Email: More on Music

I’m glad I’m not the only one to have thought that 4-bit Gameboy music
is better than many if not most modern soundtracks.  It might be close
to my heart because the old Gameboy was my first console though (as my
parents didn’t mind me having that portable machine, but didn’t want
me to have a TV console back then).

It really struck out when I played Street Fighter 4 and compared the
music to Street Fighter 2.  The best SF4 tracks were the remixes of
the character themes from SF2, and I think I’m not the only one who
has that impression.  The regular SF4 tracks are forgettable at best,
which is my biggest problem with that game (more than the graphics
direction or gameplay); conversely, the majority of the SF2 tracks I
found really good, and fitting to the characters.

I don’t know what happened to Capcom’s music direction but their older
games had overall excellent soundtracks (as well as Street Fighter,
there’s obviously Mega Man and the old Bionic Commando games on the
NES and GB), but the newer games don’t seem to compare any more.  What
happened?

I don’t know. But here are some possibilities.

-We have become older and our senses have changed.

-Music makers lack the talent that the music makers had back in the day.

-We have become older and become more jaded. Just as your first love is your sweetest, your first games might be the most memorable.

-(My favorite) Music is overshooting the needs of the video game player. There are just too many notes now.

The last game that had really good music that impressed me was Super Mario Galaxy. So I guess I’m not all jaded yet.