Best sound in Genesis/Megadrive games

[FurinkanianFrood]

I was playing a lot of Genesis games earlier and I got to thinking about the limitations of the sound chip. Despite the weak sound hardware, I really think that sound contributed a lot to some games, especially shooters.

Among the games I've played in the last few days which I feel benefit the most from this:
Thunder Force IV (pretty popular example of a great genny soundtrack)
Contra: HC (First stage music especially, nice pumped up tunes)
Super Fantasy Zone (fits the wacky mood wonderfullly)
Bio-hazard Battle (great addition to the creepy atmosphere)

Anyone have any favorite examples of games that use the limited sound chip to good effect?

[robotriot]

The Streets of Rage series has pretty good music of course, and Comix Zone isn't too bad either.

[FurinkanianFrood]

Yeah, Streets of Rage and anything else with Yuzo Koshiro tunes rocks. I guess I was thinking mostly about stuff I played in the last couple days.

It seems that for such a reviled sound chip there a lot of nice tunes, though a lot of this is hindsight. Looking at the earlier games the examples are a bit more sparse (with the Koshiro soundtracks being a notable exception in the earlier days). Early on, Koshiro's work pretty much WAS Genesis sound IMO.

[Aussie2B]

Composition is good composition, even if it's on the worst sound chip in existence. One of my favorite Genesis soundtracks is Castlevania: Bloodlines.

But the sound quality SERIOUSLY bugs me. I've never been a sound snob that refuses to listen to any game music unless it uses real instruments or appears on a system from the current generation, but the Genesis sound chip just rubs me the wrong way... Honestly, I prefer the sound quality of NES music over it. However, I'll listen to well-composed Genesis music happily; I'll just be dreaming of how much better it could've sounded on SNES or another console.

[FurinkanianFrood]

Composition is good composition, even if it's on the worst sound chip in existence. One of my favorite Genesis soundtracks is Castlevania: Bloodlines.

But the sound quality SERIOUSLY bugs me.

Yeah, it would be incredible to hear that on another system.
Now that I think about it, there are scarier sound chips though (Atari 7800's was horrific to the point of uselessness for the most part). Synthesized (i.e. non-redbook) sound (especially sound effects) on PCFX can be pretty scary, though not many people would have any way of knowing that.

Not many Genesis games have sound that actually, bugs me, but there are only a few that escape the curse of the sound chip. Relative to their time, I much prefer Sid or Pokey to the Genesis sound chip. It sure beats the heck out of PC Speaker music though . I remember kids fighting over the one machine with an AdLib card at some computer camp just to hear the music from Heroquest (later renamed Quest for Glory) without going deaf. The voices on Genesis games are sometimes passable, but for the most part they give me flashbacks to the voice samples in Berserk.

It took a long time to get from "wize fwom yhgwave" to the voice samples in something like Pulseman.

[KJN]

Ristar!

[FurinkanianFrood]

Ristar!

Another great later release Megadrive/Genesis game that managed to escape notice.

Far too many of those, personally I think SOA has always been run by Vogons or Spaceballs or some other nuisance from beyond the Sol system. Sega of Japan was run by geniuses who tried to get rid of Sonic after the first Genny/MD one (Yuji Naka had to transfer to SOA for a time to make Sonic 2 happen).

Sega systems always have those games that never make it here, despite being translated. Bad taste on the part of gamers over here (not to mention Japan) was always an issue with Sega consoles. The late Megadrive era was a sign of things to come, what with "mainstream" game players and their overhyped junk. 15 years ago I never would have thought I would ever hear someone getting excited over a game because of swear words. Considering the degeneration in games, I am surprised I actually find (new) games to buy regularly these days.

Best programmers, horrible management. Almost seeme like they wanted to one-up Mythicon with their business strategy sometimes, though to be fair Nintendo's Virtual Boy was also a terrible business mistake, though I don't think that Gunpei Yokoi (may he rest in peace) should have felt compelled to quit over it, the guy created Game Boy for god's sake. Nintendo would be a sad shadow of itself today if not for him (I think he invented the cross-type D-Pad also BTW when he designed the game and watch).

