Board 8 > You rank 100 songs, as submitted by azuarc - THE LIST

(+) Yeah! (+)

The accordion in Kind Memories still annoys me, but I warmed up to it. Though I only gave it a 1 because of the songs it was against


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HK-47: The very best there is when you absolutely positively have to kill every meatbag in the room. Accept no substitutes!

I'm also wondering how with three decent reviews, it comes in at only 66th, but the other three people gave it a collective four points.

Awful. Poor Shades of Blue.


Where all the people that go "Nefertiti's terrible, Stigmata easily best song from Mana Khemia?"

Well, in fairness, I do like Stigmata more than Nefertiti... <_<

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

It's been a while since I played Mana Khemia so my knowledge of all its songs is a bit diminished, but IIRC, Hallucinate Bell is pretty good, and probably in the group that beats Nefertiti.

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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
GotD (219/384) Melee v FFX

60. Mass Effect - M4 Part II

Rating: 17/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 32

Comments:
(Ed Bellis) see, this is how you do slow build, even if it does go on for like two minutes longer than it should
(Kenri) I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. Why have I been made to listen to this song multiple times. I hate this.
(MycroProcessor) JACK WALL DIDNT COMPOSE THIS ONE. I still like it though! I think it fits the atmosphere of the rest of the soundtrack and what I've seen of the game even if in a different style. Kind of a neat drumbeat with the interesting timings of the snare. I LIKE THE constant 16th guitar, DELAY ECHO5 it gives this a really enjoyable feel. The synth pads are really nice in the mix in my opinion as well and I like the SOUNDs of them with their EPIC chord CHANGES.

The song develops a little too slowly, but it does the build-up very well and at least has an interesting enough backdrop to keep the listener engaged until it finally climaxes at about 4:30. But then it goes for another three minutes without anything really happening. So while the tone and vibe are good, I can certainly understand how someone might find it boring.



59. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm - Nightsong

Rating: 17/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 1

Comments:
(xp1337) I feel like WoW has some good songs... but Nightsong is not one of the ones I'd think of in that category.
(Ytterbium_70) It's a Warcraft song. It's fairly cool, but it didn't payoff as much as I'd like it to.

I'd kindly like to point you to the number on azuarc's ranking on this one. And it's not especially close. I don't think I really need to say anything more than that. Well, other than xp and ark, you two suck. Everyone else gave it at least a 3!



58. Sanctum - Glade Action

Rating: 17/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 55

Comments:
(xp1337) So is this! And here I thought Fire Aura probably already locked up 2nd place and everything else would be a fight for the bottom 3! That said, I think I still like Fire Aura more, but it's very, very close.
(ImTheMacheteGuy) Kinda confused by what I'm watching. Never heard of the game so I have no background info/context. Ah okay, actually I see in the comments. Interesting. Has an epic feel to it, but doesn't do an awful lot for me. The part at ~4:22-4:44 is pretty sweet and 5:41 to the end is good too. Definitely above average and a cool idea, but didn't really captivate me. 6.3/10

This was the best I could come up with for a soundtrack to a game that I enjoyed playing and thought had a need, if somewhat ambient OST. Best part comes at 1:13.



57. Epic Pinball - Excalibur

Rating: 17/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 58

Comments:
(Vengeful_KBM) Eh.

I could swear I had seen another comment from someone saying it's no Crash and Burn or...some other track I had never heard of. Apologies to whomever that was. Anyway, this song could give M4 lessons on how to do a build-up in a reasonable amount of time, but the breakdown is somewhat lacking, and I'm surprised nobody picked on the synth drums solo. And with this one going out, Shareware is officially dead.

dammit, my browser ate my next post and I need to go out. Guess you'll have to wait til later to get more.

Nightsong is so boring

--
thelefty for analysis crew 2008 imo -tranny
I have a third degree burn in flame-o-nomics -Sir Chris

Well, other than xp and ark, you two suck.

I aim to please!

Everyone else gave it at least a 3!

It was my obligation to bring truth to the rankings, a thankless and often misunderstood duty!

--
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
GotD (219/384) Melee v FFX

h8 u all. And lefty, you have a strange interpretation of what makes something boring, considering the second half is full of energy.



56. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Chemical Plant Zone

Score: 17/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 39

Comments:
(NioraptH) dawww
(SoliPants) Never was a fan of the Sonic OST, never understood the praise. Just don't really like the way they sound.

Now I get to try writing these comments all over again. Bleh. Chemical Plant Zone is, IMHO, the best Sonic 2 has to offer. And considering I never really played Sonic 3 or anything thereafter, Sonic 2 is my favorite soundtrack in the series. No saxophone bias, I just think the song rocks. (Now Hilltop Zone? Yeah, that would be saxophone bias.)



