CD audio vs chiptunes on the same game

[BetaWolf47]

What do you think about games that were released on both cart and disc? There's the Mortal Kombat games, Earthworm Jim series, Mega Man X3, and even Doom, just to name a few.

What fascinates me is how I generally prefer the music of the cartridge versions of the titles. Does anyone else think that the music in the PSX version of Mega Man X3 isn't as good as the music in the SNES version?

[Rickstilwell1]

I kind of feel that way about Bust-A-Move 2. Nintendo 64 version vs. Playstation version.

[NayusDante]

What's even worse is the Saturn version, which has fades when the track loops. If I recall correctly, the PC version is a direct port of the PSX version, and they both should have relatively decent audio, but the original sequenced SNES music is still better.

Of particular interest is the PC Ys Eternal collection, which had the original PC-98 soundtrack as well as a recorded, modernized soundtrack that you could change on the options menu. No idea if this carried over to the recent PSP port, which was supposedly based on Eternal.

I really want to say that there's a few PC games that had enhanced CD-audio music options, as well as FM synthesized music, but I can't think of any examples.

[Zing]

I remember thinking that the N64 music for Mortal Kombat Trilogy was horrible. I was used to the PlayStation version, but I wanted a cart version of the game so I could have the full Shang Tsung transformations and no load time. I bought the N64 game, played it for 20 minutes, then immediately returned it to Best Buy due to the music.

[Steve W]

I think the original Tempest 2000 cartridge soundtrack is amazing, and the following releases less so. The audio CD of Tempest music that came with the Jag CD is almost the same, but with a few tweaks that make it sound a little bit worse in my opinion. And the Tempest ports to the Saturn, PS1, and Nuon have that CD audio that's mostly taken from the chiptunes version but with alterations. I'll take the cart version over the CD version any day.

[Drixxel]

Cool thread. One music comparison I made recently was between a number of different versions of Ys III (TGCD, Genesis, SNES, MSX). It's a great soundtrack regardless of the platform and stacks up well against the competition on all of them. The TGCD soundtrack has its obvious advantages but it's also (pleasantly) dated like CD audio game soundtracks of the era tend to be - overdone reverb on the drums/everywhere, synths bordering on tasteless, ubiquitous electric guitar. Also, the mix is a bit cluttered, in my opinion. As far as quality and hardware optimization of the non-CD ports are concerned, the audio is all pretty slick. The Genesis version sounds great and the MSX version has its charms but I prefer the feel of SNES Ys III's music overall, TGCD included. The instrument sounds are awesome and really suit the compositions.

A sample of the same tune on 3 platforms:

TGCD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TmMg7PkKCI#t=5m19s
Genesis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weLTHQB361o
SNES: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4udktU6rgMA&feature=related

[j_factor]

I have a pretty decent number of CD games in my collection that were also cartridge games, and I prefer the CD version every single time. Or at least, as far as I can remember.

[theclaw]

Surely a whole lot of games did this most people don't think about. IIRC the CD versions of Puyo Puyo 1 and 2 have different soundtracks.

[Emperor Megas]

What's even worse is the Saturn version, which has fades when the track loops.I actually like that it does that. I love the Saturn Bust-A-Move 2 soundtrack.

[MarioMania]

Does Street Fighter 2 count??

On the Saturn & the Playstation the songs fade and start over

[kedawa]

I really like the redbook audio in Street Fighter Alpha and Final Fight CD, but CD-ROM era arranged soundtracks are generally awful.

What really bugs me are CD soundtracks that are just raw recordings of chiptunes, like the music in Sega CD ports of NeoGeo fighters.

[Vlcice]

Of particular interest is the PC Ys Eternal collection, which had the original PC-98 soundtrack as well as a recorded, modernized soundtrack that you could change on the options menu. No idea if this carried over to the recent PSP port, which was supposedly based on Eternal.

Unless you're thinking of a different version than I am, the original PC release of Ys Eternal used MIDI music but it wasn't from the PC-98 version. It was a new MIDI soundtrack (actually two - one for GM, one for SC-88).

I find the whole CD audio vs chiptunes on the same game fun to look at. I can think of lots of examples where it goes one way or another.

