tallarico has been instrumental in giving game composers better representation in the music industry through the foundation of G.A.N.G. (Game Audio Network Guild).

Unfortunately, for Tallarico the promotion of game music seems to go hand in hand with the promotion of his rock star persona. His claim to be “considered the person most instrumental in changing the game industry from bleeps & bloops to real music” is one example of his outsized claims to fame that are contentious, to say the least. Compounding matters is the fact that the majority of Tallarico’s scores don’t live up to the hype. Starting with the Game Boy conversion of Prince of Persia, Tallarico’s soundtracks usually fall somewhere between average and promising. However, they rarely stand out as classics.

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Torchlight II Soundtrack – Review

Torchlight II Soundtrack, Matt Uelmen, 2012

To call one particular creation the culmination of an artist’s oeuvre can be a risky maneuvre. It suggests linear development across works and prescribes an easily identifiable trajectory. But it’s hard not to fete a work like the Torchlight II soundtrack as the realisation of a specific musical approach. On this album, Matt Uelmen combines all elements that have characterised his previous scores and perfects them.

As always, his music deals in textures rather than melodies, suggestions rather than definitive manifestations. At its best, this approach leads to wonders like Diablo’s “Tristram”. This game music classic was an instantly striking demonstration of how to score fantasy environments in new, idiosyncratic ways. However, taking the same approach, Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction ended up veering between scintillating and meandering.

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