55. Elemental Master - Blood-Stained Lake

Score: 17/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 21

Comments:
(Natwaf_akidna) Nothing bad to say about it
(Kenri) super cool
(NioraptH) I feel like killing things~ So pumped~

Speaking of songs from the Genesis that flat-out rock, I'm surprised this one didn't do better TBH. The middle two raters gave it a 5, but otherwise BSL did not fare all that well.



54. Yoohoo: Phantasmagoria of Dim Dream - Strawberry Crisis!!

Score: 17/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 17

Comments:
(Drakeryn) 6/10
(Vengeful_KBM) ...I do not understand anything about this, but I like it. Why is there a strawberry crisis? Why is it coupled with pictures of a cute anime girl? I have no idea.

You guys! Stop underrating the good songs...alright, I can understand completely if you don't like this song. The worst type or crisis to have is a strawberry crisis, yadda yadda. The sound samples are old, it's a Yoohoo song, yeah, sure. I'm not a fan of most of ZUN's work, but I do like this one. I do have to wonder about the video that the song is linked to, though...is Yumemi is only in one game, (I cheated and looked on a wiki,) why is there apparently so much fanart of her?



53. F-Zero - Mute City

Score: 18/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 64

Comments:
(ImTheMacheteGuy) Pretty good. Has a Mario Kart-ish flavor to it. Pretty short, but makes good use of it. No boring points. 6/10
(Ytterbium_70) I'm kind of suprised this was at the top, but the other 4 aren't that great
(Kenri) I feel like Mute City in general is better than a lot of other F-Zero songs, and then F-Zero SNES just generally has a more tolerable soundtrack than later games, so... overall this is pretty decent.
(xp1337) Eh... F-Zero music is generally not something I like. There are a few okay/good songs in there, but Mute City isn't really one of them.

As far asI'm concerned, Mute City is the definitive F-Zero track. Yeah, there are some of you who are going to defend Big Blue, but there's no way Big Blue is even remotely as good. And while I understand the comparison to Mario Kart, there's nothing on SMK's tracklist that compares to this either, except maybe Rainbow Road, which is going to be much more subject to individual taste.

52. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - Sacred

Score: 18/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 53

Comments:
(Kenri) Haha, what is this. I feel like if I stumbled on this on the radio, I would listen to it and then later feel deep shame for having listened to it. I don't know. It's catchy but I can't shake the feeling that I don't like it despite that.
(TheArkOfTurus) Wasn't expecting to run into a Blind Guardian song. Guilty pleasure band of mine. Definitely don't have to feel guilty about it ranking below the terrible bottom 3, though!
(NioraptH) *holds torch to the sky ala medieval lightstick*
(xp1337) I suppose I was pleasantly surprised by this, to begin with I was getting a bad feeling out of this, but it pulls itself together well enough. Well, enough to keep it from plummeting to the bottom/second-to-last.

I'm really surprised to see this one last so long. I do like me some progressive power metal, but I didn't think there would be many like-minded individuals. This song's kinda neat because while there have been a few other occasions where a "real" artist has been commissioned to write a song for a game, I'm not aware of any other occasions where the band actually makes an out-of-character appearance IN the game, and has a full-length FMV to go with it. Yet German-based Ascaron contacted German band Blind Guardian and had them write a song for the game, and then out of thanks made a quest where the player has to help the members of the band recover their stolen instruments in time for a show at some village. The musicians even accompany you during the quest, and then you can see what your quest reward is.



51. Dynasy Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends

Score: 18/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 45

Comments:
(Drakeryn) 4.5/10
(NioraptH) T___T so sad and so T_T and like T_T and LET'S GUITAR and T____T
(MycroProcessor) THIS ONE IS NOT AS COOL AS UNder sea palance | but it has some GREAT intense sections that are dESTINY _ and I enjoy the slow 6/8ishness (...sic)
(Ed Bellis) goddamn dynasty warriors music
(xp1337) This is good.

It may not be the wailing guitars Dynasty Warriors is known for, but I really like this piece. The piano intro sets the tenor nicely, and then when we do get a guitar, it sits on top of the backing we get perfectly to add to the emotion. Or at least that's my take. The video also gets a little help from TJF, I guess, although it's not a very good picture of Wang Yi.



50. Tomb Raider - Theme

Score: 18/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 84

Comments:
(FL81) meh

You guys don't have much to say about this one, and I really don't either. Surprisingly I've never played Tomb Raider. (I mentioned earlier I never had a PS1. I suppose I could have gotten the PC version.)



49. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind - Main Theme

Score: 18/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 77

Comments:
(xp1337) Skyrim's theme is way superior. Morrowind's is just kind of there. I mean, I suppose that's not necessarily bad, but it also isn't necessarily good.

I really like this song, but it's mostly a matter of nostalgia. Taken out of context, it's just kinda there. I'm really not a huge fan of Jeremy Soule in general, so without the sentimentality that goes with the song, it doesn't do a great deal for me.

