The Music of Video Games [67] ActRaiser

[phoenixrising2430]

3 dislikes had family members kidnapped by black monster bats...

[phoenixrising2430]

The Super NES sound chip was designed by Sony. I still have the EGM magazine from June 1991 which was a few months prior to the system being released in the U.S. Nintendo really wanted to emphasize sound effects/music for better overall gaming experience. Since Sony and Nintendo worked together, the SNES upgrade was to be named the "Playstation" to compete with the Sega CD system. Too bad Nintendo broke from their contract with Sony and a year later decided to just go with "Ultra 64" a.k.a. N64.

[l33tpwnzord]

Was this seriously the NES game music?

I never played this game but holy shit what great composition

[TheJboy88]

I think one of the reasons that video game music from the old days was so much more memorable than the newer stuff was because back then things like voice-acting and realistic sound effects didn't exist back then.

What the gamers heard for the the most part was the music so they had to make it high-quality stuff and stand out in people's minds.

[hentaispyder]

they should really remake this game

[y2k4ever1]

The music resembles a castlevania game :D

[Trund27]

ilovethisilovethisilovethisilo­vethis

[Eagleknight815]

3:40 - If this doesnt make you want to grab a sword, hack n slash though endless hordes of monsters.....dunno what else will....

[Bielghs]

Soundtrack second to only Chrono Trigger

[CrimzonAE]

Epic music for such an epic game!

Ahh the nostalgia...

[RafoCDBS]

soo beautiful at 5:25

[prozakpete192]

I love these" music of video games" videos, thanks for putting them up and bringin' me way back!!! i love actraiser, ehy cant we make games like this now a days?

[wizardlyTKO]

@prozakpete192 Because the game companies are money hungry greedy little bitches see Godsmack - Greed all they care about is making something to look good and sell to customers of any age and slap a Rating on it and call it a game they don't care about making the music put your emotions on the line and make you cry when an important person dies .. == Call of Duty for Example == Did you cry when the Guy got shot on like the first or second mission ? Talking about Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare

[1shoryuken]

@wizardlyTKO l agree, it seems the majority of games today have forgotten the creative fun factor and are more focused on trying to be cinematic and real, destroying the wild imagination of the 16 bit era. My biggist complaint is that video games today are way too fucking easy! where's the challenge?? since when did video games turned gamers into pussies?

[azulichigo]

@1shoryuken since the "casual gamer" boom and the focus on hour long videos between minutes of gameplay. Game creators need to understand that games are not movies.

[erikvanzanen]

@prozakpete192 coz of the revolution of powerful pc's and the graphics that we can do. people 'want' good looking'but they dont' know they lose 'game' maybe it's us. the TRUE gamer, since we came from the era of the beginning of gaming. the new gen don't know

[hitokirimasamun]

im christian and i love this blasphemous game :p

[BloodthirstyTigersha]

i was like please say they play north wall that's like the best one for me its so suthing

[DonJaime80]

RIP Teddy

We barely knew ye

[UZiBLASTER7]

Second song sounds a lot like Castlevania

[Amisbro]

if the opening title music DOESN'T get your blood pumping then you have NO PULSE

OMG...THIS IS F***ING AMAZING!!!!!

[mistaphill]

Actraiser...one of the all time greats when it comes to SNES music. I sampled a bit off of the music at 7:32. Love those harps

[Skyrift]

This game was one of the early releases for the Super NES and in my opinion remained one of the best throughout the entire 16-bit era. Even today, it's still a great game to play through.

Actraiser 3...all those in favor, say I.

[summersault]

Fillmore stage music its like a castlevania theme, i love this game! Quintet games FTW

[miguelthegamer]

I used to play a hell out of act raiser

[beatmaniak99]

too bad the remake was cancelled

[BloodthirstyTigersha]

@beatmaniak99 WHAT WTF A REMAKE PLEASE SAY THAT YOUR NOT TALKING ABOUT THE ONE FOR WII i heard it came out but idk if it came out in us yet

[CronoProductions]

o my god i havent heard this in years

[ShohokuAlumni]

Too bad Actraiser 2 was a steaming pile of pig vomit.

[KnaRRaN1989]

well something what i didnt like in actraiser was the stiff control, the sound effect on The god.... do u reconize when he swings his sword its sounded HA HA HA HA HA

[vjnctn]

Yuzo Koshiro is up there with the best...