- Bonk 3 - I hated the CD soundtrack. It was so distinctive on the chiptune I just couldn't get into the CD music.
- SNK games - The best streaming audio rearrangements, especially circa KOF '99/2000 which are some of the best game soundtracks of all time.
- Shadow of the Best - CD soundtrack on Turbo CD and FM Towns all the way. They took a great Amiga soundtrack and made it a million times better.
- Lollypop - Obscure game, but the soundtrack is *amazing*. The CD version was recorded from the CM-32L/MT-32 soundtrack, but Vibrants who did the music were chiptune wizards and the Adlib soundtrack is the really special one. Take a listen, it's great: http://www.vibrants.dk/adlib.htm

[Kitsune Sniper]

I really like the redbook audio in Street Fighter Alpha and Final Fight CD, but CD-ROM era arranged soundtracks are generally awful.

What really bugs me are CD soundtracks that are just raw recordings of chiptunes, like the music in Sega CD ports of NeoGeo fighters.They used original game audio? That sucks. The very first NeoGeo CD releases used the NeoGeo original audio but they shifted to arrange game soundtracks later on.


(...) The TGCD soundtrack has its obvious advantages but it's also (pleasantly) dated like CD audio game soundtracks of the era tend to be - overdone reverb on the drums/everywhere, synths bordering on tasteless, ubiquitous electric guitar.(...)

YOU SHUT UP NIHON FALCOM BUTT ROCK GUITAR IS AWESOME

Edit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsGPthUe8Po

[Nz17]

The Gobliiins series had different music for the CD versus diskette versions of the games. I bought Gobliiins 4 a year or two ago and I was so disappointed... and not just because of Gobliiins 4. ;)

You see, Gobliiins 4 included the first three games as a free bonus for purchasing G4. I was expecting Gobliiins (1), Gobliins 2, and Goblins 3 to be their original diskette versions with the MIDI music that I remember. However all three had *sigh* compressed, lossy, encoded files containing the Red Book audio from the CD-ROM releases. I never played the CD versions of those games, and the presence of the Red Book audio was enough for me to not play through them again.

I'm sure part of it is nostalgia, but also of what I heard, the Red Book audio lacked the energy and cheeriness of the chiptunes. Plus it had that "too much effects added" feel - you know, softened here, faded there, trying to sound "big" but just sounding like a weak poseur.

Besides, I'm from the old school: in my mind, a floppy disk game should take up at most ten megabytes, not hundreds of MBs because of its music. :-/

[NerdXCrewWill]

YOU SHUT UP NIHON FALCOM BUTT ROCK GUITAR IS AWESOME

Yeah, I'd say Ys III for the TCD has the best soundtrack of all time!

[Gameguy]

So far nobody mentioned Pier Solar. I still haven't played it so I can't say which music I prefer best.

[Steve W]

Shadow of the Best - CD soundtrack on Turbo CD and FM Towns all the way. They took a great Amiga soundtrack and made it a million times better.
I'd love to hear the Turbo version. I used to fire up the game on my Amiga 1000, just so I could hear the music (it's not like I wanted to play it, beating my hand with a hammer was more fun). I tried the Genesis port of the game and the "music" was earsplitting. The Sega CD version of the sequel was only slightly better, but I'd rather listen to a roaring jet engine than either one of the Genny ports.

[CapnCrunch53]

I recently acquired both the Genesis and CD versions of Ecco: Tides of Time. While the CD version of the soundtrack is very calming and enjoyable to listen to, I have to say that in the context of the game, I prefer the cartridge version. It has a sort of ominous, mysterious quality to it that makes the game feel a bit creepy, as it should, as Ecco is a surprisingly creepy games at times (especially for those afraid of depths). Both soundtracks are excellent though.

[kedawa]

Shadow of the Beast II has a strange soundtrack on the Sega CD and FM Towns.
It's okay, but it's completely different from the Genesis and Amiga versions. Of course, the Amiga had the best music out of all of them.

Mickey Mania, Sol Feace, and Pugsy all have much better music on Sega CD than they do on Genesis.

I also really liked the redbook audio from PSX Doom. While I missed the original tunes, the new soundtrack fit the game really well.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Both are good. As much as I like chiptunes, a good remix is totally awesome in my book.

Megaman classic series is a good example. The Rockman Complete Works remixes (featured for those who don't want to import the PS1 ports, in Anniversary Collection for PS2 and XBox) are amongst the very best.