Action Adventure Archives - The Greatest Game Music

Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales Soundtrack

Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales Soundtrack, Yury Poteyenko, 2005

It would be easy to assume that with their quartet of pirate games, Russian developer Akella simply surfed on the coat tails of a certain Hollywood franchise and its (initially) humongous success. But Sea Dogs saw the light of day in 2000, three years before Johnny Depp made pirates cool again. And again one might assume that the title of its sequel – Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales – was an attempt to find a name that was as close as possible to Pirates of the Caribbean, without breaching copyright rules.

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Aquaria Soundtrack

Aquaria Soundtrack, Alec Holowka / Ian Holowka, 2007

By 2009, the indie game resurgence had already begun to make its mark on the gaming market at large. However, indie games’ impact on game music took longer to materialise. Existing digital distribution channels like iTunes and other online music stores didn’t cater to these often tiny projects. In this environment, the release of the Aquaria soundtrack was a watershed moment for Western indie game music. At the time, a 2CD album release for a Western indie game soundtrack was unheard of. Publisher Infinite Ammo’s courage was duly rewarded. Like the game, the Aquaria soundtrack met with an enthusiastic response from critics and gamers alike.

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Erik the Viking Soundtrack

Erik the Viking Soundtrack, Neil Baldwin, 1992

It’s a shame that Neil Baldwin wrote his two best NES soundtracks for games that in the end were shelved. At least game music fans discovered Hero Quest‘s excellent score once the game’s developer released the ROM online. On the other hand, Baldwin’s second cancelled project Erik the Viking was pretty much unknown. That is, until Baldwin posted the soundtrack on his website Duty Cycle Generator.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Soundtrack

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Soundtrack, Jeremy Soule, 2002

The Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets soundtrack is easily the best of Jeremy Soule‘s five scores for the franchise. It also benefits from a better album presentation than Soule’s other Harry Potter soundtracks. Only eight minutes of notable material are missing from the album release, which thankfully excises a lot of ruminative underscore. In fact, Chamber of Secrets is Soule’s most satisfying fantasy soundtrack. Yes, that’s a big claim to make, considering his work on franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Guild Wars. But Chamber of Secrets achieves a consistency of quality that Soule’s more bloated scores don’t accomplish. He doubtlessly deserved his 2004 win of the BAFTA Games Award for Best Original Music for Chamber of Secrets.

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Soundtrack

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Soundtrack, James Hannigan, 2009

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix turned to be industry veteran James Hannigan’s breakthrough work – a delectably luscious orchestral game score that topped Jeremy Soule’s previous contributions to the franchise and could proudly sit aside John Williams and Patrick Doyle’s Harry Potter soundtracks. It’s no surprise then that Hannigan’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince soundtrack doesn’t change the winning formula. Hannigan’s follow up work is as riveting as Order of the Phoenix, but it does introduce a few noteworthy changes.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Soundtrack

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Soundtrack, James Hannigan, 2007

There is some irony to the fact that in several interviews, James Hannigan voiced his concern about film scores by default overshadowing the music written for the game adaptation. If anything, Hannigan’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix soundtrack is the opposite case. Nicholas Hooper’s movie soundtrack was largely deemed underwhelming. Meanwhile, Hannigan garnered praise for his game score that in the eyes of many was the superior work. Indeed, it hits almost all the right notes for a sweeping, yet relatable fantasy epic like the Harry Potter series. Hannigan achieves a perfect balance between humour, magic and gravitas, mixing moods and orchestral colours masterfully. The only thing missing might be a more pervading sense of adventure and romanticism. Fortunately, this is something that Hannigan would address on The Half-Blood Prince.

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Hob Soundtrack

Hob Soundtrack, Matt Uelmen, 2017

With their two Torchlight titles – particularly the excellent Torchlight II – developer Runic Games had established their credentials in the action RPG space, even managing to hold their ground against all-mighty rivals like Diablo III. Their next title was Hob, which shifted focus towards an open-world adventure that bore a clear debt to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The world of Hob is a giant machine made of myriads of levers, dials and pulleys that the title character must utilise to repair and cleanse the land, which a mysterious force has corrupted. Hob’s concept of its realm as a titanic mechanical contraption is appealing and the perfect set-up for many visual wonders and intriguing puzzles, although reviewers also pointed out the game’s more frustrating aspects, for example its combat.