48. Double Dragon - Theme

Score: 18/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 81

Comments:
(Kenri) Uhhh it's pretty decent. Nothing exceptional here, but it's competent at least, and doesn't do anything to turn me against it.
(NioraptH) so cute~ and you can totally feel some OVERPOWERING MANLY BRO FIST MUSK exuding from this
(Ytterbium_70) It's peppy, but that's it. I had a hard time trying to enjoy this one.

Somehow we ended up with three songs in a row called "Theme." Not much to say about this one. This is definitely borne out of influence from my friends who apparently knew DD very well. I didn't really play the original; I was much more a fan of DD2. (And don't talk to me about DD3.)



47. Goldeneye: 007 - Archives

Score: 18/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 98

Comments:
(NioraptH) James Bond's evil library?
(Tom Bombadil) Nifty.

Back before there was a noticeable online community for actual VGM, there were VGMIDIs. Between vgmidi.com and vgmusic.com, I downloaded a bunch of stuff when I was in college from games I knew, and one of them was a file for Archives. The MIDI sounded amazingly just like the one in game, so I looked up to that track a lot more than I really should, considering that, quite honestly, it's really not that good. This is going to be my first example of a case where I think y'all heavily overrated a song.



46. Donkey Kong '94 - The Final Showdown...?

Score: 18/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 31

Comments:
(Ytterbium_70) 8.2 - Easily the best song of these 5. It fits the level nicely, but that's just one reason why it's so good. Rather, its how Fear Factory manages to take the DKC soundfont and make a fun yet forboding, robotic song with it. Good show.
(NioraptH) It's like wailing guitars without the guitars! Note: coming from Nio, I think this is a compliment, even though she gave it a 1.

I had a hell of a time getting people to rate this one. Seems like everybody I assigned it to disappeared. DK94 = The Bermuda Triangle? Anyway, this is probably the most recently-discovered song for me on the list, except maybe Ruins of Silence. Very nice job for classic Gameboy.


45. Guitar Hero 2 - Jordan

Score: 18/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 36

Comments:
(Kenri) HEY GUITARS. GUITARS YOU GUYS. At least this doesn't annoy me as much as like... Guilty Gear music generally does? Maybe because it's at least somewhat interesting most of the time even if I'm not personally a fan of it.
(MycroProcessor) Synth Hero 13/8 time Rudess would be better, COOL effects for making some interesting sounds. I don't consider myself a big guitar guy or anything but THIS is how I like guitars to sound...with 39458093452 effects so it just sounds more ELECTRONIC LOL. Whoa I like 1:37-1:41ish a lot it has some interesting INTERVALS, same with 1:57. I liked this a lot more than I expected as this went on.

Remember what I said earlier about Sacred? Yeah, this is one of those other times where a musician was contacted about producing a song for a game. Buckethead went on to record other versions of Jordan, but the GH2 edition was the original as far as I'm aware. And yeebus that solo. I'm a pretty big guitar hero nut, but to this day I've still never managed to pass this song. (On expert, obviously.) Free Bird? Pff, no problem. Six? No big deal. The Light That Blinds? Hangar 18? Carry Me Home? Yeah, whatever. But good god, this song's harder than Through the Fire and Flames from 3, where if you can play the beginning you should be able to play the rest. Oh yeah, and color me surprised that the listeners of B8 liked this song enough for it to get three fours.

Ed Bellis posted...

She's a Touhou character.

Seeing as I'm not a Yoohoo fan, that really doesn't mean anything to me.



44. Dynasty Warriors 4 - Eve

Score: 19/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 40

Comments:
(NioraptH) let's guitar <3
(Kenri) This song isn't fantastic, but it's pretty good, and pretty good becomes fantastic after the previous two songs. Eve actually has a lot of neat ideas and I'd gladly listen to it again.
(Ed Bellis) GODDAMN DYNASTY WARRIORS MUS-okay this isn't that bad

From what I can tell from perusing a Dynasty Warriors fansite, this is basically the best-loved song overall among DW fans. And considering most people who don't play DW games generally dislike the music, since the two pretty much go hand-in-hand, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that this one was total feast-or-famine. 5-5-5-1-1-2. Almost a perfect split. It doesn't get more dichotomous than that. Personally I think the song's pretty cool, but not the pinnacle of Dynasty Warrior composition. I'm happy to see that the other DW track came out the highest of the three...and really that nearly all three cracked the upper half.



43. Legend of Mana - Title Theme

Score: 19/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 59

Comments:
(MycroProcessor) Pretty nice but it doesn't stick in my head as much as the above and does about the same amount of INTERESTINGness things so that is why it is below them. wow I like that synth choir pad that plays one chord the entire piece at the very end it sounds OLDer than it is. Seems like it would be a good title theme.

