In fact, it is very rare that games would even go to the lengths of making a song. Now, I know MANY games incorporate licensed songs, but very rarely do they compose their own. I actually don't know why this is, cause usually when they do, they end up being rather good! Thats why I made this list. These are all songs from games throughout the past 20 years of gaming (holy crap has it been that long?) that have had various levels of success and that I happen to quite like.
GIRL IN THE TOWER - MARK SEIBERT
(King's Quest VI - Sierra Entertainment 1992)
Back in the early 90's, adventure games were having a golden age. Sierra and Lucasarts were powerhouses, pumping out classics such as Monkey Island, Space Quest, King's Quest, Day of the Tentacle, The Dig... I could go on. And I've played them all. So as money started pouring in and CD-ROM was starting to overtake floppy disks as the desired medium for gaming, something amazing happened. VOICE acting! Yes kids, there was a time in gaming where everything was text based without a voice cast. You were lucky if you even had voice in the intro. Thus when CD's overtook floppy, there was more room to add voice dialogue. And this was huge in gaming. Basically the equivelant of hearing sound or voices in movies for the first time.
Thus along these lines some of the first songs for games started to come out, this one in particular, sticking in my mind as a WOW moment. As they added it to a voiceless floppy version of the game. Sure, the song is sappy and a love ballad that would make even the most die hard Meatloaf lover cringe. But when you first heard it in a game that was devoid of any actual voice... One could almost call it a biblical experience.
SKELETONS IN MY CLOSET - GEORGE SANGER
(The 7th Guest - Virgin Interactive 1993)
This was the game that made me really want a CD-ROM drive for my PC. It had actual actors, let alone voices! It was a strange puzzle game, filled with a creepy soundtrack and an even creepier story. A nice suprise and change of tone was at the end credits when this song started. A cool jazzy tune that tells about the game's story. Quite good production value if you ask me, and still a rarity at the time.
GONE JACKALS - LEGACY
(Full Throttle - Lucasarts 1995)
One of the rare, perfect adventure games! It had a high production value, with amazing animation and a superb voice cast! It even has Mark Hamill pulling off a proto-Joker voice as the main villain of the game. The tune itself hasn't aged very well, but when first heard, it's rock and roll roots really gave it a good groove, and it started off the game with a bang!
DUKE NUKEM THEME - MEGADETH
(Risk - Megadeth 1999)
Okay this one is a bit of an oddboy in the list. Firstly, I could not find a proper version of it on youtube, so just check it out on Spotify if you got it. Second, this is basically a cover version of the original theme of the game's main tune. Sure, it's an instrumental, theres no lyrics apart from Mustane's grunts and "yeah!"s. But still, its bloody Megadeth doing a cover of a game tune!
HOMEWORLD - YES
(Homeworld - Sierra Entertainment 1999)
What a massive hit of a game! A space RTS with a story line akin to Battlestar Galactica! It was huge! A success, but not even this powerhouse could save the waning sales of Sierra Entertainment, who closed doors after its release. In any case, it was sweeping, grand and emotional. Much like the song that began to play at the end of it by Yes! Yes, YES!! Progressive and cool, the song just takes you away on a journey through space and time as your heart aches to go back home. A powerful experience.
FOREVER - JEFF VAN DYCK
(Rome: Total War - Creative Assembly 2004)
Another great song from another great game! The Total War series has always been close to my heart! The concept of waging massive battles whilst controlling your nation always pulls at the dictator hiding in me. When this game came out, they decided to go for a more cinematic feel, with a massive sweeping soundtrack, general speeches and a song that truly feels like it belongs in a Ridley Scott movie. It is stirring, the vocals are haunting and it truly evokes the feeling of a woman lamenting her husband going off to war.
SNAKE EATER - CYNTHIA HARREL
(Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Konami 2004)
The Metal Gear series of games have become synonymous with high production values, story, insanity and great gameplay. So everyone was really waiting for Metal Gear Solid 3 to come out. And boy were we not disappointed! A good fifteen minutes into the game, it suddenly stops. You see your main character fall off a bridge, shot, the bad guys escape and a nuke goes off. THEN the intro credits begin with this song. Talk about a Bond beginning! Hell, this song is better than MANY an actual Bond song... Well... As long as you ignore the lyrics about eating tree frogs that is.
STILL ALIVE - ELLEN MCLAIN
(Portal - Valve 2007)
A perfect puzzle game! What started off as a demo soon evolved into a great little game that was given along with the Orange Box. A collection of Valve games that was hugely popular. But word soon got out that the ONLY reason one should get the OB was to play Portal. No matter how short it was. It was funny, creepy and really wracked your brain! But the cherry on top of the cake (see what I did there?) was this song. IT WAS A MASSIVE online hit! Cute, sweet and sung by the main villain. If anything made a psychopathic AI endearing, it is a song about looking at the postive side of life even though you were just destroyed by your arch nemesis.
FAR AWAY - JOSE GONZALES
(Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar Entertainment 2010)
Outlaws, the Old West. Scum, Villainy, a fist full of dollars and cougar hides. This is STILL my favourite Rockstar game. Perhaps one of the best western stories ever told. It is a love story and homage to what made all those Spaghetti Westerns so great. And this tune evokes all those emotions. It is haunting and sad, harkening the end of the wild west. If there is one song you SHOULD listen to on this list, it is this song.
GET JINXED - AGNETE KJOLSRUD
(League of Legends - Riot Games 2013)
I am not a League of Legends player. I get the game, but it's not for me. But holy shit does this music video really make me want to play it! It's awesome, brash, and punkish. An ode to Tank Girl. When you want to do game marketing well, this is the way you do it!
*BONUS*
WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN? - TROY BAKER & COURTNEE DRAPER
(Bioshock: Infinite - 2k Games 2013)
Just as an added bonus, I had to mention this song, because it plays a rather big part in the game since it counters the grimness and accentuates the sadness of the game itself. It is an amazing cover of an upbeat country song, turned into a sad hymn that will linger with you for a very long time, it won the award for best song in a game in 2013 and was performed by the two key voice actors.
Thats it. My list for some great songs that have come out of games. Hope you enjoy it! See you all in the slipstream.
