Video game music literature

[Linearity]

I've been wondering: there are plenty of favorites threads for video game music, but is there a body of music that we all consider "standard?" Anybody can recognize the Super Mario Bros. theme; more scholarly listeners might know, say, "Vampire Killer" and "Terra." What game music is in our literature?

To clarify, I don't mean your favorite soundtrack that nobody's heard of. I love "The Launcher Mansion" from Evolution: The World of Sacred Device, but that is clearly not a standard.

[DragonFireKai]

Mario Bros. theme, Vampire killer, and Terra are all good examples.

A few other real prominent ones that most people will recognize are Nobuo's Immortal Arpeggio, Schala's Theme, the Theme to MGS, Ice Cap, and Lava Reef.

[Dexie]

Zelda theme.

FF Victory Fanfare.

Green Hill Zone.

[KingTiger]

The main "Brinstar" theme from Metroid, maybe?

[DrumUltimA]

rofl I tell people the reason I can play the Mario theme is because it's "standard repertoire" XD

[ContinueTheEnd]

There really is no "standard" video game music; people assume that Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, Metriod, etc. are standard because they possess the most widely-commercialized tunes and are thus more familiar. That doesn't make them standard; it just makes them more well-known. The standard for video game music differs from person to person, since it all depends on what games you grew up playing. Personally, I tend to think of several SNES games as the basic standard for video game music; these include Super Mario Bros., the DKC series, Legend of Zelda, Mega Man X series, etc. Again, however, that's just my opinion because that's what I grew up playing as a child. Thus, "standard" game music is pretty much nonexistent - video game music is constantly evolving and being updated as the years pass; as such, there will never be one definite standard for it.

[Critical Hit]

I think we could probably include the

in the list.

[Linearity]

ContinueTheEnd, I agree that there is no single piece or composer that can define all of video game music. What I mean by the word "standard" is along the lines of "classic" or "famous," although I delibrately didn't use those words.

In jazz music, a "jazz standard" is a song that a lot of musicians and audiences know and, to a lesser extent, recognize for its quality. This is what I'm getting at. Jazz musicians all know "Satin Doll" even though it by no means defines jazz.

"Aquatic Ambience" isn't really classic (Dave Wise wrote it only 13 years ago), but I'd say it's part of standard game music repertoire. Nor is "Corridors of Time" really famous like the Zelda overworld theme, but it has recognition among people who take an interest in game music.

These are all good pieces everyone is naming. Keep them coming.

[PassivePretentiousness]

I think a better way of saying it is "songs we recognize here immediately but someone on the street wouldn't"

Those soundtracks would be...

Squaresoft

DKC

Castlevania Series

Megaman Series

Metroid Series

and a handful of others.

[CE]

Ice Cap Zone