[BiroZombie]

Truly, amazing music!

[Quez256]

Fillmore/Bloodpool just gets you psyched to unleash holy hell on whatever destroyed your people =)

[chieflookout76]

I know there's too much to put every song on here, but I was hoping Sacrifices would be on it. That's my favorite piece from this game.

[milonkill]

7:31....The Best.

[BelBel06]

omfg, i thought i was the only one in love wiht this song, i have a rendition of this song, an orchestra played it. message me and let me know if you want it. its a beautiful rendition.

[Zerfl]

Thank you so much for putting this online. I found this under my "recommended videos" and it sure brings back a lot of (unbelievable awesome) memories! I loved this game and played it a lot when I was younger!

Thank you!

[Denus01]

The quality of the music in this game is amazing!

@ Challseus: agree, the music in Soul Blazer is also very nice!

[pownder1981]

one of the best games ever. Its a pity that we dont have versions for more advanced consoles

[Onijsan]

Ask anyone about actraiser and you will only get comments about the music... Hands down for me the best in 16 - bit music goodness!

[mipsymoodle]

lol yeah...its a great game though...i never had it on the SNES but it was available for download on the wii and a website i go to gave it a 9/10 so i thought id give it a try...its a great game...controls are a bit stiff but what really blew me away was the music....its just amazing....the intro is epic enough

[MorpheusVGX]

Yes, this one of the first SNES games, and music from the first stage (Fillmore) blew me away. Those days, we were enjoying 16-bit music for the first time.

[jimbones0]

1:36 ftw!!!

[measurezero99]

God was displeased with your low-level housing. That's why he has smitten you with lightning.

[Challseus]

I was so amazed when I first played this. I remember that x-mas I got my SNES, I got this, Super Mario World, Final Fight, and Gradius 3. I ended up beating this first, because I was so hooked. Loved the music in Soul Blazer too!

[DancerAC]

Is it just me or do the first enemies in the first level look like Squirtle from Pokémon?

[Raligard]

Great game, unique concept, and the music, oh the music. The music from the 1st platform stage blew me away. So amazing.

[P4W3R]

Welcome back sir, ¿Have you rested well?

[P4W3R]

And that fucknig intro.

[Camwi]

Yeah, I love the unique mix of city building and side-scrolling action, with a light mix of RPG for added flavor. And of course a great soundtrack. Definitely an awesome game.

[lordciborg]

Yuzo Koshiro is a God of Music!

[bollwerk69]

Fillmore und Birth of the People Musiken sind episch.

[frenchfrey65]

the fast paced soundtracks make me want to slice someone in half! kickass!

[Penfold8]

1st level song by far my favorite!

[PvtCaboose001RvB]

Agreed!

[SgtRedHotPepper]

Thanks, yeah, I was curious. The town-building was probably the hardest part of the first game...that's too bad that they scrapped it for the second, as it was really fun, too. It gave the game a real personal touch, as you weren't just going screen to screen fighting monsters the whole time.

If I see it come to VC, I might give it a shot...but, I don't even have Actraiser on there, yet, so I'd just as soon get the original game, instead. Thanks!

[SgtRedHotPepper]

I really wish I had a SNES...this is the first game I beat on an emulator, when my comp still had sound :(

Actraiser rules! Pretty challenging, but fun, game (music rocked, too). I heard that the second one was as tough as nails...can anyone confirm that? I should check it out, sometime...maybe it'll come to VC

[FawdaJinn]

Yes, you have heard correctly. It's been a while since I've played Actraiser II, but it was extremely difficult, and nowhere as fun as the original. All of this, coupled with no town-building mode and less than memorable music, made Actraiser II a forgettable experience. I do recommend giving it a try, but I think you might come to the same conclusion that I did. Hope that helps!

[RubySkull888]

I enjoy these older video games, they are very cool. I love the music and its complex sound.

[nick31189x]

epic

[Oldschoolvillian]

I love this game, its a shame no proper sequal ever came out. I dont count part 2 since its missing half of what made this game great,

[mikehead]

i fucking LOVE this games soundtrack

i probably beat this game about 100 times and it never gets old

id love to play the wii port, or see a remake done

i can listen to fillmores town music all day

[brucefwaaa]

The music in this game kicks so much ass...