I'm not a huge fan of this piece, but I don't think it's terrible, either. I know there are a few people who are aghast that it managed to retire. I think it's pretty decent -- just really bland.




42. Portal 2 - Want You Gone

Score: 19/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 61

Comments:
(Jeff Zero) eh, it's OK
(Tom Bombadil) I feel like it's trying a bit hard to be Still Alive 2.0, but eh, still pretty good.
(xp1337) This might be my favorite of its kind of song, but my rant from earlier still holds.

Johnathan Coulton rankings -- Re: Your Brains > Want You Gone > Still Alive. Yeah, Still Alive may be more cherished and revered than the other two, but it's not really that good as a song. It's really more of a cultural icon. Want You Gone is a *little* bit better, even if it suffers from some strange electronica samples.



41. Lost Odyssey - Neverending Journey

Score: 19/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 6

Comments:
(Ed Bellis) oh god this song started so good and then GUITAR
(xp1337) Dark Saint is the superior Lost Odyssey song, accept no substitutes. Neverending Journey is kind of meh. It eventually gets better but it spends about half its time getting there, which is... less than optimal.

Gotta disagree with xp. Dark Saint's alright, but this piece is beautiful during the panflute section, and then surprises you with the guitar in a way that I clearly find much more favorable than Ed does. I like both halves of this song a great deal, (the flute more, which is the majority of the song,) which puts this into my top 10 for the list. I think this is the third one revealed so far? We'll have another one right after this, but because I'm such a tease, you're going to have to wait to find out what it is.

Re: Your Brains is probably my least-favorite Jonathan Coulton song

either that or Code Monkey

--
thelefty for analysis crew 2008 imo -tranny
I have a third degree burn in flame-o-nomics -Sir Chris

69. Left 4 Dead 2 - Re: Your Brains

--
thelefty for analysis crew 2008 imo -tranny
I have a third degree burn in flame-o-nomics -Sir Chris

you caught me I just used the post number to try and trick you

--
thelefty for analysis crew 2008 imo -tranny
I have a third degree burn in flame-o-nomics -Sir Chris

If you're talking about my personal rankings, I did them very hastily for the sake of having them to include. I reserve the right to claim I placed Re: Your Brains too high after the fact. As for what we've had so far...

1. WoW - Nightsong
6. LO - NJ
7. MK - Stigmata
11. DQ8 - HF
17. Y:PoDD - SC
21. EM - BSL
23. Wizball - HS
24. QFG4 - EG
25. FFL2 - TLB
28. BC - Beeton
31. DK94 - TFS?
32. ME - M4
36. GH2 - Jordan
37. L4D2 - Re:YB
39. StH2 - CPZ
40. DW4 - Eve
43. SoM - KM
45. DW7 - Teary Edge
49. Amp - SoB
50. FFA -LTRoK
52. StH - SBZ
53. Sacred^3
54. SD3 - PttH
55. Sanctum - GA
58. Y:PCB - CCoFitS
59. LoM - Title
61. P2 - WYG
63. PS2 - Pleasure
64. F-0 - MC
66. Conker - Sloprano
67. FF7 - Hurry!
68. HS - UU
69. TQ - H&B
71. FFT - Intro
72. JJ - Sluggion
73. Myth 2 - Title
75. BAM - BGM
76. RCR - Boss
77. TES3 - Theme
78. EP - Excalibur
79. Mara 2 - Theme
80. Excitebike - VS
81. DD - Theme
82. WW2 - Stage 2
83. Tyrian - SJ2
84. TR - Theme
85. Trine - CC
87. PW64 - Birdman
88. Contra - EZ
89. FFX2 - YRP3
90. FF - GV
91. RC Pro Am - Title
92. DT - Prologue
93. IoG - LC
94. Zombies - Song
95. Raptor - 4
97. EQ - Felwithe
98. 007 - Archives
99. BK - KD
100. LoZ:LA - Frog

Mighta missed a few? I compiled that hastily also.

**** you Nefertiti dislikers.

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

Nefertiti and Stigmata are both bad

--
thelefty for analysis crew 2008 imo -tranny
I have a third degree burn in flame-o-nomics -Sir Chris

SCREW YOU AAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!

*shakes fist*

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

Any bets on what I still have at 96th overall?

... Brahman?

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

Oh, if you need a reminder, the list of remaining songs:


Ascend to the Heavens
Beat Them Up!
Beyond the Bounds
Brahman
Chicago
Corneria
DDD
Downstream
Dragon Killers
Ending (MMX)
Fear Factory
Fire Aura
Force Your Way
Gerudo Valley
Hamelin
Hepatica
Kinetic Harvest
King Dedede's Theme
M.I.S.A
Main Theme (Trine 2)
MotC
One Final Effort
Pepsiman
Positive Force
Primitive Power
Prologue (MegaMari)
Ruins of Silence
Run
Runnings Out of Time
Silver Will
Statts
Gracemeria
Race Around the World
To a New Journey
Track 3 (Lotus)
Training THeme
Undersea Palace
Unification of the Land
Xanadu

tag

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Black Turtle did a pretty good job.