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Kameo: Elements of Power Soundtrack

Kameo: Elements of Power Soundtrack, Steve Burke, 2005

It’s hard to say whatever curse it might have been, but throughout the 2000s, developer Rare struggled with cancellations or lengthy delays on several of its games. This fate also befell Kameo: Elements of Power, which was in development for a full five years. Initially announced as Ariel’s Quest for the GameCube, production was moved to the Xbox after Microsoft purchased Rare. Ultimately, Kameo: Elements of Power became one of the launch titles for the Xbox 360. Given its protracted development, it was no surprise to see just how polished Kameo was, with its lavish fantasy visuals praised by nearly every critic. Views on the game’s playability and length were slightly more divided. Still, while Kameo didn’t manage to capture the magic of Rare’s classic Nintendo titles, it enjoyed strong enough sales and a generally warm reception.

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Last Ninja 2 Soundtrack (C64)

Last Ninja 2 Soundtrack (C64), Matt Gray, 1988

The Last Ninja had been a multi-million smash hit, so developer System 3 didn’t upset the apple cart when they created Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance. The main novelty was the change of scenery: protagonist Armakuni is mysteriously transported from feudal Japan to 20th-century New York City, where he has to defeat evil shogun Kunitoki once again. The new locales added just the right amount of innovation, while the core gameplay largely remained the same. However, System 3 also tweaked and improved important aspects of the formula: better sprite animation, more locations, and a more significant number of puzzles. The result? A whopping 5,5 million copies sold and ports for the Amiga, Atari ST, NES, ZX Spectrum and MS-DOS following in due course. And let’s not forget the confusingly titled Last Ninja Remix, a slightly enhanced re-release of Last Ninja 2 for 8-bit computers.

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Outcast Soundtrack

Outcast Soundtrack, Lennie Moore, 1999

Being a pioneer is rarely easy – and your efforts might go initially unappreciated. Such was the fate that befell Outcast, a sci-fi action-adventure game that was revolutionary in more than one way. Its concept of a three-dimensional open world that players were free to explore preceded other games of this ilk like Grand Theft Auto III by several years. Then there was Outcast’s voxel-based graphics engine, which produced a stunningly realistic extraterrestrial world – more successfully maybe than any other game before it. That visual splendour came at a cost though. Back in 1999, only the most powerful PCs were able to run the game properly. Of course, that limited any opportunities for financial success, and a Dreamcast port and planned sequel remained unreleased. However, Outcast created a legacy among gamers that was strong enough for a remake – Outcast: Second Contact – to be released in 2017.

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Phantom 2040 Soundtrack (Sega Genesis)

Phantom 2040 Soundtrack (Sega Genesis), Matt Scott / Burke Trieschmann, 1995

Phantom 2040 probably never stood a chance. Firstly, it was released towards the end of the 16-bit era on SNES and Sega Genesis. Secondly, it was based on the TV series spin-off of a comic book licence that wasn’t hugely popular at that time to begin with. It was no surprise then that Phantom 2040 was largely ignored by gamers – but it did find some traction amongst contemporary reviewers. And over the years, the game’s reputation only seems to have grown. With its ambitiously non-linear, Metroidvania-style level design, Phantom 2040 has now widely come to be regarded as a forgotten gem of the SNES and Genesis game libraries.

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Swagman Soundtrack

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.

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The Last Ninja Soundtrack (C64)

The Last Ninja Soundtrack (C64), Ben Daglish / Anthony Lees, 1987

The Commodore 64 is home to more than a few legendary titles, and The Last Ninja is no doubt part of that select group. However, its development turned out to be an unexpectedly protracted affair after the initial group of developers – Budapest’s SoftView – could not make progress on the project. System 3’s Mark Cale took the code back to London, with the game’s engine rewritten for the C64 by John Twiddy. Cale’s vision for the project was an ambitious one. He envisaged an isometric ninja adventure that would create a far more expansive world for gamers to explore than what your regular C64 game accomplished. Blending exploration, adventure elements and arcade-style combat, The Last Ninja struck a chord with both critics and the masses, going on to sell about four million copies (according to Cale) and kicking off a massively successful franchise.

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Warriors of Might and Magic Soundtrack (GBC)

Warriors of Might and Magic Soundtrack (GBC), Matthew Simmonds, 2000

By the late 1990s, the Might & Magic franchise was going strong, with several successful mainline games and the recent establishment of the Heroes of Might & Magic series. Not surprisingly, publisher The 3DO Company was keen to branch out further, making the most of the valued brand name. Unfortunately, its first attempt to do so in 1999 via 3d-action RPG Crusaders of Might and Magic didn’t cause much excitement. Interestingly enough, The 3DO Company tried again with a similar game concept a year later. However, Warriors of Might and Magic wasn’t met with much more enthusiasm amongst gamers and critics than its predecessor.

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