Do Sony Consoles Have Any Games With Memorable Music?
Bubsy 3D doesn't count.
I don’t think this is a controversial question, although I’m sure some Final Fantasy fans would disagree (I respect Nobuo Uematsu as a composer, but his work does not resonate with me at all).
I can point to innumerable Nintendo and Sega games that have beautiful, hummable earworms, music that stands the test of time. But Sony? Crash Bandicoot’s soundtrack is silliness incarnate, appropriate for the character, but lacking any real emotion. Gran Turismo, Wipeout, and the Tony Hawk franchise have all relied on musical artists like Primus, the Offspring, etc. to provide their soundtracks, so they don’t count. Metal Gear Solid is a great game with a very basic action film score; fine for movie fans, but not really “video game” music.
Perhaps that’s the problem. From the PS1 on, Sony’s consoles have sought to usher in the future of gaming. 2D gaming and energetic ditties are out, 3D landscapes, cinematic cutscenes and sweeping orchestral soundtracks are what the gamers want now. And if they don’t? Just keep shoving it down their throats until they have no choice. We’re not just creating games anymore, we’re making interactive films, complete with ambient wallpaper music devoid of hooks.
Compare this to 8 and 16-bit titles like Contra, Mega Man, Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Mario, Zelda, Ecco the Dolphin, Toe Jam & Earl, Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage, and so on. The composers for these series were technologically limited by consoles’ sound chips, yet they managed to create some of the most iconic video game music of all time.
So: do Sony consoles have any games with memorable music? Of course they do, but we have to look beyond the AAA titles and venture into the more idiosyncratic corners of the Sony libraries. Only there will we discover that excellent music still has a home on Sony consoles.
KATAMARI DAMACY – “LONELY ROLLING STAR”
Katamari Damacy is proper bonkers. The goal is to roll up as many things in your environment as you possibly can, including but not limited to: paper clips, food, animals, humans, and eventually, entire buildings and the cosmos. The soundtrack is as eclectic as the game, with folk, jazz, electro, and samba elements featuring prominently in many of the tracks. “Lonely Rolling Star,” on the other hand, feels like a cross between a heartfelt Mega Man theme and a Japanese indie song. The bouncy verses are beamed in straight from a Tokyo rooftop garden party circa 2004, while the bridge and chorus are evocative reflections on the chaos you’re causing to the planet. The main hook, however, creeps in after each chorus has ended, and sweeps you away to a melancholic, nostalgic place of longing. Like Katamari Damacy itself, “Lonely Rolling Star” wanders all over the place and that’s why it’s beautiful.
SILENT HILL – “SILENT HILL”
Harry Mason’s search for his daughter Cheryl in Silent Hill is surrounded by gloom and noise. Painful numbing silence collides with clanging metal on metal, sharp claws dragging on the ground, and the sounds of crying in the distance. Trent Reznor circa 1994 couldn’t have concocted a more disturbing hellscape.
The exception to this unnerving soundtrack is the intro, a Portishead-inspired, mandolin-driven, Twin Peaks-y chamber pop tune. Full of deep ache and uncertainty, it sets the stage for all the horror to follow, and hints at what brought the main characters to this point in the first place. In the game, the music is delivered over a cinematic that reveals both the background of the game’s main characters, the supporting cast, and a small glimpse into the town of Silent Hill itself.
Forget Resident Evil and those lumbering zombies you can shoot before they get within five feet of you. Silent Hill has ghost babies with dark forms that hiccup in the bathroom, alternate realities that distort and warp once familiar places, and a constant sense of uneasiness. You can never let your guard down in Silent Hill. This track is a lament, a warning, beware all ye who enter this place. It might just be your downfall.
PARAPPA THE RAPPER – “CHEAP-CHEAP THE COOKING CHICKEN’S RAP”
All Parappa wants is love, to go out with a sunflower named Sunny, and spend countless days staring into each other’s eyes. Winning Sunny’s heart isn’t just about looking cool, it’s about who has the dopest rhymes, the illest beats. When Parappa arrives at Cheap-Cheap’s kitchen, he’s already mastered karate, obtained his driver’s license, and promptly crashed his father’s car. He pays for the damages by working at a flea market, all the while increasing his rap game with the curious creatures he meets along the way.
Cheap-Cheap’s a tough old bird, the toughest thus far. She’ll teach Parappa how to make a cake for Sunny, but he has to follow along very carefully and not miss a bar or ingredient. The chicken sensei is full of surprises. “Every single day, stress comes in every way/I ain't got no time for nobody.” Damn Cheap-Cheap, that’s cold! She must have a hard life, despite her cooking show success. “Crack-crack-crack the egg into the bowl” is an instruction you’ll remember until the day you die. “The other day, I was called a little turkey/But I’m a chicken, got it? You beef jerky!” is perhaps the most singular line of all. Cheap-Cheap means business. Seafood cake isn’t for posers, you can’t just throw a bunch of ingredients together and call it a dessert. Your rhyme game should be on point, otherwise get out the kitchen.
Cheap-Cheap’s hypnotic, head-nodding rhymes are perfectly complemented by the sampled saxophone and looping beats. All Parappa tracks are inspired, clearly, but Cheap-Cheap’s surliness combined with her culinary skills makes for the game’s most memorable stage and song.
These are three tracks from Sony games that I thoroughly enjoy, but what about you? What are your favorite tracks featured on Sony consoles? Feel free to share in the comments below!
*image courtesy of Playstation Universe
I find chiptunes a lot more memorable than the digital audio of later consoles. They’re a lot more distinctive. One soundtrack I go back to sometimes is Konami’s NBA in the Zone 2 for the PS1. There’s a few memorable 1990s hip hop/dance loops on there plus some renditions of the Canadian and American national anthems - it really is the heir apparent to Double Dribble, lol
Castlevania SOTN deserves a mention here. A lot of great tracks, and I also like the way they fit into the game. The tracks are very distinct, with a range of styles and genres. You can recognize which area you're entering into as quickly by the music as by the name and the visual aesthetic.
If I had to pick a favorite, it would be "Dracula's Castle". Best captures the overall "operatic rock" feel of the game. Feels like it could be an improved remake of an 8 or 16-bit Castlevania song, but AFAIK it is an entirely original creation for SOTN.
https://youtu.be/dh1qqLbuBww?si=i9eej0wy0qqssuKs
Though of course you called out Castlevania as a series that had great music in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, so it's more like Final Fantasy in the sense that its PS1 musical greatness was a continuation of previous greatness. Except I think SOTN has better music than any prior game in the series, which I wouldn't say about FF7.
I actually DO really like Nobuo Uematsu, but I've always thought FF6 had better music than FF7. Maybe nostalgia plays a role, but even at the time, FF7's music, while very good, disappointed me coming off of FF6. I enjoy TPR's "melancholy" renditions of the various Final Fantasy soundtracks. I play them in the evenings to try to calm the kids down for bedtime, and the TPR rendition of the FF6 soundtrack is hands-down the best. It really stands out when you put it on an equal footing with the FF7 soundtrack (which TPR has also done) in terms of audio fidelity.
But in terms of franchises that were exclusive to, or launched on, the PS1, you have a good point, the music was generally a step backwards, despite the vast potential that CD audio represented at the time. Though you also picked some good counterexamples of this trend. Not ashamed to admit my oldest friend and I will still quote PaRappa at each other.