Natwaf_akidna posted...

... Brahman?

Pff, as if! I'm not calling Brahman #1 (well, ok, #2,) but it ain't 96th either.

Well, that's the only song left I listened to. Stupid work >_>

Oh hey, Pepsiman theme is there? Then that. I mean, I love it, but I can see how it could get annoying.

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

I could swear I had seen another comment from someone saying it's no Crash and Burn or...some other track I had never heard of. Apologies to whomever that was.

Pretty sure this was me, unless some other gent has exceptional taste in VG music and I just missed it. <_<

Songs I said were better:

Crash and Burn -
Space Journey (my favorite from the game) -

Excalibur might be next after those two, though.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

That must have been part of Pinball Pack 3. I only had 1 and 2. 3 came later.

I love C&B, but it's too short. The full loop may be 1:13, but it's an AAB pattern with a nominal B.

Probably jusr because I played it so much before registering the full game, mext favorite was the original Android --


Anyway, feel free to nom this for Best OST if you think you can scrape together a few more tracks. (Maybe include Silverball?) Probably a laughable entry, but I don't care.

That must have been part of Pinball Pack 3. I only had 1 and 2. 3 came later.

Could be. I don't actually own the game, I just like its soundtrack.

Android's pretty cool! I'll have to keep the game in mind for Best OST 2, though there are a few others I've been smacking myself for not thinking of during the first Best OST contest, so it might have to wait in line. >_>

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

Kenri posted...

there are a few others I've been smacking myself for not thinking of during the first Best OST contest, so it might have to wait in line. >_>

Anything you care to share? I've spent the year thinking about exotic inclusions since DFO did half-decently, and obviously ikon's Frozen Synapse went deep in the winner's bracket.



40. Dynasty Warriors 5 - Primitive Power

Score: 19/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 9

Comments:
(TheArkOfTurus) I have a feeling I liked this one more than I was supposed to.
(xp1337) Huh. This could be a challenge! Well, far be it from me to back down on this. This is... really interesting. It manages to do things I typically do not like at all in songs (most of the sound effects) while not making me immediately annoyed at the song entirely. Actually, I am speaking too soon, my opinion is starting to turn on this and in a bad way.
(Ed Bellis) this was surprisingly cool and I wish I could place it higher

I'm pleasantly surprised that this made the upper two-fifths. There was only one person who rated this one down, and they at least gave the song a chance. I can't say I'm normally a big fan of tribal music either, but this one's just fun. When playing DW5, I would sometimes play the level this was from just 'cause. I mean, you get to hear this song and see Zhu Rong boobies; can you blame me?



39. Sword of Vermillion - Statts

Score: 19/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 96

Comments:
(Drakeryn) 5.5/10
(Kenri) This is actually really cool and not at all what I expected out of Sword of Vermillion. Or really any RPG. Has a really nice beat while also sounding kind of mysterious, which is a combination I don't know if I've heard before. But I like it.

At first I was happy this song got some attention, and then I realized all the stuff it came in ahead of and I went, "um, wat?" Obviously from the ranking, I didn't give this one much of a chance; I like it, but not intensely. It's just something different for me.



38. Star Fox - Corneria

Score: 19/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 47

Comments:
(Ytterbium_70) 6.5 - Finally, something I can listen to without pulling my ears off. Well, Corneria is catchy, and though it feels repetitive at times, I like it. It feels like I have something important to do with this playing.
(xp1337) Eh, Corneria's all right, I suppose.

Corneria got almost exclusively threes and fours. It's certainly a cool song that suffers from trying to do things the SNES sound chip isn't really prepared to accomodate, (overdriven guitars?) but for how ambitious it is I'd say it succeeds. It's certainly the seminal Star Fox tune, to say the least.

37. Ace Combat 5 - The Liberation of Gracemeria

Score: 19/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 19

Comments:
(xp1337) Eh... I can not give this a pass for taking so long to pull itself out of mediocrity. Just on principle.
(SoliPants) This song wasn't bad at all, it just started off real slow. Was pretty decent once it got going.

VERY slow build, but it's an awesome song. Unlike, say, M4 or Excalibur, I think the payoff is actually there, and I think the build is pretty intense for an orchestral piece. I understand completely why this one managed to retire from VGMC. (Ironic that I first heard it because of the Tournament of Champions.)



36. Mega Man X - Ending

Score: 20/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 26

Comments:
(Ytterbium_70) 6 - The soundfont can be annoying. Still, I find it to be enjoyable; the song doesn't feel cluttered or empty, as it flows nicely.

