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Crusader: No Remorse Music - belting soundtrack.
Done right: The Witcher 3. Every soundtrack in The Witcher 3 is just phenomenal.
Done right :
- Doom (original) - Perfect combination of sequenced metal and dark classical. Bobby Prince at his best.
- Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts - Again, dark fantasy soundtrack which is absolutely perfect.
- Castlevania - Pretty much all of them with a specific mention of SOTN. Great gothic soundtrack that's eminently memorable.
- Morrowind : Nothing needs to be said about this.
- Super Meat Boy (original soundtrack by Danny B) : Fantastic.
- Ultima Underworld 1& 2 : Goes with the game like peanut butter and jelly.

Done wrong :
- Doom (2016) - I know a lot of people love Mick's soundtrack, and I don't think it's bad necessarily. I just don't think it's Doom. The primary difference between Doom and Quake is that Doom is metal and Quake is industrial. Without splitting hairs and stating that industrial is a subgenre of metal, there is a distinct difference in style between the two game's influences; EG - Contrast Slayer vs NIN; very different music. What I want out of Doom Eternal is a more memorable soundtrack that's less ambient and droning, and more melodic and thrashy.
- Super Meat Boy (PS4 release) : The one added in the PS4 release is terrible compared to the original which makes me literally turn it off, spoiling the game.
- Cave Story (original freeware release) : I know this was composed by the programmer, but it's got an irritating quality. Gets stuck in your head in a bad way, like an annoying commercial jingle.
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ColJohnMatrix: - Morrowind : Nothing needs to be said about this.
Only problem is that, aside from the change when the game thinks you're in combat, the music doesn't adapt to the situation. The overworld, towns, and dungeons all use the exact same set of music tracks. (I note that this is not the case in any other TES game I have played.)

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ColJohnMatrix: - Castlevania - Pretty much all of them with a specific mention of SOTN. Great gothic soundtrack that's eminently memorable.
Random fact: Did you know that SotN's soundtrack was (mostly) written by a woman (Michiru Yamane)? Also, the original Castlevania's soundtrack was composed by two women.

(I find it rather interesting that there are so many woman composers in the Japanese video game industry.)

I could also mention Gargoyle's Quest as an example of music done right.
Post edited October 22, 2018 by dtgreene
Done right:
Hollow Knight
Cuphead
NieR
Final Fantasy Vi, VII, IX

Done wrong
Prince of Persia Warrior Within
More "done right".

- Disciples I and II: II has probably the best battle music I've ever heard. I also really like the map music in Disciples I.

- Heroes of Might & Magic III and V: many tracks from town themes through battle music to even just the map music.

- King's Bounty (the new games) - some of the tracks are simply magical

- The I of the Dragon: a forgotten game with a movie quality soundtrack. Too bad the music rarely works these days and the game is extremely unstable. So glad I have the game CD with the music on it. I even think that one of the tracks was used in the hobbit movies.

- Blood: very dark, almost horror like music. Fits the game perfectly.
Post edited October 22, 2018 by idbeholdME
low rated
Done wrong:
Elminage Gothic (I actually replaced the battle theme with the one from Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and the game became significantly more enjoyable)

?:
Cheetahmen (from Action 52): The game has a catchy theme. Unfortunately, it's the only music in the game, and after one loop the melody disappears. Some of the other Action 52 games have music, and it ranges from decent to horrible, and doesn't even always work. Cheetahmen 2 uses the same music, but I'm not sure if the bug is still present (it probably is, but that's just a guess).
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ColJohnMatrix: - Morrowind : Nothing needs to be said about this.
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dtgreene: Only problem is that, aside from the change when the game thinks you're in combat, the music doesn't adapt to the situation. The overworld, towns, and dungeons all use the exact same set of music tracks. (I note that this is not the case in any other TES game I have played.)
Ultima Underworld did it better. However, I still love it.
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ColJohnMatrix: - Castlevania - Pretty much all of them with a specific mention of SOTN. Great gothic soundtrack that's eminently memorable.
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dtgreene: Random fact: Did you know that SotN's soundtrack was (mostly) written by a woman (Michiru Yamane)? Also, the original Castlevania's soundtrack was composed by two women.
I don't see how someone's gender matters or is worth mentioning.
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dtgreene: Random fact: Did you know that SotN's soundtrack was (mostly) written by a woman (Michiru Yamane)? Also, the original Castlevania's soundtrack was composed by two women.
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ColJohnMatrix: I don't see how someone's gender matters or is worth mentioning.
It's notable simply because that's not as common if, say, you look at classical music. If you look at the most famous and well known works of classical music, you likely won't find any female composers represented, unless the person compiling the list is specifically looking for them. On the other hand, if you look at the most famous and well known works of video game music, you do find female composers represented; I would say that "Vampire Killer", from the original Castlevania, would make such a list, and SotN's soundtrack is widely praised (including by you).

