What would you say is the most important aspect of a game?
Is it the graphics?
The level design?
The gameplay?
How about its soundtrack?
While they are all relatively important, the most obvious one would be the gameplay, right?
I mean, it’s called a video game for a reason. Who would want to play a game that… plays badly? Even if it has cutting-edge graphics?
But what if its soundtrack is god-tier, and the rest is mediocre?
Now I can hear you say: “Yeah, if the soundtrack is THAT good, I might give it a chance!”
It’s All About That Catchy Tune!
All ATARI games from 2600 to 7800 had no music at all, and not many people today would want to go back and play them even for the sake of nostalgia, right?
Not only were they extremely primitive, but they also lacked what made all other games appealing.
When Nintendo came up with the NES, they revolutionized the whole concept of video games by making them fun, as well as making them sound great!
It was not only Nintendo, of course.
Capcom gets the throne when it comes to video game soundtracks, especially with Mega Man.
And who could forget Natsume and Sunsoft? Man, even today, I’m still amazed how they managed to work their magic. Especially considering the fact that they had to make do with literally nothing.
The sweet tunes of those games made us keep replaying the same levels over and over again without getting tired of them.
We simply couldn’t get enough of them back then, and we still can’t even today.
Take Hotline Miami, for instance. We all would be lying if we said we loved it anything other than its soundtrack. How about Undertale? The main appeal, once again, was the soundtrack. As long as a game makes your blood boil with its banging soundtrack, you get this urge to give it a shot, whether it’s good or bad.
The Birth of a New Genre
The power of music in games was so strong that it even spawned a new genre: Rhythm Games!
It all started with PaRappa the Rapper for the PSX, a game that perfectly combines quick time events with music, and reached its peak with Guitar Hero.
This brand-new genre made it possible for all of us to play an instrument one way or another, or simply made us discover the musician that resides within to take it to a whole new level.
Ever heard of Rocksmith+?
Yeah, that’s the next level rhythm game I’m talking about.
It turned the simple QTE action into a serious business by letting you play it with a real guitar and piano.
You don’t know how to play those instruments? No problem! Because Rocksmith+ is all about teaching how to play them as well as having fun!
Who knows, maybe it would help you discover a new side of yourself, as most games do.
The impact of music on video games is undeniably huge, and Rocksmith+ is a wonderful fruit of this combination.
Don’t forget, folks.
If it sounds good, then it’s worth playing!
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