This was one of my favorite discoveries from ranking VGMotD's first 500. It also surfaced in Best OST as one of the songs that couldn't hold on against CC's power three, but put up a better fight than pretty much anything else. Such a somber sound for an ending song, but it's very effective at what it does, leaving you with one of those introspective "oh gee, what do we do now that we've won?" finishes. Could be a little longer.



35. LoZ: Ocarina of Time - Gerudo Valley

Score: 20/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 38

Comments:
I'm surprised I don't have any comments recorded on this song, so I guess it's up to me to say some words. During my N64 days, if you had asked me my favorite song of one of the games, I'd have pointed to this one in a heartbeat. It blows everything else on OoT away, and pretty much every other game I had as well. However, I listen to it now and it just doesn't seem anywhere near as awesome as it once was. The sounds aren't as impactful, the lines don't seem nearly as powerful. I dunno, maybe nostalgia, maybe better-in-game, maybe I've just grown tired of it. It's still a good song, just not nearly as amazing as I remember.



34. Pepsiman

Score: 20/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 29

Comments:
(ImTheMacheteGuy) haha what that's a real game? Gets points for making me laugh. It seems to take itself just as seriously as it needs to. For a simple, extremely repetitive bassline, the track does a good job of having enough going on to stay entertaining. The brass riffs (are those considered riffs? I'm not really sure but you know what I mean) are good. 7.2/10
(TheArkOfTurus) I am a sucker for both well done joke songs, and saxophone solos. No one said the lists had to be objective, damn it
(xp1337) Eh. ...Until the end, where this can't end soon enough.

I realize this song kind of started off as trying to be ridiculous, and the "PEEEPSIMAAAAANNN!!" vocals are ridiculous. But beyond that, it's just fun 70's era funk jamming. Forgetting the occasional vocals as anything other than just a sound effect, I can just sit and listen to this as a completely serious song. This was another all-or-nothing song with the raters, where it got three 5's, and three 1-or-2's.

33. Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge - Track 3

Score: 20/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 15

Comments:
(Ed Bellis) hell yes this song rules
(SoliPants) Nothing remarkable, not awful either.

I think this song was also the title theme, but considering I remember it as being the third song when you chose your driving music off the "radio," I'm going to stick to Track 3 for a title. Call it whatever you want. I call it awesome. Funny thing is I played it on PC with a SoundBlaster card, and the versions for that I found on YouTube are terrible, but the Amiga rendition sounds great. I can see how someone might not like the samples used, but the song's just got energy. Started off strong in the rankings, with 14/15 in the first three, but then only 6 points in the final three from straight twos.




32. Legacy of the Wizards - Dragon Killers

Score: 20/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 16

Comments:
Legacy of the Wizard is a really underrated game, at least where the music is concerned. Dragon Killers, aside from having a fairly sudden end to the loop, is just great. I'm glad the first four people to rate it agreed with me. Then it got stuck with rough competition in the last two rounds, or maybe those judges simply didn't care for it, but it dropped heavily from 17/20 to 20/30. Still, you'd be hard-pressed to find better songs off the NES in my opinion. I'm still surprised it's the credits theme and not the final boss music.



31. Halo 3 - One Final Effort

Score: 21/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 48

Comments:
(xp1337) Not the best Halo song, but then, I think I'd go for the underdog pick in Heavy Price Paid (Halo 2) for that. Assuming we don't count Blow Me Away, which as a pick is borderline cheating. Anyway, Heavy Price Paid is okay.
(NioraptH) dem pianos
(th3l3fty) One Final Effort's the only one of these I'd even consider listening to on my own time
(Tom Bombadil) Just good, classic stuff, and I'm not even a big Halo guy. I AM a sucker for piano-heavy stuff, though.

I think of this as sort of Mjolnir-lite. Aside from the monks at the beginning, and being piano-driven rather than guitar-, it does a lot of the same stuff. Or at least that's the way it seems to me. I don't think it does them anywhere near as well as Mjolnir, but it's still plenty good.



30. Romancing SaGa - Beat Them Up!

Score: 21/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 56

Comments:
(Ytterbium_70) Tense

Not much help from the peanut gallery for the third time in a row. I think BTU starts off really strong, but the body of the song can't compare to the intro at all. The only SaGa game I've played is Final Fantasy Legend II, and while I'm a big fan of that game's music due to intense overexposure, I really don't know the other SaGa stuff, so I can't comment on how this compares. Ratings on this one got stronger as it went, 2-3-4-3-4-5. (I feel like I'm doing one of those old MTV pop-up videos with horrible Did You Know? facts.)

Anything you care to share? I've spent the year thinking about exotic inclusions since DFO did half-decently, and obviously ikon's Frozen Synapse went deep in the winner's bracket.

