I’ve been playing videogames since my Dad was convinced my tiny baby hands were strong enough to grip a Mega Drive controller for more than five seconds. I’m sure he was just trying to convince my mum that the CD add-on was worth the insane amount of money—it definitely wasn’t, as I’m told it broke within mere weeks of him buying it. I’m still not convinced that my Mum didn’t have a hand in that.
Critical Hit
Welcome to Critical Hit, where I (or someone else on the PC Gamer team) celebrate and lament all things videogame music, audio design, and the ways our favourite games make our ears tingle.
But early exposure to gaming was one of the biggest gateways to music. Orchestral, rock, pop, hip-hop, licensed tracks, original music. The whole shebang. Videogame music has shaped a huge part of who I am, and continues to do so even as I begin the terrifying march into my 30s.
I have incredibly vague memories of plodding away at Puzzle Bobble on the family computer, or the multitude of Learning Land educational games—for some reason I actually have very vivid memories of Learning Land 3: At the Funfair specifically, but not of any other ones I owned and played.
But I never exactly paid any attention to the music in those. Hell, I’m not even sure Learning Land had music. But I sure do remember the first time I heard videogame music and thought, oh hell yes. This is incredibly rad. That game? Killer Instinct Gold on the Nintendo 64.
In fact, that console is the first time I really remember loving videogame music, despite only owning GoldenEye 007 and Wave Race 64 on top of Rare’s fighting game. But oh man, hearing those slightly crusty metallic clashes? The guitar riffs? I’m convinced that Killer Instinct is the reason I turned into a raging emo. Real formulative stuff.
I remember resetting the console over and over again just to hear the music, wanting to hear more of it. Something I would continue to do well into the mp3 and downloadable music era—Final Fantasy 10-2’s Real Emotion went triple platinum in my household, and my PlayStation 2 saw many a reset so I could start a new save and hear it all over again.
But what about you? Do you remember the first time you heard videogame music, or which soundtrack really resonated with you? Be sure to drop a comment and let me know which game or song kickstarted your love of all things VGM.
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