Why I love video game music

December 1, 2011 at 5:31 pm | Posted in Video Games | 6 Comments
Tags: hard man, mega man, piano, video game music, vlog

I’ve been experimenting with a new video setup in order to try and improve the audio quality of my piano videos. I really wanted Hard Man’s theme from Mega Man 3 to sound good because it’s very special to me… it was the first piece of video game music I had ever learned when I was a kid, and it launched me in the direction of loving video game music and eventually pursuing it as a career. So… here is my piano improvisation of Hard Man’s theme from Mega Man 3:

I also suggest listening to the original NES version… the middle part is especially great and really matches the fast-paced feel of his stage. Lastly, here is a vlog that I made explaining why I love video game music (sorry for the weird thumbnail… youtube always seems to catch me in the weirdest poses, or when I’m half-blinking):

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Laura,

The music of Mega Man (especially I-III) was definitely one of my earliest influences, too. I can’t imagine how much time I spent on my Game Boy internalizing that music as a kid… In fact, I did an arrangement of Gemini Man for my college senior jazz recital, the theme of which was a tribute to all of the styles that contributed to my modern make-up as a player/composer.
Gotta keep that iconic melodicism alive today!

- Greg

Comment by Muuurgh— December 1, 2011 #

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You, ma’am, has one of the greatest voices I’ve ever heard. You make me laugh hard while playing Plants VS Zombies, but still, you make me cry while playing To the Moon (even watching the Trailer!!).

How can you do this? Are you sure Nobuo Uematsu isn’t your father? Haha XD
Please, keep using your talent, and our industry (game industry) will grow beautiful and rich

I admire you.
- Gabriel

Comment by Gabriel— December 1, 2011 #

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Nice job with the video again I also liked the music of megaman 2 and 3. I especially liked the music in MagnetMan because it feels so happy as if I were on a vacation somewhere outside in a sunny day Thank you for the video. Keep up the good job

Comment by ethyl— December 2, 2011 #

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Some of the tunes I remember most across my life are from video games. I understand your love really well and wanted to congratulate you on the Plants vs Zombies sound&music design… so addictive!
Really digging Super Meat Boy soundtrack right now.

Comment by kagento— December 2, 2011 #

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Didn’t know someone who plays a heart wrenching piano song, sings with angelic voice, is also capable of doing massive damage to the brain eating zombies! Guess that is what is called “flair”. To the Moon music reminds a lot about those sleepless night in my school time: FF5, Dragon Quest, Chrono Cross etc. Keep up the great work!

Comment by Tornar— December 4, 2011 #

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Laura,

Thanks for all the videos you post to YouTube, it really brings back good memories for me. It’s nice to listen to those songs in a piano so you can show them to someone else and say “See? It is great music!”.

When I was younger I started playing video games music. I think the first game was Lemmings (maybe not fair, those are really classical music pieces). Then Rayman… But I never learned to play the piano, you make me want to start learning it.

Other games whose music I will never forget are Mario, Sonic, Chrono Trigger, Terranigma, Katamari…

Then I played Plants vs. Zombies and was immediately attracted to the music. I might even say the music is what I liked most about the game. It gave the perfect atmosphere to it. “Ultimate battle” is the one I liked the most, maybe because it didn’t came often and it sounded special. Some days ago I wanted to listen to it again so I searched on YouTube and found you playing it. I asked to myself “Who is that girl?”. Well, now I know.

Keep up the good work. And I hope to find you again, by surprise, in another game.

Comment by Ary Manzana— December 6, 2011 #

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mybluedream