[EnemyZero]

i also will say streets of rage, sor 2 is my fav, love the music...infact im gonna go play right now! lol

[digitalpress]

If you want to hear some great Genesis music, go to the sound options screen on Revenge of Shinobi or Adventures of Batman & Robin and play through the tunes. AWESOME stuff. Especially Adventures of Batman & Robin, that's some funky, catchy original music. A shame the game is too damn hard to appreciate the music while PLAYING!

[Sosage]

I'm impressed with the sound Tallarico was able to pull off on the Genesis version of Earthworm Jim. I'm not an audiophile, but it sounds a shit load better than a lot of the other Genesis games in my collection.

[vulcanjedi]

Hmm

Does't the genesis Z80 processor control the yamaha sound chip? Freeing up the main processor for graphics. I remember the first time I plugged the stereo headphone jack into my stereo while playing altered beast. The bgm of the 4th level at full bass was shaking my house.

Comparing all the systems available in 1990 I thought the genny had great sound. The music in Revenge of Shinobi and Streets of rage and Ghouls and ghosts was great.

Is it my imagination or is the sound in the model 1 genny, the first revision, better than the model II ? Actually I hook my mod 1 to my SegaCD with the patch cable and I get great sound.

But now all the remakes and ports on to the dreamcast absolutely suck. And the gameboy ports are horrid. I can't play ecco whithout turning the sound almost off.

VJ

[rbudrick]

My favorite Genesis music off the top of my head is probably Phantasy Star II and Thunder Force III. Last Battle is a favorite too, but I bet I'm alone in that one...that crappy (to everyone else, but not me) game holds a very special place in my heart. I could proabblay think of a bunch more but then I'll be forced to go play all my old Genesis favorites...

-Rob

[evildead2099]

I never really had any gripes over the Genesis's sound processor. The only game whose music / sound effects compelled me to question the quality of the console's audio hardware was Mortal Kombat II.

Here are some of my favourite Genesis soundtracks:

Sonic The Hedgehog (1)

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Streets of Rage (1)

Streets of Rage 2

Splatterhouse 2

Splatterhouse 3

Castlevania Bloodlines

Phantasy Star 2

Phantasy Star 4

[Gapporin]

I will second Phantasy Star II and Streets Of Rage.

I will also add Shining Force II. Like Aussie2B, I'm a bit sad that it's using the Genesis' sound system, but it's a great soundtrack nonetheless.

Also, Space Harrier II is pretty good as well.

[chrisbid]

the genesis sound chip sounds beautiful when it is programmed clean. early games like strider and forgotten worlds kicked my ass compared to the NES in 1989. Sonic the Hedgehog and Streets of Rage continued the good sound streak. the problem came when the SNES used sound samples, the genesis couldnt handle samples very well, and yet everyone forced it to anyway. Its the square peg in the round hole syndrome, typically genesis exclusives sound way better than cross platform games.

[Proclus]

I have to mention two titles already singled out earlier in the thread: Ristar (truly excellent and varied themes) and The Adventures of Batman & Robin (very good, driving tracks, especially that of the first stage -- I never understood why this game's music was so bashed).

[it290]

Yeah, the Genesis is at its best when it sticks with straight FM synth.

Anyway, an aurally excellent Genesis title that doesn't get much mention is Hellfire. That game has some of the best tunes on the system... in fact, it has some of the best game music I've ever heard. It just makes the game that much more enjoyable.

Also, Mega Turrican deserves an honorable mention for its great tunes.

[digitalpress]

Speaking of Tallarico, I didn't see anyone mention Mick & Mack: Global Gladiators, either. Another excellent example of original Genesis music in its prime.

[SoulBlazer]

Indeed, the Genesis just plain sucks when it comes to music compared to the SNES. There are games with good songs, as allready mentioned -- Castlevania is a personal favorite of mine, and Contra and the Phantasy Star games have good music as well. You got the best results when companies actually took time to develop and program the music FOR the system instead of just porting it over, as was common in those days....

[chrisbid]

Indeed, the Genesis just plain sucks when it comes to music compared to the SNES.

it doesnt suck, its just differnt. you dont have a full orchestra play techno music and you dont play symphonies on a synthesizer. The SNES was great when it imitated an orchestra, the Genesis was great when it imitated a club. lest we not forget, The SNES sounded just as bad as the genesis when it tried to play hard rock songs