I've been glossing over the game notoruous to shoot-um-up fans world wide called Ikaruga. I've been writing up a review for it for a while now but I don't have time for it anyway and you probably won't be intrested in it except for this one thing: The soundtrack for each level and for the boss sequences are written towards the levels theme or "chapter." In fact what makes this game so great is that the developers took painstaking detail into making each level fit the chapter, or theme as well as the overall story or gameplay. I feel they brought out their best within the third level, "Faith," and every time I watch that level played by this expert, it feels like a cinema expirience as well as a arcade's. It made me wonder though, if all the glory of what I'm talking about came about because of the player understanding the game sequence so well making it look more like the sprite he was playing was a movie character and I was witnessing his journey throughout his/her narrative, or that the game is animated to the beats of the soundtrack. "Faith (this is a different clip of the same level, and I still have the same reaction to it)" also has the best motif IMHO out of the entire game, sorta has a "Raiders of the Lost Arc" appeal to the entire level, but I assume most of us already know most commercial games despite their quality have the most lasting effect within their "jingles" more than anything else. Final Fantasy created a whole genre of gaming music that also hopefully brought it up as an art form (I've never owned a console outside a GB Pocket b&w, so I don't know that much about the gaming industry) to appreciate like any other genre. Mostly my question is stated above as the thread's title, and Ikaruga is my main example, but does anyone see what I mean? Try playing that clip with no sound afterwards and see what you get out of it. I feel this game turns into something else once the score is added, how do you feel about it?
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How about certain music games where theres a video playing along with the music. Normally it matches the theme of the song in my opinion. Watch videos of Beatmania IIDX on youtube to see what I mean.
I think the score is an essential part of both making a great game and playing a great game. I don't like to listen to anything else when i'm gaming, not the TV, not music, not nuthin'. One time myself and a few others were playing HALO at my brothers house on his 360, when he came up with the idea of playing his 360 soundtrack while we played. My performance never fell so far so fast in my life. I need that score to be there. It adds the propper mood and atmoshere. Anyone ever heard of Tommy Talirico? He's a professional Video Game Music Composer who used to host Judgement Day and Electric Playground.
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