[Danovio]

man this game was kick ass

[Virility]

My God man... what a colossal amount of work went into making all these game videos... and your list is epic.

Thanks so much for putting this together. I'm always so surprised that even as a very casual gamer these tunes bring back memories so vividly - and not even of the game, but of the point in my life when I played them.

Awesome work. Good job!

[Raiko101]

Those opening notes sound strikingly similar to a theme from Super Metroid!

[Azazlam]

I dont think so

[Raiko101]

Ok, so i'm only talking about 10 seconds worth of music, but check out the Super Metroid music on this channel. Listen at 2:05. It's practically identical lol.

[turnleftsmashright88]

best game ever (when i was about 12)

the final level was a classic reworking of all the bosses and then a final one (dragon)

i bet i could finish that bit right now

lol

[firebrand12345]

1:36.....i swear u could cut and paste this straight into castlevania game

which is high praise cause the soundtrack to Castlevania is fkn epic

[FierceDeity835]

It sounds like the first level from Castlevania Bloodlines.

[BlazePrower]

This is the only game series I can think of where you are God and actually do more than supervise your people. It's freaking awesome!

[jcarlson09]

the sega genesis wants this kind of music quality

[fsan2005]

what is the name of the 2:42 song?

[GypsyRed]

It's called "Birth of the People"

[allrequiredfields]

Amazing graphics, fucking phenomenal music WAY TOO SHORT. I still loved this game - bought it the day it came out.

[GypsyRed]

YES YES YES! ActRaiser is most definitely and absolutely the love of my heart when it comes to SNES soundtracks. The music is like something out of a film but made in 16-bit sound. The music and the game were epic. The music especially stands the test of time, IMO.

I would always name my character Freedan after the knight from Illusion of Gaia because they had the same voice effect, wore blue armor and were blond. :P

[leadbones]

yeah, and the second one also had an excellent soundtrack.

[GypsyRed]

Although it was certainly excellent and had its own feel to it, something about Actraiser 2's music didn't grab me like the first. I just didn't get that sense of majesty that Actraiser's music delivered.

Not to mention that the gameplay was also hard for me to get into. Then again I suck at this one too. lol.

[leadbones]

yah not quite as majestic, a little more sad and morose, but i think the quality was just as good. i think actraiser 2 music was a little less castlevania and a little more it's own. it lacked the "city" mode and the action was a bit more difficult. both were fine games and the city bulding/action stage mechanic is long overdue for a return.

[whitesprite]

1:36 is Castlevania-esque.

[Wizzardd]

Yuzo rules

[Tunaria]

Loved the music in this one.

And besides, who doesn't want to play as an asskicking deity? ^^

[LoConde76]

the music is ok and always the reviewers talked about this game and Actraiser 2 as a good music example but for me has nothing special even in SNES times knowing the castlevania IV of that generation that is by far better. The player is pretty good!!

[allrequiredfields]

Well, I guess everybody can't have good taste in music :/

[leadbones]

as you have shown us.

[allrequiredfields]

Protip: It has to make sense if you're aiming for clever.

[doppleganger4827]

Another game I've seen mentioned a bunch, but never played. I like the side-scrolling parts of the game here, but the city building is not too much my style, with the exception of Warcraft.

[brallanbrallan]

Brilliant music, some of the best tunes I've ever heard in a videogame.

[Valtiel06]

I think this is true, which is funny. I am an atheist. And I love this game.

[GypsyRed]

Lol, same here. I've never beaten it, but I'm addicted to it.

[Deathwarrantt]

I personally liked Fillmore and Blood Pool's music the most. Awesome soundtrack though and an even better game!

[Sparklette]

Northwall is the best one! Starts at 7:30/7:31 for anyone interested. :)

[GypsyRed]

Northwall ALWAYS makes me sigh. Its sooo gorgeous and dreamy. Ach, I just love it... ^_^

[Floppzor]

i love the music in this game, but i didnt hear the song that came when u made peace by giving a harp or something to a town, maybe i missed it :P

[garudoh]

I didn't include every song from the soundtrack, just a few select picks. Usually my vids cap the 10 minute limit, but looking back, I'm surprised I didn't max out this one as well.

[StewNWT]

I worked out how to play the town building them on piano

[kingxob]

Great music in this game, one of the best from the 16bit era.