I just find that interesting.

(Also, representation matters.)
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idbeholdME: Done right
- Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine: very short tunes play only when something important is happening. It perfectly fits the game IMO and always emphasizes what is happening. Be it a group of soviets arriving, reaching a nice vista or solving a puzzle.
Whoa, it's very interesting to see someone having completely opposite opinion. I believe that Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine wasted a lot of potential for "music done right". With so many different and exotic locations a diverse soundtrack carefully composed for each level would emphasize the epic scale of Indy's journey. These short tunes which are present in the game, while certainly well placed, are simply not enough for me to say that the music is done right here.
Done right:
Undertale: How come no one has mentioned this game? There's a lot of good music there, and it's interesting how creepy the music gets on the Genocide route.
Done Right: C&C Series (Red Alert, Generals, Tiberium....), all the music is based on the personality of the factions and that is awesome in all the ways....

Done Wrong: I just enjoy the game along with music so there is nothing I find wrong
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idbeholdME: Done right
- Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine: very short tunes play only when something important is happening. It perfectly fits the game IMO and always emphasizes what is happening. Be it a group of soviets arriving, reaching a nice vista or solving a puzzle.
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Ghorpm: Whoa, it's very interesting to see someone having completely opposite opinion. I believe that Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine wasted a lot of potential for "music done right". With so many different and exotic locations a diverse soundtrack carefully composed for each level would emphasize the epic scale of Indy's journey. These short tunes which are present in the game, while certainly well placed, are simply not enough for me to say that the music is done right here.
It just felt right in that game. It also allows you to fully take in ambient sounds which provides more atmosphere than constant music would. At least for me.
Done Right: Secret of Mana (SNES). It flows though and helps set a good atmosphere, only going full ham when it needs to. A lot of the time, it helps carry players though tougher areas though the serenity of the calm tracks.

Done Wrong: Most anything using the Mega Drive's GEMS engine. This means most western developed games. Documentation was scarce at best for it, so more often than not, what you ended up hearing sounded akin to Mystic Cave Zone after several helpings of refried beans, a perfect fit for the grossout culture of the 90s.

Done Wrong: Most of Final Fantasy IV DS. While I'm going to be wrong and say that FF4 didn't have a strong soundtrack to begin with, the remake didn't help matters much at all. Some of it follows the weak compositions too strongly, some of it goes out of tune, and others just are a bit off as all.
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dtgreene: I'll look at the Sega Genesis Phantasy Star games here as my example, mainly because they're the most interesting case I can think of off hand.

Phantasy Star 2: Done wrong. The music in this game is just not that good and not that interesting.
How can you loathe the soundtrack of a game whose primary instrument is a snare drum? :p
Post edited October 22, 2018 by Darvond
low rated
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dtgreene: I'll look at the Sega Genesis Phantasy Star games here as my example, mainly because they're the most interesting case I can think of off hand.

Phantasy Star 2: Done wrong. The music in this game is just not that good and not that interesting.
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Darvond: How can you loathe the soundtrack of a game whose primary instrument is a snare drum? :p
Non-melodic percussion is one of the three types of instruments that I really hate (the others are the electric guitar and the singing style found in modern popular music). Used sparingly, it's fine, but when there's a constant beat, I don't like it; in fact, it has been known to give me headaches.

(Note that melodic percussion is completely different in this respect; such instruments tend to have a much lighter sound and can add a nice color to the sound, or even work well on their own (an example being Final Fantasy V's track "Music Box", or the piano lessons if you count piano as percussion).)

This is especially an issue in NES game soundtracks where the percussion is used instead of another voice capable of producing different pitches. I would much prefer having richer harmonies or another counter melody to having a drum beat. (Remember, on the NES, you only get something like 3 sound channels for producing sound, so such sound channels are a precious limited resource. There's a reason why the Super Mario Bros. main theme has so much syncopation; the composer was limited by the hardware to only 3 notes at a time, so he had to make up for it by making it rhythmically interesting, since rhythm was not limited by the sound chip.)