Super Mario Galaxy, Fire Emblem 4, Riviera: The Promised Land. I feel like SMG could be pretty strong, the other two are more just personal favorites.

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"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

(Ytterbium_70) 8.2 - Easily the best song of these 5. It fits the level nicely, but that's just one reason why it's so good. Rather, its how Fear Factory manages to take the DKC soundfont and make a fun yet forboding, robotic song with it. Good show.


I never rated The Final Showdown...?, unfortunately

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HK-47: The very best there is when you absolutely positively have to kill every meatbag in the room. Accept no substitutes!

eek, did I misattribute a quote?

not planning on further updating the list tonight, unless I get really bored.

...and nobody cares.


29. Chrono Trigger - Undersea Palace

Score: 21/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 65

Comments:
(NioraptH) too... slow....
(MycroProcessor) Undersea Palace is one of my favorite CT pieces! I love the 3 feel and the delay echo saw sound it is COOL. STEREOTYPICAL DRAMATIC CHORD PROGRESSIONS are awesome!
(Ed Bellis) kinda mid-tier for Trigger songs

Three twos and three fives. That probably says a lot right there, but I'm really not sure what. I basically agree with all the comments, particularly Ed's.



28. Mirror's Edge - Still Alive

Score: 21/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 5

Comments:
(Drakeryn) 6/10
(NioraptH) It would have benefited from being a bit shorter... Draggy
(xp1337) Speaking of Still Alive, this right here is the vastly superior one. And far and away the best song in this set.

Simply a beautiful piece. I dunno if it suffered from stiff competition or if people simply don't care for it as much as I do, but it seemed to lag a bit in terms of ratings compared to what I would have expected or hoped.



27. Sol Survivor - Running Out of Time

Score: 21/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 41

Comments:
(Kenri) This is exactly the kind of music I would love to just put on in the background and only half listen to, which tends to suffer when I have to just sit down and pay attention to it all the way through. But I'll try to ignore that because I like a lot of what this song does.
(NioraptH) It... doesn't have that running out of time feel.. Like, I don't feel like running
(Vengeful_KBM) Very cool stuff. Very atmospheric. An actual whole song, too, unlike some of these.

I'm amazed that after a really slow start, this one managed to pull in three fives and claw its way so far up the list. I expected people to go "meh, boring" and dismiss it without giving it a chance to develop to the 2:33 mark. Definitely did better than Glade Action, though.



26. Unreal Tournament - Run

Score: 21/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 86

Comments:
(Kenri) This is actually really cool and probably the second best track I've heard from Unreal Tournament after Foregone Destruction. Appropriately enough, Run has a great sense of movement which is something I really like. I was initially thinking it wouldn't be able to hold up over 4 and a half minutes, but it manages to change things up frequently enough to stay fresh the whole time.
(xp1337) Hmm... this is okay. Though, I think it is benefiting from being the kind of style that I like. Yeah, I'm liking this more the more I think about it/listen to it. The opposite of Primitive Power. I think I like this more than One Final Effort, but again, this is close. Could probably get me to go back and forth on this if you wanted to.
(Ed Bellis) zzz

UT doesn't seem to get a lot of props around the board that I've seen, but I was not expecting the reception this song got. It's basically just a high tempo dance track without much going on in it. Good at what it does, but I doubted that would be enough.

Mirror's Edge Still Alive is pretty mediocre

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thelefty for analysis crew 2008 imo -tranny
I have a third degree burn in flame-o-nomics -Sir Chris

PEPSIMAAAAAANNNN!!!!

Also, Portal > Mirror's Edge for Still Alive.

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Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

25. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - King Dedede's Theme

Score: 16/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 22

Comments:
(Mega Mana) My ears are hurting

Only Mana would give this a 1 while simultaneously giving "zombies" a 5, however he wasn't alone in nixing this track. Four high marks, and a pair of ones. I'm not a fan of Kirby music in general, but I don't think of this specifically as Kirby music due to the remix nature of the Brawl version. This is actually alright.



24. Perfect Dark - Chicago (Stealth)

Score: 21/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 62

Comments:
(Kenri) I was on board with this when it was being ambient, less so when it suddenly became a song from Goldeneye near the end. Still pretty cool, though.
(Vengeful_KBM) Never heard this before, but it makes me REALLY want to play Perfect Dark.

I dunno about the end portion of this song, but the slow eerie ambient front half of the song is really awesome. I'm surprised I didn't rank this one higher.



23. Granado Espada - M.I.S.A

Score: 21/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 60

Comments:
Now I *know* there were comments on this song, but they don't seem to be in my text file I copy-and-pasted everything to. Blarg. The echoey trance feel of the song is obviously what drives this one and...umm...I feel like I have to say something meaningful about it since I have no support comments, but nope, I got nothin'.



22. DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu Black Label - Xanadu

Score: 22/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 27

Comments:
(Jeff Zero) at least it isn't outright awful, but man, I'm liking just about everyone else's lists much more
(SoliPants) Xanadu was just to jumpy, I like a calmer song.
(xp1337) Haha, this is really neat. I feel like this comes kind of close to crossing the line into something I wouldn't like, but thankfully it does not.

Fun fact: every time I type the title of this game, the forums screen it for moderator review because of daiFUKkatsu. Sorry, mods! This'll be the last time you see this, I promise! Oh, and I understand how the song might have ear-bleed quality for some, but I like it a fair bit.



21. Wild aRMs - To a New Journey

Score: 22/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 34

Comments:
(Kenri) As usual, not a huge fan of Wild ARMs' music, though this is decent enough. ...Yeah I've got nothing to say here. It's pleasant enough to listen to, but I just wish it was better.
(xp1337) I'm actually shocked that this is a Wild ARMs song that's from WA1 that I'm okay with. Was expecting the worst.

I used to be a very big fan of this song. Back when my only source for hearing new VGM was people's YouTube playlists, and thus I heard a fair bit of SupraDarky's stuff, I was amazed by this one -- more than Into the Wilderness by far. I think the song has gotten stale on me, though. Whereas I had once made a claim that it was my favorite VGM, I can't even place it in the upper third of this list now. That doesn't mean it isn't still damn good.

20. The Impossible Game - Fire Aura

Score: 22/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 18

Comments:
(xp1337) Oh, hey, this is actually fairly neat. I mean, it gets out of hand a bit at times, but I do like this, so that's good!
(Kenri) Fire Aura's one of the biggest surprises of this topic for me, really good song
(NioraptH) this is like some awesome rave song! Yay random headbanging... or whatever people do at raves

I've been told this song isn't VGM-original. I dunno the truth of that, but oh well. It's still an awesome song, as long as you don't mind electronic dance tunes.



19. Braid - Downstream

Score: 22/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 57

Comments:
(NioraptH) calming and pretty
(Vengeful_KBM) Huh. This is actually really pretty. Gorgeous, even - the more I listen to it the more I want it to keep going, despite its length. Reminds me of Lord of the Rings mixed with a Civil War movie or something (and a little bit of The Stand). Very nice.

This, however, I know is licensed music. Even if it is, it just fits the mood of Braid perfectly. Just like Crystal Caverns fits the art and style of Trine, I feel the same way about Braid's music. Yes, it develops slowly over 6 1/2 minutes, but that's mostly because of the tempo. It certainly doesn't fail from the perspective of the competition or the performance.



18. Trine 2 - Main Theme

Score: 22/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 46

Comments:
(xp1337) This had some real potential! For about the first 4 seconds! Then it squandered it and decided it would wallow in the valley of mediocrity. Which, while not the best place to wallow in, is most certainly not the worst either.
(superangelo128) surprisingly good


Speaking of Trine, here's the sequel. I still haven't played it; been waiting on a Steam sale because I'm a cheap bastard. But I loved pretty much everything about the original -- the game was simply magical. Rarely do I feel that the art and the sound blend together perfectly to create such an ambience for a game, to the extent that while I think the gameplay itself is wonderful, it's the vibe I get from the game that makes it so exquisite. I look forward to playing #2 in I hope the VERY near future. *eyes Steam for mid-summer madness sales* Also, xp, mediocrity? Feh.



17. Donkey Kong Country - Fear Factory

Score: 22/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 10

Comments:
This song started off with a perfect 10 before getting pitted against tougher competition, but still held its own alright. Color me unsurprised. This is my favorite DKC track, and I would often just sit at the beginning of the early factory staged to listen to this music...well, ok, actually I just died on those levels so much I got to hear this music plenty. And I'm *very* thankful this was the music, since I would have probably been fuming if the music hadn't placated me.

From: azuarc | #098

25. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - King Dedede's Theme

Score: 16/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 22

Comments:
(Mega Mana) My ears are hurting

Only Mana would give this a 1 while simultaneously giving "zombies" a 5, however he wasn't alone in nixing this track. Four high marks, and a pair of ones. I'm not a fan of Kirby music in general, but I don't think of this specifically as Kirby music due to the remix nature of the Brawl version. This is actually alright.

I just listened to both again, and I stand by my rankings. Zombies does have a pretty atrocious beginning, but King Dedede's Brawl Theme has an atrocious beginning, middle, and end. Zombies definitely isn't a +5 song though, but it was up against Soulblighter (92), He an Beauty (79), and FFT Intro (76) so there was no stiff competition.

Also what crack are people smoking putting FFT Intro so relatively high o_O

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"And the theoretical maximum is 2880 messages, so I was only performing at 45.94% posting efficiency." - Luster Soldier